OK, today was the kids' first day back to school. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous for both of them, especially my oldest one. Last year was the year from heck for this kid and I am very nervous that last year won't be left in the past, but upon picking them up from school I was informed that it was a good day, followed by a smile!
My youngest also announced that today was awesome, just short, which brings up my first question for this post. Why is it that the older kids had a full day of school today, but the elementary kids only had a half day? Aren't some of the elementary kids watched by their elder siblings after school? If so, wouldn't it have been better for either the older kids to have had a half day or the elementary kids to have had a full day? Just seems kind of odd to me.
My second thought/question refers back to an article at Toledo Talk from August 26th, you can read the article and peoples comments HERE
The article talks about the consistency of enforcing uniforms in the schools. I don't know about the rest of you but over the past 2 weeks or so I've had a minimum of 15 pre-recorded messages from the vice principal of my oldest child's school reminding me about the things that were going on and in EVERY message was a reminder about the dress code and a notice that all kids must be in uniform INCLUDING black or brown dress shoes, that no tennis shoes were allowed. As I sat this afternoon waiting for my middle schooler to come out of the school I watched the other kids, specifically how they were dressed. I got a bit of an attitude as I seen better than 50% of the kids come out of the school in white or other colored tennis shoes, as well as collarless shirts and shirts that were untucked. I seen the same thing last year, and I am fairly sure that it will continue through the entire year just as it did last year. As the article at Toledo Talk states, there simply is no consistency for the uniform code. One child can wear something that isn't acceptable and get away with it, but another child can wear the same thing and not get away with it.
In case you're wondering, I am not a parent that feels my kids should push the uniform code to see what they can get away with, I make them both adhere to it, simply because it's a rule, and even though I don't like the rule and they don't like the rule, it is there for a reason and the right thing to do is follow it as it is written. But it does bother me that I went to the expense to purchase the things that my kids were told they had to have, even if it meant buying doubles, while other kids go about doing what they want to simply because they or their parents don't give a hoot about the rules.
So, how did everyone else's first day go?
Thanks for reading
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4 comments:
Aubrey had a great first day, which is good considering this is her first time at TPS and a new school. She even made a few friends.
However, I saw the same thing you did at her school. Especially in relation to the shoe issue and Aubrey asked just like yours if she could wear her tennis shoes tomorrow. I said no, because first of all we already bought the black shoes and it is the rule. However I kind of wish I would have saved the money on the black dress shoes.
:-)
Jo,
”If so, wouldn't it have been better for either the older kids to have had a half day or the elementary kids to have had a full day? Just seems kind of odd to me.”
That would make the most sense, you are correct.
But, sometimes you have to wonder if the short class day isn’t really for the teachers ;-)
The common reason offered is that the first day is overwhelming for some of the younger children, so a shorted day mitigates the “trauma,” but I still thin it’s for the teachers…
As for the un-uniform uniform compliance, the compliance battle is challenged and won or lost in the first few days of each school year, so compliance should be the toughest then.
However, the reality is that many children have no one to pick them up if they are sent home to change clothes, so most of this compliance effort has to be "waged" over the phone, after school.
It isn’t supposed to be that way, but that is the reality. Hopefully, the message is delivered and received in those critical first few days, before uniform compliance is disregarded altogether.
If you think that you’ve got a beef, you ought to hear the teachers and principles sound off.
hi- we had another scheduling conflict on the high school level. My student has to take two classes he didn't sign up for just because there are no alternatives open. Counselors were not open to change even tho he offered several suggestions to fix the situation. Every year we go through this.
Lisa,
I was shocked as to how many parents were being called over the shoe issue in the middle school office where my oldest goes (I was called because a belt was forgotten). As long as they continue to stay consistant in enforcing it, I will not raise a beef over the uniforms. However, I ran into the same thing you did in my youngests elementary. Tennis shoes were seen everywhere on the days that I was there. The only thing I can say is that we set the example for our kids as far as rules go. If we make them follow the rules when they are younger, we can hope that they make the right choices later. But it is hard to not let your kids do what the others are doing isn't it ;-)
hooda,
I never thought about it being overwhelming for the younger kids and it makes sense now. Still strange, but makes sense. And I agree that the war is won or lost within the first few days and was quite impressed with what I seen in my eldests school. Hopefully it continues.
anonymous,
sorry to hear about your scheduling problems. We ran into something similar, but less "important" when we found out that our oldest wasn't in choir. It could be changed but it would mean them not being able to take a class that they are actually excited about taking, so we talked about it with our child and opted to not take choir. So I can only imagine how much you've gone through. I am sorry that they were not willing to listen, I think I'd take the issue to the Superintendant of the type of school your child is in (Middle or High school I'm assuming). Good luck and feel free to keep us posted on how it goes!
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