240 Pencils and a Package of Post-its

The town of Moses Lake has built a new school. Something to do with massive overcrowding–classrooms set up in hallways and storage closets; concerts staged on the playground for lack of a gymnasium large enough to hold all the students let alone an audience. You get the picture.

One new elementary school isn't going to do much to alleviate overcrowding and they stuck it out in the middle of nowhere but we'll take what we can get. 

Oddly enough, we find ourselves within the new boundaries–it's going to be quite a bus ride out around to the other side of the lake but hey–new school, right? I'm not complaining. For one thing, the principal actually answered an email from a lowly parent like me–usually I have trouble just contacting a teacher but the only info I could find about a real human being out there was an email for the head-honcho herself so I gave it a go, and she answered the same day. So Kudos to Ms. Noreen Thomas for that. AND I'm actually a little bit impressed with the new school supply lists. Looks like they've whittled them down from last year. Okay, so I have to buy a collective 240 pencils just for my youngest three children, but only three erasers. Last year they wanted four each and a grand conglomeration of bizarre items like coffee filters, sewing supplies and shoe laces. Not to mention 32 dollars for "craft supplies" on top of everything else.

 The list for my youngest three children this year looks like this:

1 – box of 10 broad markers (classic colors)
1 highlighter
1 black Ultra Fine Point Sharpie permanent marker
6 fine point Expo dry erase markers (Blue or Green preferred)
3 Highlighters: yellow, pink, green
5 red pens

3 large pink erasers

3 boxes of 24 Crayola crayons, 1 box of 16 count crayons

2 sets of 12 Crayola colored pencils

1 – box of 24 colored pencils

240  plain, yellow, wood pencils. No colors or décor.

pencil sharpener with a lid for shavings

pencil top erasers
3 pair Fiskars scissors, one blunt, two sharp tipped

A zippered bag for storing supplies

2 – 8 1/2" x 5" plastic school boxes (no zipper)

1- plastic folder with 2 inside pockets (not a binder)
1 pack of writeable dividers
2 – 1" 3-ring black binder (no zipper)
1 – 2" 3-ring white binder with clear overlay pocket (with inside pockets)
$5.00 for film processing, art supplies, miscellaneous items
14 glue sticks

3  medium bottles of Elmer’s glue   
2 packages of wide ruled, loose leaf notebook paper
3 single-subject wide ruled spiral notebooks
4 black bound composition notebooks
6  boxes of Kleenex
1- bottle of 12 oz. hand sanitizer
1 pack of post it/sticky notes
1 12 in./metric ruler

I am also given the option of bringing:    

ziplock baggies (sandwich or gallon size)
antibacterial wipes

paper plates
paper cups, napkins
extra Expo markers
1- bag of candy (individually wrapped, no nuts, no chocolate)
1- box of crackers, pretzels, non-sugar coated cereal, etc. (healthy snacks)
hand sanitizer
disinfectant wipes
plates
cups
napkins

I must admit I'm a little perplexed as to the specificity of some items. Because of course requesting a specific color, number of pockets, etc in a binder increases the cost exponentially. Not to mention the likely scenario that all of these specific items here in our one stop shopping town will be sold out before I get there. ALTHOUGH . . . I wonder how many other parents dared actually email the principal and ask about school lists? There may be hope yet.

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