What happens at elementary school open house?

[Anonymous]

My son is 3 so too early for kindergarten but am interested in touring elementary schools to see where we should move next year.
What happens at the open house? A good idea to go and check out the schools and pick up some literature??

[Anonymous]

It is. Private tours of schools (public or private) with a phone call. It's a mistake not to look first.

[Anonymous]

Open houses are for parents of current students. I'd call and visit the school at a different time

[Anonymous]

Oh really? I figured open house meant anyone interested could pop in?

[Anonymous]

You won't be thrown out, but the content will be for current parents.

[Anonymous]

I did when my kid was 2. I wanted to rule out places and plan for tuition if I had to. All schools look good on paper and you can tell a lot more about a school from being in the building and asking questions. That said--I got a LOT of sarcasm from "tour guides." These tour guides are not staff or faculty but parent volunteers. There was a whole boat load of "you should be looking at preschools not elementary school" sneer, sneer, sneer...I would never advocate lying but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Anonymous]

FCPS open houses are where the kids meet their new teacher for the upcoming year. At our school, there is no general info given and no tours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh really? I figured open house meant anyone interested could pop in?

No, I don't think so. While most people won't notice you if you peek around, you are better off scheduling a time to meet with the administration -- that way you can have your specific questions answered.

[Anonymous]

Definitely don't go to Open House. Open House is a quick meet and greet for students to see their classrooms, meet their new teacher, and see who is in their class before school begins. Like a previous poster said, ask for a private tour instead, and I would wait until school is actually in session, so you can get a better feel for how it runs.

I do like the idea of an open house that's open to parents of little ones in the community to come check out the school and learn about it's programs, so they can begin to make decisions about moving, Kindergarten, etc. But, that doesn't exit in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh really? I figured open house meant anyone interested could pop in?

I can understand that. Maybe the term Open House gives the wrong idea sometimes.

[Anonymous]

At our school open house would be the perfect time to visit. The principal does a speech, introduces all the teachers and specialists then a tour.

A separate tour would show you the facility but that is unimportant. You want to see how they interact with kids and parents if you want to select a school.

[Anonymous]

Going to the open house will probably give you great insight into what kind of community "feel" there is. Are the teachers excited to see the kids? Do you see families talking with one another? Does it feel warm and inviting? Do the kids seem happy to be coming? Our school always has resource teachers and specialist teachers in the front lobby helping parents find classrooms and answering questions. You can hear how friendly they are in their tone and language. It's not a chore. Things like this send a message that everyone is welcome.

[Anonymous]

At the open house, returning students are in there comfort zone. In some cases, they will be seeing friends they have not seen since the end of the previous school year.

Strangers unaffiliated with the school would not be a good idea. In fact, it is a risk to the kids. I would expect that the word Trespassing might be used. THe police might be called.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the open house, returning students are in there comfort zone. In some cases, they will be seeing friends they have not seen since the end of the previous school year.

Strangers unaffiliated with the school would not be a good idea. In fact, it is a risk to the kids. I would expect that the word Trespassing might be used. THe police might be called.

That's ridiculous. The police? Maybe someone will ash why we are there with a 3 year old but I doubt they'll call the police if they see us walking around.

[Anonymous]

I can almost garentee that if you are identified as someone without connection to the school, the police will be called. You will be questioned, and released. The thing is, all it takes is one wrong person to hurt a kid.