meet the teacher night - Page 3

[jkpmomtoboys]

In our public school system, volunteering in the classroom an hour a week is the minimum that is expected....I don't know what parents who work do...

Our Back to School night is parents only. I think they want to get through a lot of info quickly. If people can't find a sitter, one parent goes and gets the info and the other stays home with the kids. I don't see a problem with it.

Open House is at the end of the year and it includes not only kids but extended family if desired.

[Momtwice]

Our Back to School night is parents only. I think they want to get through a lot of info quickly. If people can't find a sitter, one parent goes and gets the info and the other stays home with the kids. I don't see a problem with it.

For a good chunk of the kids' elementary years dh was working evenings with our only car and my youngest was distraught without me, particularly in the evening.

I see plenty of potential problems for some parents:
parents who can't afford a baby sitter
parents who can't get a babysitter because the other parents snapped them up first (as the OP implied is one of her troubles)
parents who don't have transportation
parents with absent/uncooperative/nonexistant partners
widows
widowers
parents whose partners work evenings

What if that means there is no time to do chores/prep at home for the next day/support the child in getting homework done?
What if I am nursing a young child who will not take anything but the breast?
Etc.

On a different subject, my pet peeve through the elementary years was a school scheduling an event for all the parents and children, that takes up the whole afternoon and evening. (a concert, a meet the teacher night, etc.) And then if the kids haven't finished their homework the next day they get punished, usually by missing recess. :

[1xmom]

Haven't read all replies yet, but wanted to say at our Meet the Teacher Night all were invited. I actually sat beside my babysitter . In our district the kids have to do community hours before they graduate so we have some middle/high school girls volunteer to watch the kids in one of the classrooms during our PTA meetings. And that has worked out very nicely.

[chel]

[QUOTE=jkpmomtoboys]If people can't find a sitter, one parent goes and gets the info and the other stays home with the kids. I don't see a problem with it.
QUOTE]

I agree, this was to be our back-up plan. I just feel that this sets up fathers to be left out. Two working parents, or one, it often is the mom that "deals" with school stuff and if this is ever to change (I think it should) schools need to find a way to include both parents. Both my Dh and I have a strong desire to meet the person dd is now spending 35hrs a week with. dd's wing of school was just built over the summer and her teacher is new to the district. I guess we might be seen as sappy people, but Dh and I always take eachother on a tour of our new work areas.

[moondiapers]

Originally Posted by UUMom

I think that any magnet public school that requires 18 vounteer hours a month is putting undue burdens on some potential parents. Children for whom this school might be an excellent fit would be denied from the get-go beause of that requirement.

Volunteer hours don't always involve leaving your home. It counts when you make phone calls, grade papers, help organize a small part of an event. I once spent time researching the best price on some equipment the school needed. All of this counted as my volunteer time. Even baking for the bakesale. We were only required to do 10 hours per month though. And parents that volunteered more than they needed to could sign in on another family's volunteer sheet to help out.