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Preschool Parent Visit Policy

nikkimom77nikkimom77 member
in Pre-School and Daycare

Does your DC's preschool allow you to drop in and visit your child's classroom unannounced?

 I have been stopping by to observe (through a door window) my 2 year-old son in his class over the past couple of weeks because he was having some adjustment issues. I have gone only a couple of times but they have been unannounced visits. Today I was informed that I had to now make an appointment because it was disturbing to the other children. The school has a policy where parents have to make an appointment to visit their children's classroom. This struck me as kind of odd, but I wanted to find out if other schools had the same policy?

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Re: Preschool Parent Visit Policy

  • Spin313Spin313 member
    Yes, our preschool has a similar policy. They ask the parents not to peek in through the windows because even if your child doesn't see you others might. Starting in November, parents can sign up to observe or help in the room.
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  • AZ123AZ123 member
    Some schools do and some don't. I picked DS1's school for this reason. That they were flexible with drop off/pick up times and you could come unannounced.
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  • cmh06cmh06
    Most schools I know of have this policy.  As a teacher, I agree that it can be disruptive to the class and/or the child if the parent pops in unexpectedly. 
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  • changingnameschangingnames member
    We are only allowed to come thirty minutes a month. Maybe it because he is in a special education room though?
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  • Mrs MannersMrs Manners member
    We can pickup/drop off whenever but they are more picky this year because they want them there for their 8:30 circle start time. Parents would need to make an appointment to just observe. I've tried to watch through the window before pickup and every.single.time sone kid starts yelling "Sean, your mom is here!!!!" so it's pretty much impossible and I can see how it would be disruptive.
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  • Mrs MannersMrs Manners member
    Also, when ds just turned two, he attended a different school and they had no windows on the doors or the side of the hall where parents could see for this exact reason. In fact, they didn't allow parents to enter the room because it was disruptive and caused goodbye drama. You said bye in the hall and the teacher took them at the door. We changed that following fall to a different school but I had no issue with either policy.
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  • CMM05CMM05 member

    Yes.....our school has this policy and I 100% agree with it.

    Being a teacher, I find it very disruptive and unfair. It is difficult (especially for younger children....) to see another child's parent at the school when theirs is not there.

    I also personally think it makes it harder on your child. I know I might be in the minority saying this, but if your child is having a hard time adjusting......you stopping in periodically will not help him adjust. You need to let him learn the school and be able to trust the teachers.

    GL!

     

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  • C.squaredC.squared member
    We can visit whenever we want.  But they also have one way glass in the classrooms, so I can observe from the hallway and no one in the class (including the teachers) knows I'm there.  It really helps on days when a drop off is rough and I like to observe in the evenings before I actually go in.  I'm sure it would be distracting, though, if I actually went in the classroom at any time during the day. 
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  • capuletcapulet member

    Parents are welcome to visit DD's current preschool anytime, but it's a very small, laid-back in-home preschool and several of the parents are good friends with the teacher.

    DD went to two schools last year, on different days each week.  I don't know if they had specific visitation policies, but I never felt the need to drop in.  DD's only issue was with saying goodbye to me the first couple of weeks (no surprise, she wasn't quite three yet), and one school specifically instructed parents to make as little fuss as possible when dropping off kids to help them adjust to being away from their parents.  One of them was a co-op where I helped out a few days a year, which was plenty of time in the classroom for me.  The other one, I think I could have dropped in, but I also agree that under most circumstances having parents just show up would be disruptive.  Both schools had enough field trips and scheduled family activities that I felt like I had a good sense of how DD interacted with the teachers and other kids.

    DD born 10/10/07 * DS born 11/25/11 * #3 due 3/9/2015
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  • julygaljulygal
    Our school doesn't have an official policy that I am aware of, but they are open to the occasional unannounced visits.  However, I fully believe if I was showing up on a weekly/frequent basis unannounced to observe the classroom the director would ask me to make an appointment.  As a former teacher (granted it was elementary) I agree with the director.  I didn't mind the occasional pop-in from a parent, as I had nothing to hide, but I found regular unannounced visits extremely disruptive to the class as a whole.  Not to mention, though unlikely, you could imagine if every parent had unannounced visits on a regular basis the disruption that would occur.
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  • kada626kada626 member

    No unannounced visits are allowed at our preschool. The doors are all locked except for the office as well. You would have to have an appt or have to be a scheduled volunteer to be there during non pickup/drop off times.

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  • jlw2505jlw2505 member
    My older DD is at a daycare based preschool and I can show up anytime.  Honestly, if I was told I had to call ahead, I would find that to be a red flag.  On the rare occasion that I show up without calling, I want to see what is going on without them knowing I will be showing up.  Same policy at older DD's PreK which is based at the elementary school.  I rarely go unannouced but there have been times that my kids have forgotten things so I run them up later that morning and the teacher is now aware neccessarly that I will be back. 
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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