LEWISBORO, N.Y. Its that time of year again. The first day of school is looming ominously on the horizon and students and their parents are beginning that annual scramble to stock up on the requisite supplies and update their wardrobes to comply with current fashion trends.
For Lewisboro families, the task can be a bit more challenging because the rural community lacks big-box stores such as Target and Staples, where one stop will usually net everything thats needed. This means a little more planning and often requires out-of-town trips.
We plan a trip, said Kate Bauer, who will attend seventh grade at John Jay Middle School this year. I like to go to Crewcuts in New Canaan. They have great clothes. If there was a store like that here, that would be nice.
Vira Ainger has two kids in second and fourth grade at Meadow Pond Elementary School. She says the PTA there helps relieve some of the burden and stress when it comes to purchasing supplies such as notebooks, pens and paper.
The PTA has a program where you can order supplies like notebooks through them, she said. They come in at the end of the year; you pick them up and hang on to them all summer and youre ready for when school starts.
As for clothing, Ainger said she and her brood will make treks to the Danbury Fair Mall or the Gap in Norwalk, Conn. But if planning such a trip becomes problematic, she has another solution.
I love to shop online, she said.
Roberta White has two teens, Sarah, 17, and Waverly, 15. Both attend John Jay High School and will be a senior and a sophomore, respectively. Roberta says her teens arent interested in simply buying new clothes just because a new school year is starting, but are instead motivated by fashion trends.
We dont think about clothing too much for the start of school, she said, as her daughters nodded in agreement. We dont plan a specific trip for that. Its more fashion driven.
However, if something new and hip hits the stores, her girls are on it.
Its more if something is in style than I better get that, Waverly said with a laugh. We already have all the past trends.
As far as supplies go, the Whites are ready. They say it helps that the school provides a list of what will be needed on its website.
We start preparing for that in mid-August, Roberta said. I just went to the website and printed out the list. Its all broken down by class and explains everything that youll need for each one.
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