Disney1fan2002
<font color=red>Like OMG the TF is SOO psyched to
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2002
- Messages
- 12,072
We have a terrific DARE program in our town. Every year, in cooperation with the county sheriff's dept. the DARE program offers a free one week day camp for the kids entering 5th grade in Sept. It's an all day camp, Mon-Fri and it is absolutely free. They even provide lunch for the kids.
I spoke to the DARE office back in early spring, asking him when the forms would be going home. They send them home to the current 4th graders. Knowing how fast it fills up, I wanted to be pro-active in getting the form in early. He said sometime in April, and it was going to be tight, because of budget cuts, they can only offer one session this year.
Everyday, I asked my Ds if he brought a notice home from DARE. No, no, no...always the answer. Well, now it is getting towards the end of May, something is not right. I call the school and they tell me the forms were sent home WEEKS ago. Oooh, did I let my son have it. He insists that he never got a form. So, the school tells me to call the police station. I call, and leave a message with the DARE officer. He called me back yesterday to tell me the forms went home in March, and the camp was filled up, they overbooked and there were no cancellations. CRAP.
I start thinking, I don't think my son's teacher sent them out, because his friend's mom had not gotten a notice. So I call another one of his friends, mom, and she has twins who are in two different classes. SHE never got a notice. At the ballgame last night, I talked to another mom of a 4th grader, and her DS was in a different class them the other two, and she never got a notice. She was actually doing the calling around like me, because she has an older DD and knew about it. (parents who's kids are the oldest in 4th grade probably don't even know about this). So we now have THREE 4th grade teachers who did not send the forms home. How did the camp get filled up if the kids never came home with the forms? (Not blaming the teachers, they probably didn't get them from the office)
This is open to other towns in our county. So I think that the other towns filled up the camp, and our kids are missing out this year. The other moms I have talked to feel the same as me. We are not happy. It would have been one thing to get the form and send it in, but miss it, because we were not fast enough, but to not even have the opportunity to even attempt to get in, well, that just stinks. My DS has been looking forward to the summer of going into 5th grade because he knew he could go to this camp once he finished 4th grade. He was so jealous of my DD the week she got to go 2 years ago.
I spoke to the DARE office back in early spring, asking him when the forms would be going home. They send them home to the current 4th graders. Knowing how fast it fills up, I wanted to be pro-active in getting the form in early. He said sometime in April, and it was going to be tight, because of budget cuts, they can only offer one session this year.
Everyday, I asked my Ds if he brought a notice home from DARE. No, no, no...always the answer. Well, now it is getting towards the end of May, something is not right. I call the school and they tell me the forms were sent home WEEKS ago. Oooh, did I let my son have it. He insists that he never got a form. So, the school tells me to call the police station. I call, and leave a message with the DARE officer. He called me back yesterday to tell me the forms went home in March, and the camp was filled up, they overbooked and there were no cancellations. CRAP.
I start thinking, I don't think my son's teacher sent them out, because his friend's mom had not gotten a notice. So I call another one of his friends, mom, and she has twins who are in two different classes. SHE never got a notice. At the ballgame last night, I talked to another mom of a 4th grader, and her DS was in a different class them the other two, and she never got a notice. She was actually doing the calling around like me, because she has an older DD and knew about it. (parents who's kids are the oldest in 4th grade probably don't even know about this). So we now have THREE 4th grade teachers who did not send the forms home. How did the camp get filled up if the kids never came home with the forms? (Not blaming the teachers, they probably didn't get them from the office)
This is open to other towns in our county. So I think that the other towns filled up the camp, and our kids are missing out this year. The other moms I have talked to feel the same as me. We are not happy. It would have been one thing to get the form and send it in, but miss it, because we were not fast enough, but to not even have the opportunity to even attempt to get in, well, that just stinks. My DS has been looking forward to the summer of going into 5th grade because he knew he could go to this camp once he finished 4th grade. He was so jealous of my DD the week she got to go 2 years ago.
but I would have thought that I would have preferred they raised fees instead of cutting down to just one session. I can see why they did it, only offered it to some schools because if they offer it to ALL the neighborhood schools and with only one session...you could be dealing with a "wait in line at 6am" type of thing, and I am sure they don't want to deal with that drama for a free program. So I can see why they did it, but still, you are right, like stinks sometimes. It's so hard to find reasonably priced camps..I would have LOVED for them to charge $100-$150 or whatever cost is for everyone..that STILL would have seemed like a bargain. 
