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Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

So you show up for picking up your child early at the front office, and they ignore you and won’t page them?

Our elementary school has a Google form, I imagine high schools could do something similar, maybe ask your PTA.

How often is this a problem? Why are you jump scaring your kids with early pickups more than a couple times a year? What comes up that you can’t discuss in the morning?

Aah, I see your kid is in elementary. Get back to me when they are in high school and aren't just in one place with a teacher all day. Then you'll see how high schools work. But thanks for telling me how this will go when you in fact have no idea. Have a seat.

DP. On behalf of the elementary school parent, I'm getting back to you now and telling you it's not a problem. You go to the office and they page your kid. Just like in the olden days pre-frickin-cell phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

Give it a try - especially once the school admin gets used to the kids not having their phones available. But really, even before the Wakefield ban - before cell phones even - kids did not have to get a message about an early pickup. The parent simply went to the school and requested to take their child, admissions office called them from class and they came down and left. And yes, the admissions office DOES know where your child is - they look up their schedule, look at the clock, and sometimes they even know that the class is somewhere else in the building. It's amazing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought people complained that kids spent too much time on their laptops. Can’t you email them a schedule change?

I hope that one thing that comes out of this is that coaches of high school teams will realize that last minute changes are ridiculous. People need to go back to making plans a little in advance.

Kids don't check their email constantly and no they don't always have their laptops on. They sure aren't pulling them out between classes in the hallways or opening them at lunch in the cafeteria. This is what phones are for.

They will be now that their phones are banned.

All of these posts that parents are texting with their kids during the school day has me even more convinced that phones should be away. Kids should be focused on school.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

So you show up for picking up your child early at the front office, and they ignore you and won’t page them?

Our elementary school has a Google form, I imagine high schools could do something similar, maybe ask your PTA.

How often is this a problem? Why are you jump scaring your kids with early pickups more than a couple times a year? What comes up that you can’t discuss in the morning?

Aah, I see your kid is in elementary. Get back to me when they are in high school and aren't just in one place with a teacher all day. Then you'll see how high schools work. But thanks for telling me how this will go when you in fact have no idea. Have a seat.

Instead of addressing my concerns, you're resorting to insults. I was telling you what options exist from my youngest child’s experience.

I have two kids in high school as well, but I don't experience the "sudden" early releases. In fact, I rarely hear from them because they are generally responsible for their own transportation. They can take the school bus and ART for most activities, or just arrange their own carpool, so I'm not heavily involved except when it’s my turn to drive and that’s known well in advance.

It sounds like your kids may not be as independent as they should be at this stage in high school.

Ha! Nice insult to my kids' independence. They are still minors. They don't make their own doctor's appointments - I do - and they couldn't now anyways since dr's offices are not open when they get home and now they can't use their cell phones. They can't sign themselves out of school and get themselves to said dr's appts. I have to pick them up. And if there's a last minute change - like they go off to school with a loose braces bracket and I call to get an appt at noon, they can't somehow telephatically just know I will be there to pick them up for said appt at noon.

I have 3 kids. 2 high schoolers and 1 in 5th.

I’ve never had this rash of sudden change in doctors appointments; for our 2 ortho emergencies you just go to the office and they track them down. Are your kids special needs, mine go to an annual physical and annual derm, and two dentists. They know about them the morning before. What appointments are scheduled while they are in school for that day?

As for sports cancelling leaving them at school, I’m still confused. Arlington is tiny, the ART goes every where, even if they miss the bus they can take ART or the late bus. But why is a school practice not notifying the students at school that practice is cancelled — that is an oversight and seems likely lazy coaches got used to students having phones. So complain to principals and they will pull them in line.

I have just trained my kids to look at their phones right after school. that way they can change their bus plans if needed. Otherwise there are so few last minute doctor's appointments and it is easy for the front office to call their classroom. Before these new rules did kids just tell their teachers in the middle of class that they had to go? that seems crazy - even when my kids had their phones in their bags before the bans, we always just went to the office to get them for early dismissals.

I’m glad for OP. I’m just getting my kid a watch. She’s a rule follower and terrified of getting in trouble. But when I told her she can just switch it off airplane mode while going to the bathroom to see if there are any schedule changes or messages, she was relieved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

So you show up for picking up your child early at the front office, and they ignore you and won’t page them?

Our elementary school has a Google form, I imagine high schools could do something similar, maybe ask your PTA.

How often is this a problem? Why are you jump scaring your kids with early pickups more than a couple times a year? What comes up that you can’t discuss in the morning?

Aah, I see your kid is in elementary. Get back to me when they are in high school and aren't just in one place with a teacher all day. Then you'll see how high schools work. But thanks for telling me how this will go when you in fact have no idea. Have a seat.

Instead of addressing my concerns, you're resorting to insults. I was telling you what options exist from my youngest child’s experience.

I have two kids in high school as well, but I don't experience the "sudden" early releases. In fact, I rarely hear from them because they are generally responsible for their own transportation. They can take the school bus and ART for most activities, or just arrange their own carpool, so I'm not heavily involved except when it’s my turn to drive and that’s known well in advance.

It sounds like your kids may not be as independent as they should be at this stage in high school.

Your elementary school experience doesn't translate to high school. I have no idea what you mean by sudden early releases. That's not what I'm talking about. No one said that. We're talking about dr's appointments, plans after school changing, etc. You really can't fathom that there are other high school families with needs different from your own? That is the problem right there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we just have all these people obsessed with sports over school start a public school academy. Where they have monitors on all the walls so every team and player knows the minute to minute schedule. It’s already ruined college admissions, so let’s just break off the sports obsessed.

It’s just sports. Band, play practice, club meetings, etc can and do change schedules after the school day has started. This is annoying, but not insurmountable.

I assumed they meant sports outside of school? Why would it matter if after school activities changed? A high schooler can take the bus or wait for a parent to pick them up. There is no urgency unless they need to go somewhere else after school.

The main issue we’ve had is that the kid thought a practice was happening after (at) school, and they can miss the bus if the practice is cancelled & they don’t know in time. Then they’re stuck at school for potentially hours if a parent can’t pick them up. But yes, they can check phones right after school & hopefully see the change in time.

Also, if there's a change that requires me to do something - like get them at a different time - I need more notice since I have my own work stuff. I can't just drop everything on a dime depending on when the school allows them to use their cell phones. And that little window of time at lunch is not enough. What if there's a back and forth needed and I'm in a meeting?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

So you show up for picking up your child early at the front office, and they ignore you and won’t page them?

Our elementary school has a Google form, I imagine high schools could do something similar, maybe ask your PTA.

How often is this a problem? Why are you jump scaring your kids with early pickups more than a couple times a year? What comes up that you can’t discuss in the morning?

Aah, I see your kid is in elementary. Get back to me when they are in high school and aren't just in one place with a teacher all day. Then you'll see how high schools work. But thanks for telling me how this will go when you in fact have no idea. Have a seat.

Instead of addressing my concerns, you're resorting to insults. I was telling you what options exist from my youngest child’s experience.

I have two kids in high school as well, but I don't experience the "sudden" early releases. In fact, I rarely hear from them because they are generally responsible for their own transportation. They can take the school bus and ART for most activities, or just arrange their own carpool, so I'm not heavily involved except when it’s my turn to drive and that’s known well in advance.

It sounds like your kids may not be as independent as they should be at this stage in high school.

Ha! Nice insult to my kids' independence. They are still minors. They don't make their own doctor's appointments - I do - and they couldn't now anyways since dr's offices are not open when they get home and now they can't use their cell phones. They can't sign themselves out of school and get themselves to said dr's appts. I have to pick them up. And if there's a last minute change - like they go off to school with a loose braces bracket and I call to get an appt at noon, they can't somehow telephatically just know I will be there to pick them up for said appt at noon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we just have all these people obsessed with sports over school start a public school academy. Where they have monitors on all the walls so every team and player knows the minute to minute schedule. It’s already ruined college admissions, so let’s just break off the sports obsessed.

It’s just sports. Band, play practice, club meetings, etc can and do change schedules after the school day has started. This is annoying, but not insurmountable.

I assumed they meant sports outside of school? Why would it matter if after school activities changed? A high schooler can take the bus or wait for a parent to pick them up. There is no urgency unless they need to go somewhere else after school.

The main issue we’ve had is that the kid thought a practice was happening after (at) school, and they can miss the bus if the practice is cancelled & they don’t know in time. Then they’re stuck at school for potentially hours if a parent can’t pick them up. But yes, they can check phones right after school & hopefully see the change in time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we just have all these people obsessed with sports over school start a public school academy. Where they have monitors on all the walls so every team and player knows the minute to minute schedule. It’s already ruined college admissions, so let’s just break off the sports obsessed.

It’s just sports. Band, play practice, club meetings, etc can and do change schedules after the school day has started. This is annoying, but not insurmountable.

I assumed they meant sports outside of school? Why would it matter if after school activities changed? A high schooler can take the bus or wait for a parent to pick them up. There is no urgency unless they need to go somewhere else after school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we just have all these people obsessed with sports over school start a public school academy. Where they have monitors on all the walls so every team and player knows the minute to minute schedule. It’s already ruined college admissions, so let’s just break off the sports obsessed.

It’s just sports. Band, play practice, club meetings, etc can and do change schedules after the school day has started. This is annoying, but not insurmountable.

I don't get why kids can't just check their phone once school is over? That's what my kid does. Her phone is in school mode all day anyways, so it's not available until then.

Anonymous wrote:Can we just have all these people obsessed with sports over school start a public school academy. Where they have monitors on all the walls so every team and player knows the minute to minute schedule. It’s already ruined college admissions, so let’s just break off the sports obsessed.

It’s just sports. Band, play practice, club meetings, etc can and do change schedules after the school day has started. This is annoying, but not insurmountable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the pouches. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other. But I do wonder how the front office is going to manage all the parents calling with schedule changes. And frankly the biggest communicator of mid day schedule changes and providing same day info during the day was my kid’s high school coach who was also a teacher at the school.

I bet a lot of kids get watches. Turn them on during lunch or switching classes or keep them on all day.

Schedule changes. What did we do before phones? They will turn their phone the instant they step out of school and get your message don’t worry.

What if I need to pick my kid up early? You really think the office is going to give them that message?

Yes

Well that's nice for you, but my kid's school would not do that.

So you show up for picking up your child early at the front office, and they ignore you and won’t page them?

Our elementary school has a Google form, I imagine high schools could do something similar, maybe ask your PTA.

How often is this a problem? Why are you jump scaring your kids with early pickups more than a couple times a year? What comes up that you can’t discuss in the morning?

Aah, I see your kid is in elementary. Get back to me when they are in high school and aren't just in one place with a teacher all day. Then you'll see how high schools work. But thanks for telling me how this will go when you in fact have no idea. Have a seat.

Instead of addressing my concerns, you're resorting to insults. I was telling you what options exist from my youngest child’s experience.

I have two kids in high school as well, but I don't experience the "sudden" early releases. In fact, I rarely hear from them because they are generally responsible for their own transportation. They can take the school bus and ART for most activities, or just arrange their own carpool, so I'm not heavily involved except when it’s my turn to drive and that’s known well in advance.

It sounds like your kids may not be as independent as they should be at this stage in high school.