Does your MCPS elementary school still do Halloween?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Snowden Farm ES is doing "Friendsgiving" instead of a Halloween celebration. Interesting call by the principal since almost all of SFES kids came from Wims last year, and Wims celebrates Halloween. Even more of an interesting call because SFES has no 5th grade this year since they got to finish at Wims and so a lot of families have their 5th grader going to a school where Halloween is celebrated and younger siblings go to a school where it's not. Some families were especially unhappy about that piece.


That's is completely weird!


Yup. Principal wanted to make it clear right off the bat that SFES is not Wims 2.0. Weird flex, but she's the boss.

Well this is stupid. She had better hope that she never gets transferred to one of the W feeder schools where the parents would eat her alive.

[Anonymous]

As I said, most "no Halloween" schools are due to the admins flexing their muscle.

[Anonymous]

Candlewood ES
Fall Party
No Costumes

[Anonymous]

Fairland ES, regular Halloween

[Anonymous]

Yes, parade, party and games etc. So many parents attend, that I don't see there ever not being one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because some of us go to diverse schools where children do not celebrate Halloween for religious reasons. Separating them for an alternate activity may or may not work depending on who then has to supervise them and resources/space available.

I'm the PP you replied to. Diversity is really and truly not the excuse. We are French, our elementary has over 60 nations represented, and as you know, Halloween is mostly an Anglo-Saxon tradition (UK, USA, etc). Yet we all love Halloween because costumes have a special draw for children, and we see how happy our kids are. I lived in the UK and understand the celtic roots of Halloween. There are extremely few families who refuse to celebrate for religious reasons (since Halloween is not a celebration of evil, as anyone with any knowledge of history will know).

I agree there can be too much sugar, but that's more a matter for every parent to police at home. My kids never eat all their candy.

So the schools who choose to ban Halloween are doing it for other reasons.

[Anonymous]

East silver spring does not. Neither does TPES to my knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Yes at Bannockburn ES in Bethesda. Parade, parties, and costumes and throngs of parents during the school day. An alternative activity was available to those who don’t celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Snowden Farm ES is doing "Friendsgiving" instead of a Halloween celebration. Interesting call by the principal since almost all of SFES kids came from Wims last year, and Wims celebrates Halloween. Even more of an interesting call because SFES has no 5th grade this year since they got to finish at Wims and so a lot of families have their 5th grader going to a school where Halloween is celebrated and younger siblings go to a school where it's not. Some families were especially unhappy about that piece.


That's is completely weird!


Yup. Principal wanted to make it clear right off the bat that SFES is not Wims 2.0. Weird flex, but she's the boss.

Well this is stupid. She had better hope that she never gets transferred to one of the W feeder schools where the parents would eat her alive.

Parents *are* eating her alive. She's deflecting the blame onto the school leadership team. Classic MCPS administrator move. No accountability for their own decisions.

[Anonymous]

Galway ES. Our principal refuses traditional halloween. Stated reason is that the school is too diverse. I think we have a nice compromise. Last Friday was Fall Harvest parties in the classroom (no costumes). That evening was a PTA sponsored Harvest party where costumes were allowed. Today was just a regular day

[Anonymous]

Oakland Terrace: classroom parties with costumes, activities, etc. No parade. Teachers and admin dressed up. They had an alternate activity for children who don't celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because some of us go to diverse schools where children do not celebrate Halloween for religious reasons. Separating them for an alternate activity may or may not work depending on who then has to supervise them and resources/space available.

I'm the PP you replied to. Diversity is really and truly not the excuse. We are French, our elementary has over 60 nations represented, and as you know, Halloween is mostly an Anglo-Saxon tradition (UK, USA, etc). Yet we all love Halloween because costumes have a special draw for children, and we see how happy our kids are. I lived in the UK and understand the celtic roots of Halloween. There are extremely few families who refuse to celebrate for religious reasons (since Halloween is not a celebration of evil, as anyone with any knowledge of history will know).

I agree there can be too much sugar, but that's more a matter for every parent to police at home. My kids never eat all their candy.

So the schools who choose to ban Halloween are doing it for other reasons.

There are different kinds of ‘diversity’. If you are a French immigrant, are you and your DH both college-educated? Are you super religious?

We are at a Silver Spring school, lower-income with a high population of African immigrants (from Africa) and Latin American immigrants. Many of the African immigrants are devoutly Muslim and many of the Latin American immigrants are devoutly Catholic/Christian. IME, many of these immigrants who are super religious really disapprove of Halloween. They don’t care about their kids being ‘happy’ and don’t have an understanding of the roots oh Halloween. (Even less so now that the school isn’t allowed to teach about it.)

So your higher-income diverse friends might support Halloween. But not all people from other countries embrace it.

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad that I don't live in one of those "DIVERSE" communities that HATE HALLOWEEN. That's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad that I don't live in one of those "DIVERSE" communities that HATE HALLOWEEN. That's crazy.

What does "DIVERSE" mean?
I am in one of these communities and no one HATES HALLOWEEN. We just respect that not everyone celebrates it. And the ones that do dress up at night and trick or treat. It's a non issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because some of us go to diverse schools where children do not celebrate Halloween for religious reasons. Separating them for an alternate activity may or may not work depending on who then has to supervise them and resources/space available.

I'm the PP you replied to. Diversity is really and truly not the excuse. We are French, our elementary has over 60 nations represented, and as you know, Halloween is mostly an Anglo-Saxon tradition (UK, USA, etc). Yet we all love Halloween because costumes have a special draw for children, and we see how happy our kids are. I lived in the UK and understand the celtic roots of Halloween. There are extremely few families who refuse to celebrate for religious reasons (since Halloween is not a celebration of evil, as anyone with any knowledge of history will know).

I agree there can be too much sugar, but that's more a matter for every parent to police at home. My kids never eat all their candy.

So the schools who choose to ban Halloween are doing it for other reasons.

There are different kinds of ‘diversity’. If you are a French immigrant, are you and your DH both college-educated? Are you super religious?

We are at a Silver Spring school, lower-income with a high population of African immigrants (from Africa) and Latin American immigrants. Many of the African immigrants are devoutly Muslim and many of the Latin American immigrants are devoutly Catholic/Christian. IME, many of these immigrants who are super religious really disapprove of Halloween. They don’t care about their kids being ‘happy’ and don’t have an understanding of the roots oh Halloween. (Even less so now that the school isn’t allowed to teach about it.)

So your higher-income diverse friends might support Halloween. But not all people from other countries embrace it.

But they came here to take part in America, not to drag down silly local traditions because of their religious orthodoxy. That is why I pay not to live around poor people. If they don’t embrace it they are welcome to take on a couple of extra shifts on their Uber while others have fun.