Phone Call Returning

Depends. If my message might be: Other kids are pounding on my kid in the bathroom, I'd say immediately. If the message is: I'd like to talk to you about poor nutritional options in the cafeteria, then a week or two. I try to bear in mind that a Principal has so many people who need his/her attention from the staff to the kids to the parents.

If school is just starting up now, it's massive chaos at the schools for a few days.
I'd expect I might get lost in the shuffle.
Call him back in 2 days and repeat till you get a hold of him.

the time frame doesn't depend on who the professional is. it depends on the urgency of the issue being addressed.
if your kid has been injured or something like that, i'd expect it within hours.
if you're miffed at the drop off policy, or want to complain that the teacher is insensitive, or someone was mean to your kid in the lunch line- well, i'm betting you're not super high on the priority list.
khairete
S.

School principals don't fall in the same category as a professional in my mind. They are up and busy all day. It's not like they sit at a desk all day waiting for phone calls or to make deals or something.

If it's an emergency then go in the morning and ask to speak to him. If you work and can't get away to sit and wait for him to have a moment to chat then call, and call, and call until they can take your call.

If it's not that important then I'd send him an email and ask him to please call you regarding such and such.

At the beginning of a school year and in a non-emergency situation? A week or so! Principals are inundated with parent calls for all kinds of issues, and they have to "triage" them to sort out what's critical, and what's valid but not really critical (just a curious parent). It also takes time for a principal to observe a child or a classroom situation. I'd do some basic math - are there 300 kids in the school? If 10 minutes per child were the average (because some kids have major complicating factors), and the principal is there 8 hours a day (much of which has to deal with professional development, teacher issues, building crises, you name it), a principal would need a minimum of 3000 minutes if he/she did nothing else but talk to parents. So 40 hours a week would allow a principal to talk to 6 parents an hour, or 240 parents in a week. If there are 4 classes per grade at 25 students per class, that's 100 kinds in K, 100 in first, etc., so 400 kids in the school. So it's well over 1 week if ALL the principal does is talk to parents.

I think a lot of schools need to improve parent communications. I also think a lot of parents expect the principal to intervene on every single issue rather than give the kid/teacher a chance to get things off to a good start. I'm guessing you're somewhere in the middle.

So, 2 weeks would be reasonable short of an emergency. A principal is only human.

From my experience: non-emergency situations, I try to consider who is the *best*, first person to deal with this. For example, if there's an issue in the classroom, I would email the teacher and cc the principal. Emergency situation: walk into the office and talk to the secretary. She would discern if the situation was something to schedule time with the principal for (and I've asked to schedule time for non-emergency issues which arose where I felt she needed to be informed) OR the secretary will try to call the principal to meet with you ASAP. When my son was in first grade and being physically hurt regularly by a child who was bullying him, I decided to go back to the school and pull my son out until they could come up with a safety plan for him. (That was a last-resort move, but it got the staff's attention, finally) At that point, the principal and assistant principal did drop what they were doing to address the situation and it was resolved for the rest of that school year.

So, it helps to consider what level of import your communication has. If it's about the previously-mentioned traffic circle, they may have already had an earful and are just in 'dealing with this' mode. If there is a safety issue, don't wait for a call back, go to the office.

And remember-- principals are people too. They just have about a gajillion parents to answer to plus fires large and small to put out. Don't stand on propriety on this one and don't take it personally if you don't get a call back. I only once expected a call from our principal, and that was due to some scary, threatening behavior on the part of a classmate who had already physically hurt my kid. (same one as first grade). And even then, we ended up communicating via email, but only after I'd addressed it with the teacher and received an apathetic response.

Did school just start? If so, it may be a few days. The first week of school is NUTS! I'm lucky if I can find my principal (I'm a teacher) when I'm in the same building with her. Our students haven't even started yet and I waited 20 minutes for my principal to show up for a meeting that she scheduled with me.

If school has been in session for a couple of weeks, most principals will try to return calls within a couple of days. Honestly, the best way to get ahold of a principal is to contact the main office and ask to set up an appointment. Even then, emergencies come up, a student's behavior may escalate, a kid might hit their head on the playground and an ambulance may have been called, a staff member might get sick and the principal may have to step in and cover a classroom. All of those things have happened to cause a meeting I have scheduled with the principal, to be postponed or cancelled.

email is always best.

Unless I needed to take care of an urgent issue, I would not call a school principal during the first couple of weeks. In your case, there is a new principal. Give him time to get familiar with the school, staff, and kids.

I take care of some issues in text messages. I ask my question and outline the circumstances. That way he or his secretary can respond, often within the day.

When I need an answer right away (urgent, I either go to the office after dropping off the kid or call for an appointment. My daughter and now my granddaughter are special needs students. Of they weren't, I would not have needed to talk the same day. I was a teacher many years ago and I volunteered weekly for several years until a couple of years ago. This helped me know policies, procedures, and which staff member to talk with. I always give staff the benefit of the doubt even when I'm irritated.

This is your third message that seems to indicate you're not getting the attention you want. I suggest you volunteer at the school or find another way to get to know staff and how/who make decisions. Many are made.by those.higher up. A school is like a business. Not much is simple. Those of us not actually within the system have difficulty understanding all the work that educators do. Personal contact works the best. Communication is more effective when body language and tone of voice is included.

During the first few weeks of school, unless it was an emergency, at least 48 hours. After that I'd call and leave another message (or email is even better) just to make sure the first message was received.

It depends on the nature of the call. If it's pretty serious, I would say 24 hours, except the first week of school like someone had mentioned is just crazy busy. If it's not an urgent matter I'd be OK with 2-4 days.

24 hours. But I tend to email so they can read and respond back or call, at their leisure.

I wouldn't call unless it was urgent, and I'd make sure the secretary knew specifically what the urgent issue is. Admins can and do triage phone calls to help the principal prioritize. In that case, within 24 hours.

If it's not urgent, I email, and expect a response in a week.

24 hours.

If I called on Monday and I didn't hear back, I would call again on Wednesday though.

Private school or public school? If private - you are a paying customer, call again after two days and raise heck if you don't hear back within a week.

Public school? Don't hold your breath. (From someone who has always done public school.)

It depends. If I have a complaint, I don't expect that the principal will EVER call me back. If I want to offer a compliment, probably within hours.

24 hours MAX. But I also always email with them as well. It holds them accountable and makes sure the questions/comments/concerns are fully understood by all parties.

I think proper etiquette is 48 hrs, but who knows anymore. I sent an email to my son's teacher 2 weeks ago, and she never responded. I'm guessing she never got it or my note did not warrant a response.
You should probably send a follow up email or call. I've done this before.

if it's a complaint? I would expect a call back THAT business day.

If it's NOT a complaint - 24 to 48 hours.

It depends on how much the principal is on top of it. I had a principal who never returned phone calls or emails...she just blew them off - she's still there years later and many parents yanked their kids out of the school because of poor leadership. Many incompetent people occupy important positions.
You might try an email. It's usually quicker and easier to respond to and you might have better luck.