Disappointed with DD's yearbook...

[Mkrop]

I completely agree that kindergarten and elementary yearbooks are a total waste of time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Jr High / Middle School yearbooks are pretty much the same, but YMMV. At least they may provide an activity for a few of the kids.

High School yearbooks I understand -- I got one my senior year and it's still around somewhere, I think -- but they're still just popularity contests, a lot like cheerleader elections and Homecoming Queen/King. The cool kids get lots of pictures, the uncool kids don't. I really like the idea of having a minimum picture count for each student/senior. The cool kids will still have more pictures, but nobody gets left out.

If asking parents for pictures to pad the yearbook is the main source of photographs, you're going to have kids left out. Not all people are camera junkies. When parents don't provide pictures, it doesn't necessarily mean they just didn't bother to send them. They may not have any. We very rarely take pictures, for instance. I know that I've always figured that the folks who were there don't need pictures, and the folks who weren't there aren't really interested.

I tell that to the 3rd grade girl who came up and thanked me at her brother/my son's baseball game this morning for making the YB. Her and her sister went through and counted how many times they were in the YB, and they were laughing and having a great time. I be sure to tell her and her sister that it was really a waste of my time to make her smile

I think it is rude to say that what someone does for the kids on their own time is waste of time and resources. My kids and many others enjoy the memories, just bc you dont doesnt mean it is waste.

The reason we ask parents for pictures are that as parent VOLUNTEERS we can not be at every event, my kids are not in band so I would not be at the Spring Concert, my child is not in 4th grade so I would not have pictures from their Ethnic Lunch etc. We are not "padding" a YB, we are trying to include everyone so that you dont have people thinking it is only certain kids or only the popular kids etc. If you dont like to take pictures then dont complain and be sure to tell your child not to be disappointed if they are not in there.


ETA: also another way that this isnt a WASTE is that we are a private school, so we use all these pictures for marketing purposes as well!

 

[luvsJack]

DD's school is k-8 and she got a yearbook k-8. I don't find it a waste of resources or time either.

We do have a yearbook staff but the parents of the kids on the staff donate a lot of their time and energy to making the yearbook. Its a hard backed book with some color and some black and white pictures.

The money is raised by fundraisers, the selling of ads and the price of the yearbook ($40). And the kids love them.

I don't see how money can be wasted when none of the district money goes toward the books anyway.

 

[cornflake]

I completely agree that kindergarten and elementary yearbooks are a total waste of time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Jr High / Middle School yearbooks are pretty much the same, but YMMV. At least they may provide an activity for a few of the kids.

High School yearbooks I understand -- I got one my senior year and it's still around somewhere, I think -- but they're still just popularity contests, a lot like cheerleader elections and Homecoming Queen/King. The cool kids get lots of pictures, the uncool kids don't. I really like the idea of having a minimum picture count for each student/senior. The cool kids will still have more pictures, but nobody gets left out.

If asking parents for pictures to pad the yearbook is the main source of photographs, you're going to have kids left out. Not all people are camera junkies. When parents don't provide pictures, it doesn't necessarily mean they just didn't bother to send them. They may not have any. We very rarely take pictures, for instance. I know that I've always figured that the folks who were there don't need pictures, and the folks who weren't there aren't really interested.

Every school is different. We didn't have cheerleaders or homecoming and we also made sure people were fairly represented in high school. Every club/activity got the same space for a photo, pretty much everyone was in at least a couple of candids, etc.

I don't understand though, why in your view high school yearbooks are understandable but elementary are a waste of time. I mean... same thing, no?

 

[DeaverTex]

I tell that to the 3rd grade girl who came up and thanked me at her brother/my son's baseball game this morning for making the YB. Her and her sister went through and counted how many times they were in the YB, and they were laughing and having a great time. I be sure to tell her and her sister that it was really a waste of my time to make her smile

I think it is rude to say that what someone does for the kids on their own time is waste of time and resources. My kids and many others enjoy the memories, just bc you dont doesnt mean it is waste.

The reason we ask parents for pictures are that as parent VOLUNTEERS we can not be at every event, my kids are not in band so I would not be at the Spring Concert, my child is not in 4th grade so I would not have pictures from their Ethnic Lunch etc. We are not "padding" a YB, we are trying to include everyone so that you dont have people thinking it is only certain kids or only the popular kids etc. If you dont like to take pictures then dont complain and be sure to tell your child not to be disappointed if they are not in there.


ETA: also another way that this isnt a WASTE is that we are a private school, so we use all these pictures for marketing purposes as well!

I'm glad that the kids enjoyed their yearbook, but I still shake my head over the time and resources devoted to an elementary school yearbook that could be better devoted to other things that would give them equal enjoyment. You know, field trips and such? But that's just me, I suppose. I'm sad that the kids are already learning to count how many times their picture appears, but I guess they have to learn about popularity eventually.

Padding out -- would you prefer "filling in gaps"? -- the yearbook with sent-in photos sent in by parents is perfectly reasonable when you don't have a student yearbook staff with photographers. But, it's not a very reliable source, as you've noticed. I was just pointing out that the reason that parents don't sent in photos isn't necessarily that they simply ignored your request.

I don't believe I said anything about not enjoying memories, as I re-read my original post. I believe that what I said was that I don't think that memories require photographs. That's my opinion, and nobody is required to agree with me about it.

And if Tex Jr. comes to me complaining that he's not in his next yearbook enough, I'll tell him to take it up with the Baylor yearbook staff.

 

[DeaverTex]

Every school is different. We didn't have cheerleaders or homecoming and we also made sure people were fairly represented in high school. Every club/activity got the same space for a photo, pretty much everyone was in at least a couple of candids, etc.

I don't understand though, why in your view high school yearbooks are understandable but elementary are a waste of time. I mean... same thing, no?

I went to a large public high school, and it both cheerleader and queen/king were entirely popularity contests unfortunately. Tex Jr. went to a very small private school without cheerleaders, but king/queen was still a popularity contest. I think it's unavoidable if you let the students pick the winners.

Both my yearbook and Tex Jr.'s did a reasonable job of not leaving anyone out, but it was easy to tell the "in crowd" in both cases by the size and quality of the club shots and candids.

I look at an elementary school yearbook the same way I look at elementary school graduation ceremony. It's an unnecessary complication to something that should be considered as a routine process. That's my opinion, and nobody has to agree. High school is the LAST time that you'll likely be part of that large a group, reasonably stable for a number of years, and have that much in common with most of them as you move through some particularly remarkable years in your journey to adulthood.

 

[Mkrop]

I'm glad that the kids enjoyed their yearbook, but I still shake my head over the time and resources devoted to an elementary school yearbook that could be better devoted to other things that would give them equal enjoyment. You know, field trips and such? But that's just me, I suppose. I'm sad that the kids are already learning to count how many times their picture appears, but I guess they have to learn about popularity eventually.Padding out -- would you prefer "filling in gaps"? -- the yearbook with sent-in photos sent in by parents is perfectly reasonable when you don't have a student yearbook staff with photographers. But, it's not a very reliable source, as you've noticed. I was just pointing out that the reason that parents don't sent in photos isn't necessarily that they simply ignored your request.

I don't believe I said anything about not enjoying memories, as I re-read my original post. I believe that what I said was that I don't think that memories require photographs. That's my opinion, and nobody is required to agree with me about it.

And if Tex Jr. comes to me complaining that he's not in his next yearbook enough, I'll tell him to take it up with the Baylor yearbook staff.

Holy mackeral, it has nothing to do with popularity you are so far off it is amazing...it is that I and my other parent volunteers work our butts off to include as many kids as possible, popular or unpopular to use those terms. I go out of my way to get the shy kids bc they are not the ones jumping in every shot.

And the only resource that is wasted is us running around the school and then compiling, we sold so many YBs this year that it actually turned into a fundraiser, so there is more money for field trips and such bc when we went over our contracted number we got a price break.

And I think if it was all about popularity, not that many books would be sold, people buy it bc we work really hard to ge their kids in there, we could just use help from the parents to capture events that we can not attend. I mean if you think your child is underrepresented in the YB, try snapping a few shots at his chorus performance and submit them. I dont think it is that outrageous or complicated a request.

I went to a large public high school, and it both cheerleader and queen/king were entirely popularity contests unfortunately. Tex Jr. went to a very small private school without cheerleaders, but king/queen was still a popularity contest. I think it's unavoidable if you let the students pick the winners.

Both my yearbook and Tex Jr.'s did a reasonable job of not leaving anyone out, but it was easy to tell the "in crowd" in both cases by the size and quality of the club shots and candids.

I look at an elementary school yearbook the same way I look at elementary school graduation ceremony. It's an unnecessary complication to something that should be considered as a routine process. That's my opinion, and nobody has to agree. High school is the LAST time that you'll likely be part of that large a group, reasonably stable for a number of years, and have that much in common with most of them as you move through some particularly remarkable years in your journey to adulthood.

Your entitled to your opinion but dont assume you understand how every school works and the need to capture these memories. DS14 has been with these same kids for the last 9 years. They all will head to different HSs, this may be the last time he sees some of them, he will have spent more time with them then he will new friends he meets in HS. And around here many of us are still very good friends with those we went to grade school with, despite moving onto HS and college. I just posted on FB our 8th grade grad pic and everyone is having a blast checking us out from 1983 and now there is talk of a reunion for those that we dont see that often.

 

[DeaverTex]

Holy mackeral, it has nothing to do with popularity you are so far off it is amazing...it is that I and my other parent volunteers work our butts off to include as many kids as possible, popular or unpopular to use those terms. I go out of my way to get the shy kids bc they are not the ones jumping in every shot. Picture counts were one of the leading ways to determine your popularity at my HS, and at Tex Jr's school for that matter, but of course HS yearbooks use student staff. It sounds like you're doing a good job as a volunteer staffer, then.

And the only resource that is wasted is us running around the school and then compiling, we sold so many YBs this year that it actually turned into a fundraiser, so there is more money for field trips and such bc when we went over our contracted number we got a price break. (I've always found that parent participation was far more of an issue than funding for things like field trips. More field trips get cancelled for lack of parent participation than for lack of funds, at least around here. YB generally are doing good to break even, but 'grats on turning a profit for the school.)

And I think if it was all about popularity, not that many books would be sold, (I didn't say that buying a YB is about popularity. Heck, even I bought my HS YB, and I was part of the least popular group on the campus.) people buy it bc we work really hard to ge their kids in there, we could just use help from the parents to capture events that we can not attend. I mean if you think your child is underrepresented in the YB, try snapping a few shots at his chorus performance and submit them. I don't think it is that outrageous or complicated a request. (Not at all outrageous or complicated, but it assumes that parents take the pictures in the first place. As I've said, this is NOT necessarily a productive assumption, and your own statements tend to back that up. There are a significant number of people -- I'm one of them but I know quite a few others personally -- to whom it would not occur to take a camera to such a function, or to take pictures at it if they had a camera with them. This can be nearly impossible to believe for people to whom taking pictures is as natural as breathing)

Your entitled to your opinion (Thank you, and so are you!) but dont assume you understand how every school works and the need to capture these memories. (I didn't think I was making that assumption, because I'm well aware I don't understand how every school works. If I came across that way then I apologize for the miscommunication.) DS14 has been with these same kids for the last 9 years. They all will head to different HSs, this may be the last time he sees some of them, he will have spent more time with them then he will new friends he meets in HS. And around here many of us are still very good friends with those we went to grade school with, despite moving onto HS and college. (I'm from a large town -- Houston -- and having friends from elementary school seems so alien to me. I do envy that, but it hasn't been the norm in any area that I have lived, at least so far.) I just posted on FB our 8th grade grad pic and everyone is having a blast checking us out from 1983 and now there is talk of a reunion for those that we dont see that often. (A JH class reunion? Wow. Nearly everyone I know hated JH with a passion and has done everything in their power to blot it from their memories, so this is a new thought for me. If you can make it happen, I hope you have a ball.)

My remarks in red. Everything I post on these boards, unless I specifically present it as fact, is either my personal opinion or my personal observation.

 

[Mkrop]

My remarks in red. Everything I post on these boards, unless I specifically present it as fact, is either my personal opinion or my personal observation.

DeaverTex...your response is not here bc of putting in my quote....what I think is the miscommunication here is this isnt Junior High, this is grade school and for us around here is K-8, you spend a long time with people and you form bonds. Your identity is very much attached to your parish school. This is not the typical Jr High. It is very different, you have some Jr High drama but not half of what I hear from friends whose kids go to typical Jr High. It is not just spending 3 years with some people and then moving on...

And once again my point is if you (general) you dont like to take pictures, that is fine, but if you find out that is how the YB gets its pictures and you are dissatisfied with the frequency of your child's pic or lack thereof, then the suggestion of bringing a camera to these events and submitting them yourself would be the appropriate next move. Volunteers can not be at every event so if it is important to have your kid to be in the YB, take the bull by the horns and make it happen!(once again, general you)

 

[luvsJack]

My remarks in red. Everything I post on these boards, unless I specifically present it as fact, is either my personal opinion or my personal observation.

I get what you are saying about so much being about popularity. Our homecoming court, most beautiful, Miss and Mr "high school name", etc. was basically a popularity contest and probably still is.

I don't think its the same thing with yearbooks. Every one that I had from high school, my sons have, and that dd has gotten so far have had pictures pretty fairly divided among the student population. But when trying to take candid shots at an event, some kids just naturally seem to herd to the camera and some go the other way and so those kids won't have as many pictures.

For K-8 here, the photographer is a teacher so she tries really hard to get everyone in there but its not easy. For instance, there is one boy in dd's class that never came to any after-school event, ballgame, parent night, even 8th grade graduation. On field trip days, he would tend to be absent. So the only candid shot of him is in the classroom and even then he turned his head.

When dd got her yearbook, I am sure she looked for pictures of herself. She also looked for pictures of her friends and talked about whatever it was they were doing the day the picture was taken.

 

[DeaverTex]

Mkrop:

Your situation is indeed VERY different from anything I've seen before. Around here, combination schools -- other than private ones like the one Tex Jr. attended -- are JH/HS, not elementary/JH. Thank you for expanding my awareness.

And I really do agree (I thought I'd said so, but re-reading I didn't) that once you (the parent) discover that your input is an essential component for yearbook photos, then it's your job (as parent) to either DO something about it or be prepared to explain to DS/DD why he/she doesn't appear in said yearbook. Just because you (like me) never think to take pictures, is no reason that you can't drag out the camera, get off your butt and go take some. If there is going to BE a yearbook, whether I agree or not, and I'm asked for contributions, then once I know why they were requested you can bet that I won't just blow it off.

All that said, there will be parents who just never get with the program, and the only truly reliable source for yearbook pictures is yearbook staff, whether wonderful volunteers like you, or students.

luvsJack:

In my yearbook, and in my son's yearbook as well from nearly 40 years later, the in crowd were everywhere on the pages. The out crowd were conspicuous by their scarcity. I roundly applaud any yearbook, whether kindergarten, elementary, jr high, high school, college, or retirement home, that manages to avoid that pitfall.



...wanders off mumbling "Dang kids these days. Why, in MY day..."

 

[cornflake]

I think this is school specific rather than geographic as while I'm not familiar with elementary yearbooks, I am familiar with plenty of people who are still friends with people from elementary school and I'm in NYC, bigger than Houston.

Same as the 8th grade graduation - which I had and was and is a thing; if you spend 8 years with the same kids and are scattering to all different schools, it's nice.

 

[Mkrop]

Mkrop:

Your situation is indeed VERY different from anything I've seen before. Around here, combination schools -- other than private ones like the one Tex Jr. attended -- are JH/HS, not elementary/JH. Thank you for expanding my awareness.

And I really do agree (I thought I'd said so, but re-reading I didn't) that once you (the parent) discover that your input is an essential component for yearbook photos, then it's your job (as parent) to either DO something about it or be prepared to explain to DS/DD why he/she doesn't appear in said yearbook. Just because you (like me) never think to take pictures, is no reason that you can't drag out the camera, get off your butt and go take some. If there is going to BE a yearbook, whether I agree or not, and I'm asked for contributions, then once I know why they were requested you can bet that I won't just blow it off.

All that said, there will be parents who just never get with the program, and the only truly reliable source for yearbook pictures is yearbook staff, whether wonderful volunteers like you, or students.

luvsJack:

In my yearbook, and in my son's yearbook as well from nearly 40 years later, the in crowd were everywhere on the pages. The out crowd were conspicuous by their scarcity. I roundly applaud any yearbook, whether kindergarten, elementary, jr high, high school, college, or retirement home, that manages to avoid that pitfall.



...wanders off mumbling "Dang kids these days. Why, in MY day..."

I think we are finally seeing each other's point!

 

[kimmyann]

If you don't like how the year books are done, then do something about it. At our school it is all volunteer. I did the elem. year book for years. I got involved because I didn't like how it was done. I feel every kid should be in the book somewhere. I came in to all school funtions. Even the parties that were not my kids or even their grade. Lucky for the school I am a total photo junky so to me this was the best job ever until.........something got mixed up or someone was missed. we had several mom's review our pages. Most were stupid mistakes spelling error. WE also had a teacher and our princ. to view the pages before printing.
Prior to being on yb my kids were in the book, a lot, why? Because I did what they said if you have pictures please send them to......I figured they would pick what they wanted and delete the rest. But once I took over the year book. I found out most parents never sent any photos in. And those parents complained the most.

I work. I do not have all day to spend at my kids school, sorry. The school has never mentioned sending in pics, ever. I'm not upset about random pics (the repeated same kids was just an obvious observation this year), I was just bummed that she was not included on her class page, not even her name (listed as not pictured).

As far as elementary yearbooks as a whole, I have mixed feelings. They are only good for the present & the elementary years. Once the kids go to middle & high school these yearbooks are forgotten. Now the middle & high yearbooks, I have even broke mine out on occasion as an adult. Especially when you get that friend request & you can't remember who that person is.

 

[Ceila]

As far as elementary yearbooks as a whole, I have mixed feelings. They are only good for the present & the elementary years. Once the kids go to middle & high school these yearbooks are forgotten. Now the middle & high yearbooks, I have even broke mine out on occasion as an adult. Especially when you get that friend request & you can't remember who that person is.

That may be true for you, but it isn't true for everyone. My kids got a kick out of looking through my old elementary yearbooks, and it's fun pulling them out when I reconnect with someone from those years through Facebook. An elementary teacher of mine recently retired and one of my friends used her old yearbook to search out former classmates and invite them to the retirement party. While not all of them were able to attend, some did and others sent in letters to give to the teacher.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I work. I do not have all day to spend at my kids school, sorry. The school has never mentioned sending in pics, ever. I'm not upset about random pics (the repeated same kids was just an obvious observation this year), I was just bummed that she was not included on her class page, not even her name (listed as not pictured).

As far as elementary yearbooks as a whole, I have mixed feelings. They are only good for the present & the elementary years. Once the kids go to middle & high school these yearbooks are forgotten. Now the middle & high yearbooks, I have even broke mine out on occasion as an adult. Especially when you get that friend request & you can't remember who that person is.

I work too and have spent a few years on my child's yearbook's committee's. There are countless hours that go into putting a yearbook together. From picture taking at the school, to putting all the pictures together, making sure different kids were in the group shots to hours and hours of proofreading. (everything but the picture taking was done in the evenings)

We (the other parent VOLUNTEERS) would go through all the group shots that were taken at different events throughout the year and try and get a wide variety of the kids in there. It was no popularity contest here and we especially didn't put our kids in more because we'd hear flack about that.

Being on the yearbook staff is a thankless job. Someone is always complaining and I put many many hours into it also. During the last months before final copy was due , I was hardly home at all. But I didn't like how the yearbook was run previously years and wanted to change it.
The parent volunteers do our kids yearbooks K-6, then starting in 7th grade the students take it over.

I wasn't happy with DD's yearbook this year (2nd grade) . The group pictures were small . In some of them if you didn't squint and already know who was in the shot, you couldn't recognize the face. There were some typos and 1 childs picture was forgotten. It happened in my daughter's class so she pointed it out to me.
This is something that should not happen. Someone dropped the ball. Because proofreading is a major part of putting the yearbook together, but then again things are missed sometimes.

I thought DS's yearbook was way better (7th grade) . The students on the yearbook stuff did an awesome job. THey did a great job of getting a wide variety of kids in different group shots (popular or not )

Even though I wasn't happy with DD's yearbook, I'm not complaining. I know what a huge job goes into putting it together and really don't want to put the time and effort into being on that committee again.

 

[Mkrop]

I work. I do not have all day to spend at my kids school, sorry. The school has never mentioned sending in pics, ever. I'm not upset about random pics (the repeated same kids was just an obvious observation this year), I was just bummed that she was not included on her class page, not even her name (listed as not pictured).

As far as elementary yearbooks as a whole, I have mixed feelings. They are only good for the present & the elementary years. Once the kids go to middle & high school these yearbooks are forgotten. Now the middle & high yearbooks, I have even broke mine out on occasion as an adult. Especially when you get that friend request & you can't remember who that person is.

So what if you work...who cares? Lame excuse! You never step foot in your child's school for anything, no concerts, no field trips to chaperone, never picking her up from an extracurricular activity etc...those are all perfect times to take pictures. My DH works but recently took the day off to go to DC with DS14's class, I sent him with my camera and told him to take pictures. Most of the parents I know who work go to something at the school during the year or go to concerts or sporting events etc.

And once again our elementary school YB is being discussed 29 years later on FB right now as we speak, so just bc you didnt form those connections doesnt meant other people dont!

 

[kimmyann]

So what if you work...who cares? Lame excuse! You never step foot in your child's school for anything, no concerts, no field trips to chaperone, never picking her up from an extracurricular activity etc...those are all perfect times to take pictures. My DH works but recently took the day off to go to DC with DS14's class, I sent him with my camera and told him to take pictures. Most of the parents I know who work go to something at the school during the year or go to concerts or sporting events etc.

And once again our elementary school YB is being discussed 29 years later on FB right now as we speak, so just bc you didnt form those connections doesnt meant other people dont!

I & my family care that I have to work. Not a lame excuse IMO. It's nice that your DH is able to take a day off, mine can't. It is extremely hard for me to. I'm so happy for you. We do go to after school activities, but my DD's school just doesn't do much.

As far as elementary yearbooks, I never had one growing up so this was new to me when my kids went to school. I never said that everyone should share my opinion, I just was sharing mine. I'm not going to discount your personal feelings or opinions of it just because mine are different. But, if it makes you feel better, go ahead.

 

[Mkrop]

I & my family care that I have to work. Not a lame excuse IMO. It's nice that your DH is able to take a day off, mine can't. It is extremely hard for me to. I'm so happy for you. We do go to after school activities, but my DD's school just doesn't do much.

As far as elementary yearbooks, I never had one growing up so this was new to me when my kids went to school. I never said that everyone should share my opinion, I just was sharing mine. I'm not going to discount your personal feelings or opinions of it just because mine are different. But, if it makes you feel better, go ahead.

Then take pics at the after school activities, take a pic of her and a buddy in your front yard, the YB staff most likely wont care. My DH can rarely take off work, but he made it a point to go on this trip, that is my point, you can make the time to take pics whenever you are there if her appearancein the YB is important to you, working or not. We have plenty of working moms/dads that help, whenever they got to go to ANYTHING school related that would snap a few pics.

I was not discounting your feelings whatsoever, I think you need to reread. You discounted the feelings and the importance of the a elementary school YB to all of those who still look at them.

 

[kimmyann]

Then take pics at the after school activities, take a pic of her and a buddy in your front yard, the YB staff most likely wont care. My DH can rarely take off work, but he made it a point to go on this trip, that is my point, you can make the time to take pics whenever you are there if her appearancein the YB is important to you, working or not. We have plenty of working moms/dads that help, whenever they got to go to ANYTHING school related that would snap a few pics.

I was not discounting your feelings whatsoever, I think you need to reread. You discounted the feelings and the importance of the a elementary school YB to all of those who still look at them.

I was never aware that I could submit my own pics for the purpose of the yearbook. I don't see where I discounted anyone's feelings by stating that middle & high school yearbooks have been used for connecting with people. I never had an elem yearbook, so this is just a personal opinion. My older children haven't looked in theirs in years. Now, when they were in elem school, they were very important. They loved having them signed & looking through them. My problem was not with the random pics, that was just an observation this year. This is the first year that it was VERY obvious. My problem was my DD was not pictured on her class page, not even her name was listed as not pictured.

 

[Mkrop]

I was never aware that I could submit my own pics for the purpose of the yearbook. I don't see where I discounted anyone's feelings by stating that middle & high school yearbooks have been used for connecting with people. I never had an elem yearbook, so this is just a personal opinion. My older children haven't looked in theirs in years. Now, when they were in elem school, they were very important. They loved having them signed & looking through them. My problem was not with the random pics, that was just an observation this year. This is the first year that it was VERY obvious. My problem was my DD was not pictured on her class page, not even her name was listed as not pictured.

You stated that the books only were for the here and now...

You say she came late to the school, or I am confused? I think it is unfortunate that your DD is not pictured on the class page but it could be bc she missed that particular picture day. If it works like ours does, the kids and employees pics are taken on one day, and only that day, if you are not there you are out of luck. I had one child start our school in Nov and two employees that started after these pics were taken, and several who were sick. When the portraits are delivered, I can then flow or upload them onto a page. That is all I can do and then put the missing people as Not Pictured/No Photo. I had several people ask if I could add their child but the way the page is set up by the YB provider, I can not do that. If your DD missed that picture day, the hands of the YB editors may be tied. If your DD was there for that day and some how got missed than you have a legitimate complaint, but once again just remember that this job is done by volunteers (I think you stated) who may not know every child or just may not be very good at it but they are the only ones to step up. Or sometimes even the best and well intentioned volunteers make mistakes.