"Real" school fails

[linders]

We are wrapping up week 2 at the new school, and so far...

 

1. I am a car line failure. Dumb system, even when our private school does it in a more relaxed way than the local public schools. I don't follow dumb systems well. (On a positive note, it is kind of cool in the morning - the headmaster greets and shakes the hand of every student as they get out of their cars.)

 

2. I am also a uniform failure. Every day is uniforms, but Wednesdays is "Formal Uniform" for chapel, which requires a red or navy blue tie. We have a gazillion ties around here (dressing up used to be fun) so I figured the red-with-navy-blue-stripe and the navy-blue-with-a-very-small-red-print ties were fine. Nope. The boys were lectured both weeks, turning my yesterday into "Wear the Heck Do You Find Solid Color Ties That Don't Cost a Fortune Because They Will Get Splattered With Catsup" day.

 

3. DS11 got his first "Discipline Slip." Forgot to wear a belt one day. Seriously.

 

4. DS14 got a 98 on his Constitution test (a very hard test, by the way) and had it knocked down to 92 for forgetting to put his name on it. For the last 2 years at home, I have nagged him about putting his name on things because he and his brother had very similar writing, and he resisted. The real world is harsh.

 

5. Last Friday the girls varsity volleyball team had a home game. DS14 did not go (although the girls reminded him of it) because he was tired from his first week of school. The girls have been mad at him all this week (in a rather cute way). He is failing to see the problem, which is making them madder.

 

I'm sure it will get better.

[unsinkable]

We are wrapping up week 2 at the new school, and so far...

 

1. I am a car line failure. Dumb system, even when our private school does it in a more relaxed way than the local public schools. I don't follow dumb systems well. (On a positive note, it is kind of cool in the morning - the headmaster greets and shakes the hand of every student as they get out of their cars.)

 

2. I am also a uniform failure. Every day is uniforms, but Wednesdays is "Formal Uniform" for chapel, which requires a red or navy blue tie. We have a gazillion ties around here (dressing up used to be fun) so I figured the red-with-navy-blue-stripe and the navy-blue-with-a-very-small-red-print ties were fine. Nope. The boys were lectured both weeks, turning my yesterday into "Wear the Heck Do You Find Solid Color Ties That Don't Cost a Fortune Because They Will Get Splattered With Catsup" day.

 

3. DS11 got his first "Discipline Slip." Forgot to wear a belt one day. Seriously.

 

4. DS14 got a 98 on his Constitution test (a very hard test, by the way) and had it knocked down to 92 for forgetting to put his name on it. For the last 2 years at home, I have nagged him about putting his name on things because he and his brother had very similar writing, and he resisted. The real world is harsh.

 

5. Last Friday the girls varsity volleyball team had a home game. DS14 did not go (although the girls reminded him of it) because he was tired from his first week of school. The girls have been mad at him all this week (in a rather cute way). He is failing to see the problem, which is making them madder.

 

I'm sure it will get better.

You wouldn't get them in time but tiebar.com, all ties are $15.

 

I'd try Kohl's if you have one for solid ties. It is the cheapest when you have a Kohl's card and get a percentage off coupon.

 

Uniform violations at my boys' school mean a lunch detention. The boy has to start cleaning the cafeteria at half-bell. He'd get 22 minutes for eating, then clean for the next 23 minutes.

[unsinkable]

http://www.thetiebar.com/search?searchKey=Solid+red&btnSearchDesktop=

 

If you order, let me know before hand. I think I could get a referral credit. If you want, no biggie if you don't.

[Anne in CA]

How hard could it be to sew your own ties for super cheap? I have never made one but I do sew and it doesn't seem like it should be that hard. I have a friend who sews who made four hipster suits for her dd's fiance and three groomsmen and she did it in a week, so maybe you could knock out a few ties?

[Amira]

Your school sounds more intense than ours!  It'll be nice when you get used to things.

 

We missed the first week of school because we were out of town for work, and so far this week I keep getting notes sent home with ds because I have forgotten something.  He doesn't seem to be worried about it though. :)

 

I also messed up the car line.  I think I got the clothes right each day, until they find out that I didn't buy the official sweater.  It never gets cold enough for a sweater here, thank you.

 

 

[Seasider]

WalMart or JCPenney for inexpensive ties.

 

IME, the strict scrutiny on the uniform policy will ease up in the next few weeks. That doesn't mean the kids can break dress code, it just means that the teachers might not be bird dogging them quite so much. At my kids' school the staff seems to be hard on them at first to set the tone that compliance is expected. Later in the year a belt missing might go unnoticed because no one is intentionally looking for it.

 

As for the car line I can only offer you empathy. I was just happy to get through it daily without running over someone or doing something else my kids might find horribly embarrassing. I did figure out it was much easier if I gave up some of my afternoon time and got there early to be near the front. I think that helped me make the 52/Book a Week challenge one year!

[linders]

WalMart or JCPenney for inexpensive ties.

 

IME, the strict scrutiny on the uniform policy will ease up in the next few weeks. That doesn't mean the kids can break dress code, it just means that the teachers might not be bird dogging them quite so much. At my kids' school the staff seems to be hard on them at first to set the tone that compliance is expected. Later in the year a belt missing might go unnoticed because no one is intentionally looking for it.

 

As for the car line I can only offer you empathy. I was just happy to get through it daily without running over someone or doing something else my kids might find horribly embarrassing. I did figure out it was much easier if I gave up some of my afternoon time and got there early to be near the front. I think that helped me make the 52/Book a Week challenge one year!

 

LOL. My boys (well, DS 14 anyway) are already horribly embarrassed by my car line antics. Such as when I - gasp! - roll down the window and wave to them. I have started bringing a book, but it is so dang hot here still and I feel bad running the car in line just to avoid melting.

 

Sadly, both the Walmart and Penneys here were a bust, although I could have gotten Duck Dynasty ties by the dozen. (What is it with Duck Dynasty?)

 

Good to know on the uniform policy scrutiny. We now do inspection at home before getting in the car.

[Kebo]

You could order from Amazon....

http://smile.amazon.com/Poly-Multi-Solid-Color-Navy/dp/B002B8DTUC/ref=sr_1_3?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1409334769&sr=1-3&keywords=navy+blue+tie

[SKL]

OK, I'll play!  This is the first year my kids have bus service.  Wednesday was the first day of school.  Everything went great in the morning, but in the afternoon the bus dropped them off 30 minutes late.  OK, no biggie, I was just about to call the bus folks but put the phone down when I saw the bus.  :P

 

So then Thursday afternoon the bus driver was determined to be on time!  BUT the 3rd grade teacher dismissed 10 minutes late.  Apparently assigning classroom jobs for the upcoming week was more important than getting the kids home.  So I get a call at 3:16.  "Can you come pick up your kids??"

 

The school did apologize, BUT that didn't quite make up for the speeding ticket I got on the way to picking them up!  The cop told me that he was on a special detail because parents were complaining about speeders when their kids were getting out of school.  I wasn't actually going that fast, but I had to be cited anyway "unfortunately."  Yeah.  (Even better than last Wednesday when I got a ticket for not knowing that the light over my rear license plate had broken.  :/)

 

Waiting to see what is going to happen today ....

[SKL]

Oh yeah, and last night I received the massive packet of papers the teacher passed out on Wednesday AFTER my kids had left to get on the bus.  Needless to say, the packet was full of stuff I was supposed to complete for them to take back to school Friday morning.  Most of which did NOT get done.

[SKL]

And your post brought back memories from 1st grade, when my kids would bring in their homework (assigned Monday) but forget to turn it in on Wednesday.  It would be done perfectly but be cut by 10% (more than a full letter grade) for being "late."

 

I am still not completely on board with homework for 1st graders in the first place, but you'd think the teacher could remind the class to turn their work in, no?  I remember my teachers actually collecting papers.  Do they not do that any more?

 

My kids have also lost points for forgetting to put their name on the paper.

[SKL]

I waited in the car line one time.  After that I had the girls go to "late room."  It was quicker to go into the school and sign them out than to sit in a line of cars.  Probably cheaper too.  ;)

[Cinder]

The forgetting the belt gave me a chuckle. That might have gotten ds at one time but a couple years ago the admin decided the high schoolers no longer needed to tuck their shirts in as the uniform supplier didn't carry tall sizes and even the average-sized kids had problems keeping their shirts from coming untucked during the day. They went with a different uniform supplier (ETA: that carries tall sizes) but haven't changed the policy back to tucked shirts so ds has gotten away with no belt for the last couple years now.

 

Our chapel days are dressed down a bit; they have a special chapel t-shirt. I think ds would rather they have a dressier day for chapel. But you get a uniform violation now for not wearing the t-shirt. Used to be you were fine as long as you had a regular uniform shirt but not any more.

 

New school routines can be overwhelming at first. It will get better. :grouphug:

[AK_Mom4]

1. I am a car line failure. Dumb system, even when our private school does it in a more relaxed way than the local public schools. I don't follow dumb systems well. (On a positive note, it is kind of cool in the morning - the headmaster greets and shakes the hand of every student as they get out of their cars.)

 

DD13 takes one class at the local public school.  It is first thing in the morning, so we have to brave the drop-off line each day.  It is a little confusing as the drop off line is in the same place as the stop for the special ed buses and you have to be quite careful pulling in and out at the curb.

 

The first week of school, I made her go 20 minutes early so I could avoid the "new parent traffic jam" while all the newbie 7th grade parents tried to figure out the traffic pattern. 

[SKL]

My kids can't dress down for dress-down day because they don't have the right kind of clothes for it.  :p.

 

This year I think I will buy them a school T-shirt just so they can dress down at school on the designated days.

[Ripley]

I moved a nephew to private school this year.

His brothers are still in public, and mine are still homeschooled.

I figured not much would change, really, but things have changed A LOT.

And not in a convenient, so glad I made this decision kind of way ;).

 

My biggest fail is when I forgot to pick him up. Completely slipped my mind.

I was used to him and his brothers walking home from the public school.

The private school ends 30 minutes before the public school lets out.

When my public schooled nephews walked in, it hit me that I had forgotten the one at private school.

Thank goodness they have an after school program that they send everyone to after a set time.

Poor kid, though, he had no clue why I wasn't there and no clue when I'd ever GET there!

And it cost me only $10 for the time in after care, so I won't complain.

At least I didn't get a speeding ticket like the mom up thread!

 

But I do have a related gripe ... they won't let him walk home. He's 13 and in 8th grade.

Their rule is that ALL students must be escorted by an adult on and off campus.

And they define that as 18, so even his brothers can't pick him up or drop him off for me.

I didn't know that when I registered him. I had assumed he'd walk, it's less than a mile.

Our public school is all about kids walking or riding themselves to/from school. It's 2.5 miles away.

 

But whatever! I set an alarm to pick him up every day so we're good. For now LOL.

[TranquilMind]

We are wrapping up week 2 at the new school, and so far...

 

1. I am a car line failure. Dumb system, even when our private school does it in a more relaxed way than the local public schools. I don't follow dumb systems well. (On a positive note, it is kind of cool in the morning - the headmaster greets and shakes the hand of every student as they get out of their cars.)

 

2. I am also a uniform failure. Every day is uniforms, but Wednesdays is "Formal Uniform" for chapel, which requires a red or navy blue tie. We have a gazillion ties around here (dressing up used to be fun) so I figured the red-with-navy-blue-stripe and the navy-blue-with-a-very-small-red-print ties were fine. Nope. The boys were lectured both weeks, turning my yesterday into "Wear the Heck Do You Find Solid Color Ties That Don't Cost a Fortune Because They Will Get Splattered With Catsup" day.

 

3. DS11 got his first "Discipline Slip." Forgot to wear a belt one day. Seriously.

 

4. DS14 got a 98 on his Constitution test (a very hard test, by the way) and had it knocked down to 92 for forgetting to put his name on it. For the last 2 years at home, I have nagged him about putting his name on things because he and his brother had very similar writing, and he resisted. The real world is harsh.

 

5. Last Friday the girls varsity volleyball team had a home game. DS14 did not go (although the girls reminded him of it) because he was tired from his first week of school. The girls have been mad at him all this week (in a rather cute way). He is failing to see the problem, which is making them madder.

 

I'm sure it will get better.

Wow....knocked down to 92% for failure to record his name on the first offense?   Harsh as that is GPA stuff. 

The rest is just general annoyance with ridiculous requirements for the public school game. 

[Joyofsixreboot]

Perhaps the little public school is looking better. All he has to be is covered. ;)

[Ravin]

We are wrapping up week 2 at the new school, and so far...

 

1. I am a car line failure. Dumb system, even when our private school does it in a more relaxed way than the local public schools. I don't follow dumb systems well. (On a positive note, it is kind of cool in the morning - the headmaster greets and shakes the hand of every student as they get out of their cars.)

 

2. I am also a uniform failure. Every day is uniforms, but Wednesdays is "Formal Uniform" for chapel, which requires a red or navy blue tie. We have a gazillion ties around here (dressing up used to be fun) so I figured the red-with-navy-blue-stripe and the navy-blue-with-a-very-small-red-print ties were fine. Nope. The boys were lectured both weeks, turning my yesterday into "Wear the Heck Do You Find Solid Color Ties That Don't Cost a Fortune Because They Will Get Splattered With Catsup" day.

 

3. DS11 got his first "Discipline Slip." Forgot to wear a belt one day. Seriously.

 

4. DS14 got a 98 on his Constitution test (a very hard test, by the way) and had it knocked down to 92 for forgetting to put his name on it. For the last 2 years at home, I have nagged him about putting his name on things because he and his brother had very similar writing, and he resisted. The real world is harsh.

 

5. Last Friday the girls varsity volleyball team had a home game. DS14 did not go (although the girls reminded him of it) because he was tired from his first week of school. The girls have been mad at him all this week (in a rather cute way). He is failing to see the problem, which is making them madder.

 

I'm sure it will get better.

1. I refuse to participate. DD gets to use public transit.

 

2. I was fooled in my attempt to evade this one by sending DD to a liberal-attire arts school by my DD taking dance. She now has dance attire incorporated into her school wardrobe because she doesn't want to completely change our every afternoon. Black is the new black.

 

3. That is stupid. Seriously?

 

4. DD has taken a hit for this, too.

 

5. This is just funny. I am not cool enough to be seen with my DD when her new school chums are around. I have been told it would be preferable for me to meet her at the train stop where she gets off rather than ever meet her closer to school, because she has friends to talk to on the train.

 

I was a lot more like your son when it came to social details than I am like my DD. She's savvy.

[wintermom]

I "failed" the school dress code when signing up ds for middle school. Oops! My bra straps were showing a little because of the wide neckline on my t-shirt. Undergarments are not supposed to be visible. 

[LLMom]

Things will smooth out.  What seems to be stupid things to homeschoolers are sometimes necessary for brick and mortar school but not all. 

[Ravin]

I "failed" the school dress code when signing up ds for middle school. Oops! My bra straps were showing a little because of the wide neckline on my t-shirt. Undergarments are not supposed to be visible.

I am so, so glad my DD's school has no dress code. I think a student would be sent home if they showed up in a meat dress, but only because of health codes, not the dress code.

 

Except for dance.

[Lara in Colo]

I children  *finally* remembered to put their names on their papers-- but with the suck up-- "love you mama" next to it--- I wonder what a PS teacher would do with that!!!!

[Guest]

It's okay. My dd's first day of B&M school in her life 9th grade, I took her to school and...it was empty. There was a retreat for high school students and I very stupidly thought some kids go, others don't. So she had one more week of summer vacation.

[trulycrabby]

Well, I took out the fence in car line when DS10 was in public school. :o The heel on my sandal got caught under the pedal and I could not stop. Thankfully we were first in line and there was no one ahead of us because it could have been tragic. I have never, ever worn sandals or open toe shoes to drive since then. Yes, we paid for a new section of fence; DH just laughed, he doesn't get upset easily. :o

[busymama7]

My boys went to band only last year. We had a lot of grief over learning to open their lockers. I'm quite sure the kids who had to keep helping them must have thought it was crazy (they were in 6 and 8 grade). But even worse was when my older one completly bombed the semester final. Missed every question. When they went over answers in class he was so confused because every answer was right. Come to find out he hadn't colored in the little scantron bubbles correctly. They were rectangles with the letters in the center. He didn't want to color over the letter so he just filled in the sections of the rectangle on each side. Very neatly I might add. His teacher was understanding about that but goodness! Something I never thought to teach ;)

[Cammie]

Ok  - I have Indian school failures to share!

 

For two years my DD went to one of the strictest, most no nonsense academic schools in town. The kinds that turn out hundreds of want to be doctors and engineers every year.

 

The uniform was HIDEOUS!  Brown and white stripped shirts, RED ties, ugly belts, brown jumpers for the girls.  On PE days they had white canvas sneakers.  Now, in India, during the rainy season, the roads are dirty.  And even without the rainy season white canvas does NOT stay clean.  One day the school decided to suspend every child who arrived at school in "dirty sneakers."  I was FURIOUS.  I arrived at school and made quite a scene.  That was also the last straw with that school.

 

What I did not know, and what none of my friends had thought to share with me is that 1) canvas shoes can be polished and 2) all kids carry white chalk pieces to "clean" their shoes when they get dirty.  I felt like an idiot when I realized I could have prevented the whole thing!

 

 

[Hen]

we had our first taste of school last year, my 11th grader decided to go to an arts school.  First, I won't do the car drop line, I drop her off a street over and pick her up there, it's much less stress and quick!  First big flub was picking her up early one day because she was sick- I did sign her out, but did not send a note the next day. They called, but were nice about it.  They seemed mistified that I was surprised I needed to send a note.  Next- dd is a senior this year and texted me because she was filling something out and didn't know our zip code.  And the locker- we paid for her to have a locker last year and she couldn't get it open, nice students helped her twice and then after that she was too embarrassed to keep struggling with it and never used it again. ...and last, I was the mom with the big DSLR camera and zoom lens taking pictures of her walking into school because we didn't do it for K. 

[linders]

we had our first taste of school last year, my 11th grader decided to go to an arts school.  First, I won't do the car drop line, I drop her off a street over and pick her up there, it's much less stress and quick!  First big flub was picking her up early one day because she was sick- I did sign her out, but did not send a note the next day. They called, but were nice about it.  They seemed mistified that I was surprised I needed to send a note.  Next- dd is a senior this year and texted me because she was filling something out and didn't know our zip code.  And the locker- we paid for her to have a locker last year and she couldn't get it open, nice students helped her twice and then after that she was too embarrassed to keep struggling with it and never used it again. ...and last, I was the mom with the big DSLR camera and zoom lens taking pictures of her walking into school because we didn't do it for K. 

 

I totally did the first-day-of-school photos for DS14 and DS11, also. I purposely went very early so they wouldn't be embarrassed, but of course, some of their teachers were arriving early also and thought it was "so sweet".

[Ripley]

Well, I took out the fence in car line when DS10 was in public school. :o The heel on my sandal got caught under the pedal and I could not stop. Thankfully we were first in line and there was no one ahead of us because it could have been tragic. I have never, ever worn sandals or open toe shoes to drive since then. Yes, we paid for a new section of fence; DH just laughed, he doesn't get upset easily. :o

 

Oh my goodness, how scary!

That's both awful and hilarious.

 

I live in sandals (what we call slippahs).

I always worry this will happen to me.

My driver ed instructor wouldn't let us drive in slippahs.

 

I feel like this is a premonition or warning for me LOL.

Like, tomorrow I should wear real shoes when I drive ... :driving: