Teacher Appreciation week - is this the norm these days?

[Anonymous]

Interested in whether this is the norm these days or if I'm totally out to lunch in thinking my kid's preschool is going overboard with teacher appreciation week...

Preschool director sent out an email to all of the parents re: teacher appreciation month late this month. My kid has 3 teachers, and the email asked us to contribute via two separate links to a gift card fund plus a teacher lunch. Email didn't specify a suggested $ amount for either fun. Then, there was a schedule of events for the week with suggested items for us to bring each day. Monday, bring each teacher their favorite flower, Tuesday, bring them their favorite snack or drink, Wednesday bring them their favorite brand of pens, and so on (included was a list of each teacher's favorite flower, fave snack, etc.). It was this schedule of events that practically made me fall out of my chair, it was so overwhelming.

I'm all for recognizing teachers for the important and challenging work they do, but this seems like an awful lot of coordination and work... I'm inclined to politely say that I plan to give each individual teacher a gift card and a nice note. And that we won't be participating in the "extras". Is that rude? I really do respect the school and the work they do, but this just seemed "off".

For reference, this is a private, 4 mornings a week preschool. Not full-time care. I have a much older child who went through a different preschool years ago. As I recall, for teacher appreciation week, a parent collected $5 from each family for a catered teacher luncheon, and then we were on our own to bring a gift card, flowers, or whatever we wanted.

Have times changed? Or is this school just going overboard? Or am I a scrooge?

[Anonymous]

My preschool has never done anything for teacher appreciation week.

[Anonymous]

Sounds what many UMC elementary schools do. I work in a Title One school and our admin pays for a Panera lunch. That's it.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago when my kids were in preschool, I encountered the same thing and I felt just like you op. They had a specific starbucks drink one day, each kid bring a single flower the next day to make a bouquet (why wouldn't they buy one bouquet and split that up for the kids instead of each parent trying to get a flower?) And each day got more ridiculous. I don't mind all the gift giving but why make things complicated and overly directed/specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interested in whether this is the norm these days or if I'm totally out to lunch in thinking my kid's preschool is going overboard with teacher appreciation week...

Preschool director sent out an email to all of the parents re: teacher appreciation month late this month. My kid has 3 teachers, and the email asked us to contribute via two separate links to a gift card fund plus a teacher lunch. Email didn't specify a suggested $ amount for either fun. Then, there was a schedule of events for the week with suggested items for us to bring each day. Monday, bring each teacher their favorite flower, Tuesday, bring them their favorite snack or drink, Wednesday bring them their favorite brand of pens, and so on (included was a list of each teacher's favorite flower, fave snack, etc.). It was this schedule of events that practically made me fall out of my chair, it was so overwhelming.

I'm all for recognizing teachers for the important and challenging work they do, but this seems like an awful lot of coordination and work... I'm inclined to politely say that I plan to give each individual teacher a gift card and a nice note. And that we won't be participating in the "extras". Is that rude? I really do respect the school and the work they do, but this just seemed "off".

For reference, this is a private, 4 mornings a week preschool. Not full-time care. I have a much older child who went through a different preschool years ago. As I recall, for teacher appreciation week, a parent collected $5 from each family for a catered teacher luncheon, and then we were on our own to bring a gift card, flowers, or whatever we wanted.

Have times changed? Or is this school just going overboard? Or am I a scrooge?

I’m a teacher and agree this is way too much.

[Anonymous]

Our preschool used to do this much, but it's a full-day school.

[Anonymous]

Our prior preschool did smth like this a few years ago.

I interpreted the lists as aspirational, i.e. not everyone is required to bring every single item each day.

I contributed $ for gift cards and brought flowers for the teachers and the admin one day.

[Anonymous]

We are in DC and our charter did this for ECE. We did not do gift cards but families contributed food for a big lunch and stocked the fridge in the teachers lounge. Everything is optional. You can do none of it, some of it, or all. Do whatever works for your family.

The daily things asked was a flower so they would have a bouquet, a fruit another day so they would have a fruit basket, and so forth. We did it and it was easy to pick up on our grocery run. It didn’t cost a lot and really made the teachers day/week.

[Anonymous]

When my kids were in preschool 1/2 day, we encountered the same thing. It was overwhelming for me. I did the flowers and the candy (which was easy enough - just picked flowers from the tree nearby and gave a candy bar). I ignored the rest and at the end of the week, gave the teacher a gift of my choosing in a gift bag (not what they suggested - spa day gift bag, movie day gift bag etc).

What I noticed was very few parents even gave a gift.

[Anonymous]

PP here. What I suggest is do whatever you want OP. You do not have to follow their suggestions. If you want to give a gift on the last day of that week, I'm sure the teachers will appreciate even that, considering a lot of families do not do anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago when my kids were in preschool, I encountered the same thing and I felt just like you op. They had a specific starbucks drink one day, each kid bring a single flower the next day to make a bouquet (why wouldn't they buy one bouquet and split that up for the kids instead of each parent trying to get a flower?) And each day got more ridiculous. I don't mind all the gift giving but why make things complicated and overly directed/specific.

I'm picturing the teacher receiving 12 or 15 identical Frappucinos in one day.

I'm sorry to inform you that your preschool is just a little bit extra.

[Anonymous]

When my kids were in full-day daycare, the school had a schedule of events that looked similar to that. Yes it was overwhelming. I don’t know how much participation they really got, it’s a lot of stuff for working parents to coordinate vs. just contributing for a group/class gift or giving the teachers a card/gift card.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and agree this is all over the top. It's nice to recognize Teacher Appreciation Week-- a catered lunch is lovely. Nothing more needed. Maybe a card or drawing from your child if you're so inclined.

[Anonymous]

Yes this is what our preschool and ES do. It’s voluntary but participation seems high. I find it over the top.

[Anonymous]

Typical of UMC/UC preschools here. If there’s high participation, you might get the side-eye from other parents if you don’t contribute at all. However, since at least half of the kids are usually with nannies or APs, it’s less likely to be noticed.