end-of-year teacher gifts

[knzbound]

Perhaps there is already a thread on this but I couldn't find it.

DD will finish her first year of preschool in a few weeks. She has one head teacher, two assistant teachers, and another teacher who does some early intervention work with one student in the class, but also works with all the kids since she is there for about half the class time, and also happens to be her next year teacher. So four teachers.

Is it standard to give the teachers gifts at the end of the year? I bought them all (except the EI teacher--my bad) Starbucks giftcards for the holidays, so I don't want to do that again but I'm kind of at a loss for other ideas. Some of my friends are teachers and they have whole collections of teacher gifts that they throw out--Best Teacher apples, mugs, kitschy note paper, soap collections, etc. I'd rather skip the teacher present altogether than give stuff nobody wants but I have no other ideas, and although I know I am under no obligation to give the teachers gifts, I want to show my appreciation.

What are your plans for your DC's preschool or daycare teachers?

I just thought of a Barnes & Noble giftcard but other than coffee and book gcs I can't think of anything.

[Winter Biscuit]

NOt sure if its standard to give gifts at end-of-year. I have several teacher friends (both elementary and high school), and my mom and MIL are both retired teachers. They might have gotten a gift or two, but I don't think it was real common to get end-of-year gifts.

But, if you're looking for ideas, do you have Cold Stone Creamery in town, or another ice cream parlor? What about gift cards there? A few weeks ago it was teacher appreciation week and I gave all of our daycare teachers a $5 gift card to Cold Stone Creamery. That was more than enough for them to get a little treat, and they all appreciated it.

[mamax2]

When DD was in daycare, I seem to remember a class parent or something circulating a flyer for donations. They pooled the money and gave each teacher a mall GC and I think there may have been a pizza lunch or something as well.

My MIL is a school principal and, yeah, we get a lot of her unwanted gifts - various soaps, candles, etc. I think she actually does use the restaurant and book store GCs herself. I see them tacked up on her refrigerator all the time, so those must be pretty popular.

[Neen]

We've never done end of year gifts, except for this year. My youngest sons teacher is getting married in a few weeks and the kids are have a surprise shower for her. My older sons teacher is pregnant (due in November) and his class is having a surprise shower for her. Other than that, they have a class party at the end of every year and that's about it.

[dziner]

We are all contributing for a gift card, and I am hoping DD and I will find time to bake muffins or something to bring in as well. At the holidays I gave each of our teachers a little basket w/goodies and a Trader Joe's gift card and they seemed to really enjoy it. I figure, most of us shop there, why not?

[Traciann]

i just saw a super cute idea. a beach towel, magazine and suncreen tied up with a pretty ribbon. kinda a relax and enjoy some time off. i plan to keep this in mind for future gifts.

[fastlayne224]

Today was DD last day of 2nd grade. She has one teacher and four aides, they are all very wonderful women. I went to Lowe's and got some beautiful hanging baskets and gave as their gifts. All of her teachers seem to really appreciate them.

[Delta]

My teacher friends say that Target gift cards are the best by far.

[kristin]

For the holidays, the class mom organized a group gift - we each put $15 toward and amex gift card. I wrote each teacher a note saying how much we appreciated them.

So you can imagine how upset I was on the last day of school before the holidays, when all but one other parent came in with their own individual gifts for the teachers. I felt like a cheapskate! I just didn't understand why we had done the group gift. So for those doing group gifts, I would clarify with the class parent that she is not doing another individual gift. Ironically, our class parent was the one who made a big production of her child giving his teacher his individual gift!:rolleyes:

[knzbound]

Good ideas, ladies, thanks. I have to do some thinking about whether I should do an end-of-year gift after all. I will have to talk to some of the other parents and see what people are doing. This preschool is odd in that there are no set classes--kids go on all different days, some M/Th, some TWF, some MW, etc.--so I am pretty sure a group gift would be too confusing because we wouldn't even know how to organize it, but I agree kristin, that if a group decides on a group gift, don't also bring an individual gift!

Thanks for the ideas!

[Elle]

As a teacher, the things I appreciate most are gift cards, no matter the denomination. Hey, a bunch of $10 GCs add up.

This may sound ungrateful, but please don't get those cutesy teacher things. Classrooms are cluttered enough, and those things just compound the clutter.

I love receiving thank you letters and cards with nice notes from parents. I've saved those through the years and hang them up on my window near my desk as a reminder of how appreciated I am. To me, that's the best gift in the world.

However, I do love the idea of the towel gift!

[j*east]

I'm a teacher too, and thank you notes (with details of what your kid loved) are terrific. Gift cards also. If you give nothing, don't worry--sometimes the people who give the most are overcompensating. Honestly, it seems like I get the biggest gifts from the kids who were the most trouble. ;)

[mamax2]

*bump*

[Kasia216]

I plan on giving each of the teachers (Preschool) a written note and Perfume Diffuser from L'Occitane.

[ThreeYell]

DS just finished his first year of preschool and he adored his teachers. Teacher Appreciation Week happened to be the week before the end of school and on the day all the kids were supposed to bring flowers for the teachers, I sent both of them a potted orchid (great sale at Whole Foods). I was intending that to be the end of the year gift as well. But then I wanted to get them cards to thank them for such a great year, and I was getting coffee one morning and decided to get them gift cards to the local chain coffee place too. I sent the cards/GCs on the last day of school. I probably overdid it bit but these teachers were definitely worth it.