HS Back to School Night - pitiful attendance

[Becky2005]

I always make it a priority to go but it's hard to judge exactly what is what..for example, next year I'm going to have to make choices as to what classes I can attend because I will have both a Freshman AND a Senior. They don't set it up so you can attend all the classes for both the kids...therefore, I'm more likely to go with the Freshman's schedule...except where it's BTDT courses.

For example, let's say it's my Freshman's gym hour but my Senior's American Government hour at the same time. I'm going to skip the Freshman's gym hour & go to the Senior's American Government.

My DD has taken choir since 6th grade....if there is a choir conflict (not sure if my son will take it in 9th grade, although me might, which may mean they are actually in the same class!), I may skip the choir because it's BTDT, the only reason to attend would be to get information on the big trip (since next year is a trip year).

I know in grade school they do 2 sessions so if you have 2 children, you go to 2 sessions...if you have 3, well then you have to pick & choose which classrooms to go to.

In general, the back to school nights here tend to be really well attended (parking is *always* an issue so us old pros know how to park in the hidden areas or time it right).

 

[lovesmurfs]

What about you? Do you go to Back To School night?

We've never missed one. DD's was last night - 6th grade. Only 6 parents of 30.

I blame the school on this one, though. We didn't find out until the day before, and then it started at 6:00 p.m.

We have family "committee" meetings on Sunday evenings to outline our week so that we have pickups/dropoffs and schedules in place. When stuff like this comes up in the middle of the week, it's really hard to move schedules around, especially right after work.

 

[powellrj]

I just checked, and yes the grades so far are all posted! I am really going to like our new school!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Oh yea, I have been to most of them. I just like going and meeting with the teachers.

I often came home and asked older dd about her HOMEWORK that was DUE the NEXT DAY. So glad that one is gone and in college.

 

[Pigeon]

We have always gone and it's always been pretty much a waste of time. The teachers have a cheery, entirely predictable little canned presentation carefully crafted to leave no time for questions. Our schools have woefully inadequate parking, so you have to get there at least an hour ahead of time to get a spot, or likely get ticketed for parking on the road.

Dh is a public school teacher and his are just the same.

We may have to skip them this year because they fall on nights when both of our kids are in activities in different directions.

 

[Becky2005]

I do wonder if his particular school system fosters that because many parents have told him when they would come to conferences while their kids were in elementary school, some teachers would say "Why are you here? You're kid is fine." I don't know if this is an exaggeration, but I've heard this is enough.

Actually I believe that! It pretty much happened with my DD and I almost never go to conferences for her now. In grade school I literally could recite what they were going to say at the conference "I wish I had 25 more like her, her spelling needs work, any questions?" I was just laughing when I came out of her 5th grade conference and that was basically what they said. I had been hearing that since 1st grade.

In Middle School they sent home a note saying since they only have so many spots and basically not enough to go around, if you had no concerns about your child, please don't schedule a conference. This was back when it was overcrowded though. I did not get the same letter when my son went but they had opened a new school by then so 2 Middle Schools now.

In HS, it's nice because you can pick & choose which teachers you want a conference with. I have only gone one year for that with DD because she was going to be missing 7 weeks of school recovery after surgery, so I wanted to touch base with all the teachers. I have no intentions of going to any conferences with her teachers unless one of them requests it at this point because I'm sure I'll hear the same basic sentiments...same areas to work on as she has always had, same strengths she has always had and 'is a pleasure in the classroom' -- Although I WILL admit I was falling off my chair when all the teachers kept saying how quiet DD was when I did go to the conference. I think they had her confused with another child. Quiet would NOT be a word I would use to describe DD (she's a theatre person...none of them are quiet, especially if you put them together!)

Now...my son's on the other hand, I WILL be going to conferences for them until they graduate I'm sure. I have never had a teacher tell me they want 25 more like him lmao: IF they did, I would think the teacher was insane! He is definitely a handful...they all seem to like him but definitely don't want a class of kids all like him).

However, conferences are completely different than the Back To School/informational nights. You aren't supposed to talk specifically about your child there & that really doesn't happen too much, other than you might get a form/notecard to "write something about your child you would like me to know".

 

[RitaE]

I don't go for my High Schooler. Its also a very small school and I've known all the teachers for a couple of years now. I signed off on his registration form last spring so I already know what he's taking and who is teaching it. I have no interest in looking at his class syllabus or talking about homework schedules or other stuff. Those aren't my details to manage.

I usually know what they're reading in Literature classes because I'll see him toting a paperback around or he'll ask me to buy him the Kindle book or get something from the town library for him. If its a book I remember fondly I'll sometimes read it too for fun, but I don't get involved in homework unless I'm asked.

The online grade system they use sends me a weekly email summary of his grades every Monday morning. Unless I see a problem there, I don't really need more detail than that.

 

[auntie]

We always attended when the kids were in elementary school. One for start of Middle School..and their Freshman orientation for high school. Other than that..there wasn't a reason to meet with individual class teachers for a back to school night all through high school. We meet once a year with counselors so as to plan and pick classes for the following year. That being said..if there was ever an issue or concern, I never had an issue contacting a teacher or a counselor or their me. They've always been readily available.
I don't feel it's necessary to meet with your childs high school teachers at a back to school night. I think everyone including the teachers have better things to do. We get home a very detailed description of what is expected of your child from each teacher..and we have to sign that it's been read and received. We also have an online system where we can check attendance and assignments.
Managed to get three through high school, without any issues. Worked for us.

 

[JessicaR]

We always go. The last few years the turn out has been pretty pitiful. School isn't back yet here so I expect open night to be in a few weeks. I enjoy going my husband not so much.

 

[momof1princess]

i'll admit, i haven't gone to open house EVERY year, but we've gone the past few years (DD12 is in 7th grade) and we just went to this year's open house a couple of weeks ago (she started school on august 9th), and the attendance was pitiful. out of over 120 7th graders, there were MAYBE 12 parents (some couples, some just moms or dads) there. however, the teachers were great and gave us as much info as possible. we even got a tour of the library and a tutorial by the librarian on how to use the school website.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

If either of my kids have things at school with the teachers in regards to their education then either I or my husband is there. I don't care if they are reading from paper or not. It is my chance to get face to face with the teacher, introduce myself, and let them know I have a huge interest in what my daughters are learning at school.

 

[mamacatnv]

Yes, every year. However I never want to go because at this point I know all the teachers and all they do is read from the paperwork they give us. I also find that there are a few parents who monopolize the teacher asking questions about there own child. It is supposed to be an informational night for all parents not a conference for you, schedule that another night. (We do not have back to school night the first day back, its a couple weeks after school starts).
My kids are in elementary school, and one will be in the Jr. High this year, for now I will continue to go, who knows what will happen when they hit HS.

Oh man, that is soooo annoying. We went to DD's "Parent Orientation" this past Tuesday. She has moved up to the middle school in a small Charter school, so lots of new faces for us to see. Only 3 of DD's teachers were present. I guess there was a major snafu in communication to the teachers. The parents were informed but someone forgot to inform the staff. The event was the 2nd day of school and took a lot of staff by surprise. DD's homeroom teacher left a note for all parents on her door.

Anyway, of the 3 teachers present, we didn't get to introduce ourselves to a single one. Actually with the exception of Snowies mom, none of us got to meet a teacher. There was Snowies Mother telling the teachers all about Snowies issues and how special Snowie is. Snowie needs to have few distractions, needs to have his own desk at the front of the class, would prefer a top locker, likes to microwave his lunch and needs to be excused a few minutes early so he can do that (all kids have access to the same 4 micros, 1st come etc) and she went on and on and on.

So, we decided we would meet this teacher some other time and meandered towards another class along with a large bunch of parents we know. We are walking along and Snowies Mother runs by, yes, she was running. Yep, when we arrived at our next class, she is once again monopolizing the teacher.
There was no backtracking, we were following a designated schedule.
We never met a single teacher, but we know all sorts of things about Snowie, we parents were all comparing notes on what we learned of Snowie. Sad, but true. There is always one, every dang year, at least one.

We have gone to every back to school night with both kids with the exception of when son was a Sr. we knew them all by then

 

[Pigeon]

Ours aren't designed to let the parents meet the teacher. There is deliberately no time for that. The parents file in and the teacher launches into a presentation that lasts right up until the minute for the parents to file out.

 

[punkin]

I don't even know when DD's back to school night is this year. I am a bad parent.

Honestly, I have no idea what those things are for. It all seems pretty useless to me. Now, parent teacher conferences when there is a problem are a different story.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I don't go but that is because I work evenings at the hospital and we are never given enough notice in order for me to get the night off.

 

[johnsontrio]

We love meet the teacher night and DH is always very bummed if he has to miss it. DD spends so much of her time talking about the teachers and what goes on in school that I can't imagine not having a face to put with the name. I also want them to know that we are concerned parents that are paying attention. I'm excited this year because DD has all new teachers this year. In a small school (780 girls) the same teachers might teach the different level classes so we had some repeats Sophomore and Junior year. Looking forward to a great Senior year!

 

[tvguy]

My kids are in college now, but back to school night was always a nightmare.
Turnout is always great, but I guess if you have put a kid in private school at $11,000 a year, you might have a greater interest in what you're getting.
I think I had to park 6 blocks away one year. And of course it's 100 degrees out this time of year....and of course, they put A/C in the school the summer AFTER my youngest graduated.

 

[aprilgail2]

They only have open school nights in k-5 after that in Jr and Sr high you only have parent teacher conferance day in Dec and you have your kids schedule and can meet which ever teachers you want to wait on line to meet- unless you have 2 or 3 people with you though you don't get to meet them all. If you have your kid with you or husband you would put them on the line for one teacher while you run to talk to another, by the time you get back to your child/husband then you can see that one while they line up on another line to get you into that classroom--if you just go alone and wait on each line you get to see about half the teachers by the time the time is up.

 

[babytrees]

Once my girls hit high school I go to Freshman back to school night...other than that only if need be. 4 years ago for my oldest there was almost 3/4 parents in her classes, averaging 15 families per class, 15 minutes of canned speech. I went to school there way back when so I know the layout of the school so nothing new there.

Fast forward to last night. At a school of about 2000 students less than 500 people showed up for the whole school...DD's classes averaged 5 parents in each class (all honors classes). The teachers all had speeches that were less than the 10 minutes allotted and the Asst. Principal said "that is the end of tonight's back to school night. Good night" when there was another period of classes still to go to. At that point the teacher looked at the speaker thing on the wall and said "you would think this was the first back to school night, ever." I wasn't planning on going to that class (already in contact with the band teacher) but still. This is a new to us school and so far I am not impressed with how it's run.

I made sure to catch the other teachers on the way out so that I could talk about my kid (whole new school system...so far it looks like she is light years ahead of her classmates) because I didn't want to embarrass DD or keep the other parents.

 

[scrapquitler]

For high school, I don't see a point to back to school night. My DD is a freshman. I attended freshman orientation. The syllabus, the teacher's grading rubric and expectations are all on each teacher's web page, I've seen my daughter's schedule. What's the reason I need to go there with the parents of 1500 other children? If my student is responsible, doing well in class and not in trouble, I don't need to go.

At our high school 'back to school night', the parents go with the child's schedule from one class to another. They sit in each class for 10 minutes. How much is the teacher really going to tell me? There isn't time to ask questions one on one, so unless you haven't read the teacher's website or looked at your child's books, there's nothing new to be learned.

Middle school and Elementary school, yes, I would definitely go.