Teacher gift amount

What It Means

Teacher gift amount is what a family spends on a thank-you gift for a child's teacher, usually at the winter holidays or the end of the school year. Etiquette sets no figure: the Emily Post Institute's advice is about the kind of gift, a thoughtful item rather than cash. For public schoolPublic schoolA school run by publicly elected or appointed officials and paid for mainly with public money, including district, charter and magnet schools. See more teachers, a state ethics law or a district policy may set a limit, and those rules differ from place to place.

How People Say It at Work

• "How much do people usually spend on the teacher?"
• "The room parent is collecting for a class gift."
• "Is a gift card okay, or does that count as cash?"

The Breakdown

Worked example. A parent thanks three teachers (the classroom teacher, the music teacher and an aide) with a $20 gift each, which is an example amount. That's $60 for the year. If their district caps gifts at $25 each, every gift has $5 to spare.

Dated examples of state rules

These are two states' opinions, not a national rule. Your state's ethics commission or your school district may set something different, so check your district's policy.

What moves the number. Your state's ethics rules and your district's gift policy, how many teachers and staff you want to thank, and your own budgetBudgetA plan for a set period, usually a month, that lists the money you expect to receive and how you'll spend or save it. See more.

Good to Know

The Emily Post Institute points out that teachers are salaried professionals, so a cash tip isn't the right fit and can look like currying favor. Books or a gift certificate to an office supplyMilk supplyHow much breast milk a parent's body makes. It's driven by supply and demand: the more often milk is removed, the more the body makes. See more store are welcome, and it suggests a handwritten note with whatever you give. If your child is at a private schoolPrivate schoolA school that isn't supported mainly by public funds and gives classroom teaching in one or more of grades K to 12, whether religious or nonsectarian. See more, ask its office about any gift policy.

Related Terms and Categories

• Holiday tipping

  A year-end tip or gift for people who provide regular services, such as a babysitter, cleaner or newspaper carrier, guided by etiquette rather than any rule.

• Gift budget

  A spending plan that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, person by person or occasion by occasion, for a season or a whole year.

• Emailing a teacher

  Writing to your child's teacher by email to ask a question, share news or raise a concern, ideally short, specific and polite, with one topic per message.

• Thank-you notes

  A short handwritten or typed message thanking someone for a gift, a favor or their hospitality, ideally sent within a few days.

• Class valentines

  The small cards or treats a child brings to school on Valentine's Day to hand out to classmates, often one for every child in the class.

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