If you believe the following premise: 1: Teachers have an influence in the life of the student.
2: How you present yourself says a great deal about you.

Then the following observation from last weeks 8th grade awards ceremony should be of some interest to you.

Before I proceed, I must tell you that I have not verified anything from the school, but I did speak with a teacher at another district about dress codes for teachers. Assuming the codes are similar, then these teachers I saw on Friday were out of line. Perhaps it was casual Friday, but enough with the apologist.

The principal was appropriately dressed in a suit. The gym teachers were appropriately dressed in gym attire. If it was casual Friday, then the male teachers were appropriately dressed in jeans and casual slacks with a collared shirt. But there were at least two female teachers and one male teacher that were not at all appropriate in their choice of clothing or footwear. Please tell me when flip-flops or Birkenstocks became acceptable, professional footwear. Open-toed shoes of any kind is usually against the dress code in a professional setting. Teachers, especially in NJ, have a strong union and insist on being treated as professionals, but at an awards assembly they choose to be completely inappropriate.

Now I know it is June, it is the end of a school year, but you have to know that at some point during the day you will be in front of parents and business people. Is a sixties hippie look really the image you want to present to the community? As someone that would rather risk being over dressed for an occasion than under dressed, this bothers me. As someone that relies on the value of first impressions and lectures on the subject matter, I find this very disturbing.

I don't know if there could ever be an adequate explanation but I would welcome an opportunity to discuss this matter with the principal or other authoritative figure from this institution.