Yearbook cost

[MrsPete]

I have to believe that you know your school's students better than anyone else would. One of my book club mates is a librarian for a very tough school district. She has told us the same thing about yearbooks and some of their criminals in training.

Now, I want to ask, do you have a single photographer that takes all of the YB pictures or do you have to submit them yourself?

At my HS, now my DS's HS, they have one photographer come in to do photo sessions with all of the students. Every boy is required to be in a tuxedo and every girl is draped to make everything uniform. Many people go to other photographers so that they can have other poses to give to their friends, but the YB is standard.

It's harder to avoid having your picture in that YB because the photographer isn't there for just one day and you only have to select one of the pictures for the YB. If you don't select a pose, the YB committee will do it for you.

We're not really a bad, dangerous school overall, but -- like all schools -- we have a small population of hard-core kids who are headed for trouble.

One photographer
We don't accept pictures from other sources
The photographer provides the tux & drape
Seniors are assigned a date for pictures during the summer
The photographer is available all summer long for seniors
We have a make-up day for seniors at school in September
Seniors can choose their pose; if they don't, photographer chooses it
Many seniors take casual senior pictures with other photographers
Underclassmen take pictures at school -- 2 days available for pictures

 

[jeepgirl30]

We paid $80 for my DD's senior yearbook and when she came home with it, her picture wasn't even in it. She was in tears. I was SO MAD!!! I called the school and talked to the yearbook teacher and she blamed it on the picture company. I called the company and they were very nice. They sent pictures to be able to be put in her yearbook and her friends yearbook, but they also said that they found that they first cd sent to the school did not have all the pictures on it so they sent another cd that had all pictures. Obviously the yearbook staff did not use the correct cd. There was a list of over 30 seniors that were "not pictured". The teacher never did accept the responsibility for the problem. I looked at each class and there was list of over 30 students for each one that were "not pictured". You would think there was a problem with that many students not having a picture.

We paid between $60 and $80 for every yearbook.

My DS came home with his first grade pics which included a saftey card. It was his pic but with another students name. I called the company immediately and they looked up the other boy and sure enough his name was listed as my DS's name. So they sent both parents the cards. I kept saying you'll fix this for the yearbook, right?? They kept reassuring me no problem.

I get the yearbook and surprise, my DS is list with the wrong name! Sort of funny but the two boys are different races so not even look alikes but they are good friends so it'll be funny years down the road. Luckily this is elementary and HS. I would have been very upset had it been his senior year.

 

[RUDisney]

My DS came home with his first grade pics which included a saftey card. It was his pic but with another students name. I called the company immediately and they looked up the other boy and sure enough his name was listed as my DS's name. So they sent both parents the cards. I kept saying you'll fix this for the yearbook, right?? They kept reassuring me no problem.

I get the yearbook and surprise, my DS is list with the wrong name! Sort of funny but the two boys are different races so not even look alikes but they are good friends so it'll be funny years down the road. Luckily this is elementary and HS. I would have been very upset had it been his senior year.

The first year that I put together our 8th grade YB, I had to scan each child's picture and merge it into the YB I was creating. Before I got involved, the YB was cut and pasted together on paper and photocopied. YIKES!

So, I reviewed every 8th grade picture as did the principal and guidance counselor plus the PTA president at the time. No one noticed that one boy's name was the same as the girl next to him.

I felt awful but there was nothing I could do about it at that point. I wrote the boy a note to apologize to him for my error and I told him that if he's ever famous, that YB could be worth something.

FF to last year. He was held back. I double and triple checked that I didn't mess up his picture/name a second time. Thankfully, we got a real YB software program into which the pictures were uploaded so I didn't have to scan them all in this year.

 

[minkydog]

We just put in the order for DD17s yearbook--$85. And that was with the discount for ordering before Dec 1. I know, it seems like a lot of money.But DD is a senior and she & her friends are very active in theater, music, and dance so I'm sure there will be several shots of all of them.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I graduated 10 years ago and even back then my high school year books cost around $100. They were hardbound, in color, over 200 pages long and included an interactive CD so I never thought they were too much money.

 

[MichelleVW]

How is your son going to feel when everyone is in the gym signing year books? and isn't he in any extra curricular or sports that he would want the team picture or the group? How about pictures from the play or musical?

I just think it is an integral part of the High School experience and something you look at for years and years and years.

IMO that was kinda an unfair choice.

I agree....yearbooks are so fun. I can't imagine not getting my child one, or being happy that they didn't want one.

 

[AllisonK]

I graduated in 2007 and my yearbook was full color and probably around $70 with personalization. I only bought one senior year - there were no underclassmen pictures in them so no reason to. We also did a video yearbook, which was around $30 but mine was free since I was on the video yearbook staff.

As for our senior pictures - we had to get them done by the same photographer but we could choose backgrounds and wear different outfits and even get retakes.

 

[czycropper]

My middle schooler's yearbook is $35 and if I remember correctly that's what I paid for my high school yearbook back in 1977! The high school yearbook here is $90 with the name engraved!

 

[JLTraveling]

It is sad. I know one of them *very* well. High school has not been anything that this student will look fondly back on at all, so why should they splash out a lot of money just to buy various reminders (personalized yearbook, HS ring, hoodies, etc) of how miserable the entire experience was?

agnes!

I disagree. I *was* that kid. For a variety of reasons, school was a major battleground for me, and I couldn't wait to get out. I was highly intelligent and, in fact, had skipped several grades, so it's not that I was a criminal in training or a struggling student or anything. But formal education and I did *not* get along until college. I was like the student you know, and thought it was ridiculous to have any reminders of the experiences I had. My parents insisted I get the yearbooks and a class ring, though. They said you never know when you might be happy to have those things.

Fast forward nearly 20 years. Somehow my senior yearbook was one of the few things that survived Hurricane Katrina. After years of refusing to acknowledge my high school experiences at all, I got the urge a few months ago to take out my yearbook and look through it. The experience was surprisingly cathartic. I got hit with a flood of blocked emotions and, while crying my eyes out, I also read through some of the autographs. I came to realize how much support I actually had from a handful of students and even a few teachers. I was able to gradually pull out the few happy memories, and they managed to change my perspective on my high school days. I don't think I'll go to my reunion or be BFFs with anyone from that time period, but now I feel a lot less angry and bitter towards that time in my life.

Just another perspective, and one that may not apply at all to this situation. But having lost virtually everything in the hurricane, that yearbook of all things turned out to be more valuable than I could have predicted.

 

[agnes!]

I can see your point. This particular student *is* getting the yearbook - but not the ring, the hoodie, the fancy souvenir/graduation tassel or any of the other (in their case) overpriced school-insignia items and they seem to be fairly happy with that.

agnes!