Concerns About Early Pickup Expectations and Child Comfort at After-School Program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

5:45 is not 6. If they are open until 6 then they should expect to be there until 6.

DP: Yes, they should. And that means that you and your kid should expect to be outside of the school by 6:00.01.

[Anonymous]

At my colleague's daycare the toddlers are all in coats and sitting by the entrance a solid 45 minutes before they're picked up. She was complaining about it.

It's crappy and it's not great care. It's also not that uncommon. I think if it's really just the last 15 minutes, that's not unreasonable. If he's been in his coat in the vestibule for half an hour, that's too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

What are talking about grabbing little jacket, hat and backpack and walking him takes at most 2 minutes. When I pick my child early -I never wait more than 5 minutes, They do not have to dress my child and they are free to leave as soon my child is in my reach. I can dress my child . They do it to hurt my child and send me a message

Whaaaat? Why are you taking this so personally?

They have to stay until all children are out of the room. Then they lock up. It's not up to you when they are allowed to leave.

+1 you think the staff can just walk out of there wit a parent, child, and unlocked room left behind?

[Anonymous]

I think you need to accept that the school has chosen one of the cheaper, and therefore crappier, aftercare providers. And therefore you'll be having an underwhelming experience. Still, the things you're complaining about are just not that big a deal. Oh, he was too warm for 15 minutes, oh nooooo! Oh your feelings are hurt because they dressed him! Come on. Our school has Flex and I can tell you far worse things Flex has done. But nobody makes a big deal of it because we all understand that you get what you pay for.

And +1 to PP who said it's 2 minutes for one adult to dress one child, but it's far more than that when two adults are dressing many children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flex does kinda suck, but this doesn't seem out of line to me. It's fine for kids to learn to wait patiently, and some parents really appreciate their kid being ready to go.

well, sure but I would rather dress my child than make him sit in the winter jack in the room with 80 degrees heat

The reason schools use Flex is Flex is less expensive. They are able to take the voucher funding from OSSE and many other providers aren't. I'm not sure why that is. But that is the reason, since you asked.

That is interesting. It is not less expensive for us. Again given how shitty they are - how come parents do not put pressure on Flex through OSSE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

What are talking about grabbing little jacket, hat and backpack and walking him takes at most 2 minutes. When I pick my child early -I never wait more than 5 minutes, They do not have to dress my child and they are free to leave as soon my child is in my reach. I can dress my child . They do it to hurt my child and send me a message

Whaaaat? Why are you taking this so personally?

They have to stay until all children are out of the room. Then they lock up. It's not up to you when they are allowed to leave.

+1 you think the staff can just walk out of there wit a parent, child, and unlocked room left behind?

that is the point they leave the room, lock it at 5:40, transition to the downstairs halway by 5:45 with 2 -3 kids left, no room to lock...so the question remains...how much time do they really save if my child stays in the jacket and a hat ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flex does kinda suck, but this doesn't seem out of line to me. It's fine for kids to learn to wait patiently, and some parents really appreciate their kid being ready to go.

well, sure but I would rather dress my child than make him sit in the winter jack in the room with 80 degrees heat

The reason schools use Flex is Flex is less expensive. They are able to take the voucher funding from OSSE and many other providers aren't. I'm not sure why that is. But that is the reason, since you asked.

That is interesting. It is not less expensive for us. Again given how shitty they are - how come parents do not put pressure on Flex through OSSE

It's less expensive for the people who are lower on the sliding scale. OSSE does not care, they will tell you that if your school is unhappy with Flex your school can switch to a different vendor.

And I think you will find that they are only slightly more crappy than the other providers. It's hard to find people to take these jobs, and it's hard to switch vendors because a lot of vendors will tell you they have as many schools as they can handle.

But seriously OP, if you're this wound up about your kid wearing a coat for a little too long, or you really think they're trying to "send you a message", you're going to have a tough time being a DCPS parent. Take a deep breath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

What are talking about grabbing little jacket, hat and backpack and walking him takes at most 2 minutes. When I pick my child early -I never wait more than 5 minutes, They do not have to dress my child and they are free to leave as soon my child is in my reach. I can dress my child . They do it to hurt my child and send me a message

Whaaaat? Why are you taking this so personally?

They have to stay until all children are out of the room. Then they lock up. It's not up to you when they are allowed to leave.

+1 you think the staff can just walk out of there wit a parent, child, and unlocked room left behind?

that is the point they leave the room, lock it at 5:40, transition to the downstairs halway by 5:45 with 2 -3 kids left, no room to lock...so the question remains...how much time do they really save if my child stays in the jacket and a hat ?

If you are really that bothered by the jacket, ask them to put it in his backpack instead. They're probably doing it so his outerwear doesn't get left behind. But I'm really perplexed why you care so much about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my colleague's daycare the toddlers are all in coats and sitting by the entrance a solid 45 minutes before they're picked up. She was complaining about it.

It's crappy and it's not great care. It's also not that uncommon. I think if it's really just the last 15 minutes, that's not unreasonable. If he's been in his coat in the vestibule for half an hour, that's too much.

my child went to a great daycare, cheap, USkids - never ever i experienced that. Moreover I have tried 4 more daycare centers using my backup care and after school champions with my other school- did not observe such behavior at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flex does kinda suck, but this doesn't seem out of line to me. It's fine for kids to learn to wait patiently, and some parents really appreciate their kid being ready to go.

well, sure but I would rather dress my child than make him sit in the winter jack in the room with 80 degrees heat

The reason schools use Flex is Flex is less expensive. They are able to take the voucher funding from OSSE and many other providers aren't. I'm not sure why that is. But that is the reason, since you asked.

That is interesting. It is not less expensive for us. Again given how shitty they are - how come parents do not put pressure on Flex through OSSE

It's less expensive for the people who are lower on the sliding scale. OSSE does not care, they will tell you that if your school is unhappy with Flex your school can switch to a different vendor.

And I think you will find that they are only slightly more crappy than the other providers. It's hard to find people to take these jobs, and it's hard to switch vendors because a lot of vendors will tell you they have as many schools as they can handle.

But seriously OP, if you're this wound up about your kid wearing a coat for a little too long, or you really think they're trying to "send you a message", you're going to have a tough time being a DCPS parent. Take a deep breath.

so where exactly my bar should be ? what crappy things these after school teachers do and get away with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

What are talking about grabbing little jacket, hat and backpack and walking him takes at most 2 minutes. When I pick my child early -I never wait more than 5 minutes, They do not have to dress my child and they are free to leave as soon my child is in my reach. I can dress my child . They do it to hurt my child and send me a message

Whaaaat? Why are you taking this so personally?

They have to stay until all children are out of the room. Then they lock up. It's not up to you when they are allowed to leave.

+1 you think the staff can just walk out of there wit a parent, child, and unlocked room left behind?

that is the point they leave the room, lock it at 5:40, transition to the downstairs halway by 5:45 with 2 -3 kids left, no room to lock...so the question remains...how much time do they really save if my child stays in the jacket and a hat ?

If you are really that bothered by the jacket, ask them to put it in his backpack instead. They're probably doing it so his outerwear doesn't get left behind. But I'm really perplexed why you care so much about this.

I guess because this is my first year in the public school system, I still have some expectations for decent care for my child. But humor me—tell me, what would make you concerned enough to complain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flex does kinda suck, but this doesn't seem out of line to me. It's fine for kids to learn to wait patiently, and some parents really appreciate their kid being ready to go.

well, sure but I would rather dress my child than make him sit in the winter jack in the room with 80 degrees heat

The reason schools use Flex is Flex is less expensive. They are able to take the voucher funding from OSSE and many other providers aren't. I'm not sure why that is. But that is the reason, since you asked.

That is interesting. It is not less expensive for us. Again given how shitty they are - how come parents do not put pressure on Flex through OSSE

It's less expensive for the people who are lower on the sliding scale. OSSE does not care, they will tell you that if your school is unhappy with Flex your school can switch to a different vendor.

And I think you will find that they are only slightly more crappy than the other providers. It's hard to find people to take these jobs, and it's hard to switch vendors because a lot of vendors will tell you they have as many schools as they can handle.

But seriously OP, if you're this wound up about your kid wearing a coat for a little too long, or you really think they're trying to "send you a message", you're going to have a tough time being a DCPS parent. Take a deep breath.

so where exactly my bar should be ? what crappy things these after school teachers do and get away with?

Things that are actually unsafe. Things where you could actually make an improvement rather than just convincing people you're weird and paranoid. It's not to "send you a message" FFS. What on earth message might it be-- that they'd like to go home on time? That some parents like the kids to be ready? OMG what a message.

Look, you can complain about every little thing if you want to. But lots of other parents aren't bothered by this jacket and going downstairs issue like you are. That's the bottom line here. Most are fine with it and some of them prefer it this way. So you can choose to spend your time and energy hassling the staff about it, but it won't change anything. Personally, I save it for things that are actually unsafe, and times when my child needs something extra.

[Anonymous]

document grievances—are you witnessing aggressive yelling, name-calling, adult language, unhealthy snacks, use of phone on the playgrounds? Go to aftercare early and observe how kids are treated, ask your kids how they feel, document, rally other parents, report to school admin (copying other parents), repeat. Follow-up with admin on their actions and resolutions. No one is going to fight this fight for you. Everyone is tired and overcommitted it seems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are the “ safety concerns” OP?

well, the kids are wondering around and anyone can get through the front door -one ring the gaurd opens to everyone has an easy acess to kids- we cannot pretend that school shootings do not happen.

Perhaps they did “spare the children a moment to collect their belongings” — prior to and in the process of getting them ready to be picked up as scheduled.

again I arrived 15 minutes BEFORE

Were you expecting the teachers to wait until someone arrived for each kid to begin this process?
yes the same if I were to pick my child at 5:00pm


“Poor kids”? Really? In any case, If you can’t “physically accommodate their expectations “ — which, as far as I can tell, are about picking up your kid on time, then perhaps this particular program won’t work well for you. And, yes, this is normal. The teachers probably are eager to leave. Just like you, they have scheduled responsibilities and appointments.

Well, as I am told the aftercare should run till 6:00 the teachers should not have any expectations to leave before 6.

Right, they want to leave at 6. Not after you show up at and it takes a while for you to collect your kid's stuff and get him out of there. Actual 6. Because they are busy just like you.

What are talking about grabbing little jacket, hat and backpack and walking him takes at most 2 minutes. When I pick my child early -I never wait more than 5 minutes, They do not have to dress my child and they are free to leave as soon my child is in my reach. I can dress my child . They do it to hurt my child and send me a message

Whaaaat? Why are you taking this so personally?

They have to stay until all children are out of the room. Then they lock up. It's not up to you when they are allowed to leave.

+1 you think the staff can just walk out of there wit a parent, child, and unlocked room left behind?

that is the point they leave the room, lock it at 5:40, transition to the downstairs halway by 5:45 with 2 -3 kids left, no room to lock...so the question remains...how much time do they really save if my child stays in the jacket and a hat ?

If you are really that bothered by the jacket, ask them to put it in his backpack instead. They're probably doing it so his outerwear doesn't get left behind. But I'm really perplexed why you care so much about this.

I guess because this is my first year in the public school system, I still have some expectations for decent care for my child. But humor me—tell me, what would make you concerned enough to complain?

Actual things I have complained about in the past include: Not having the proper adult-child ratio. The staff giving the children snacks that contain peanuts. The staff taking the children out to the ice cream truck and letting them spend tons of money on candy. The staff being late to before-care so that I can't drop off. Preschool-age children accompanying each other down the hall to the bathroom without an adult. Just for example.

I really don't understand why him wearing a jacket for a few minutes is that big a deal. I think it's still "decent care" even if he does wear a jacket and wait downstairs.

[Anonymous]

To the OP, I'm sorry people here are being so mean. I agree that making kids sit with all their warm clothes on for 15 mins in a small room with nothing to do is not acceptable. You're paying for aftercare until 6pm. They should be paying staff until 6:15 to finish closing up. I understand wanting to leave early, but that's nuts. I get that this happens a lot with providers but that doesn't make it okay. Especially for such young children. Are there other aftercare options you could use instead that aren't part of your school?