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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Does your MCPS elementary school still do Halloween?
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Anonymous
Did parents talk about it with the Principal, or the PTA? It does seem to be the trend that MCPS are taking away Halloween. I'm surprised it hit Bells Mill, because that is relatively affluent school. What happened?? |
Anonymous
Even to the extent that is true, I don't think that justifies canceling Halloween. It is simply a fact of life that there are differences in economic circumstances, among many other things. Not everything needs to be adjusted to the lowest common denominator of opportunity, especially when there are other ways to alleviate some of the disparities. |
Anonymous
But they have a parade—I’m the OP, and I’m loosely defining Halloween as costumes and recognition. When I said “our school” in my OP, I meant the school where I teach, where is also where my kids go to school. The FARMS rate is fairly high, and we go back and forth to Title I year to year. FARMS kids enjoy Halloween as much as anyone. Costumes can be expensive, but they don’t have to be, and their parents know how to put things together on the cheap if necessary. Our counselor and other staff have resources to get costume donations into the hands of kids who need them. PreK and Head Start teachers have dress up accessories for students who don’t have costumes. This year, several kids wore costumes made up by teachers on the fly. Several teachers even plan class costumes and provide all the materials needed to make them—so everybody who doesn’t opt out of celebration can join in. Additionally, we do have some kids who don’t celebrate due to religion. They do the alternate activity. Their parents, by and large, do not send angry letters about Halloween. They just send their kids to the alternate activity. While it may seem well intentioned, I truly believe the notion of ending Halloween to “respect” those who don’t celebrate, or be considerate of poor kids with no costumes, does those students a disservice and makes em a scapegoat for taking away others’ fun. The arguments in my school to scale back Halloween or end it completely have generally come from a place of not wanting to be bothered with what is often a huge logistics hassle. Parents have to sign in with identification, the parking lot is a mess, people park in restricted areas, parents linger and slow down dismissal, they bring younger siblings that can bring more noise and chaos, plus with the actual party, the food is often hit or miss. Even with sign ups, parents send in random items, and it’s on teachers to fill in the gaps. None of these things is a disaster, but it does add stress and I can sometimes see the appeal of not having to deal with any of it. Several staff have insisted that were one of the “only” schools that still celebrates, but from even this small sample, I can see that isn’t true. Thankfully, in my opinion. |
Anonymous
| I teach at a high FARMs school. We used to have a Halloween party and an alternate activity but around 10 years ago we switched to a Harvest party with no costumes or parade or anything. The interesting thing is that the families who are truly opposed to Halloween keep their kids home on October 31. I guess they are concerned that there will be something Halloween related. The absence rate is historically pretty high on that day. |
Anonymous
| I teach at Flower Hill. High FARMs, lots of students from immigrant families, and we do Halloween, with costumes and parade. |
Anonymous
| Bumping this. Would love to hear what MoCo school have planned for Halloween 2021! |
Anonymous
Dying to know if "friendsgiving" at Snowden Farm is still a thing! We're having an outdoor parade for families, fun activity in classrooms, no food, no parent volunteers in the classroom, possibly a goody bag sent home in backpacks. |
Anonymous
| Halloween is 1,000 years old and started in Europe. |
Anonymous
No Halloween at my DS’ elementary school. Just got notice in the newsletter this week. |
Anonymous
| Halloween that we aren’t allowed to call Halloween… however, the kids can dress up after lunch. No idea why they can’t just wear their costumes all day to save some time and hassle. If there’s a face mask involved, leave it off until the parade. This isn’t rocket science but here we are… |
Anonymous
| No Halloween this year at my kids school in SS. Fall festival celebrations with no costumes, no parade, no mention of Halloween. Teachers don’t want it. |
Anonymous
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Name the school, please. This is an anonymous forum, so there's no reason why you can't name the school.
Halloween is a fun tradition, and I hope our schools don't abandon it out of laziness ("it's a hassle") or some misguided pandering to the small minority of people who erroneously believe it's a religious/satanic holiday. |
Anonymous
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This thread prompted me to check our school website, and apparently "New this year!" they are doing a trunk or treat on Friday the 29th (presumably at night).
Way to ruin the fun of the annual Halloween parade and class party! I don't know if this is the new principal's idea or the PTA's idea. I wonder if they've thought about the fact that the parking lot simply isn't large enough to accommodate all families. So, they are creating a situation where the Type A moms will stake out spots for themselves and their pals. That's not really a welcoming environment. FWIW, this is not a school where people don't celebrate for religious reasons. Everyone celebrates Halloween. |
Anonymous
Added Stone Mill to the Yes list. There will be a parade at the end of the day on Friday, and apparently a classroom party as well. We received a note from PTA asking for donation - $15 for Halloween and Valentine's Day parties. |
Anonymous
Ours is still TBD but sounds unlikely. Principal is considering a weekend Halloween Zoom option if the in person festivities are cancelled. 
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