Front office admins at the schools, why are they so rude

[Anonymous]

I asked if it was Bethesda. The front desk there was so bad when we were there that she(one was particularly nasty) yelled at a parent his child is not going to this school. She was yelling, talking down to him and explaining it so "he can understand her English"(Her words). I think she was extra nasty as it look like dad was Hispanic and he was dressed in blue collar clothes. His dd was finishing BE, and he didn't realize that they either moved, or country did something to boundary in the mean time, and their assignment changed to their younger kid. I think it was boundaries as this was years ago. Still feeding into same MS. I couldn't understand why all this couldn't have been explain in a nice voice. He was not yelling or obnoxious, he was extremely polite even after she acted like a total jerk.
She was evil to me to, I am from Europe and have an accent and we went thought international admission(some dumb rule cs kids are fluent in English) all the papers for kids were in a huge envelope and international office admission told me this is our assigned school, just bring this there, all is good... She proceeded to demand all the paperwork in originals, again, even though it has a stamps and a signature and all was in the envelope. By this point I was so fed up with MCPS, that I carried all the originals with me everywhere. We moved to upper MoCo later, and people were lovely at schools up there. But, I will say that at Westland MS where DS was, front desk people were lovely too. MCPS international admissions and BE was just nasty and nuts.

[Anonymous]

I know why they are no they so nice at my school. All day long they are bombarded with everything. There is rarely a time they are not overwhelmed. They have awful parents yelling at them, they have to babysit naughty students while they wait for an admin to show up and the damn bells alerting them to open 5 different doors is enough to make anyone crazy. They also rotate cafeteria duty so all of that makes them grumpy.

[Anonymous]

I've never had an issue. Maybe you have an attitude they pick up on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our schools office is sweet and helpful *shrug

Same. I find it so odd that you have had this experience at ONE school and you generalize it to “the schools.”

+1. Office staff at our DCPS elementary school are so nice.

[Anonymous]

The job of a receptionist entails constant interruption. It also entails pleasantly greeting people vs ignoring them when they walk in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is our first year in the public schools (elementary school - previously kids were in Catholic school which had its own different set of problems). I’m not at my kid’s school too much, but when I’m there I’m shocked at the attitude of the front office employees. They have some sort of complicated computer system to sign in, it’s an automated computer system which scans your ID and has a barely functional touch screen to select your purpose at the school. It seems like every time the prompts are a little different. And all the front desk ladies do, even mid-day when phones aren’t ringing off the hook and kids aren’t coming in a little late, is sit at their desks and shout at you “no don’t press that button ... you need to press the one below it” “you have to scan your ID - NO NOT LIKE THAT!” “It’s not PRINTING BADGES RIGHT NOW! We have to give you a STICKER!!!”

How do they get off speaking to adults that way? And if they’re that rude to adults, how are they treating the poor kids? This is at an above-average regarded elementary school too, so not a lot of behavioral or parental issues. It’s just a bad attitude from the very first interaction with the school and a presumption that every person who is visiting the school doesn’t belong or is causing a huge inconvenience.

Probably be they are constantly dealing with parents, teachers, admin, and students when they are either tardy, sick, or running late for early pick-up - and still have other responsibilities. It "looks" like an easy job but it's difficult. My advice, kill them with kindness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about Bethesda?

Mclean?

[Anonymous]

I have volunteered for years at my children's Bethesda-area public elementary.

The front desk person is OVERWORKED and on bad days needs to multitask 20 action items every single minute of the work day, especially when there are special events, substitutes, or staff absences, which means nearly every day. Our school has an incredible number of transient families, and the front desk enrolls or disenrolls students every single day.

Some hires are more grumpy than others, and we've had all kinds at our school, but I can tell you that the kindest, most patient person on earth will get stressed out at some point.

I'm not defending rude people, but I understand why their job sometimes makes them that way. Please don't take it personally. It's not even as if they were paid big bucks...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The job of a receptionist entails constant interruption. It also entails pleasantly greeting people vs ignoring them when they walk in.

Yes. If you can't handle the job plus be pleasant for the public facing part of it, find a different job. We all have difficulties and need to stay pleasant. If I started yelling at other adults at my job when they don't understand something I can easily understand, I wouldn't have a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked if it was Bethesda. The front desk there was so bad when we were there that she(one was particularly nasty) yelled at a parent his child is not going to this school. She was yelling, talking down to him and explaining it so "he can understand her English"(Her words). I think she was extra nasty as it look like dad was Hispanic and he was dressed in blue collar clothes. His dd was finishing BE, and he didn't realize that they either moved, or country did something to boundary in the mean time, and their assignment changed to their younger kid. I think it was boundaries as this was years ago. Still feeding into same MS. I couldn't understand why all this couldn't have been explain in a nice voice. He was not yelling or obnoxious, he was extremely polite even after she acted like a total jerk.
She was evil to me to, I am from Europe and have an accent and we went thought international admission(some dumb rule cs kids are fluent in English) all the papers for kids were in a huge envelope and international office admission told me this is our assigned school, just bring this there, all is good... She proceeded to demand all the paperwork in originals, again, even though it has a stamps and a signature and all was in the envelope. By this point I was so fed up with MCPS, that I carried all the originals with me everywhere. We moved to upper MoCo later, and people were lovely at schools up there. But, I will say that at Westland MS where DS was, front desk people were lovely too. MCPS international admissions and BE was just nasty and nuts.

I know exactly the one you mean. She yelled at me too at the beginning (I'm from Europe as well), but after getting to know her she became very supportive. She left last year. Yes, a very peculiar character, but not evil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The job of a receptionist entails constant interruption. It also entails pleasantly greeting people vs ignoring them when they walk in.

Yes! They just ... ignore you except to b*tch at you. At my kid’s school with the computer sign in, ok. (Except you still have to tell them what teacher you’re there to see). But I asked a friend who’s school has a sign in sheet with visitor badges given out by the front desk and even then, you walk in the office and don’t even get a “how can I help you?” I know I’ve never worked in a place where that behavior was acceptable from receptionists! It’s an elementary school - it’s supposed to be warm and nurturing. It’s not the freaking DMV or the post office.

[Anonymous]

The office staff at my child's school have always been very friendly. Just like any workplace, sometimes there will be rude people. It's silly to generalize based on one school. My child's school is in Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is our first year in the public schools (elementary school - previously kids were in Catholic school which had its own different set of problems). I’m not at my kid’s school too much, but when I’m there I’m shocked at the attitude of the front office employees. They have some sort of complicated computer system to sign in, it’s an automated computer system which scans your ID and has a barely functional touch screen to select your purpose at the school. It seems like every time the prompts are a little different. And all the front desk ladies do, even mid-day when phones aren’t ringing off the hook and kids aren’t coming in a little late, is sit at their desks and shout at you “no don’t press that button ... you need to press the one below it” “you have to scan your ID - NO NOT LIKE THAT!” “It’s not PRINTING BADGES RIGHT NOW! We have to give you a STICKER!!!”

How do they get off speaking to adults that way? And if they’re that rude to adults, how are they treating the poor kids? This is at an above-average regarded elementary school too, so not a lot of behavioral or parental issues. It’s just a bad attitude from the very first interaction with the school and a presumption that every person who is visiting the school doesn’t belong or is causing a huge inconvenience.

Why can't you be a bit patient and follow the directions on the scanner better so they don't have to yell at you (If in fact that is what is happening).

You sound like an entitled nightmare.

If they’re going to have that technology, they need to help people with it and be proactive. That type of attitude wouldn’t even be acceptable in retail, never mind in education.

All of the schools have those machines these days. The first time you use one it might take you a minute or two to figure it out. But it almost sounds like you expect the office staff to drop whatever it is they are doing to show you how to use it. The staff would get nothing else done if they constantly had to interrupt their work to "train" visitors on how to check in.

[Anonymous]

The front desk folks at my kid's current elementary school are the same, super rude. There is one lady in particular who always looks like she has a stick up her bum. The other two can be nice when they are in the mood. It's an elementary school and you are the first face most people see when they enter... cheer up! Seriously! Every day can't be that bad. We all have bad days but every single day? Sheesh!

We're leaving next year for another FCPS elementary. The front office staff there is delightful and really very helpful. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that interactions with the school will be so much more pleasant.

[Anonymous]

The sign in machine is stupid- they have a red circle around the part you cover up which is confusing and not user friendly. I'm sure the office people get tired of explaining it. I always wonder why should they have access to my driver's license info if I want to get my kid/go into the school. I don't mind them needing to check my license as in look at it to make sure I am me, but scan the barcode??? it seems too much. There should be a privacy law in place.