Frustration with lack of communication from teacher

[vonfirmath]

Am I expecting too much? If your child was sent to the principal's office and you received a 1 sentence note about it would you expect more information?

Both of my kids have been to the principal's office. I have learned that they contact us when they feel we need to know about it. If they don't contact, that is an indication that they are handling the punishment in school. I am not on the scene and have developed a sense of trust in their judgement. I'm available if they need me to be involved. That is all I can do.

[hbridge]

Please push for the information that you need to feel okay with the situation. Lack of communication can be devastating to everyone.

While a trip to the principal is not a problem (DC loved one of their elementary school principals ), the fact that you have not received follow-up erodes trust and that is imperative!

I no longer trust our school district so please realize that I am coming from an extreme experience. However, looking back, I should have questioned more and pushed harder for information. I will never again think that if the school did not contact me about an incident, that everything is okay!

Certainly, the principal must realize that the lack of communication is making this situation so much worse! Do NOT worry about being "that parent". Make sure that the school follows up with you and that you are comfortable with how the situation was handled.

[wendibird22]

Have you heard back?

I would not necessarily be bothered by sending him to the principal--different schools use this in different ways..but yes, they absolutely should respond to your e-mails. If you have not heard anything I would send another and put 2nd request for a response (or 3rd, not sure which is true) and send to the art teacher, the main teacher, and the principal. Cc the people who were not sent the original e-mails, so it doesn't look like you are saying its the 2nd/3rd request from you. If this does not work (I would think it would) call and ask to speak to the principal or schedule a meeting.

DH finally got an email response today from the teacher (despite the principal telling us that he told her to call us over the weekend). It was a 2 sentence email that she was sorry she didn't respond because she was out part of last week and that she sent DD2 to the principal's for a 10min time out. Neither DH nor I are completely satisfied. First, her apology falls flat because that doesn't explain her failure to respond before or immediately after the holiday (she was in Mon, Tues, and Wed). Second, she didn't give an explanation about why the need for the timeout, which is what we specifically requested. We just wanted some details because DD2 isn't good at sharing the details. We honestly don't care that she got sent to the principal's by the teacher, we just want to understand what the behavior was so we can better understand our DD2. We know the principal pretty well, and like him. He's good with the kids and the staff. We are VERY surprised by this teacher's lack of communication with a parent. DH is a teacher, as I said, and he'd give his salary away to have parents who actually ask to communicate with him. More often than not, in DH's district, the kids who act out have parents who don't care to be involved. Here we are trying to help our child be a better student in her classroom and we get nothing from her.

[doberbrat]

that would tick me off to no end. At this point, I'd forward her response to the principal and ask him to call you. Basically, I would tell the principal that at this point, I give up on getting any actual information from the teacher but that I consider it to be a personnel issue that he needs to address. And that in the future, you'd appreciate it if you could be contacted if she needs to be sent to the office with details of why so that you can make sure to address the issue at home.

The teacher was apparently told to contact you over the weekend and did not. She was told to provide you with information and she did not. Probably because by now, SHE can't remember why she sent the kid to the office. 'Management' (the principal) needs to deal with it now.

I feel sorry for the students. I'd expect my kid to be sent to the office if she cut off another kids' hair or pulled a huge chunk out by the roots. Not just pulled it. Maybe it was the 3rd or 4th time that day that your dd pulled that child's hair but given that its a special and she's probably only there for 1hr, it seems unlikely.

[KpbS]

...

The teacher was apparently told to contact you over the weekend and did not. She was told to provide you with information and she did not. Probably because by now, SHE can't remember why she sent the kid to the office. 'Management' (the principal) needs to deal with it now.

Her response is totally unsatisfactory.