Teachers: Do YOU have a dress code?

[disney junky]

We have a vague policy which suggests a professional appearance, but I have noticed a drastic deterioration in the appearance of some of my fellow teachers. I'm not talking about specialty teachers whose positions require them to dress a certain way, I'm talking about core subject teachers.

I couple years ago, our director of secondary education decided he wanted to come up with a particular look (based on WDW model he said) and offered polo shirts with the school name and mascot on the pocket area. He tried it first with social studies and anyone else who wanted to participate, Mondays and Fridays. He felt this would be the first step in selling the idea of a uniform to students. I felt that instead of dressing things up, it actually dressed things down. We have dress down Fridays twice a month, but honestly some times you can't tell.

I know the way we dress has no real bearing on the job we do, but I also think there is a level of respect that comes with appropriate attire. If we expect to be paid like professionals, shouldn't we look the part? A couple years ago I was taking some admin courses and the question came up in class. The professor, a former principal and superintendent, said he always answered the question with this statement. Even the kid who bags my groceries can put on a tie.

So, do your schools require a particular level of dress? What is acceptable? What is unacceptable? Is there a written policy?

 

[lemondog]

My friend works at an all-girl Catholic high school and she is required to wear a skirt or dress. She looks pretty "churchy" when she goes to work.

 

[Castlebound]

I wish the teachers at our old school would have had a dress code. My kids went to a Catholic school and had to wear uniforms. On days that they could dress up the dress or skirt had to be below the knees and no backless shoes could be worn. Shirts had to be long enough for it to not show their stomachs if they raised their arms above their heads. Teachers on the other hand were not given such rules and several wore clothes that would have been against the rules for the kids. Several parents asked the school board to recommend a dress code for the teachers after seeing the kindergarten teacher in a very low cut shirt and short skirt. They wanted professional dress with a minimum of polo shirts and khakis. They also wanted skirts to be below the knee like the school required for the girls. Most of the school board thought that it was a great idea. The principal told the school board that the teachers would never agree because many of them would have to buy new clothes just for school! My reply when I heard that is that I have to buy new clothes for my children every year just for school so that they follow the uniform policy. Since the teachers shouldn't be having any more growth spurts they could update their clothes with something more professional.

 

[BrerMom]

"Professional" means different things to different people. I haven't seen any teachers wearing t-shirts (that don't have the school name, anyway), sweat pants, or pajama pants, so it doesn't really bother me the level of professionalism they choose.

You know, if we had air-conditioning, I might feel differently. It was over 85 degrees in the classrooms every day for the last week. If women wear capris or long shorts & men wear nice shorts, who cares? We had two teachers who wore suits for the honors day presentations and (I think) one came close to having a heat stroke.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I've been at my school 20 years and although I strive to look professional, I know teachers who look a lot better. I have 4 or 5 pairs of dress pants I wear all winter with various tops and sweaters. I hate wearing dresses. I wear the occasional skirt in warmer weather, plus some capris. I wear sandals a lot and have completely given up on nylons in all weather. I'm overweight so no point in spending $ to look super-stylish when I can buy nice gloria vanderbilt pants at kohls (and their house brand tops usually).
Some Fridays we can wear jeans and sneakers if we pay $2 and I am the first one lining up! All summer it's shorts or jeans for me.
Robin M.

 

[TJ's Mom]

We have a dress code. No jeans, shorts, flip flops, capri pants. I have issues with the capri pants. There are some very nice outfits with capris. They look better than khakis and a polo.

The principal told the school board that the teachers would never agree because many of them would have to buy new clothes just for school! My reply when I heard that is that I have to buy new clothes for my children every year just for school so that they follow the uniform policy. Since the teachers shouldn't be having any more growth spurts they could update their clothes with something more professional.

Just a thought - The price difference between kid and adult clothes is rather large.

 

[Castlebound]

We have a dress code. No jeans, shorts, flip flops, capri pants. I have issues with the capri pants. There are some very nice outfits with capris. They look better than khakis and a polo.




Just a thought - The price difference between kid and adult clothes is rather large.

There isn't a big difference in the cost of uniform clothes vs. adult clothes. My DD's skorts were $35 a piece this year! Uniform pants are $30 and polos are $15. I know that I can buy all of those things cheaper for myself in adult sizes. I knew that uniforms were expensive and yet I still felt that the benefit of sending my kids to school there out weighed the cost. All that the parents were asking was that the teacher be held to the same standards of dress as the kids. Most of the parents who asked for this change work in offices. They felt that the several of the teachers were not dressing anywhere near professional. When people come a tour the school with the possiblity of sending their children they are looking at the school as a whole including how the staff presents themselves. It does not give a good impression to have teachers in skirts so tight and short that they can't bend over in because they will be giving an anatomy lesson.

 

[paintnolish]

Dh is a teacher and wears a dress shirt, tie, and dress or khaki pants everyday, except for Friday. Fridays, he wears jeans and a dress shirt.

 

[Cindy B]

The school where I am student teaching requires all teachers to wear the school uniform of navy pants and white polo.

I guess I'll be buying navy pants and white polos.

 

[powellrj]

Just a thought - The price difference between kid and adult clothes is rather large.

Oh, please, most middle and high school kids do wear adult clothes so that argument doesn't work.

Our lower income public school went to uniforms last year and I HATE them. Teachers were suppose to wear them also, but because they said many teachers don't have the appropriate shape to tuck in their shirts, the uniforms were not required for teachers. Ever been to a high school. There are just as many high school kids that lack the shape to have their shirts tucked in too.

Now you see kids in khakis and polo shirts and teachers in jeans and sweats. My favorite is the teacher that wears "juicy" across her rear on her sweats. That is real professional.

While most teachers are professioan in their dress, some do push the limit.

 

[Kathi OD]

We don't have a dress code. Sometimes I'll wear dress slacks, but that's not the norm. My personal dress code is comfort. I usually wear jeans and blouse or sweater, and sneakers to work. When it gets warmer, I'll wear capris with a cotton top and sandals. I don't wear t-shirts (especially ones w/ sayings on them), sweats, or low cut tops. Most of my co-workers, including many principals and program directors, dress the same way. I teach in a school district that has an entirely special needs population. I'm assigned to the county detention center.

I've been teaching for 30 years and have never taught in a school district or school that had a dress code, and that includes 2 Catholic schools and a private elementary school.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

We have a dress code and it just got a lot more strict. I'll have to buy shoes this summer; my Crocs are outlawed.

 

[LoveKermit]

First of all, our 2000+ (maybe more) person union would never get a dress code passed into our contract.....

That said, I have lots o' comments, so this may be long.

Our principals can have any opinion they want on dress code. But, as stated above, "it's not in the contract." And there are people always out to use that, rather than respect their administrators opinion.

I am slightly included in that. I switched high schools within the district two years ago. The principal pulled us "new to the building" people aside to state that there are nicer denims than others.....and that's all I remember from that speech. I was pregnant at the time and knew that in a few months, I really didn't care. We kind of watched the current teachers trends and knew that Fridays are still Fridays in this school. Oh, the principal is my mother in law.

Our new principal supposedly doesn't like open-toed shoes. But again, her opinion what it is, hot is hot and summer is summer. However, in the spring after I had DD, I wore Kenneth Cole flip-flops ($25!!!) and students thought teachers couldn't wear flip flops. I said oh well. I also wore a short-er skirt and students (girls) commented on the length due to "fairness." I just replied that I was excited that I fit back into it. I did not wear that skirt this past spring.

I'm almost done....

Our high school is new with some very new, young teachers. Our administrators were trying to set a tone. I respect that very much. On the other hand, I believe they scared our non-tenured teachers into being drones (this is falling off-topic). When a couple of us tenureds moved in, we wore what we were used to wearing.

Finally, my divisional wears awful clothes! His pants are too short and too small. He is in denial that he is no longer a size 32 (just guessing). Also, I sat in on an interview with him and the elbows on his shirt are threadbare!! He makes twice as much as me.....I wear clothes that cost way more than his on a relatively daily basis. So, if I have a self-declared casual day--Friday or otherwise--I feel relatively justified.

Phew. There's more, but I'll stop now. It's too off topic.

 

[BrerMom]

I will agree that it depends on the principal. One building I worked in had a principal that had strong opinions on "appropriate dress." I will also point out that it's in the same district as I am now - see above post for the climate there.

His rules:
absolutely no jeans or even denim, regardless of color, ever
no shorts
skirts/jumpers must be below the knee
no sandals
no open-toed shoes

He got away with forcing ties for guys for a semester until the union forced him to back down. (Again, think very hot classrooms... )

He called a teacher into his office and told her that she wasn't dressing appropriately and this was "her one and only warning." Her crime? Wearing a non-denim jumper (with dress shoes, no less) from Christopher & Banks. She was mortified.

The funniest story I've heard on this topic was the PTO that decided to pass a dress code for the elementary teachers in their building. What in the world gave them the idea that they had that kind of authority?

 

[Kath2003]

'Professional' but it's open to interpretation. My school seems much more casual than women than for men. Personally my rules are no spaghetti straps and no denim, no short skirts and no hoods.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Yes, we do. It isn't particularly strict but we can only wear jeans on Fridays with a school t-shirt and the rest of the week we are supposed to dress in business attire. I can wear a polo w/ khaki's, but that is as casual as I can get during the week (and we are talking khaki colored slacks, not khaki-khakis)

I teach technical theatre, and let me tell you that it is difficult to mix paint, cut lumber, and mess around on stage in dress clothes. Luckily, I am allowed to change into shop jeans on full tech days, but have to change back for my theatre 1 classes.

What really bothers me is that any one that coaches athletics gets to wear whatever they want to every class, every day. Some don't, but others take advantage of it and wear a school shirt and warm-up pants to school everyday, even if they teach a core subject all periods but one.

 

[LoveKermit]

Yes! We had a teacher this year who wore the player's warm-ups. I could almost excuse it on game day, but two months after the season ended.....

And the more I thought about this thread--capris? Really? If I've spent a cool $50-70 at Gap, Banana or Ann Taylor Loft on dress capris, I better be able to wear them to work (because where else would I wear them?).

I think for some administrators it's about asserting authority (that they may or may not have) and micromanaging.

I'm still a good teacher even if I have a casual Wednesday once in a while.

To each his own. There's appropriate and casual and there's ready for the gym (excluding gym teachers). I think I am grown-up enough to decide what the line is.

 

[HerdOHuds]

I am a SAHM now, but I taught elementary for 12 years prior. 2 public districts. When I started teaching the accepted norm seemed more dressy business. No jeans. That was a small school and school district.

Then I moved to the 'big' city (a twin city situation with about 100,000 combined) and the norm was definitely more casual.

Plus, put 25 first graders and glue and scissors in a room and things are bound to get a little messy! Not to mention paint days! So by the time I left, jeans were every Friday, field trip days, student council special days, and holidays. Knit pants were normal. Khakis were dressing up. And skirts were only for programs and parent/teacher conferences. And most of the time the teachers looked a LOT nicer than the parents!

Our biggest complaint was all the student teacher/tutors/college students in the schools who wore the low-rider jeans with thongs peeking out and cami shirts. I had more than one conversation with the college students visiting the school about appropriate dress each year.

 

[stenickar]

The first school that I worked at had a dress code that was enforced-no blue jeans except on Friday if you paid $. The school I am at now, it is not enforced. I know one of the no-no's is open toed shoes but a majority of teachers wear them. I only wear jeans on Friday. A lot of the teachers wear them throughout the week. My philosophy is that when parents or guest come into the school they should be able to identify the teachers by their attire. JMO

 

[KStarfish82]

Great topic OP!

I believe that there is an unwritten rule in many schools about the dress code of teachers.

When I worked in NYC, I always wore dress pants or skirts, and blouses. Other teachers wore jeans, sneakers, and T-shirts (a Saturday outfit if you ask me).

At the school I am in now, we don't have any dress code, but most teachers wear skirts, dress pants, button down shirts, and blouses. Not anything to tight or revealing, but there are days (like today) that we do dress down because its a Friday.