Anonymous wrote:Principals absolutely have a slush fund and they do charge extra to account for kids who are unable to pay.

It's usually the PTAs who pay, meaning the parent community. In some neighborhoods, perhaps the Principal takes it out of school funds because they don't have a PTA or their PTA can't afford it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

MCPS. Your 4th grader should have gone somewhere related to the early colonial period, as per "tradition" (meaning that the handful of MCPS elementaries I know have done such a field trip in 4th, like my kids').

Principals absolutely have a slush fund and they do charge extra to account for kids who are unable to pay.

Anonymous wrote:DD is in kindergarten. We are in W cluster. Do the W schools go on better or more field trips? Sounds like it from this thread.

We're at a Silver Spring FOCUS ES and our field trips are okay, though talking to my friends in Potomac, they do seem to get some pretty awesome ones! Like one of theirs was a field trip to the Kennedy Center with a meal prepared by the Kennedy Center chef or something crazy.

In 2nd grade, ALL the schools go to Strathmore.

DD is in kindergarten. We are in W cluster. Do the W schools go on better or more field trips? Sounds like it from this thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

What school is this that they've had zero field trips? Moco?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

I thought all MoCo 4th graders went to St Mary's City. Our focus school went.

Our's is going next month, but not a focus or W school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

I thought all MoCo 4th graders went to St Mary's City. Our focus school went.

?? I haven't heard of that at all and I did not realize that was a field trip. We are already in April and no word about that or any others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

I thought all MoCo 4th graders went to St Mary's City. Our focus school went.

I also have a 4th Graders in a Focus school. No trip to St. Mary’s City so far and we have not been told about one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 4th graders aren’t going to St. Mary’s City until next month. We haven’t gotten any notification yet. I only know because I asked.

You don't get a list of all the field trips for the year at the beginning of the year? That's weird.

DP

Ha! Our ES sucks at communicating. Last year, we would find out about field trips only about 3 weeks ahead of time. It was terrible. There was a field trip to the zoo that we found out about at the last minute so there not enough parent chaperones. Some parents complained and it has been better this year, but still not great. And definitely NOT at the beginning of the year. I wish!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

I thought all MoCo 4th graders went to St Mary's City. Our focus school went.

If my fourth grader is going, then we haven’t been told yet.

Anonymous wrote:Our 4th graders aren’t going to St. Mary’s City until next month. We haven’t gotten any notification yet. I only know because I asked.

You don't get a list of all the field trips for the year at the beginning of the year? That's weird.

Our 4th graders aren’t going to St. Mary’s City until next month. We haven’t gotten any notification yet. I only know because I asked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 7th grader's trip to Medieval Times was $50 all included: bus, tickets, lunch.

I paid nearly that much for him to go to Mount Vernon and St Mary's City in 5th and 4th grade, respectively.

This is why most PTAs allocate funds to students who cannot pay the field trips.

? MoCo? Meanwhile, my 4th grader has not had a field trip this year.

I thought all MoCo 4th graders went to St Mary's City. Our focus school went.

It is expensive.

Our school (not Title 1) always has three options on the field trip forms:

[ ] I am enclosing $22 for my child to attend.
[ ] I am enclosing $22 + a donation of $____ so that another child who can not afford the cost can attend the trip.
[ ] I would like financial assistance so that my child can attend the trip.

I'd encourage your school to do the same if there are enough families who might give more than the cost. It wouldn't really have ever occurred to me to give more than the cost, but we almost always give double now, just because they ask.