Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kindergarten orientation is usually held on a Monday afternoon. Since the kids get out early on Mondays, it's really the perfect time to bring in the rising K students so they can experience the classroom. The rising K students are dropped off in one of the K classrooms and participate in some activities with the K teachers while the parents attend a meeting next door. Yes, I had to take the afternoon off work, but I thought it was wonderful that my son got a chance to see it all and meet the teachers before the fall.

Ours did this last Monday.School lets out at 1:30 and K-orientation was at 2pm. My husband and I both took an half day and then got our child out of pre-K and brought them to the orientation. It was just 1 half day off of work and NO Big deal since we had time to plan for it. Plus our kid was soooooooooo excited about it!!!!

Not all elementary schools are so inconsiderate to working parents. Our orientation is at 6pm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, and yes, I actually am surprised it is held during the day. It has been a while since I was in school, but at that time, there was no such thing as an orientation, and things like parent-teacher conferences and open houses were held in the evenings so parents could attend without having to take a day off work. And I would think that during school hours that the teachers and staff would be occupied teaching, not dealing with a few hundred visitors. (Then again, back then you only had to bring your own school supplies, not supplies for the class as a whole -- times have changed!) Guess I'll talk to the school to find out a bit more about what they plan to do to figure out how worth it our attendance would be.

OP, I think you are going to need to adjust your attitude and expectations or everything will rub you the wrong way. Your child doesn't have to go to this event. You can register them whenever you want up until school starts. If you are that averse to taking a half-day off work, perhaps public school isn't for you. Neither will private school for that matter since they have many events during the day since there are many SAHMs and parents with more flexible schedules. Parent teacher conferences will be during the day for the next 7 yrs while your child is in ES just so you know. Trust me, the school really won't miss you if you don't attend this. I don't mean that to be rude but it is the truth. This is not about you. School is not free childcare. Occasionally you, as a parent, will need to participate during daytime hours. I work hourly and don't get paid when I don't work and even I don't have a problem with the 3-4 times per year I am expected to attend an event during the day (American Education Week, one field trip per year, 2 parent teacher conferences, etc).

AMEN!!!

Anonymous wrote:OP here, and yes, I actually am surprised it is held during the day. It has been a while since I was in school, but at that time, there was no such thing as an orientation, and things like parent-teacher conferences and open houses were held in the evenings so parents could attend without having to take a day off work. And I would think that during school hours that the teachers and staff would be occupied teaching, not dealing with a few hundred visitors. (Then again, back then you only had to bring your own school supplies, not supplies for the class as a whole -- times have changed!) Guess I'll talk to the school to find out a bit more about what they plan to do to figure out how worth it our attendance would be.

OP, I think you are going to need to adjust your attitude and expectations or everything will rub you the wrong way. Your child doesn't have to go to this event. You can register them whenever you want up until school starts. If you are that averse to taking a half-day off work, perhaps public school isn't for you. Neither will private school for that matter since they have many events during the day since there are many SAHMs and parents with more flexible schedules. Parent teacher conferences will be during the day for the next 7 yrs while your child is in ES just so you know. Trust me, the school really won't miss you if you don't attend this. I don't mean that to be rude but it is the truth. This is not about you. School is not free childcare. Occasionally you, as a parent, will need to participate during daytime hours. I work hourly and don't get paid when I don't work and even I don't have a problem with the 3-4 times per year I am expected to attend an event during the day (American Education Week, one field trip per year, 2 parent teacher conferences, etc).

At our school, Kindergarten orientation is usually held on a Monday afternoon. Since the kids get out early on Mondays, it's really the perfect time to bring in the rising K students so they can experience the classroom. The rising K students are dropped off in one of the K classrooms and participate in some activities with the K teachers while the parents attend a meeting next door. Yes, I had to take the afternoon off work, but I thought it was wonderful that my son got a chance to see it all and meet the teachers before the fall.

Open houses are held the thursday or friday before the kids go back and are always held during the day.

You will find that things at school and mostly held during school hours. Conferences will be held during the day or before school (teachers don't want to hang around after school for that). Class parties, field trips needing chaperones etc... all during school hours. Many times in the middle of the day. That's just the way it is.

OP here, and yes, I actually am surprised it is held during the day. It has been a while since I was in school, but at that time, there was no such thing as an orientation, and things like parent-teacher conferences and open houses were held in the evenings so parents could attend without having to take a day off work. And I would think that during school hours that the teachers and staff would be occupied teaching, not dealing with a few hundred visitors. (Then again, back then you only had to bring your own school supplies, not supplies for the class as a whole -- times have changed!) Guess I'll talk to the school to find out a bit more about what they plan to do to figure out how worth it our attendance would be.

I am a principal of an FCPS elementary school. The kindergarten orientation at my school is scheduled at 9:15am. That time choice is mostly about accommodating children. Rising students will visit several classrooms with their parents and actually participate in an activity with a teacher while current students are doing another activity with a second teacher. Parents can watch both their child and current students simultaneously as well as ask questions. If we wait until the afternoon, we risk putting rising kids in a tough situation as many still need a nap or rest time. And the evening is out because the current students wouldn't be available. There will be another orientation event in August that is held in the early evening. Kids can visit their classrooms and parents can get information to make the start of school a success.

The reality is that schools will never be able to accommodate everyone's schedule. I'm a working mom of 2 elementary aged kids, and sometimes I have take leave to attend events, and sometimes I have to miss them. I assume that folks planning events have positive intentions and are doing their best to meet many competing needs.

Wait, you're surprised that a school is doing orientation during school hours?

It is good that you are experiencing this early. It isn't about you. The time probably works best for the school's schedule, not yours because again, it isn't about you. Don't go if it is that big of a hassle but just get used to things being held during the day.

I am very glad we went to ours last year. We thought we were really going to like our public school and we ended up being very turned off. My child was very uncomfortable w the large environment...we ended up going to private and did not expect to...so glad we did.

Its worthwhile to go if you can. Agree with PP. This is just one of many meetings not convenient to working parents.

Welcome to FCPS. Fairly typical to not consider working parent schedules. Our school has annual open house at like 10am. Massively inconvenient.

Go to orientation. Not much to learn, but helps introduce kids to the setting, etc.

We just received our information about orientation for K in the fall, and were suprised to see it is in the middle of the afternoon -- not exactly convenient for working parents. Can anyone who has gone through this let us know what exactly goes on at orientation, and how important it is to attend?