My daughter is in kindergarten, so this is all new to me, but this just doesn't seem right. At my daughter's school, the classroom doors open up onto the blacktop (play area). The policy is that the students line up at their classroom doors (outside) before school begins. Kindergarteners are required to line up with their parents (they can't be dropped off -- which is fine with me). Then, at exactly 9:00 (when school is scheduled to begin) the tardy bell rings, the teachers fling open the doors, rush the students in, and quickly shut the doors behind the last student. There is no cushion for arrival time, only one bell.
I'm not worried about being late; I just don't like the fact that mid-winter here in Michigan, we will have to line up in the frigid weather waiting for the golden 5 second window to rush into the classroom. (When it is raining hard, we are all allowed to line up in the gym, but I have been told that does not apply to dry but frigid days). I know kids play outside in the winter, but running around and playing is much warmer than standing in a line for 5 minutes. And, no, we can't wait in the car, because it's a little bit of a walk from the car to the line, and, like I said, there is literally seconds between when the classroom door opens and shuts again. By the way, my daughter's teacher is often LATE opening the door (as in she arrives long after all the other classes have already been herded in).
Does anyone else have this same procedure for school arrival?
Have you actually asked how this is going to work in the winter when it is freezing?
I would ask the teacher this afternoon.
Yeah, that's EXACTLY how it went down when my kids were in Kinder. Thank goodness they're now in 3rd, 4th and 8th. They can get dropped off and go directly to their classrooms. It also helps that we're in a completely different school district...
this sounds messed up. Our school the kids go inside to the gym and then filter to classes when called...ESPECIALLY the kindergartners...
Our school is being renovated right now so our 4th through 6th graders are in trailers - but it looks like the politically correct thing to call them now is LEARNING COTTAGES!!! (LMAO!)
Our winters aren't as brutal as yours but I would still think this is messed up!!!
Talk to other parents..talk to the PTA..talk to the school - get it changed!!
Our school doors open at 9:10 and school starts at 9:25, so I can drop my daughter off any time between those times (or she takes the bus which arrives during that window). When she was in Kindergarten, I could walk her to her classroom if I wanted to, without having to check in at the office. The K room locations were designed that way.
I would find your school's setup crazy, too, living in Minnesota... Besides that it sounds a little like loading cattle...
We can begin dropping off at 8:30, but if you arrive after 8:50, you must take the child in through the office and he/she will be marked as tardy.
The kids all go into the cafetorium (just that name makes me want to vomit!) and they are dismissed to their classrooms at 8:50.
IME, school "policies and procedures" are made to best suit the school, not the students, and certainly not the parents!
What you're describing sounds jacked and it tells me they're not really worried about the tardies for the elem. school anyway. What's the policy for late arrival (after the doors are closed)?
Our paperwork said school hours are 9am to 1pm and students should not be late as it disrupts everything (kids should arrive @ 8:45am). Then on the very next line of the paper it says Kids should be in their class and ready to learn at 9:05am. LOL I was like WTH???
Our school has a 10m open window. 845 - 855 drop off lane window and a 845 - 900 regular bus/parent dropoff.
Usually 5 minutes from 1st bell to tardy bell.
I have never heard of this. I subbed in 7 districts plus taught.
That's really strange. At my son's school there is supervision for play from 8.15 am, and school starts at 8.55 am. From 8.15 am they can also go into their classrooms, interact with their teachers and go to the library. The moms and dads can hang around, grab a cappuccino from the cafeteria (it's a great fundraiser for the PTA), check out their kid's work and chat to teachers. We have a much warmer climate so being outside is not a problem.
No, but we live in a very hot climate, and when you drop your child off at the playground, it could very well be 100 degrees in the morning already. They line up when the the first bell rings & the teachers come get them & they are in the building by the second bell.
I'm surprised that they don't allow parents to drop off & leave. From what I see, that's how it works with most schools now. It would make more sense to let the kids play, then to make them line up & wait for the door to open. I'm sure that there's a reason they do what they do.
If you do want to address it with someone, don't do it in an accusatory, or negative way. You really don't want to be "that" mom so early in the year.
It's not ideal, but not the end of the world.
That's how our school does it, though they're a little more lax with late students - they just have to knock to be let in. I also wonder what's going to happen in the winter.....guess I'll be sending my daughter in her snow gear!
Oh, and each class lines up at their *own* classroom door, right? Not 300 kids at the front door.
We have a 10 minute window. The teachers aide opens the doors at 8 and closes them at 8:10. If we arrive early we sit in the ar until 8. If someone gets there after 8:10, they go to the front entrance and sign in as tadry. Maybe you can suggest this system to your school. There are other options. If the kids ride the bus or eat breakfast, they go straight to the cafeteria.
our doors open for 5 minutes. But all the kids are lined up outside for the first bell, because that is when the teacher comes to get them. IN kindergarten everyone stood outside in all kinds of temperatures. i thought it would be horrible but really not that bad. The kids never minded as much as us grownups. many days they had snow pants on before school too.
Join the PTA as soon as you can. That connects you with other parents who have been there longer. Find out exactly why the school says you have to wait outside on frigid days -- was there an issue in the past with kids roaming the school halls because parents left them inside and the parents departed? Does the school have space issues that simply prohibit allowing kids to wait inside? (Doesn't seem to be the case if you can wait inside during rain.) Is this the same policy they've had forever, or a year or two, or is it a brand new procedure they're trying out this year? What is the reasoning for letting kids and parents in when it's raining but not when it's dangerously cold? Get well informed so you look professional and ready when you talk at PTA to say, we need to change this. There may be some reason handed down by the school district for this (liability if kids are inside? not sure! And it doesn't tally with the rain policy...) and if that's the case, the school may not be able to change it. But it sounds nutty to me to have young kids outside, on the ice and snow, in winter up where you are.
The issues of waiting in the cold to me are bigger than the timing of the doors though that is also ridiculously narrow. Every school has a strict opening bell and tardy schedule but this policy creates the potential for a rush into the doors that will end up with some kid knocked down and stepped on one day.
Nope that's pretty nutty and really takes the cake. At our schools, the buildings open up 15-20 minutes before the last bell (depending on he school - each one is a little different) and the kids arrive, go in and get settled at their own pace. I can't imagine herding in hundreds of kids at once - what a chaotic nightmare it must be to get into the classrooms, hang up back packs and jackets, etc. and what a waste of instruction time!
If I were you, I would attend a school council meeting and ask what the logic is. There may be some kind of history at the school that warrants this kind of rigid start to the day but I really can't imagine why anyone would think this is logical or necessary.
Our elementary school has 2 bells. You can enter at first bell and untill late bell 10 min later. If you are an early bird, you can get prime car space and wait with your heater on. I think one bell is unfair.
