School Uniforms

SoCal78_IHB

SoCal78_IHB

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I was recently talking to a parent of a child who attends a TUSD school in Irvine. (It is a blogger here but I won't say who although maybe she'll respond so we can get more info.) She said they wear school uniforms. I had no idea! I hear all the elementary (and middle?) schools in that district wear uniforms, but I haven't confirmed if this is so. I haven't given a lot of thought to uniforms. On the surface, it seems like it would be a good thing to have... you don't have to figure out what to wear each day, everything coordinates, and more importantly - no inappropriate clothing would be worn to school by the children. Also it may remove some of the elitist attitude on campus when it comes to name brand clothing. How do you parents feel about school uniforms... prefer them or not?
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1250990435]I was recently talking to a parent of a child who attends a TUSD school in Irvine. (It is a blogger here but I won't say who although maybe she'll respond so we can get more info.) She said they wear school uniforms. I had no idea! I hear all the elementary (and middle?) schools in that district wear uniforms, but I haven't confirmed if this is so. I haven't given a lot of thought to uniforms. On the surface, it seems like it would be a good thing to have... you don't have to figure out what to wear each day, everything coordinates, and more importantly - no inappropriate clothing would be worn to school by the children. Also it may remove some of the elitist attitude on campus when it comes to name brand clothing. How do you parents feel about school uniforms... prefer them or not?</blockquote>
I went to Mater Dei HS and uniforms were mandatory (the school would give us "free dress" days a few times a month). As a kid, I actually like the uniforms because it made it so easy and quick to pick out what to wear. I think for pants/shorts there were only khaki and navy blue and the shirts had to be either white, maroon, navy blue, red, or black.
 
TUSD does not require uniforms district-wide. Only a few schools, and you can sign a waiver to opt out (which sort of defeats the purpose, but I'm not sure how you can truly require them at a non-magnet public school).



Some parents love uniforms because it makes clothes buying much easier. I do not agree it erases class boundaries, though. You can always tell who comes from a richer family--especially when there is not a central uniform company you must buy from...e.g., the Target uniforms do not look the same as the Nordstrom uniforms. Girls, especially, can always tell the pecking order.
 
My girls will be going to private school in the fall, and will be wearing a uniform. My kids have done so off and on, depending on where we were living at the time. I prefer it actually. Saves money, and eliminates your kids being exposed to the kids who wear inappropriate clothing.
 
My kid went to Myford and she wore a uniform for all 5 years there. You can opt out of it, however I found it easier to deal with since the "uniform" was basically a white, navy or khaki polo and pants or skirts or skorts or shorts in the same colors. More than 90% of the kids wore a uniform but maybe things have changed in the last couple of years though I doubt it. I believe it was way less expensive in the long run.



Regarding the Nordstrom looks different than the Target ones.. yeah maybe but the selection at Nordstrom was lousy so we never bothered. What we did do though was after the first year, only buy one or 2.. and then waited for them to go on clearance at Target or Mervyn's (when it was still around) or Kohl's. We would then buy several sizes so she could grow into them.



There is virtually no pecking order this way, its extremely discouraged and unless my kid has been fibbing for the last x number of years.. she's never encountered it in any way. The kids don't brag about where their uniform came from, and they show their individuality by hello kitty hair bobbles, or colored shoe laces or bright socks or whatever.... assuming that they are concerned about that kind of thing at all. And the boys... just weren't.



The uniforms stop at middle school. In the 6th grade she mentioned that the popular kids wore Abercrombie and Fitch of which I am not a fan. Ive met their CEO and hes a real wanker. Their marketing campaigns bother me as well, being overly promiscuous. I am also not a fan of the prostitot clothing that is available for girls beginning around this age. But this is not something I think you have to worry about with boys.



I hope this helps some.
 
[quote author="fadetogrey" date=1250994186]TUSD does not require uniforms district-wide. Only a few schools, and you can sign a waiver to opt out (which sort of defeats the purpose, but I'm not sure how you can truly require them at a non-magnet public school).



Some parents love uniforms because it makes clothes buying much easier. I do not agree it erases class boundaries, though. You can always tell who comes from a richer family--especially when there is not a central uniform company you must buy from...e.g., the Target uniforms do not look the same as the Nordstrom uniforms. Girls, especially, can always tell the pecking order.</blockquote>


I have to say that I totally disagree with the Nordstrom to Target comparison. My kid wore uniforms from Target and no one ever said anything to her. She was however at the top of her class, her projects are all still in the library there and her teachers still talk about her. Please remember that from 1st to 5th grade kids really arent very conscience of "pecking order" or comparing unless of course their parents teach them to be.



I did buy some shirts once for her from Nordstrom and she hated them. They were cute little white shirts that buttoned down the front and had peter pan collars.

I don't think I got her to wear them more than one time each. As long as the polos were cotton my kid didnt care. Kids have the rest of her life to learn vanity, why start them so young?
 
I wanted to give some other information since now I've been thinking about it. Here were some of the rules that are in place to keep the focus on education rather than things like "pecking order"



1. No ipods or MP3 players

2. No cell phones.

3. No jewelry

4. No watches

5. No nintendo ds or sony psp

6. No sweets at snacktime
 
[quote author="GraceOMalley" date=1251020256]I wanted to give some other information since now I've been thinking about it. Here were some of the rules that are in place to keep the focus on education rather than things like "pecking order"



1. No ipods or MP3 players

2. No cell phones.

3. No jewelry

4. No watches

5. No nintendo ds or sony psp

6. No sweets at snacktime</blockquote>
No watches? Why, because they don't want any clock watching students??? haha
 
All of the TUSD elementary schools serving Irvine and Tustin Ranch require uniforms, except Tustin Ranch Elem. Our child enters 1st grade at Myford this year, in talking with our neighbors that have kids already there all of them are really into the uniform policy. We love it, too --- its one of two things we like about TUSD as compared to Irvine (we also like the gated campuses). For your reference SoCal here are links to the district and Myford specific policy:



<a href="http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/HTML/ParentsStudents/uniforms.htm">List of TUSD Schools Req Uniforms</a>



<a href="http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/Myford/uniform.html">Myford Uniform Policy</a>



I don't know if anyone out there is still shopping for uniforms now that we are about one week out, but if so we had a lot of luck shopping at the Land's End online store, and now they have put a lot of their uniforms on sale. Really nice quality stuff, and nice selection.



<a href="http://www.landsend.com/ix/school-uniforms/index.html?tab=13&seq=1&page=1&pageSize=12&store=le&cm_re=D-8">Land's End School Uniforms</a>
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1251032729][quote author="GraceOMalley" date=1251020256]I wanted to give some other information since now I've been thinking about it. Here were some of the rules that are in place to keep the focus on education rather than things like "pecking order"



1. No ipods or MP3 players

2. No cell phones.

3. No jewelry

4. No watches

5. No nintendo ds or sony psp

6. No sweets at snacktime</blockquote>
No watches? Why, because they don't want any clock watching students??? haha</blockquote>


Its because they dont want to be responsible if it gets stolen or the child loses it.
 
My son starts at a K-8 charter school next week and his school requires uniforms. I am truly ok with either way. I teach at a school with a uniform policy, unfortunately the district is required to have an "opt out" policy which 90% of the parents have chosen and so the whole uniform thing has become pointless. I guess I'll have a better sense of how I feel about uniforms in a few months. I know if I was sending my kid to a school with a uniform policy and no one was following it, I wouldn't either. I truly enjoy buying clothes for my kids though and the uniform has taken all of the fun out of it :mad: .
 
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