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No, I wouldn't do an additional gift.

I'd probably give a card they could post in the room addressed to all the teachers and something edible each one could take home from World Market or Home Goods. Total gifting would be $100..

@MrsADS: I wouldn’t give an additional gift.

I think I would do a card, and maybe get my kids to decorate it.

No but I also think them asking for $75 per child is appalling. That’s a lot of money.

the daycare itself sent that?? I feel like that's strange. Our daycare similarly pools donations for a center-wide fund for all the teachers, so that they all get an equal gift and so parents who aren't able to contribute aren't singled out, BUT a) it's parent-organized and b) the suggested donation is a range and much lower (we say 20-40 per child). Beyond that, gifts aren't allowed unless they;re handmade. We've just written cards/lo artwork or brought edible gifts. I'm the class parent for one of my girl's classrooms and I've left group cards for parents to sign, so that each teacher gets a card along with the cash gift from the center-wide fund

ETA our center has a huge # of teachers (like, I wrote out 8 cards for one class...) but I still think $75 is a lot to ask for from parents. It's fine if some families want to contribute more but for that to be the baseline they're asking seems excessive...

@nana87: So question, the parents also collect the money, and they know what every family contributed? How do they

I feel like parents knowing what other families is unsettling, I have no issue if the school knows and then distributes it evenly. If people want to give less, they can, or even if they don't want to participate, that's fine too. I feel like any amount of money is offensive to someone.

@nana87: So the admin collects it and the parent organization gets the lump sum and then distributes it?

Sorry for all the questions! We are stumbling through this at my son's public school and we can't come up with an elegant solution that everyone agrees with.

I am all for an equal distribution, across teachers, admin and staff. Some parents don't see it that way.

@looch: the class parents decide what we're doing for the teachers (this is the 2nd year we've done a center-wide gift), send the email around to parents in each room, and either collect the money for their class themselves or have parents give right to the receptionist (I decided to leave the group cards and envelope money with the receptionist this year so that it's more protected than my daughter's cubby, for example over the weekend). the center director actually is the one who counts it and then evenly distributed--she has the list of all the teachers on staff, for example there are lots of floaters and student teachers who split time between multiple rooms, so giving a center wide gift this way means they don't get left out.

@Finfan: wow!!!! $75?!?! I find that to be inappropriate and very expensive. The nerve of your childcare center! I guess I’m cheap and I live in a very expensive part of the country.