School Struggles and Solutions

I missed my son's (preschool) parent-teacher conference. Really. It would have been last week but I just found out today.

How did this happen? "It was announced in an email, and there was a sign up sheet on the door," the teacher said. 

I didn't see that email or the sign up sheet.

I was pissed. Disappointed in myself for missing that email. Angry at the failure of the school to communicate better. I went home and searched my email. The only mention of parent-teacher conferences was one line in a list of things in an email sent at the end of October. Sign up sheets on "the door" are just white paper tacked with one thumbtack to a white door, they curl, they are indistinct. Drop off and pick up times are chaotic as the tiny and cluttered entryway fills up with kids, younger siblings and parents. We shuffle to get out of each others way while changing shoes, putting on winter gear, packing backpacks and admiring artwork.

I talk to the teacher almost every day. Didn't she notice I had not signed up and perhaps thought it was worth a check in?

Maybe I'm at fault here and being overbearing by expecting better communication from the school, except I know this stuff happens all the time. Just last month some parents showed up for pick up and were surprised that it was the Open House Luncheon.

But I'm a proactive person. Rather than stewing on the failure, I noticed that there is an underused bulletin board above the parent mailboxes already. I asked the teacher if she would post all the parent information there: announcements, sign up sheets, daily activities, and a list of upcoming important dates. This would just reinforce the emails and put all the info in one convenient spot.

She thought it was a good idea and said she would do it. Problem solved.