Do your area schools still hold Halloween Parades?

[NFLDERS]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/...es-parents-are-outraged/ar-AAfpBTQ?li=AA2FEvo

The elementary schools in our small town all do, and the town allows the children to parade past our retirement homes, and businesses on the main street.

 

[Straitlover]

Growing up, in elementary school (1971-76), we had Halloween parties but we didn't wear costumes or have a parade. Starting in 6th grade, we didn't have any kind of parties at all.

 

[RitaE]

Parade is kind of a stretch. There are class parties in the elementary school and the kids put on their costumes and walk up and down the halls. They kind of try to scatter it how so some kids are watching while others parade, and then they switch. The PTA usually hold a Friday late afternoon/early evening event with carnival games and candy and music and face painting etc. Many of the kids wear costumes to that. The Middle School technically doesn't have much official going on but the teachers all plan something in their classes the last two periods of the day.

They tried for years to call it a Fall Festival party but I think everybody just kept saying Halloween regardless and that whole political correctness saga died down. I noticed last year we had a "Friendship Feast" at Thanksgiving though.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Our school has been referred to as "Mayberry" before by a visitor.

We live in a small town. Almost all students arrive to school in their Halloween costume. They then trick or treat in an entire school parade around part of town. The town hall collects donations to give out to each kid, small businesses give goodies, coupons, etc, Pta gives treats and they return to school. At school they have a party in their class.

 

[poohfriend77]

My kids go to Catholic school, so they K-4th grades have a "saint parade" where they have to dress up as a saint (to celebrate All Saints Day, Nov. 1). It's meant to be a fun compromise, but it's kind of a pain for parents. ;-) After the parade, all the grades have Halloween parties.

The public schools in our town do not have Halloween parades or costumes at school, but the neighboring town school lets the younger kids dress up as their favorite character from a book (luckily that covers just about anything, as there are Disney princess books, superhero books, etc) and they parade around the block.

 

[EMom]

DD's elementary calls it a Storybook Parade. You dress up as any character you can find in a book. And it takes place on Halloween or the Friday before a weekend Halloween. Basically, they celebrate Halloween without calling it Halloween, lest someone get their knickers in a twist.

No one celebrates Halloween like America. We gave it our own twist a long time ago. "Halloween" the way we celebrate it is very American. It is a beloved part of our culture. If you choose to come to the US, you don't have to celebrate Halloween. But you should respect that most people will celebrate it wholeheartedly. We are constantly asked to respect other cultures. In fairness, others need to respect our culture and that includes Halloween. We have to stop worrying about offending anyone and everyone.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[bsblady01]

yes we still have the parade and the party in the classroom. we also have trunk or treat the day before Halloween

 

[NFLDERS]

yes we still have the parade and the party in the classroom. we also have trunk or treat the day before Halloween

Trunk? I've never heard of this before how does it work?

 

[holden]

Our school banned anything Halloween related a few years ago. They have a "harvest" party the Friday before Halloween. No references (books, crafts, bingo, etc.) to Halloween are allowed. It's ridiculous, IMHO.

 

[MSLRAC]

We do a book character dress up the Friday before Halloween for 5K and 1st grade. The kids do have to bring the book with them but it's pretty easy to find a book for any costume. Then that afternoon, all the classes have special snacks (administration turns a blind eye to cupcakes and cookies) and then either do a Halloween themed story time, craft, or game. We only get two actual parties a year so we don't blow one at Halloween.

 

[RitaE]

Trunk? I've never heard of this before how does it work?

It's usually like Trick or Treating but people decorate their cars and park them in the parking lot and kids run from car to car instead of house to house.

 

[alopez926]

My daughter who is now in 7th grade was never allowed to wear a costume to elementary school (except in Pre-K). They never celebrated Halloween either. IMO, much the fun has been taken out of school!

 

[SwimMom2]

Yes: both of mine go to private schools in DC; one secular and one religious.

 

[Colleen27]

I think our public schools still do. They did when my 9th grader was still in elem, anyway. It was just a small event, the kids could wear costumes and got to "trick or treat" from class to class in the last hour of the day. The private school my girls go to does something similar, only they trick or treat to the parish office and the high school next door rather than just in our little elem. The rules were/are the same at both - no gory costumes, no makeup, no weapon props - and the kids love it. Watching some of the high schoolers reactions to the little ones is really funny... One year my then-5yo dressed up as a Doctor Who villain and none of her friends recognized her but the high schoolers just loved it and it totally made DD's day!

 

[Kimberle]

We're in HS now. Our Elem school still does. They parade around the grounds, parents come and watch. Then they have an hour long party in each classroom. Those that don't want to participate have a non-Halloween celebration in the library. They watch a movie and have treats. Everybody is happy.

 

[bsblady01]

Trunk? I've never heard of this before how does it work?

we have a parade at night and parents and teachers give out candy from their cars

 

[ForeverAlice]

We have a festival at school (after school hours) on the Friday before Halloween. Kids are allowed to wear their costumes and they play games and trick or treat at each classroom and the gym. They have some crafts too.

 

[powellrj]

When my oldest was in grade school, they let the younger kids dress up, but once my other kids were in school, no more dressing up and it became a harvest party. Our church also cancelled truck or treat this year which really makes me sad.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

The elementary school where I work has a costume parade up and down the halls. Parents show up with cameras and grandparents in tow and line the hallways to wave as junior walks by. Masks, scary face paint, and weapons (real or fake) are not allowed. After the parade, each classroom is allowed to hold a short Halloween party. By the morning recess at 9:20, all costumes are required to be removed and placed in backpacks. The rest of the day is relatively normal.

My classroom doesn't participate in the parade since we're a special needs preschool class. Walking in line is difficult for our kids and the crowd along the parade route is too overwhelming for them. Instead, we have them sit in chairs outside the classroom door so they can watch the big kids go by. We have one or two each year who get scared, so one of us will take them inside to play until it's over. After the parade is over, we take our kids for a little trick-or-treating walk. We leave bags of treats (non-candy) with our principal, office secretaries, speech therapist, and librarian. We take the kids around to collect the treats and show off their costumes to the adults on campus that they're familiar with. After that, we help them put their costumes away. If we leave them on all day, the energy level in the room can get pretty crazy. We still have to keep our schedule of speech, occupational therapy, etc., so we need to move on with the day.