Forum Index
»
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
are school supply lists ALWAYS this bad?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
OP again - I will check with the PTA people. I have already been in contact with them about a couple other things since we put in the contract on the house we are buying. No harm in emailing again. That would SUCK if I missed my chance to take the easy route just because we didn't know where we would be moving in May. I will reiterate, though - we close on both houses on the 31st, have the open house at the school on the 2nd and start school on the 6th. I REALLY do not see us having time to run all over town the weekend after moving and before school starts to track down these items. It will be all we can do to get food into the house to make lunches for my daughter's first week of school. |
Anonymous
| Another one who just buys the kit through the PTA and is done with it. I used to get so frustrated with the scavenger hunt in August, that I was willing to pay a premium to just have it done with. |
Anonymous
OP, this is not an emergency. If you kid has notebooks, folders, and something to write with for the first week, she will be FINE. They barely do anything the first week of school anyway. If you have to send in these super-special twisty crayons or a bottle of hand sanitizer or a pack of dry erase markers the following week, so be it. |
Anonymous
|
OP - I saw this and thought of you:
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/crayola/twistables_colored_pencils_30_ct.cfm 30 of the large Twistables for less than $10. Fat Brain Toys is great! |
Anonymous
| I'm kicking myself for not ordering the PTA pack this year -- I thought I could save money and I remember it being fun when I was a kid. Now I've been to many stores and cannot find all the items -- orange poly folders, anyone? Target keeps having empty bins of the stuff I need and the associate says I should just come back again that day or week to see if stuff has been re-stocked. |
Anonymous
|
OMG, OP....you've really got a hellish few weeks. As a GBW parent who knows the Kindie staff as well as the PTA people....don't worry! I'm sure everything will work out fine.
In the meantime, good luck with your move. |
Anonymous
| 13:40--Didya try Walmart? |
Anonymous
| 13:40 here -- I did not try Walmart but was thinking just today that maybe I need to. I never go there, have no idea where one is and would certainly have to drive farther than I'd like to find one! But, I also need bullet tip low-odor dry-erase markers that have been nowhere to be found... |
Anonymous
| Where does one get alcohol-free hand sanitizer? I couldn't find it at Target, and everything on the internet was extremely expensive. |
Anonymous
I went to the Walmart in Fair Lakes last week and got everything on my very specific Arlington 1st grader's list including Twistables colored pencils (2 packs) AND large glue sticks. Saved a bunch of money, too. |
Anonymous
| I've always had good Luck at Walmart for most of the supplies. The rest of it I get at Staples, or Office Depot. |
Anonymous
| I have a 4th and an upcoming K, and we are starting our 4th elementary school in 3 states. Every school asks for these crazy specific lists, and guess what happens? They only use 1/3 of each notebook, the crayons get dumped into a giant can for the class, and the gluesticks run out so quickly that half way through the year they are begging parents to send in ANY kind/brand. I have started to rebel...they ask for a blue notebook, we get a blue Bumblebee transformer notebook. (It is mostly going to be used as a sketch book next summer) Giant glue sticks? The small ones are like 25 cents for a 4 pack, so I send in 10 for the class. One year my neice's class required 8 pack crayolas ($1+ each). The 24 packs were a quarter. My sister just got the cheaper ones, and pulled the additional crayolas from the pack. Guess what? No complaints from the teachers, my kid still learns, and school supply shopping is fun once again. I think they make the list so specific and difficult so that more people will purchase the overpriced PTA boxes (a big fundraiser for most schools). |
Anonymous
Glad to hear this!! I'm a pretty serious couponer and most of the supplies I bought last year and this year were for a penny (big at Staples) but many are "off" just a little from the K supply list I have. So, I will now have no hesitation in sending in 2 smaller bottles of Elmer's glue instead of the 1 larger bottle they have requested. I got them for 1 cent each so I will give them up to 25 if they like (the limit I was allowed to buy at Staples). Feeling much better now about this list! |
Anonymous
|
Teachers will be HAPPY with what you send in. Not all students bring in supplies. I have had students come in with nothing and I supplied them with notebooks/papers/pencils etc.
Yes, teachers shop the sales too! I stock up on paper, pencils, glue, kleenex etc. as kids will use up their supplies during the school year. It is easier for me to supplement from my own stock versus asking parents for more. |
Anonymous
| OP, don't stress yourself out about it. The supplies all go in one big pile. The teacher won't even know which ones are yours. Seriously, I sorted through the supplies at my daughter's school last year, and several of them were not "the" brand the school requested. IT DOES NOT MATTER. One year, I was supposed to buy a ream of card stock. It was like $13, and I figured I'd wait to buy it and get a better deal after a few weeks. Then I forgot about it and never did buy it. I don't know what the heck they needed all of that card stock for, but I've never seen it on any of the grade lists at our school again. Don't stress about it AT ALL. Bring what you can. And then halfway through the year if they ask for more you can donate then. |