Anonymous wrote:I'm sure it varies by family but my guess most give items or gift cards between $15 and $50. We do $20 gift cards but hit all the teachers (pe, art, school admin. Etc,) for 2 kids so we end up spending $300-350 total.

$150+ per kid?? The St. Mary’s hater is going to lose their sh!t. 😂

(For the record, that’s about what our gifts come out to, as well.)

Anonymous wrote:St Mary’s asks for $50 PER CHILD. It’s absurd. So if you have 4 kids at the school, that’s $200 just for gifts from the family.

And most classes have 27 kids. So that’s $1350 for gifts. Very nice.

Not including the expense for all the parties where you’re asked to bring in cakes, trinkets, prayer cards (which nobody reads), blah blah blah.

Out of control. $$$$$$, all the time. Constantly.

Are you for real? I can't imagine begrudging any teacher a bonus. Catholic school teachers are paid peanuts to teach classes as big as public school. Stop being so Grinchy and just factor it in to the cost of tuition, which is already discounted for you if you have multiple kids.

I'm sure it varies by family but my guess most give items or gift cards between $15 and $50. We do $20 gift cards but hit all the teachers (pe, art, school admin. Etc,) for 2 kids so we end up spending $300-350 total.

I do $20 gift cards for each MS teacher at Christmas with a Christmas card. I don’t do anything for teacher appreciation week. I did in ES.
Christian pre-K-8.

Is a certain amount required? Or is it a suggestion?

Teachers always claim the handwritten notes from kids mean the most to them. Test that theory - let us know.

At my school, it ranges. Sometimes a $5 gift card, sometimes a $50 gift card. Occasionally more. It’s significantly fallen off in recent years, feels like a deliberate attempt by the PTA as they told parents previously NOT to give gifts to the teachers.

Anonymous wrote:IRS rule for receiving gifts. Any gifts given by a PTO/PTA are considered taxable income for teachers. Gifts from individual parents or students are not considered taxable. Just saying!

I’ve never been at a school where the PTO/PTA were responsible for collecting for or distributing gifts to teachers. This is probably why.

Not saying it never happens, I only have experience in the three schools DC has attended.

IRS rule for receiving gifts. Any gifts given by a PTO/PTA are considered taxable income for teachers. Gifts from individual parents or students are not considered taxable. Just saying!

Anonymous wrote:St Mary’s asks for $50 PER CHILD. It’s absurd. So if you have 4 kids at the school, that’s $200 just for gifts from the family.

And most classes have 27 kids. So that’s $1350 for gifts. Very nice.

Not including the expense for all the parties where you’re asked to bring in cakes, trinkets, prayer cards (which nobody reads), blah blah blah.

Out of control. $$$$$$, all the time. Constantly.

You begrudge your child’s teachers $50 for a gift? Wow. So charitable and Christian of you.

St Mary’s asks for $50 PER CHILD. It’s absurd. So if you have 4 kids at the school, that’s $200 just for gifts from the family.

And most classes have 27 kids. So that’s $1350 for gifts. Very nice.

Not including the expense for all the parties where you’re asked to bring in cakes, trinkets, prayer cards (which nobody reads), blah blah blah.

Out of control. $$$$$$, all the time. Constantly.

Starbucks gift cards are usually a win.

Barnes & Noble.

The two schools DC attended covering through 8th grade had opposite policies.

The first (nursery to 4th) did class gifts, were the room parent collected from the other families and the money was split between the class teachers, with a percentage set aside for specialists and floating staff. Everyone signed a card for each teacher.

The second (4-8) specifically disallowed group gifts. For those, we got small Amazon or Target gift cards for each and DC made small gifts — painted/marbled bookmarks, small ornament/window light catchers, etc.

New to private school. DD is now at a private K-8 and came from public ES. There was a $20 limit on teacher's gifts so we got the teachers Amazon gift cards and she made homemade greeting cards with a nice note for each teacher including specials (so about 5-6 teachers including PE, music, art, etc). What do most do in private school?