Principal hates the involved parents

[Anonymous]

Our DCPS Title 1 was like this and we left. We are now at another DCPS and the principal works closely with the PTA and there are lots and lots of opportunities for kids after school and it's just a very welcoming environment.

I think sometimes the hostility towards parental involvement happens because the parents who want to be involved are part of a minority group within the school, and the administration pushes back to protect the interests of the majority group which, for a variety of reasons, has parents who are less likely to be heavily involved at the school. That was the case at our old school. I have mixed feelings about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, The PTA wants to do really outrageous and awful things like host a free family picnic for the school community on the school grounds or allow scouts to meet after school in the building.

Spoken like someone who has no idea how logistics work. A free family picnic is not "free" for the school. A custodian and other staff would have to be available to then clean up after the picnic including the bathrooms, empty trashcans, etc. Administrators would have to "volunteer" to supervise. If you want a family picnic with other families why can't you organize one yourself at a park?

And if you let one group meet after school then you have to let other groups meet after school. This can be problematic if you have agreement with after school care providers who are contracted to use the school.

Really listen to the podcast someone posted. Your title should read "Principal hates the annoying parents".

It's this, right here. Admin and teachers will have to show up. You will say you don't care if they do, but admin will have to, and there will then be pressure on teachers to do so as well. The custodian will be forced to. These are ALL hardworking people with JOBS, and they want to spend their time outside of work hours resting and being with their own families, not grinning and nodding at all the busybody PTA mommies who concoct these stupid events to give themselves someting to do/a place to socialize and feel good about themselves because they don't have real jobs. The parents who work and the poor families won't be able to/want to do this, either. This is for you. YOU, the PTA mommies. It doesn't benefit the students. The principal is right.

Why can't you do this on your own time, with the families of your PTA mommy friends who have the luxury of time? Can't you all take your kids to the park together, or something, without inconveniencing working adults with your stupid little notions?

[Anonymous]

How bizzare this post is when we all know your child attends afterschool enrichment at school, but gang up on the OP who want the same for her kid.

PTA's also fund thousands of dollars of requested academic programs, materials and extras for teachers. Where would the school be without.

[Anonymous]

This is our school too. We would love to do more, have funds to do more but principal is very hands off. And what we offer would benefit all the kids in the school. We have no parents in the classroom or at recess monitoring. Which is so different from other schools.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the poster who said there should be ground rules. I do not agree with parents helping in the classroom. If a parent wants to make copies, file homework folders, or help outside the classroom, great! They do not need to be interacting with the students and talking crap about the naughty ones to all their mommy friends.

Let's face it, they just want time with the admin/teachers to give their kids an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DCPS Title 1 was like this and we left. We are now at another DCPS and the principal works closely with the PTA and there are lots and lots of opportunities for kids after school and it's just a very welcoming environment.

I think sometimes the hostility towards parental involvement happens because the parents who want to be involved are part of a minority group within the school, and the administration pushes back to protect the interests of the majority group which, for a variety of reasons, has parents who are less likely to be heavily involved at the school. That was the case at our old school. I have mixed feelings about it.

Your experience is not universal. I'm the PP who said that in retrospect we were super annoying and I can now understand the principal's push back. We were a wealthy suburban school.

PTA parents are annoying and need to get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DCPS Title 1 was like this and we left. We are now at another DCPS and the principal works closely with the PTA and there are lots and lots of opportunities for kids after school and it's just a very welcoming environment.

I think sometimes the hostility towards parental involvement happens because the parents who want to be involved are part of a minority group within the school, and the administration pushes back to protect the interests of the majority group which, for a variety of reasons, has parents who are less likely to be heavily involved at the school. That was the case at our old school. I have mixed feelings about it.

Your experience is not universal. I'm the PP who said that in retrospect we were super annoying and I can now understand the principal's push back. We were a wealthy suburban school.

PTA parents are annoying and need to get a life.

I didn't say my experience was universal. I was responding to people saying there was no way the school in question could be a DCPS. I was explaining that some DCPS schools are like this and trying to offer an explanation as to why.

I actually agree with you that often the PTA can be annoying and that some of the very involved parents need to "get a life." Since moving to this new school, there have been many moments where I have quietly rolled my eyes at the invented problems of some of the parents at this school and their overzealous "advocacy" on these issues on the PTA or with the administration. However, I think this is outweighed by the benefit to the kids and community of having involved parents. Having experienced both, a school with a lot of parental involvement leads to better communication at all levels, fewer conflicts, and happier kids. I literally see it happening. Is it annoying sometimes? Sure. Has it resulted in my kid just feeling more welcome and involved, a decrease in clique-y behavior by kids and families, and just an overall more welcoming environment. No question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't call PTA bothersome but I wish the Principals would establish boundaries and be firm. We had way too many neighborhood mommies in the classroom.

Our school allows no parents in the classroom or school ever. You see your child's classroom for 30 minutes the day before school starts, if you miss that day your out of luck. Back to school night doesnt even take place in the classroom. Just the gym or multipurpose room. Parents aren't allowed to plan class parties or be mystery readers. You need tickets to attend the one school wide event parents are allowed to a year. It's awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't call PTA bothersome but I wish the Principals would establish boundaries and be firm. We had way too many neighborhood mommies in the classroom.

Our school allows no parents in the classroom or school ever. You see your child's classroom for 30 minutes the day before school starts, if you miss that day your out of luck. Back to school night doesnt even take place in the classroom. Just the gym or multipurpose room. Parents aren't allowed to plan class parties or be mystery readers. You need tickets to attend the one school wide event parents are allowed to a year. It's awful.

I actually think this is great. Parents shouldn’t be in the classroom

[Anonymous]

Yes, this reminds me of an annoying Girl Scout leader (and I have been a Girl Scout leader myself) who kept scheduling meetings and social events for after school on half days, when all kids with working parents were already signed up for aftercare. Their parents, including myself, could not get them to the meetings or the extra social event, like roller skating, playground meet-up (at a playground just over the fence from the school so the girls who could not attend could peer over the fence at the luckier girls at the playground), etc. She kept saying she was doing it “for the love of the girls,” but I would have rather she just skipped the whole thing because it created this huge social problem for me and my child, who desperately wanted to go.

[Anonymous]

Our principal works closely with the PTA because the PTA is a major source of funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over involved parents can be so annoying, disruptive, and pushy. I don't blame the principal.

So the answer is to dissolve the PTA? We all know that all the best schools have no PTA.

I was a PTA officer for several years at a top performing NOVA public with a principal who didn't like overly involved parents. We survived. In hindsight, however, the PTA was a colossal waste of time that did very little to advance the actual academic mission of the school. We were just annoying busy bodies.

ALL Principals have mixed feelings about parent involvement, even the ones who gush about how helpful the parents are. Some parents are indeed super helpful: they keep their head down and work for the good of the kids and staff. Others are there for virtue signaling, social engineering, spying on certain "problem children", or "problem staff", telling tales, and just ruin it for the rest.

I was PTA officer for many years in a great MCPS public school. The Principal and Assistant Principal were incredibly hard-working and attuned to the needs of their school. They tried to retain the most efficient, low-drama parents, and did their best to avoid the flaky or dramatic ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, The PTA wants to do really outrageous and awful things like host a free family picnic for the school community on the school grounds or allow scouts to meet after school in the building.

Sometimes these events pose an insurance hazard for the school or governing organization for the school.
The scouts probably need to also have insurance that covers their presence and usage of school property as they are technically an outside organization.
There are lots of annoying logistics like that and principals dont need to put hours that they should be devoting to their core job towards frivolous events that provide an excuse for parents to socialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, The PTA wants to do really outrageous and awful things like host a free family picnic for the school community on the school grounds or allow scouts to meet after school in the building.

Sometimes these events pose an insurance hazard for the school or governing organization for the school.
The scouts probably need to also have insurance that covers their presence and usage of school property as they are technically an outside organization.
There are lots of annoying logistics like that and principals dont need to put hours that they should be devoting to their core job towards frivolous events that provide an excuse for parents to socialize.

NP: Well, maybe the Principal could bother to explain that to OP if that is actuallly the case.

[Anonymous]

Our GS troop meets at school. DCPS.