Making Waves?

I think this was badly handled and I agree that is a lot of money for young children. My nieces school has them wear uniforms but they are polo shirts and khaki pants. If it were me I wouldn't buy the shirts, IMO that's just crazy. Good luck whatever you decide.

What, exactly is the point of an "optional" uniform at a pre-school?
That's kind of odd to me.
BUT, you did know this was coming up. Although that is a short ordering time frame.
She doesn't have to have a shirt for each day. Just wash them! I'd get 2 or 3 pairs of khaki's and two polos.

I could understand maybe one shirt with the school logo, but why do you have to have 4? Why couldn't they wear any other yellow shirt the other days? And the price, way too much.

They were not very considerate about requesting any of this. They should have had you buy them before regular schools started when all of the stores had them in and at a decent price. Academy, for example, sells uniform shirts for $5.99.

I know it's really not an answer to your question but I love the quote:
"A lack of planning on your part, does not constitute and emergency in mine!"

Since its optional don't feel obligated to buy them. Yes, this was handled poorly and yes that is very pricey. If you can, buy one so she can wear it when she wants to.
If you want to have her wear a uniform then your idea of getting plain yellow polos is a great one!

I don't understand what you meant in your "Another note-" but as far as the way the situation was handled, NO, that is not enough time to expect people to fork out the money, and YES, that is too much for a shirt for preschoolers.

Personally, I think I'd do a couple of things. I'd see if you can buy a patch or something with the school logo on it, and make your own shirts.

If not, I think I'd buy one, and interchange it, maybe every other day (or when I got to washing it) with plain yellow shirts.

On the other hand, I'd also want to know how many of the other preschoolers will be wearing the uniforms. If most of them are going to continue wearing their regular clothes since the uniforms are optional, I don't think I'd even bother with them.

I would do plain yellow polos and khakis as well. Maybe only get 2 or 3 if money is tight.

Uh, the words 'uniform' and 'optional' are mutually exclusive terms! Making wearing a uniform optional is counterproductive! You STILL won't be able to tell you child it's the school RULES you have to wear this, when she'll go to school and see other kids NOT wearing them!

I'm with you, that's just silly!
Yeah a little pricey, and no not enough time to decide. Sounds like they should wait til next year to do the uniform thing!

I would talk to the director about extending the due date so everyone has time to appropriatly budget, or ask the director if there are badges witht he school logo that can be purchased and you can sew them yourself on a less expensive shirt.

Target sells polo's for $5 per shirt. it is the sewing you are paying for.

I would go with getting my own yellow polos and khaki's like you're thinking. If the school logo is not necessary... Get your own.

Some schools have school shirts but it isn't mandatory to wear every day. I've seen schools that ask you to be sure they wear them for field trips, since it is easy to spot kids in a certain color shirt, plus if a child is found wearing a certain logo, it is easier to figure out who they belong to.

I would buy just 1 logo shirt for that reason, and go with plain yellow polos for the rest of the days.

That price does seem high... I wonder if the school is using this as a "fundraiser" for them, also?

Yeah -that's ridiculous. Is this a public PreK? If so, they can't force you to pay their price and buy their shirt. My son is in a public PreK with uniforms, but it's only for the colors and you can purchase anywhere. Getting the logo sewn on is optional. I got all of his stuff at Old Navy, Target and JCPenney for $5 -$10 a piece. I also had his initials monogrammed on a few shirts instead of the logo, because I'm not sure he'll go there next year. I will be ordering a few winter things from Land's End that cost more, but they're harder to find for less at the other stores and at least the school is a partner with them, so they get some of the money back. Just buy the plain yellow polos from Target or Old Navy or Penney's for $5 -$7 -they did handle it poorly and $19.50 a pop for 4 year olds is silly.

Talk with the other moms around and see what they are going to do. No need in spending lots of money if your daughter will be the only one wearing the optional uniform.
I also think it is a great idea to just get plain yellow polos and kahki bottoms if you are going to have her wear uniforms, especially now they should be on clearance!

C.,
I have to agree, I think the ball got dropped somewhere when they forget to consider we need advance notice when it comes to $$ issues!
I would suggest either purchase the shorts and yellow polo as expected at a store, or email me and let's see if we can work something out to help you price wise! I don't think I could get polos ordered and embroidered by Monday, since it is a weekend, however, if you want to talk prices, I can order shirts for your little one and embroider as well for less. I would however need the school logo, etc.
I live here in Spring, ____@____.com. E-Mail me if you would like to try another route. Another option is for you to find the polo's cheap over the weekend and depending on how detailed the logo is, I could embroider as soon as I can
Thanks,
S.

I say if its optional, then just let her wear the clothes that you have already purchased for her to wear this season.

If you don't want to go that route, then I would tell the whomever it concerns that you just can't fork out money like that and that you would have to do a payment plan. I'm sure if its optional, then a lot of parents will see it as just that. Maybe wait a while and see if other parents are doing it and what percentage of kids are wearing them. Then make a decision.

How old is your daughter? I'm guessing 4? My son started preschool at 3 & is still in preschool at 4. Kindergarten will be next year at 5. I would be shocked if my preschool for my 4 year old wanted the kids to wear uniforms. Uniforms for elem. age children is one thing. Uniforms for a 4 year old...even 5 year old if it's not kindergarten, are absurd...in my opinion. I let my 4 year old choose what clothes he wants to wear (most days). It's healthy to give kids choices to make...it makes them feel independent. If my school had your school's policy, and the uniforms were optional...I would not do it. It sounds like it's just another way for the school to raise money...and if it's optional...how does that make the children feel? "Everybody else wears yellow everyday, why don't I?" or "Jimmy never wears yellow...why can't I wear my sports shirt like he does?" 4 is just way too young for this! The deadline is also too short, btw.

I totally agree w/you. Although this is not the same thing as a child having uniforms for school, I was on a flagline in school & while we had official uniforms, the new director called herself an 'artist' (which she may've been but all I ever saw of her 'work' was just clothing that you buy & decorate yourself) so she took it upon herself to obligate us to 'vote' on wearing special shirts & shorts for pre-season as the majorettes went ahead & did that. Well stipulation was that the new director was decorating the shirts & shorts so they were coming from her (which means she was just wanting to make money off of us is what it really boiled down to) & the majority vote won so then we were obligated to fork over $30 (back then that was basically like your $80 now) for these shirts & shorts. Some of us didn't like them nor wanted to wear them nor had $30 to fork over. They were very juvenile looking (we were in college by the way) like something an elementary student or maybe jr. high student would wear so they were somewhat silly looking & so we wore them at the pre-games for only one season (at least I did) so now I'm stuck w/a silly outfit I can't do anything with but my point is, she sprang this on us all of a sudden & only gave us til the end of the week to get her the money & if we didn't we could not participate so I agree w/you your situation was not handled properly. If the manager even thought for an instant, she should've prepared you by letting you know "there may be a possibility we may go to wearing optional uniforms, the price range would be around xx dollars" & that way, you would be prepared but yes, I do agree that $20 is a bit much. Regular t-shirts I feel would be more sufficient & appropriate for young children rather than more expensive polos although most feel polos are more 'uniform' looking. If you go w/a plain polo & the mgr says anything, just let her know that while you know the uniform is optional, you wanted her to wear a uniform but you just can't afford $20 for a shirt at the moment. If she argues, then just have your child wear regular clothes. Good luck!

I agree with a couple of the previous posts. I think this is a lot of money for shirts, and since they are optional, stick with the uniform but get your own shirts. That way, you aren't going against the rules in wearing the colors, but you're spending less on shirts that will most likely have paint and other things on them after a day at school. She will have the uniform from the start, but you can wait and see what happens at the school with their new policy. They might change some or part of it, and you don't want to have spent all that money when you didn't have to!

I've never hear of "optional uniforms" Either schools have them mandatory, or not at all. I suspect they are in for a lot issues with this policy. I would probably buy one shirt and one pair of khakis, and wait and see what the kids in the class do, and how your daugher responds. Both my girls were girly girls, all dresses all the time in preschool, they would have fought the polos and khakis all the way. I'd be keeping the tags on and receipts handy for a return if rejected. How crazy to start this up in a half attempt manner after the school year is well underway.

it almost doesn't make sense the way they are handling this. sounds like some parent may of complained, what explanation did they give for this?

i would say something, just asking questions shouldn't cause a problem.

good luck,
dh

I agree with you, they definitely didn't give you much time to plan for this, and $19.50 is way too expensive for polo shirts they will grow out of in 6 months to a year.

I would buy plain yellow polo shirts and khakis. Since the school year has already started you will probably find the polo shirts on sale. Also since it's optional, don't stress if you don't have something clean, just let her wear whatever. Since most of the kids will be wearing the uniform, she may feel left out if you don't follow suit so I would go the cheaper route!

Just buy two shirts to start out with, and add them as you can afford it.

The convenience of uniforms is worth it.

since it is optional i would go with your plan of buying them yourself. it really sounds like a way to earn some extra money. its silly really and your right it was handled poorly.

I would personally buy maybe one shirt w/logo for field trips or special days and then buy several plain yellow polos elsewhere. (Academy has theirs on sale for $3-5 right now, and they are good quality!)