casual vs. professional?

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casual vs. professional?
By Carolyn

I, too, teach in a very rural elementary school. It is also a very small school.

I don't really think you need to be "dressy" to look professional. I would hate to think your principal thinks you are going to come to
school each day with a suit or church clothes, because that's unrealistic for an elementary teacher who deals with chalk (as I do) markerboard markers (as some others do), and sharpie markers and paints, and who sits on the floor from time to time as we all do.
As far as dress goes, we wear sweaters and Dockers. I guess you could say that we go for the "preppie" look more than the

dress-for-church look. Some of the teachers wear sneakers, but I usually wear Dr. Scholls Monday through Thursday, and my Nikes on Fridays with the allowed jeans.

You will have to point out to your principal, as a faculty, that you have to dress to be comfortable so that you can interact more effectively with your kids. You also don't want to spoil really good clothes.