A small Fun Run lesson about community
Reminder: Independent parent group — not affiliated with or endorsed by FASD.
TL;DR
The Fox Fun Run appears to have started as a fourth-grade student idea for a community-building event.
Posted student-created rules said: “Parents can come cheer on their kids.”
Families were later told parents could not attend.
After some parents raised concerns, the school adjusted and allowed parents to come.
That matters. It shows parent voice can work.
But it should not require last-minute pressure to preserve the community-building spirit of a student-led event.
Families were also asked to donate toward student-facing priorities like STEM and field trips, but it is still unclear how those funds will be tracked or reported back.
Parent Recap (What Happened)
The Fox Fun Run was promoted as a student-led event connected to fundraising for student-facing priorities, including STEM, field trips, and classroom needs.
Based on materials posted at school, the event appears to have had a community-building purpose. One posted “Fun Run Rules” sheet stated: “Parents can come cheer on their kids.”
However, families did have a clear sense of event logistics the event until two hours before the start. In the original Dojo communication, families were told the school could not accommodate all families and that attendance would be limited. After some parents raised concerns, the school reconsidered and allowed parents to come.
That change is worth acknowledging. It shows the school did respond to parent feedback.
The timing still mattered. Because the clarification and reversal came close to the event, many families may not have been able to change plans again.
There are also reasonable questions about the fundraising side. If families are being asked to donate toward specific priorities, it would be helpful to understand whether the funds will be used this school year or next year, and whether the school will report back on how the funds were ultimately spent.
The “Since You’re Here…” Section
Unofficial reflections — offered in good faith (and with a grain of salt)
I want to be explicit: the section above is my attempt to keep things factual and balanced. This section is my personal perspective.
This is not just a story about a Fun Run.
It is a reminder that parent engagement works — but it should not require last-minute pressure to preserve the community-building spirit of a student-led event.
I am glad the school listened. Some parents spoke up, the Head of School apparently read the emails, and the decision changed. That is a good thing.
But for our family, the sequence still stung. We had already told our first grader that parents were no longer allowed to come cheer. He was bummed. We were bummed. And by the time the decision changed, it was late enough that many parents may not have been able to adjust again.
The fundraising side also deserves a little more clarity. The materials referenced appealing student-facing uses like STEM, field trips, and classroom needs. Those are easy things to support. But families should also be able to understand how those funds will be tracked, whether they land in this year’s budget or next year’s, and whether donations will actually be tied back to the purposes described. Given recent questions about how school dollars are categorized and communicated, this is an easy place for the school to build trust: tell families where the money goes, when it will be spent, and how it connects back to the purposes used to raise it.
That is not nitpicking. It is basic stewardship.
The larger issue is that families should not only be treated as a source of funds, flexibility, and last-minute support. Families can be builders of community.
We want to be crew, not passengers.
The Fun Run could have been a simple, joyful community event: parents cheering, families helping, fourth graders seeing their idea come to life, and younger students watching older students lead.
Maybe some of that still happened. I hope it did.
But the process made the event feel smaller than it needed to be.
The school did eventually respond. That matters. But the bigger lesson should not be that parents have to push back at the last minute. The bigger lesson should be that families are part of the school community from the start.
~ Greg
