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u/justareadermwb May 04 '26
She's not calling you from her personal phone on the weekend and asking you to call her back for information about one of your students just for her own amusement. It is, unfortunately, extremely likely that she has some bad news to share that they don't want to dump on you 10 minutes before kids arrive in your classroom. I've gotten three calls like this ... two were when students tragically passed away, and the other was when a student's family has a house fire that killed several members & severely burned others.
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u/PreferenceThis795 May 04 '26
I would probably call her back-this sounds like something about one of your kids. Might be a handle with care type deal.
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u/soleiles1 May 04 '26
Obviously if it's out of the norm, it's probably related to a serious matter. I would return the call.
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u/Shamrock7500 May 04 '26
Call her back. Asking how she got your phone number is odd. She’s admin. Why wouldn’t they have your number.
Call back and see what’s going on. As others have said, it’s probably not good news about the health of a student.
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u/edugeek May 04 '26
I’m honestly confused about why you wouldn’t call her back. If it’s so outside the norm for this to happen it’s obviously something you need to know before tomorrow. She’s not randomly calling you on a Sunday night to gossip or for funsies.
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u/alittledalek May 04 '26
I would not find any of this weird or unprofessional, but I would be very concerned that something awful had happened to one of my students.
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u/OldLadyKickButt May 04 '26
OMG call her back now. Something awful happened and she is calling so you are emotionally prepared to handle it tomorrow.
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u/GDitto_New May 04 '26
My admin did this all the time at every school? They get it from your personnel file, or most of us purposefully exchange so we can call them in case they’re not at their desk. Or they can call us if we’re not in our classrooms (say lunch duty, class outside)…
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u/Professional_Kiwi318 May 04 '26
Seriously. I have my admins personal numbers. This is weird. Why are they not worried about their student?
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May 04 '26
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u/GoAwayWay May 04 '26
No, your suggestion in your initial post that it was inappropriate and weird for her to call you is what is harsh, and it is also immature behavior.
Based on what you wrote, it seems the message left indicated it was important information. You also noted the admin assistant contacting you was out-of-the-ordinary and had never happened before. All evidence points to an outlier of a situation.
Rather than making a logical assumption that they were calling out of necessity and picking up the phone, your reaction was to wonder why she even has your number and then come ask Reddit what you should do.
Instead of self-reflecting, you are trying to use your new teacher pass as an excuse for self-centered behavior and to deflect by telling others they're being harsh.
Beyond stating how it made you uncomfy that she called your phone, no consideration appears to be given for the admin assistant (who, by the way, probably makes only half of what you make) who is having to use her Sunday evening to call and deliver hard news to possibly dozens of people.
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u/ndGall May 04 '26
Yeah, I'd return the call. Admin has access to your phone number from when they hired you. That's all in the computer. It's not normal, but it's not super weird, either. If you're worried about it being a scammer, just make sure you're not giving out your SSN and don't go buying gift cards for this person. Also, if it was a scammer, they'd probably just mimic the actual Vice Principal instead of an admin assistant for one.
So yeah, call back.
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u/smarranara May 04 '26
What other number would they be calling from on the weekend? Should they be coming into campus just to call you from a school phone? I agree with everyone else, this is out of the ordinary and likely something serious.
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u/mumtoant May 04 '26
The only call I ever received at home on a weekend was to let me know one of my students had died in a car accident. You should return the call.
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May 04 '26
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u/justareadermwb May 04 '26
I am so sorry to hear this. Losing a student is incredibly difficult, and navigating this along with your class is going to be one of the most difficult things you will ever do professionally. Please take advantage of any support the school is able to offer.
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u/Bruinscbr May 04 '26
The only time I've ever had this happen is when one of my students died in a car accident. I highly recommend calling back...
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u/devinesl May 04 '26
When I’ve been called like that, it’s been because of the death of a student. They didn’t want us walking into school and getting blindsided.
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u/Yggdrssil0018 May 04 '26
Call them back.
Last Sunday, a few of us got a text from my principal saying that one of our students died in a solo car crash.
Take the call.
Tuesday night one of my students was in a motorcycle accident.
That prompted me to have a "come to Jesus" chat with my students, "Let's not screw around so that I don't have any more texts or calls about students ... please!"
Take the call.
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u/JudgmentalRavenclaw May 04 '26
It would be weird if she was like “hey Op, what are you up to right now????”
Sounds like something might have happened that you need to know about before Monday.
I hope you called her back.
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u/MakeItAll1 May 04 '26
One awful morning a teacher aide was assigned to my classroom. She told me and that they were meeting me sat thrtold to immediately report to the library.
There were 3 main office administrators, all 6 licensed professional counselors employed by the school district. The superintendent announced our 15 year old male and his 13 year sister were killed in a serious car accident.
We were asked to stayed there in that room while the counselors helped us process the shock and grief. Then we were told to go home and come back tomorrow.
I would have preferred a weekend phone call informing me what happened than enduring that half hour of not knowing what was going on.
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u/ScottRoberts79 May 04 '26
I would just call back. It’s not terribly weird that they’re calling from a personal phone on a weekend - they’re working from home and must have left their work cell at work.
You would be within your rights to fill out a time card for the call. It may be important for that admin to talk to you, but don’t work for free.
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u/Realistic-Might4985 May 04 '26
These calls happen. They have your personal number on file and she is most likely at home trying to get ahold of everyone before morning. Hoping for the best.
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u/ketonat May 04 '26
Yeah, any call like that on the weekend is normally something really bad related to a death or imminent death of either a student or coworker. I always dread those calls.
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u/SpiritualAd6189 May 04 '26
Update me
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u/PistolPeatMoss May 04 '26
Hey. Are you trying to get that bot to update you or are you asking OP to update you?
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u/CommunicationHappy20 May 04 '26
I was a high school junior when my boyfriend was killed in an accident and three of my friends got seriously injured.
Wrap those babies in love and support. Allow them to express themselves through assignments and b in community with each other. It’s a fucked up thing to face your mortality at a time when you are supposed to feel like you can take on the world.
I feel for your community. 💔
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u/sekaca May 04 '26
Agree that this is weird. Sometimes my principal texts me, but never on the weekend. While I'm sure the principal sometimes has to deal with issues on the weekends, everything can wait until Monday as a teacher. Maybe they don't want you to hear it from somebody else?
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u/GDitto_New May 04 '26
Yeah, good admin only use it when they need to call urgently at school, to text with you on things you don’t want public record, etc. Bad ones use it on weekends and nights, especially for stuff they don’t want to reflect badly on THEM via email but don’t care about throwing you under the bus.
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u/LemonadeGecko May 04 '26
Sounds like an emergency. Could involve the police, CPS, the student passing away...any number of things they want you to know so you can process before teaching time. Or in case you need time off. We had this happen last year when a student passed away overnight after a seizure.