Before becoming a parent, it can be really easy to underestimate the impact that having kids in school will have on the entire family. Not only is school the place where kids end up spending most of their days, but it's also the place where parents find themselves making friends (or frenemies, alas), spending lots of time in the pickup line, and going to the whole array of concerts, sports events, and teacher conferences. School is a big deal for the whole family!
And while celebrities may send their kids to super expensive private schools and have nannies or bodyguards to do the school pickup and drop-off routine for them, they still have a lot of the same experiences with their kids being in school that normal parents do. From the chaos of homeschooling during the pandemic to the struggles with helping with math homework (why is everything sooooo different from when we were in fourth grade?), these 15 celebrity school life stories are suprisingly relatable. We've gotta be honest, this is the most we've ever had in common with Jennifer Lopez!
Angelina Jolie
Megan Fox
Sadly, this relatable story from Megan Fox is all about bullying. In 2019, she shared on The Talk that her son Noah was experiencing bullying for his clothing choices. "I send him to a really liberal, hippy school, but even there, in California, he still has little boys going, 'Boys don't wear dresses,' or 'Boys don't wear pink.'"
Kristen Bell
There's nothing quite like the special joy of getting burned via a child's homework assignment, as Kristen Bell found out. "Trying to get my first grader to write her first opinion essay, and was quite impressed with the topic she chose as she presented her grid with opinion and evidence. Touché, my young lass. Touché," she wrote on Instagram. This lovely chart was the result!
LaLa Anthony
LaLa Anthony was a proud mama when her son, Kiyan, graduated from middle school, noting that it took his hard work and focus to navigate "all the ups and downs of the world" while getting ready for high school and the bigger spotlight he'll have as a high school basketball player. Time will tell if he follows in his dad Carmelo Anthony's NBA footsteps.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez may be the ultimate actress/dancer/singer triple threat, but that doesn't mean she's good at everything. Just like us, she finds helping her kids with homework confusing, too. She told The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "Have you seen the math that they make the kids do now? It's a new math! It's crazy. So half the time I'm like, 'Okay, yeah, let's look up that word. What's that mean?'"
Jessica Seinfeld
Cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld (wife of Jerry) shared her relatable feelings about the connections that a whole family can make to their kid's school. As her son was preparing to graduate from his New York-based private school, she posted on Instagram, "We will miss teachers, parents, administrators, and kids who have made Ethical Culture Fieldston the joyful, caring (and complicated) place it is. Thank you all for working so hard through the pandemic, and for making an in-person commencement possible. We are sad to say goodbye after 13 years to this very special school. We fly forever with the Fieldston Eagles."
Holly Robinson Peete
Actress Holly Robinson Peete, who is a mom to four kids, shared that her son's high school experience has been shaped by the friendships he's made along the way. When he went to prom in 2022, she posted, "They say you can tell a lot about a person from the people they hang out with … well I love love LOVE @romanpeete's high school friends! The most amazing group of supportive young men."
