Anonymous wrote:Room parents love everyone to contribute to their special fund then be the one that takes all the credit turning in the large gift card from the "class". Yeah. I'm done with that.

I do not need a room parent to harass me with her emails. With the volume of funds she needs for "parties" and "class gifts" I'm sure a little may be skimmed off for her own personal Holiday cheer.

Do a favor for the parents of kids in your child's class, DO NOT ask for a Holiday Contribution!

Wow - talking shit about the room parent that does 90% of the work for your kid's class. Classy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm A room parent for an Arlington preschool, but I'd say that people either gave $20 or $0.
Give a gift card to Amazon, Target or a Visa gift card. Not Starbucks.

Spot on. And I know this is going to dredge up more holiday cheer, but please contribute to the class gift. Don't complain about wanting to do your own thing. At least give $5, OK?

We always do our own thing. Lots of people are cheap and give $5 or 0.
I don't want out gift card to be averaged in with others (who can afford to do something--face it, close in neighborhood where people can afford $10 or more)

I contribute $10 to the class gift and do my own gift for the classroom teacher plus gifts for the specials (art, pe, media, music, bus driver). Couldn't care less if folks think my $10 contribution the class gift is skimpy...

I am a room parent and asked for a suggested $30 contribution which included 10 for parties, 10 for the holiday gift, and 10 for the end of year gift. I asked that parents write what their contribution is for. 1 person only contributed to the party fund while two others only contributed to the gift fund (their children do not participate in the parties for religious reasons). All money was sent through my child's take home folder. I think it is nice having a class gift because no parent has to stress about what to give and it is cheaper than giving a gift on your own.

Room parents love everyone to contribute to their special fund then be the one that takes all the credit turning in the large gift card from the "class". Yeah. I'm done with that.

I do not need a room parent to harass me with her emails. With the volume of funds she needs for "parties" and "class gifts" I'm sure a little may be skimmed off for her own personal Holiday cheer.

Do a favor for the parents of kids in your child's class, DO NOT ask for a Holiday Contribution!

After reading the other thread there is no way I am contributing to the gift fund. Sounds like the teachers don't even want it.

Anonymous wrote:I'm A room parent for an Arlington preschool, but I'd say that people either gave $20 or $0.
Give a gift card to Amazon, Target or a Visa gift card. Not Starbucks.

Spot on. And I know this is going to dredge up more holiday cheer, but please contribute to the class gift. Don't complain about wanting to do your own thing. At least give $5, OK?

I'm A room parent for an Arlington preschool, but I'd say that people either gave $20 or $0.
Give a gift card to Amazon, Target or a Visa gift card. Not Starbucks.

PTA said it was up to each individual room parent and classroom.

One follow-on question... for those whose room parent collected, how did you send in the money? For the earlier class party, the teacher got them out of kids' folders and put them in my kid's folder, but that seems odd if the funds are for their gift.

DCPS parent here. We are collecting $35 per family for all gifts - holiday and year end for teachers and custodians.

Does your PTA provide guidance? I would start with them.

I never ask for a specific amount unless I have other expenses to cover. For instance, I take up one collection per year to cover holiday gift, teacher appreciation week, class parties, etc. For that, I ask for $25 per family.

Just let individual families do what they want and stay out of it.

s/o from another thread - MCPS teachers, according to a code of ethics they have to follow, are not allowed to accept gifts worth more than $20 per family - so if you take up a collection, the amount contributed per family cannot exceed $20.

Yes, gift cards are usually the final gift.

I'm the room parent for my DC's Kindergarten classroom. Since DC is my first child, I have no idea what's appropriate or expected of me in terms of teacher gifting at the holidays. Do room parents generally take up a collection for a holiday gift? If so, how much is appropriate to suggest parents give? Is the final gift usually a gift card, or something else? I'd love to hear what you've traditionally been asked for and how it's been spent.