Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 10:13     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Sorry but you sound a little like a PITA which is why you haven't "been selected" to volunteer for the parties, at our school they practically beg for volunteers, room parents, book sale volunteers, etc. you can volunteer to help in the cafeteria or at recess too.
I have been a room parent 3 times so far and I always send out an email asking parents to help for the parties


I was selected but other parents were not. It didn't seem fair and for a Halloween party with K kids it would not have been a problem to have 10 parents helping instead of 4. I volunteer for a lot things in the PTA because the events are fun for the kids. Bingo Night, Talent Show, picnic etc all build community and my kids love having an evening to run around with a group of friends.

However, many parents do not volunteer because the only options are social stuff, xeroxing in the office, or library duty. The closest you can get to the classroom is offering to provide reading or math assistance but you are sitting in the hall working with 1-2 kids not in the classroom. You also need to be able to provide 3 30 minute times slots between 9:30 am-11am and 2-3 pm a week so it doesn't work for working moms.
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 10:08     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
MCPS here, wife was in the classroom this morning for start of K. Have pics of DD in class already...
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 09:52     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous, you pay taxes to fund the school , you should be able to drop by to verify faculty and staff are doing their jobs.


Hey, OP - you asked why parents can't go into (some) schools? Because of parents like this one. The school must have had a critical mass of them at some point and decided it was just easier to not deal with them. Can you blame the school?
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 09:32     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:
We are in MoCo and you are always allowed to volunteer to help the teachers and volunteer for holiday parties too so it's not like you are never allowed in the room


This isn't true at our elementary school. You can't just volunteer to help at holiday parties, you have to request to be a room parent through the PTA and be selected. If you are not selected you can not go to the party to help. Room parents are restricted to only participating by running the two parties Halloween and Valentines day. There is no room parent or volunteer option to do anything inside your child's classroom. You can volunteer for many different functions but the options do not put you anywhere near your child.

At our ES I feel that the constant message from the principal is to keep the parents at bay. Parents are something to be avoided and have no role. Even at Back to School when it was raining all parents were kept outside until the exact minute when the event started. 10 minutes before it was scheduled to end, the principal came on over the PA announcing that BTS was ending promptly at X time and all parents must be out of the building by then. She then instructed teachers to say goodbye to everyone. It was just incredibly rude.


Sorry but you sound a little like a PITA which is why you haven't "been selected" to volunteer for the parties, at our school they practically beg for volunteers, room parents, book sale volunteers, etc. you can volunteer to help in the cafeteria or at recess too.
I have been a room parent 3 times so far and I always send out an email asking parents to help for the parties
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 08:55     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:
We are in MoCo and you are always allowed to volunteer to help the teachers and volunteer for holiday parties too so it's not like you are never allowed in the room


This isn't true at our elementary school. You can't just volunteer to help at holiday parties, you have to request to be a room parent through the PTA and be selected. If you are not selected you can not go to the party to help. Room parents are restricted to only participating by running the two parties Halloween and Valentines day. There is no room parent or volunteer option to do anything inside your child's classroom. You can volunteer for many different functions but the options do not put you anywhere near your child.

At our ES I feel that the constant message from the principal is to keep the parents at bay. Parents are something to be avoided and have no role. Even at Back to School when it was raining all parents were kept outside until the exact minute when the event started. 10 minutes before it was scheduled to end, the principal came on over the PA announcing that BTS was ending promptly at X time and all parents must be out of the building by then. She then instructed teachers to say goodbye to everyone. It was just incredibly rude.


Sounds like she was trying to make sure parents didn't try to have mini conferences about their darling with the teachers after BTS was over. The teachers could end up being there until midnight on a school night.
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 08:50     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Our ES strongly discourages parents from escorting their children to the classrooms. I understand and support this for many of the reasons posted earlier.

I am very aware that my child behaves differently when I'm around. If I wanted to monitor what was going on in the classroom (randomly), I would be a huge distraction to him in the classroom and probably not get a good sense of things were really like.

Generally, the school does give me opportunities to visit the classroom by signing up to volunteer. (I don't believe the PTA has anything to do with establishing room moms.) It can vary a bit by teacher, but usually the teachers let parents sign up for particular times/days as they want to be able to plan their schedule around it - to make good use of the volunteers. And I can always come for lunch with my DS (but I'd have to sign in through the office).
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 08:26     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
We are in MoCo and you are always allowed to volunteer to help the teachers and volunteer for holiday parties too so it's not like you are never allowed in the room


This isn't true at our elementary school. You can't just volunteer to help at holiday parties, you have to request to be a room parent through the PTA and be selected. If you are not selected you can not go to the party to help. Room parents are restricted to only participating by running the two parties Halloween and Valentines day. There is no room parent or volunteer option to do anything inside your child's classroom. You can volunteer for many different functions but the options do not put you anywhere near your child.

At our ES I feel that the constant message from the principal is to keep the parents at bay. Parents are something to be avoided and have no role. Even at Back to School when it was raining all parents were kept outside until the exact minute when the event started. 10 minutes before it was scheduled to end, the principal came on over the PA announcing that BTS was ending promptly at X time and all parents must be out of the building by then. She then instructed teachers to say goodbye to everyone. It was just incredibly rude.
Anonymous
Post 08/27/2012 08:04     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous, you pay taxes to fund the school , you should be able to drop by to verify faculty and staff are doing their jobs.




Really dumb comment. Your taxes fund the fire department. Should you be allowed to ride on a fire engine to the next three alarm fire?


The comnent is wrong because you can visit a classroom, but you need to check in at the office and get a pass. Why would any patent wan random adults wandering around an elementary school? Especially during a time that can be hectic. There was a student molested at a DC school by an adult just last year.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 23:41     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous, you pay taxes to fund the school , you should be able to drop by to verify faculty and staff are doing their jobs.




Really dumb comment. Your taxes fund the fire department. Should you be allowed to ride on a fire engine to the next three alarm fire?


My kindergarden child is not being taught by the fire department and spending hours away from home at their firehouse. Besides, he is too young to communicate back how things are going.


He can't speak?!
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 23:29     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:It is mini prison.



This. Our former school!
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 22:27     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous, you pay taxes to fund the school , you should be able to drop by to verify faculty and staff are doing their jobs.




Really dumb comment. Your taxes fund the fire department. Should you be allowed to ride on a fire engine to the next three alarm fire?


My kindergarden child is not being taught by the fire department and spending hours away from home at their firehouse. Besides, he is too young to communicate back how things are going.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 22:23     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous, you pay taxes to fund the school , you should be able to drop by to verify faculty and staff are doing their jobs.




Really dumb comment. Your taxes fund the fire department. Should you be allowed to ride on a fire engine to the next three alarm fire?
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 21:20     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
This policy clearly varies by school. At my children's elementary school parents can sign in at the main office and then escort their children to their classrooms. This being said, the school prefers that you not walk your child to the classroom. It does get very chaotic in the main foyer if there are a ton of parents hanging around in the a.m.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 21:13     Subject: Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
Anonymous wrote:Just moved here from another state - what is up with not being able to walk dc into classroom, let alone into the building? We have to drop off outside the doors. Thoughts? Very disturbing for us, coming from a co-operative school with parents welcome inside classrooms and building. Is this countywide?


Schools are not shopping malls.

You are disruptive to the learning process when you "drop by." It's one think if Little Jo Jo forgets lunch. It's another if you simply want to wander around to see Little Jo Jo in action.

Cut the cord. Let your kid be.

You are not the center of Little Jo Jo's universe when Jo Jo's at school.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2012 19:28     Subject: Re:Why can't parents go inside MOCO schools?
It is mini prison.