Chronic Communication Issues -- Norm?

[Shamrockin Mom]

Hello dear parents. Am wondering if many of you have frustrating experiences regarding communication with your school as we do? My daughter has been dancing exactly a year now (she turned 8 this year) and is doing very well -- has already moved into Prizewinner category in all but 2 -- and LOVES dancing. However, I find working with the teachers and the school in general extremely frustrating. I have educated myself on pretty much everything from how to manage the feis experience to costumes, to school dress...on and on. Is this normal??? The only regular communication we receive is billing with some announcements attached. No one has phone numbers for the teachers and they will only communicate via email -- but seldom are emails returned? Often we find out about things last minute and then have to rush around and change schedules. We've had teachers NOT show up for a class...no apologies...no nothing...it's almost as if we should feel "honored" to be in their presence.

Now, I think the teachers from a technical standpoint are very good...but their business savvy is lacking and communication is poor at best. But, complaints fall on deaf ears.

I try to keep my focus on my daughter...but it really is a nightmare sometimes. I hear similar stories from other parents from other schools and just wonder if this is the "nature of this beast." If so, there are so many opportunities for improvement...and I should think that happier parents make for great participation, involvement and support. Why is this an industry that doesn't seem to care about their clients or the parents who are paying the bills?

Bewildered!

[SweetEdelweiss09]

Well, I'm not a parent.

But I can say that my school is very communicative with the students and parents. We contacted my teacher through emails many times with questions and ALWAYS get a fast response. We get monthly news letters letting us know what's going on with the school. We have a Secretary (who's my dance teacher's mom) and she help with the parents if they need to talk or call about something and the dues. I find my school really helpful, especially when we couldn't pay for the semester (due to some government issues) and they set up a payment plan for us, so we didn't have to stop our classes.
They are very kind and apologetic, and they help me with any concerns I have, as a dancer. Though, I can say it's sometimes hard to talk to my dance teacher in person cause she's sooooooooooo busy.

But our school is just one big family. My teacher even invited everyone to attend her wedding ceremony.

[Sweetpea]

Shamrockin Mom, that really doesn't sound right. I am also a dance mum, and while I believe the teacher's most important job is teaching our children to dance, their responsibility definitely does not end there. Communication in the dance school and dealing with parents are hugely important, and no matter how brilliant you are technically as a teacher, if you have no relationship with the parents you are not going to be successful. It must be hard to stay loyal to such a teacher? Of course they are busy and cannot spend class time talking to parents and explaining how things work, but then they should send monthly newsletters and regular information about competitions etc. And not showing up for class, with no explanation?!? That must be so frustrating for you! So my reply is no, it is not normal. If you cannot talk to the teacher to voice your concerns I cannot see how you and your daughter can have a happy time with that school.
Our teacher is in almost daily contact with parents by email and text, sends regular newsletters, organises social events for her dancers (and bakes them muffins!) and cares for them like a mother when she takes them overseas. She texts them on their birthdays and often drops them at home after a late event. And in return we would do anything for her! In my opinion that is how it should be. Good luck.

[MurrayIrishDancerForLife]

Well, it looks like I'll be playing devil's advocate to some degree here...

My teacher have some of the same issues on occasion. I mean, she's amazing and I wouldn't dream of switching schools, ever, but she DOES have a hundred or so of us dancers to keep track of. On one or two occasions, she has taken up to three weeks to respond to an email.

How many teachers are there at your daughter's school? And how many students? If the teacher-student ratio is something like at my school, maybe some of your teachers' communication issues are, well, not excusable, but understandable. I'm not defending their behaviour, mind you.

However, it does seem like they could be doing much better. Have you talked to other parents to get their perspectives? Maybe you could get together a group and talk to the teachers about this issue.

Good luck getting this sorted out!

[Shamrockin Mom]

So nice to know that I'm NOT crazy and NOT expecting too much.

I appreciate everyone's kind feedback and am working to try and create better communication paths for all of us. There is definitely a disconnect and it's hard to understand if it truly is all about "time" or "lack of concern" or plain old "disorganization!"

We'll keep working on it and see what happens over the next few months. Not sure how long I want to operate in this manner but to make changes is a big investment...

Thanks everyone and I'll post again with something much more positive!

[cameron.irishdancing]

At my daughter's school, we try and have the long time dancer mom's sort of partner up with the new mom's - which has helped us a lot. This way you get get a lot of those questions answered - that the teacher might not have time or think of. I know my friend telling me the horror stories that her daughter experienced (like them not realizing that she forgot to remove her bun cover until she was in the middle of her reel) - helped us feel more at ease.

[Irishdancetaxi]

We have been with the same school as long as DD has danced. She is now in Prelim and placing very well top 3 at most feis. However she is almost 18 and heading to college/university in January. Our problem is with a teacher who constantly favours younger dancers. You can NOT talk to her about things cause if you do she takes it out on you and your dancer. Due to some weird class changes this year DD is seriously thinking of moving to a different province and school just to get away from this mentality. This teacher constantly moves dancers up to Prelim with out having them either qualify at all or with only 1 qualifying win. We have to place first in two Treble Jig trophy's to move to prelim in our region. This year she has decided to split the championship class to an open made up of girls who have 1 or all open qualifications and a prelim for those that have 1 qualifying dance to full prelim. while this is not the end of the world the has basically moved her fav's including one junior dancer that has NO first place wins into open and her sister who has no first place wins into prelim. The girls that are being moved in from prizewinner are all young one's and we just know that her focus will be on them and the rest will be pushed aside. It's happened over and over again. Any suggestions. We are willing to move for dd to go to a better and more fair school but worry due to her age that she won't be accepted.