Proper Behavior as a School Parent

Proper Etiquette While Being a School Parent

Attention Parents of School Children; this is for us.  Thanks to many teachers from Local Schools, we now have a great list of etiquette reminders, so that when engaging, helping and visiting our children’s schools, we can be sure that we are a blessing and a help to our children’s teachers instead of the opposite.  Need I say more?  So, here we go.

1. Please, when writing your child’s teacher a note, let’s not write on the wrapper of a Subway bag.  This does not show proper thought and preparation to discuss the matter at hand.
2. Oh my!  Please let’s not send handfuls of quarters delivered by sticky “paws” to pay for the field trip costing $10.75.  Let’s be more considerate of our teacher’s time.
3. Please send in the exact amount needed for a field trip or item.  The school or teacher does not keep change on hand so please do not send in a $20.00 bill if the needed amount is different than that.
4. Let’s not send blank checks with your child to your school.  We should all know the name of our child’s school (well maybe in a perfect world), so just go ahead and fill out the check completely.
5. It’s not polite to open the classroom door and quietly creep across the room to give wee Mary Margaret Cindy Lu a hug and positive vibes to help her throughout the day.  This inevitably disturbs the rest of the classroom and causes the teacher to develop a nervous tic.
6. The day of a field trip is very hectic.  Let’s not “hang out” in our child’s classroom the hour before the field trip as this causes even more chaos in the classroom.  Just simply wait in the car or the lobby.
7. It’s not polite to bring fast food to school for lunch for your child.  It’s against the nutrition policy for most schools and is not thoughtful for the other students having to, I mean getting to, eat school lunch.
8. Teacher’s time is so valuable, as is all of our time.  Let’s not grab our teacher for just a “quick minute,” but instead, schedule a teacher conference.
9. Please don’t walk your child to the classroom if late.  Just simply let your child check into the office and then walk themselves to their classroom.  The less disruption to the class, the better.
10. Sometimes things happen and we are late picking up our child from school.  Hopefully, it’s a rare occasion.  However, it we are late, it is polite to apologize to the teacher that has to stay late too and miss working time in the classroom.  Remember, proper etiquette means we strive to always be on time.  Usually when we are late, we cause interruption in someone else’s schedule.  Just be considerate of this.
11. Be very cautious when you are in the hallways at your child’s school and speak in soft hushed tones.  If you need to take a phone call, step outside.
12. Let’s remember, a lady never dresses in a way that brings attention to herself.  If we are true ladies, we want the attention to be on those around us.  With this in mind, let’s be mindful of the way in which we dress when attending our child’s school.  Tennis outfits, immodest attire and other clothing that is not appropriate for a school setting, should not be worn inside the school. 
13. Today, teachers are feeling more pressure than ever, yet teachers are often not enjoying the benefits of being duly compensated.  So, let’s make every effort to show our gratitude to our teachers by saying, “Thank you” often and helping our teachers as often as we can.
14. A great way to support our teachers is to make sure we are fully engaged in our children’s education.  This means we need to know what’s going on and what they’re studying.  We need to work with our children in the academic subjects that need improvement.  We need to help our children become responsible in keeping up with their assignments, goals and projects.
15. Finally, let’s be polite, courteous and gracious at all times with our teachers.  Yes, there may be occasions when we disagree with a grade, an assignment, or perhaps a disciplinarian action, however we can show respect and integrity when we approach our teachers assuming each other’s intentions are always with the student’s best interest at heart.

Let’s have a great school year and let’s use our manners in and out of our schools.

Have a great month,
Monica Irvine, a.k.a. Mary Manners