Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

I came across an amazing article in the Chicago Tribune today called “Parents face cut-throat competition — for kindergarten” written by Stephanie Banchero that blew my mind. Maybe I’ve been living in rural America too long and haven’t kept up with the latest goings-on in the high-end metropolitan Kindergarten market.

This article talks about parents who are willing to go to extreme lengths to get their children into the school of their choice in the Chicago area. While some of the schools mentioned as examples are private, just as many are public, which is, of course, very encouraging in the overall scheme of things.

Banchero interviewed several parents who are desperately seeking placement for their children, as well as school officials who are struggling to handle the crush of applications.

I entitled this blog entry “Problems I Wish I Had”. I will let the following excerpts from Banchero’s article speak for themselves as to why I chose that headline.

Statistically, it’s more difficult, for example, to get into Drummond Montessori, a public magnet school in Bucktown, than it is to get into Harvard University. About 995 children applied for the 36 openings at Drummond next school year, a 4 percent acceptance rate. Harvard accepted about 9 percent of its applicants last year.

They [parents] craft slick resumes touting their 4-year-olds’ above-average verbal and play skills. They subtly — and sometimes not so subtly — hint to school officials that they can use their connections to raise funds for the school. They volunteer to run the PTA and persuade powerful friends to send in letters of recommendation.

…Parents send in letters touting their own backgrounds and fundraising abilities. Sometimes, they offer large donations or point out that they know board members.

Magnet-school principals talk about parents volunteering in the school and attending fundraisers, even when their children are still in diapers. Some subtly point out that they know public officials or prominent business executives, principals recount.

Did you read that? Parents volunteering and attending fundraisers for the school, while their own children are still in DIAPERS! Wow, gimme some of what they got.

Now, the most interesting part of this article to me is that some public schools are getting just as much attention as the $18,000 per year private elementary schools. That tells me that public schools can compete with private schools in every sense.

So, why isn’t your child’s school bursting at the seams with volunteers? Why doesn’t your child’s school have a waiting list FOR NEXT YEAR? Why aren’t parents making bribes- sorry, “donations in advance”- to get into your child’s school?

To be fair, none of the above scenarios were happening when I was the principal of a private elementary school and they are not happening at my own children’s current public school. So, please, don’t think I’m picking on anybody.

Of course, the local economy has a lot to do with this “terrible” situation in Chicago, and I’m sure in many major cities in the United States. I live in a rather economically… challenged area at the moment, so I don’t expect a bidding war to break out over any kind of school- public or private.

However, I don’t believe for a second that money is the only reason there’s fierce competition to get into those schools, especially the public ones.

Here are a few of the reasons why I think these schools are doing so well:

• They have a really good principal, who treats his or her faculty very well.
• The teachers are excellent and they work very hard.
• The parents of the students are actively engaged (on a daily basis) in their child’s education.
• Parents communicate regularly with the teachers.
• The schools have very active, well-attended, and extremely productive parent-teacher organizations.
• The schools do a fantastic job of communicating their mission and accomplishments with the community at large.

So, if you are frustrated by the lack of involvement or passion at your child’s school, try to trace it back and find the root cause of the problem. Don’t just chalk it up to living in an economically depressed area. There are a whole host of reasons why the schools mentioned in the Tribune article are doing so well. Try to emulate these, and maybe someday your school will have a two year waiting list for Kindergarten, as well!

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