Happy Halloween

I have nothing against Halloween but I am aware of families in our school who do not "celebrate" it and may not agree with the parties being called Harvest Celebrations (when they really are all about Halloween).  For the first time our kids got to wear costumes to school today (yes I know tomorrow is Halloween) this was Whacky Wednesday.  Our SCA voted for this as the special day this month.  So we had costumes today in grades 1-5 and tomorrow our kindergarten students get to bring their costumes to school to put on for the "Fall Party."  I had to teach in several classes and the attention and focus was much poorer than normal. We also had two incidents of physical aggression by a student dressed as a character who happens to be very aggressive.  I am not in favor of costumes being worn all day in school.  As an advocate for student's success I would rather see the focus on learning than dressing up.  I will go to school tomorrow and try to enjoy the children's excitement but will be even happier when it is over.  I do like the idea of a book character day featuring a book parade around the school, but even for that I'd like to see it only last an hour, not the whole school day.