THE BEGINNING SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

HEALTH & SAFETY

WHEATHER POLICY

ARRIVALS AND DISMISSALS
Children should arrive at school approximately 5 or 10 minutes before class time, but no earlier than 8:40 a.m. The child who is consistently late is at a considerable disadvantage. Please be on time in picking up your child; it is distressing to a child when you are late. If you are unavoidably delayed, please phone the school so that arrangements and reassurances can be made. If you wish to enter the school, even for a few minutes, put your car in the parking area so as not to interfere with the flow of traffic. It is particularly important that buses not be held up. (See section on safety)

CAR POOLS
The school will be pleased to assist you in arranging car pools. This can be done by consulting the Student Directory for parents living in your neighborhood. You may be able to join an existing pool or begin a new one.
For your child’s protection, children will be turned over to someone other than the parent, only if a written notice, signed by the parent, is sent to the school in advance.

BUSES
Parents of school-age children (Kindergarten, first grade) are responsible for arranging bus transportation with the school district in which they reside. Applications must be on file each year by April 1. These forms may be obtained from the school.
In an effort to ensure the greatest safety for your child, the following policy has been established, effective January 21, 2002.
Whenever there is a change in plans due to illness or for any reason, please notify the transportation department.
Bus drivers cannot accept a change of destination for a child without written permission from the parent, countersigned by the school.
If a parent wants to make any of the following bus changes:

• parent will pick up
• child will be met at the bus top at home by someone else
• child is to get off his/her regular bus with another child
• child is to get off his/her regular bus at a different stop
• child is taking a different bus

the teacher and school MUST BE notified in WRITING. NO verbal message from your child is acceptable. Changes may NOT be called into the office, except in a particular case of emergency.

ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance at school is obviously essential at all grade levels. Our parents particularly should realize that it may take many days for a young child to readjust to school after each absence, and that these should be kept to as few as possible. On the other hand, it is sometimes necessary for children to be absent because of illness, family trips, etc. In such cases we would appreciate a call. Naturally, if your child is really sick, you will never send him/her to school. As a basic rule, since we go outside almost every day, if your child is too sick to go out to play, he/she is too sick to be at school. Please notify the school promptly if your child has contracted a communicable disease.

CLOTHING
Pre-school children should be dressed in comfortable clothes suitable for sitting on the floor. Practical clothes which the children can manage on their own give a sense of confidence and independence. Pants with elastic waists are preferred until they can manage more difficult fasteners. For younger children, please send in a complete change of clothes to have on hand in case the need arises, (i.e., socks, underwear, pants, shirts, indoor and outdoor shoes, boots). These should be individually labeled with the child’s name and placed in a labeled, zip-locked bag.
Since the children spend part of each day outside, almost year-round, it is essential that they come dressed properly for both the weather and the season. Generally, common sense and good taste will guide day to day decisions

LABELING CLOTHING
Please label ALL clothing and other items with your child’s name in dark, permanent ink: backpacks, sweaters, coats, boots, jackets, hats, scarves, and mittens/gloves, indoor and outdoor shoes and boots.
Because many children are wearing the uniform, identifying clothing items is more difficult and labeling becomes even more important. Please keep a close inventory of your child’s clothing, checking to be sure that s/he did not bring someone else’s clothing home.

UNIFORM
The uniform is compulsory for Kindergarten and First Graders only and optional for younger children, simply because it is not always available in smaller sizes.
The Thevenet Montessori School logo available at Lands End:
Logo Number: 0137002K
Preferred School number: 9000-6515-2
The following clothing Items that have been chosen for the school uniform:
COED
Interlock Polo - white
Turtleneck - white
Drifter Cardigan Sweater - maize
Drifter V-neck Sweater - maize
Boy: Chino pants – khaki
Corduroy pants – khaki
Girl: Chino Pant – khaki
Corduroy pants – khaki
Skort – khaki
Knit Peter Pan Shirt (ls and ss) – white
A-Line skirt - khak
Chino Shorts - khaki

The The School Administration has determined the products, colors, and logo for its dress code. Lands’ End is not permitted to change the logo or apply it to other colors or products.
To place an order with Lands’ End, call 1-800-469-2222. For all other information, call the school at 928-6981,NUTRITION - LUNCH
Proper nutrition is the foundation of good health. Major nutrition reports indicate that there is a real consensus on what people, including children, should eat - namely, less fat, less cholesterol, less salt and sugar - more fruit, vegetables and grains. Yet, ads on children’s TV are totally at odds with the reports. As parents, teachers and role models, we should do all we can to counter this influence and help the children make more nutritious choices. We hope you will work with us in developing good eating habits. Try as much as possible to avoid processed foods.
Each child who stays a full-day should bring lunch in a box plainly marked with the child’s name. The thermos and any other utensils that you may enclose should be similarly marked. Please, no juice boxes.

TOYS
What do toys say to your child? Toys teach children how to relate to people. Toys are big business and it is a real challenge to resist the impact of TV ads and cartoons promoting toys and video games based on destruction. So many of these toys suggest that war is exciting fun.
We suggest you consider toys that promote creativity and cooperative play, e.g. construction sets, remote control vehicles, trucks, fire engines, board games, arts & crafts, chemistry sets, etc. The school has on file sources of toys and activities which will enhance a child’s life.
Please do not let your child bring personal toys to school. In the classroom, all the materials are for the use of all the children. The only exception is an item intended for sharing in the morning discussion period. In such a case, once the item has been shown to the group, it will be kept separate until dismissal. Books are welcomed at any time, but be sure they are marked with the child’s name.

BIRTHDAYS
A child’s birthday is a time for a class celebration. When that very special day falls on a week-end or during vacation, arrangements should be made for a mutually convenient day. If you and your child wish to assemble a short “Story of My Life” with photos, we would love to have your child share it with the class.
Usually a snack from home accompanies the celebration. We would like to suggest something easy to serve, avoiding cakes that need to be sliced. Alternatives might be cupcakes or cookies without sugary frosting, fresh fruit or other nutritious food.
The teachers would be happy to suggest appropriate activities and gifts for the child’s home birthday party. They have observed that there are hurt feelings when invitations are distributed in the classroom.

MISSING ITEMS
Children sometimes “borrow” pieces of learning equipment to take home. The parents’ responsibility is to remind the child of the need to return even the smallest pieces (beads, cubes, labels, etc.) to class. Our attitude upon return of materials will be to thank the child for remembering and for caring to keep the materials in class complete.
PARENT/TEACHER COMMUNICATION
Conferences may be arranged after school at a mutually convenient time. Please feel comfortable in communicating by note, phone call, or visit as needed. Phone conferences are one of the most efficient means of meaningful communication between the teacher and parent. Conversations at arrival and departure times should be kept to a minimum so that teachers can pay full attention to the children. Teachers are grateful to hear immediately about significant changes in a child’s life.

VISITING THE CLASSROOM
In recent years increasing numbers of visitors have been coming to see the children work. Because unexpected visitors sometimes distract and excite the children, we are trying to restrict visits from guests outside the school family. Therefore, each class has non-parent visitors on only one designated day a week.
Our own families are welcomed any day. We feel that parents can learn a great deal by patient and quiet observation of the classes at work. However, when you visit, it is important that you sit back and avoid interacting with the children as much as possible; you want to see the class in its normal routine, not responding to the novelty of having you present.
One of our concerns is to avoid having visitors on days that are already somewhat disrupted: the first weeks of school, the weeks just before summer vacation and the week just before and after a major holiday when children are already excited. Please contact the teachers to check on a good time. This can be very informal, but it is a courtesy. We ask that you limit your visit to no more than forty-five minutes.

TUITION
The school totally depends upon the tuition you pay as its only source of income. By its nature, Thevenet is not like a normal business. It does not operate to create either a profit or cash reserves to protect it against financial crisis caused by tuition that is not received on time. Actually, the cost of operating the school could scarcely be met were it not for contributed services.
No reduction is granted for absences due to vacation or illness, as the school continues to hold the child’s place and must meet the fixed costs of school operation.
If a financial emergency occurs, the parent/guardian responsible to the school should take the initiative to discuss payment problems with the Director BEFORE any payment is missed.
Parents should be aware of the federal IRS regulation allowing child care while working as a deductible expense
School Tax ID: 14-177441 30
Tuition is payable in four equal installments due August 1, November 1, February 1, and May 1. Should you need to make other arrangements, please contact the Administrative Assistant.

LATE PAYMENT POLICY
Tuition payment shall be considered “past due” the day after the “due date”, which is the first of August, November, February and May. A $10 late charge will be assessed when payment is not received within ten calendar days of the due date. Students will be asked to leave if their account is not brought up to date within 30 days or if a mutually agreed upon revised payment schedule is not kept. The school reserves the right to require overdue accounts to be paid by cash or money order.
Insufficient funds checks will be assessed for the bank charge of $15 fee and immediate payment by cash or money order will be necessary.

POLICY ON DISCIPLINE
It is Thevenet Montessori’s philosophy, as that of Dr. Maria Montessori, that if a child is stimulated with the proper materials in a controlled environment, there will be very few discipline problems. Consequently, we make every effort to provide interesting, beautifully maintained materials which focus on the child’s individual need.
The activity of working with Montessori materials should help normalize a child therefore causing few discipline problems.
If a teacher must discipline, it is our feeling in conjunction with the Montessori philosophy, that inactivity from the material or separation of the child from the classroom activities for a short period of time should be the only form of discipline. This separation should only occur as follows:
1. A child may sit on a chair at a table in his/her classroom.
2. The child may return to the activity when he/she is ready to comply with normal classroom rules or courtesy to others.
3. No child is permitted in unsupervised environment.
4. No physical force or abusive language will be used with the children.