Far out, the school's communication practices leave a heck of a lot to be desired! From what you've said, to me it's an over reaction ... unless "something" your DS did was significantly more serious than has been explained. For my money's worth, I'd be having it out with the principal and teacher and ensure you get full details about what exactly brought on the suspension, and you can put forward your DS's explanation also. And yard duty ... OMG. I cannot imagine my 5 year old giving up his run around/play time for a mundane task such as yard duty. And why on earth would the school expect it? Can they justify their reasons? It may be acceptable if there is a proven theory behind it. Personally it sounds lunatic to me to put a preppie on yard duty. At the very least this should have been communicated to parents so YOU understood it, and you could help your child understand what it's all about.

And I'd be taking the school's poor communication practices further. If the principal or teacher aren't receptive, then your school likely has a P&F committee you could approach. You may not want to stick your neck out (so to speak) but you could approach the P&F to raise it with the principal. The school's slack approach to communication with parents is appalling. By comparison, my preppie son has a plastic folder that comes home, and goes back to school daily. Anything we think the teacher needs to know, we write in the book that's kept in the folder, and we get a response back later that day (of course, we can always approach the teacher direct too). All notes, newsletters, kids' drawings etc come home pronto each day in the folder.

Personally, I'd be getting uncomfortable about your son's school. I'd want to be confident that, while he is part of a larger cohort, they still have his best interests at heart and - if behaviour really is an issue (and I'm not saying it is) - then they have a strategy or agreed-to approach on how to deal with it, in collaboration with you. Being "naughty" just seems like a trite excuse. I mean c'mon ... I'm being naughty when I nick one too many cookies from the cookie jar. You deserve a much better explanation for what led to the suspension.