Do your kids’ schools specify which brand of school supplies you have to buy?

Ours does and I just thought that was kind of odd. And where do you think is the cheapest place to buy school supplies? (In the US) I know it’s still early but my first is going to Kindergarten so we’re excited!
His school wants only Elmer’s glue sticks, Pink Pearl Erasers, Crayola Markers, Sanford Dry Erase Markers, etc. All brand names.
For example, they’re asking for 8 Elmer’s .77 oz glue sticks for the classroom and another 4 for art so we’re looking at $15 worth of glue and that’s kind of annoying when I could buy a 10 pack for a buck at the $1 store.

I suppose it makes sense if they plan to use "community" supplies though. That way the kids of parents who bought the expensive stuff wouldn’t get stuck using lower quality supplies even though their parents spent more. That wouldn’t really be fair.

Hello, speaking as a teacher, many schools will specify the brand so that children do not feel that their supplies are inferior (or superior) to others. It is amazing what kids will "pick on" each other for.

As for cheapest….Walgreens has school supply specials every week in their fliers. I just went out today (to stock my classroom). They have Friskars scissors for 99 cents, and tons of deals on paper, pens, binders, etc… I bought two FULL bags of items for $15.00.