In an article written earlier, I recapped a news story about a student who called the school director’s house to question why school did not close for snow.
The less than happy wife of the director returned the call and angrily commented that the boy should not have called their house.
My husband and I are both in the education field. We do receive calls from parents at our house. Because we are both in elementary education, we rarely receive calls from students.
I can understand the wife’s frustrations with people calling the house about work issues. I am sure that her husband’s job consumes much of his time. She does not want the troubles of his work carrying over into their personal life.
However, her actions were extreme.
As educators, we know that our work does not stop with the clock.
I do not mind parents calling me at home for reasonable questions. I have even had parents call my cell phone.
If a parent has a question about an assignment or a note that was sent home, I encourage them to call.
Many teachers and principals and officials have unlisted numbers due to the high volume of work related calls that they receive at home.
If your number is listed or given out, you are sure to have some parents (and even students) call it. It is to be expected.
If you are a parent and feel the need to call a teacher of school faculty member at home, you may want to use some of these guidelines for the call.
Ask yourself if the call is necessary.
If the question can wait and does not need to be solved that night, then it is probably best to call at school or send a note. You may even want to call another parent of a child in the same class.