I went to the school ... ( about the school supplies list )

[jwsqrdplus2]

My DDs are in priovate school here, and I got the school supply list for the fall in mid-Jun when I got the package with the tuition bill due 1 Jul! School starts the week before Labor Day, so we have plenty of time to shop. And some of the things on the list are VERY specific.

 

[disneyjunkie]

whatever happened to showing up to school with pens/pencils, calculator, and a three ring binder w/ loose leaf paper in it?

I LOVED school supply shopping when I was a kid...still do, I could browse in Staples for hours...

my father always took us shopping for this stuff AFTER school started...I never heard of a list being published before hand...we always got all that information on the first day of school.

Originally posted by stinkerbelle

my how things have changed

It's still like that here.
My son will be in the 8th grade this September.
When the sales start, I’ll buy all the basic stuff. There are just some things that are the same year after year. When school starts, I'll go back and get the specific items. By then all of the sales are over, but that's just the way it is here.

In all honesty we really haven't had teachers ask for to many things that I hadn't all ready picked up. Maybe they'll want a certain color folder or notebook, or a certain type of calculator, but that's about it. One year my son had a teacher that wanted the students to have green ink pens.

My sister and I tend to go crazy with the back to school shopping. Our kids end up with enough basic supplies to last the whole school year.

 

[snoopy]

We get our list a week before school starts too. Everything is always picked over then. I usually buy what I think they will need and put it aside, making having to buy whatever else is on the list somewhat easier.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Let me clarify, teachers do not know who they will have and if they have a specific list of items they would like to see students purchase to which parents would they give the list if they do not know which parents will need to purchase the supplies? As to basic supplies, well I do not think a teacher needs to tell anyone what is needed i.e. erasers, crayons, markers, etc.

I also love the people that think their taxes pay for everything. Taxes pay for staff in the classroom, text books, paper, and pencils.
Tax money gets more and more scarce now that computers are really a necessity in the classroom. When you think about maintainence, ink, and replacement costs... well that cuts into little niceities. The more technologically advanced our society becomes the more it costs for just basic classroom upkeep.

 

[cruisnfamily]

I posted my daughter's 6th grade list on the other thread so you all know what I have to pick up. Excessive in my opinion but really I don't mind. As others have said...I'd rather the funding go to education and I'll send in the supplies.

The whole "school supply list" thing has always been a sore point with me. All the other elementary schools in the area have their lists posted at Walmart/Target/etc weeks before school starts with a list for each grade. Our school on the other hand waits until meet the teacher day, which is Friday and school starts Monday, to give out a list which is teacher specific. Every individual teacher requires different things. I wish it could be done some other way but this is how they've always done it. The one year they sent home a generic list of things required for the next year and said that there would be more items on it when school started. Well I picked up some of the generics and ended up with stuff my son's teacher didn't even want(like baby wipes) that I had no use for.

I was really happy to see the middle school had the list on it's website. That has helped alot!

 

[HollyJoy]

That's awful!! You'd think they'd have it together! I took my girls school supply shopping yesterday. We got the supply list, for next year, with the last newsletter this year. I like to go early when the shelves are still full, and the selection is better. My youngest DD was thrilled to find Tinkerbell folders!!!

 

[Disneymomma]

We do not get student lists here until 2 days before school starts, leaving me no way of contacting the parents about supplies. I would love to let them know ahead of time. My dd school is great however, they usually send out a list at the end of July for each grade level.

"...how do they deal with the parents that say "Uh, yeah right. Shove that list where the sun don't shine. "

For those that say that, the teacher has to buy it. (At least in public schools here.)

 

[Trish Bessette]

Wow, I LOVE my daughters school even more now. K-4 ALL SUPPLIES are provided. Never was I asked to supply anything.

My oldest will be starting 5th grade this fall and she was told all she needs to provide is a trapper keeper type binder.

Good luck everyone!!!

 

[TIdoublegaER]

Our school lists are available at Target/Walmart and I actually received a school supply list in the mail yesterday for DD who is going in 7th grade. School doesn't start for another month, so that is plenty of notice for me. I'd probably go crazy if I had to wait until right before school started to know what the kids need.

Something our district does to help out the parents is at the end of the school year, you can pre-order your school supplies from the school for the following year. Everything will be in your child's classroom and on their desk on the first day of school. It is a little more expensive than going to Walmart, but it is definitely a no-hassle, worry-free way to go.

 

[powellrj]

What really ticks me off is that in Indiana you pay "book fees" which are $100- $250 per child, plus school pictures are taken the 1st week, plus a supply list that last year included things like swiffer refill packs and clorox wipes for each class (7 total) in addition to the ususal pens, paper etc.... It usually cost about $1000 to put the kids in school just paying book fees, deposits, and supplies. This doesn't include clothes and shoes. And this is public school.

 

[shortbun]

At our school, the parents pay $15 minimum and the school
buys the supplies. It's an informal school so no one has personal
supplies. Parents also provide tissues, wipes, copy paper,
snaks, hand soap, glue sticks and a few other things I can't
come up with right now. We're a very high performing school
so we have loads of NCLB kids coming now and that places
a bigger responsibility on some of us but we don't mind.
As far as the "we already paid our taxes" attitude; children
are much more important than that!

 

[MI mom of 3]

I looked up the article in the paper from last summer that says that school supplies can't be required.


""State law allows school districts to charge fees to students who participate in activities that occur before and after school, but anything related to academics -- including school supplies, lab fees and band instruments -- must be paid for by the school district, said T.J. Bucholz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education.""

Detroit Free Press (MI)
By TERESA MASK AND JEWEL GOPWANI FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Date: August 20, 2003; Page: 1A
Edition: METRO FINAL; Section: NWS
Illustration: Photo RICHARD LEE/Detroit Free Press
Memo: SIDEBAR ATTACHED


But let me again add, I buy all of my kids supplies. I enjoy it. I don't expect the school to provide it. All I'm saying is that they can't require parents to buy anything.

 

[sk!mom]

I teach in TX. At my school , we are given a chance to make changes to our supply lists in April and then they are sent home with the final report card. My DD's (3rd grade this Fall) is on the fridge waiting for us to be ready to admit that scool is around the corner and go shopping. We are both in denial right now. It took courage for me to open this thread. Many parents don't keep the lists so they are also available at WalMart, and the major supply stores.

It has been this way as long as I can remember in my District. DS19 always got the list at the same time, also.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally posted by powellrj
What really ticks me off is that in Indiana you pay "book fees" which are $100- $250 per child,

That is one fee we escape here!

 

[Cruise04]

Well I just typed up this great response and lost it.

One thing I had in there was be happy you aren't in a state that hasn't set their budget and therefore, the schools can't set their budgets and that may affect their lists some.

One thing I had started doing in 4th grade was grab the list for the following year as well. Then I had the list in June/July for the next grade and didn't have to wait for anyone. I would do the same thing for the next year as well. Why??? Because we were never given our lists and had to rely on getting them at the stores. This way it gave me a "heads up" on what she needed. I would check the list the following year to see if there was anything added and go from there. We have been responsible, because we are a catholic school, for providing copy paper, clear contact paper, craft supplies, ziploc bags, paper plates, etc and it was assigned by last name initial. So on top of having to get our kid school supplies we also had to provide those other things. Many years I was paying over $75 for school supplies - not including a backpack!!!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

In the elementary school, we find out the last day of school who our children will have for a teacher the following year, and get a list too.

In Middle/High Schools, we don't know until the first day of school who our children's teachers are, so we get a list in the first couple of days of school. I usually pick the kids up at school so that we can get to the stores before everyone else. And we usually end up going to several stores, because they sell out of some things. It's nuts and I hate it and I'm glad when it's over with.

We end up spending in the $200 - $300 range for all 3 kids, altho it may be more this year with 2 kids in high school, and one in middle school.

 

[Jaimee]

In our PUBLIC school district they also send out a list for next year with the last report card, and send a reminder in summer. DS was in kindergarten last year and I had to buy 6 folders, 2 24 ct boxes of crayons, 8 glue sticks (and they had to be a specific brand , paper towels, napkins, Clorox wipes, gallon size ziplocs, sandwich size ziplocs, crayola markers (again they only wanted crayloa...) 24 #2 pencils AND we had to pay a $60 school fee. I'm not sure what the lower income families do? I'm not very wealthy myself, and am a single parent. I know these things are pretty cheap, but adding that to back to school clothes, shoes, backpack, coat, and daycare, it adds up! I'm actually getting his supplies for first grade this weekend so I can be ahead of the game.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally posted by MaryAnnDVC


In Middle/High Schools, we don't know until the first day of school who our children's teachers are, so we get a list in the first couple of days of school.

DD is going into 8th grade and the middle & high schools have "registration days". Aug 2-5 They get their schedules, supply lists, pictures taken for yearbook, buy lunch cards, find your classes, decorate lockers & socialize. I really love the system they have in place.
School starts Aug 23rd.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

My DD's school had a meeting for the incoming Kindergarten Parents back in March of this year. At which time we were given a very specific list of supplies that the would need along with a dress code. I was so happy to have that list and information early on. I have had all this time to pick up the items that she will need. Now we have 3 weeks before school starts and I am done shopping. Everything is all ready for the very first day of school. Now I stop and think wow where did the time go. My little girl is going to school.

 

[dizagain]

This is an interesting thread...the "norm" seems to depend on where you live! I didn't realize that some districts don't require students to bring in massive quantities of supplies...we all grumble a little, but I actually LOVE shopping for school supplies! Our school offers the wrapped packs of supplies, but DD's and I have fun shopping. Now it gets a little crazy looking for that specific color sometimes...

I have also lived in Mississippi, and we purchased our own supplies there too. We did have a more diverse community there, but there were always drives to give supplies to those who needed them. I miss that here, actually.

Anyway, we're one of the first to return to school - August 12th, so we're gearing up!!