I’d like to get something for DS23’s advisor. He has been there for DS every step of the way and I think we owe a lot of DS’s success to his mentorship. I’d like something meaningful but not cheesy. Any ideas?
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We always did gift certificates for a nice restaurant, a membership for the year (zoo was a much appreciated one for advisor with kids, museum, local theater “pick your series”), but always based on what we knew they liked.
And of course, with a nice note (which I know from cleaning out an older relative’s home - an educator - were treasured.
I also sent a note to the HOS to say how wonderful our CC had been, and this could be an opportunity to do the same. Advising roles are often tricky to evaluate and require quite a bit from the advisor. When parents feel they have not been done well, the HOS hears, so why not let them know when someone has gone above and beyond?
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Is he married with a family, or have a significant other? A session with a local photographer may be a nice gift, along with a frame for one of their favorites.
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I’m always a fan of telling someone, and their supervisor, how much they helped. You’re so right that people are quick to complain, so a gracious compliment often means a lot.
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Our HS limited the amount that could be spent on staff gifts to a very modest amount so I often got a nice box of candy, a gift card to a local place, or something along those lines. In all cases my kids wrote a nice thank you note to accompany the gift and I think to many the personal note was the more meaningful thing.
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Sorry to revive a thread from last month - not really worth a whole new thread - in terms of gifts/thank you notes etc for staff, when would y’all recommend these be given out?
Graduation weekend? After May 1 decision day? Last day of class?
We gave small teacher/counselor gifts once they had admissions decisions and selected a college (for my S it was May and for my D who applied ED and was accepted it was January). Kids included a note with the gift saying what college they were going to attend as well as their heartfelt thanks. I’m sure a gesture like this would be appreciated anytime.
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Hi
what staff at boarding school are expected to get gifts? Surprised this is even allowed?
Not “staff” per se - but we want to acknowledge the teachers who gave him letters of recommendation and his college counselor and maybe a couple of other great teachers that he developed close relationships with.
I don’t think anyone “expects” to get gifts.
I would check with the school directly to see what, if any, gifts are allowable. Our public HS allows only small/token ($25 maximum when my kids attended) gifts. Even if gifts are not allowed at your child’s HS a note of thanks from the student to people who wrote LORs letting them know which college he/she will attend would certainly be appreciated.
So are these gifts only for graduates or are gifts given re: holidays or at year end by all grades? Sorry I want to understand what the norm is?
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We only gave gifts senior year to teachers/counselor who wrote college recommendations. The title of this thread is “staff gifts for graduation.”
You should inquire as to the norms specific to your child’s boarding school (maybe ask parents with older children the school).
We gave gifts junior year to my DS dorm parent and advisor as they had contact with him every day and went above and beyond. It wasn’t anything huge, but a gift basket of things we felt showed appreciation for their actions. I’d like to get DS advisors a gift to give at graduation as he has truly been a mentor to my son and has always been in his corner, going above and beyond what we ever imagined. I’m sure he will be in my son’s life forever. My son has changed so much from freshman to senior year and this advisor was a huge part of it. We are not a family that is going to give a week at a beach house or some other extravagant gift (and yes, I have heard of that happening), but I would like to give something meaningful and memorable.
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Just want to say that for most parents, the desire to give a gift is driven by genuine gratitude as comes through in @vwlizard 's post.
While people do nice things for our kids because they care about the kids, not for us, it matters enormously to parents that this care is shown to our kids.
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