Out of Boundary Parent feeling left out

[Anonymous]

I understand that an OOB student/parent aren't a part of the community, but do you need to be left out on discussions/playdates/meet-ups etc......I guess I will go the charter route next year due to them not being neighborhood schools. My child has been at this school for two years now. I paid my 550 for the PTA. The school is in Ward 3 ofcourse.

[Anonymous]

Good for you! Maybe when you leave those IB parents will realize that they really could have treated you better. Could you consider your in-boundry school? That's what we do and it is heaven to have so many easy playdates, etc. available.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you decided to go OOB because you thought the school was a good fit for your child. If you still think so and your child is getting a good education, do you really want to move him or her? Starting at a new place can be really hard on kids.

Have you reached out to other parents? Invited the kids to playdates? Stayed afterschool and talked? Joined afterschool and enrichment activities? A lot of families probably have connections through other neighborhood activities, but you join some of those, too.

I wouldn't give up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good for you! Maybe when you leave those IB parents will realize that they really could have treated you better. Could you consider your in-boundry school? That's what we do and it is heaven to have so many easy playdates, etc. available.

Yeah, that'll teach them.

[Anonymous]

Based on the "$550 donation," I have a pretty good idea which Ward 3 school you're attending, and we also went there OOB. Our experience was that it was a very clique-y place and that we had to work twice as hard to make play dates, etc., and were never really accepted by the parent group, most of whom seemed to have known one another since before their children had even started school That said, it doesn't last long because once the kids are in middle school they handle the socializing themselves and there is much less parental interaction. But sorry to hear about your experience - you're not alone in having this reaction.

[Anonymous]

OK. Name the school. OP, have you organized a play date, asked class parents to be sure to keep you in the loop. I'm really surprised. We've already had a playdate with our child's classmate who is OOB, not a distinction in our mind.

[Anonymous]

"But sorry to hear about your experience - you're not alone in having this reaction."

Well, the thing is, it is a reaction and not reality. But we've gone over this issue before (and I know and am a parent at the school), so you'll believe what you want to believe.

[Anonymous]

I'm an ib wohm mom at the same school who hasn't broken through the walls of the cliques, either.

So its not just oob. I don't have the time or mental energy to worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Based on the PTA amount, I am guessing its Janney.

[Anonymous]

Why not fix the schools in your own Ward/district?

[Anonymous]

that's right - supermom will single-handedly fix her neighborhood school, a feat yet unaccomplished by people whose paid work is to do just that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an ib wohm mom at the same school who hasn't broken through the walls of the cliques, either.

So its not just oob. I don't have the time or mental energy to worry about it.

This. Unless you have the time to lurk around the school all day and get to know the women you run the place you will never really break thru. I can see how being OOB makes it harder bc you dont see them in the neighborhood either. That said, try reaching out. If there are children in the class that really gets along with your child maybe invite them for a playdate.

[Anonymous]

And for what it's worth, the women who run the place seems to be a little, well, crazy. The absolute high point of our experience at said JKLM was being asked to help the poor 100% minority school from the east side of town celebrate "Reading is Fun" day by - yes, you've got it - not bringing books, but bringing color-coordinated cupcakes to take as a cupcake "flag" to our adopted school. Not a chance in hell that our Whole Foods families would feed that crap to our own kids...

[Anonymous]

OP here, I'm not a stay at home mom like alot of the parents and I also don't have a nanny who picks my child up. I do my share of volunteer work etc. as I can, my child has had a playdate with another OOB student, which actually lives in the same neighborhood as I. Fix the school in my neighboord? If it were only that easy. With all this said parents are still hestistant to newcomers. if they only knew I could provide a great service to the school, which i have once, but when you act a certain way to a person this draws them back from what they can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on the PTA amount, I am guessing its Janney.

Mann