15 Times Celebs Shared Relatable Stories About Their Kids’ School Life

Angelina Jolie's daughter Zahara made the leap from kid to college student in the fall of 2022. Her proud mom dropped her off at Spelman College in Atlanta and shared that while Zahara was totally excited to kick off college life, she herself was "gonna start crying." Famous or not, seeing kids transition from one stage of school life to another is always super emotional.

Patrick Dempsey is looking like a real silver fox these days, and it sounds like some of those gray hairs may have come from dealing with the challenges of homeschooling during the pandemic. He told Ellen DeGeneres that homeschooling for his middle school-aged twins was pretty difficult. "At this point, certainly at their age, the socialization's so important," he explained. "And then being in a Zoom school all the time is very challenging. I think the mathematics and certainly the sciences are very hard to do." We agree, Patrick!

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.'"

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 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 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?'"

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."

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."

For actor Gary Cole (we'll always remember his iconic, but annoying character in Office Space), having a child with special needs meant that school experiences were often a little more emotionally challenging. His daughter, Mary, has autism spectrum disorder, and Gary has talked about needing to get extra support to make sure she was successful in school. In 2008, he opened up about utilizing support programs to help Mary increase the social skills needed for school success.

"When they're small, you can pick up the phone and you can control, in a way, a social life for your child. As they get older, you can't do it," he explain. "It starts to get away from you."

We suspect a lot of families can relate to the challenges of losing a bit of control over their kids' social lives in school.

Actress and influencer Eva Amurri (who is also Susan Sarandon's daughter) knows that the first day of school is not only a big one for kids, but also a time to recognize that school is as much about community as it is about learning. As her kids geared up for the back-to-school season, she shared on Instagram:

"These kids are so excited for the year ahead, and this mom is ecstatic to have them back in school. But, seriously, it deserves to be said that the reason I feel so comfortable and trusting that they will thrive is because of the incredible educators, administrators, and PTA moms who surround them daily and work so hard so that my kids and all the others can learn and grow and reach their potential."

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga shared her experience of the somewhat surreal moment when she got replaced for school drop-off duties by her own child. "I can't believe it! My senior is driving my freshman to high school today. So many emotions to feel. Where did time go? When people used to say that time flies, but I never believed them."

Television creater and director Shonda Rhimes knows what many of us parents do: Teachers are gosh darn superheros! It may have taken the pandemic to really make clear all the skills that great teachers have, but both celebrities and "normal" parents can relate to how hard it was to step into that teaching role.

Kim Kardashian may be the queen of social media and reality TV, but that's not really the career her daughter North most wishes she had. In 2020, Kim told E! News that North really wanted Kim to hang out with her at school all day, but in a professional capacity.

"North begs me. She's like, 'Why can't you work at my school? It's not fair! I just want you to work at my school,' Kim said. "She is so upset about it because her best friend's mom is the P.E. coach and she's one of my closest friends. And I've tried to explain to her, 'Well, what happens when you move grades? I'm gonna be stuck in this grade. I can't keep going with you to every grade.' It's her dream for me to work at school."

Add kick-butt action star (and all-around amazing actress) Charlize Theron to the list of parents who never want to homeschool again! During an interview on the Sunday Today show, she joked, "I will make any action movie over and over and over again before I homeschool again," explaining that she found the experience "incredibly stressful." We agree, Charlize!

While some celebs have relatable experiences with having kids in conventional school, parents who are into non-pandemic homeschooling or unschooling can probably relate more to Alanis Morissette. Alanis is unschooling her three kids, but has revealed that she'll make a different school choice if her kids ever ask for it. During an interview on the Katie's Crib podcast, Alanis explained that her parents were both teachers so she can "understand and respect conventional schooling, to some degree."

And she's willing to be flexible if her kids do want to go the conventional route. "Ever says to me sometimes, 'Mom, what if I want to get my doctorate?' or whatever, I just say, 'Yeah, whenever you want to go to school, you're gonna go to school. And if you want to just keep learning outside of that context, then you will.'"