FAMILY HANDBOOK 2019-2020
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contact Information 3 Progress Reports 19 School Hours 3 Student Assessments 20 School Closing, Delayed Opening & Early Dismissal 4 Visiting Classrooms 20 Class Schedules 4 Volunteering 20 Where To Go With Questions 5 Sources of Information 20 Organizational Structure 6 III. BUSINESS & LEGAL MATTERS Who’s Who at a Glance 7 Tuition and Fees 22 I. GENERAL INFORMATION Tuition Agreements (Formerly Contracts) 23 A Brief History of Waldorf Education 8 Financial aid 23 A Brief History of CWS 8 Withdrawal & Termination 23 Statement of Philosophy, Purpose & Objectives 9 Health Records, Birth Certificates, & Immunizations 23 Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy 9 Illness at School 24 Books and Websites of Interest 10 Student Accidents 24 Life at School: The Early Childhood Program 12 School Records 24 Life at School: The Grade School 12 Conflict Resolution Process for Employees & Parents 24 Early Childhood Foundational Skills 13 IV. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Grade School Curriculum 14 Attendance 26 Festivals, Assemblies, & Performances 15 Behavior at School & Discipline 27 Aftercare 15 Building Security: Little Red House & Nursery Sectionals 16 Cottage 27 Early Childhood Program Extended Day 16 Drop off & Dismissal 27 Snacks and Lunches 16 Dress Code 28 Supporting Life at Home: Routines 16 Electronics Policy 29 Supporting School Life at Home: Clothing 16 Field Trips & Class Trips 30 Supporting School Life at Home: Media 16 Items Left at School 30 Supporting School Life at Home: Food 17 Health Policy 31 Supporting School Life at Home: School Work and Management of Head Lice 32 Assessments 17 Medication Administration Policy 32 Supporting School Life at Home: Homework 17 Religion: A Position Statement 33 Supporting School Life at Home: Music Lessons and Library Policy 33 Instrument Practice 17 No Pets or Smoking on Campus 33 Supporting School Life at Home: Social Realm 17 V. GROUNDS MAP II. PARENT PARTICIPATION
Parent Association 18 Class Parents 18 The Parent-Teacher Relationship 18 Communication Between Parents and Teachers 19
The Charlottesville Waldorf School admits students of any race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion and national or ethnic origin. It does not discriminate on the basis of sex race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its hiring policies, educational policies, admission policies, financial aid programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.
2 Charlottesville Waldorf School Contact Information The Main Office is open 7:45am - 3:45pm Monday through Friday. We ask all visitors to please sign in.
Main Office Phone 434-973-4946 Charlottesville Waldorf School Main Office Fax 434-973-4109 120 Waldorf School Road Main Office Email [email protected] Charlottesville, VA 22901
Board of Trustees Chair, Ted Jones Business Manager, Dawn Grzegorczyk [email protected] ext. 103 [email protected] Interim Administrator, Devynn Thomas ext. 100 Marketing and Events Coordinator, Amanda Polson [email protected] ext. 104 [email protected] Interim Faculty Chair, Bethany Craig [email protected] Facilities Manager, Shane Pevehouse [email protected] Admissions Director, Sarah Pevehouse ext. 102 [email protected]
WWW.CWALDORF.ORG • FACEBOOK.COM/CVILLEWALDORF
URGENT MESSAGES
On rare occasions, you may need to send a time-sensitive message to your child or your child’s teacher. If this occurs, please call the Main Office (434-973-4946) as early in the day as possible, and we will do our very best to accommodate. Please do not call your child on his or her cell phone as all students who bring cell phones to school are required to turn them off during the school day and must ask permission to use them on campus during Aftercare.
TO ARRANGE FOR YOUR CHILD TO STAY IN AFTERCARE ON ANY GIVEN DAY CALL THE MAIN OFFICE
School Hours
Toddler Class/Nursery/Kindergarten (half day) 8:30am - 12:00pm Toddler Class/Nursery/Kindergarten (full day) 8:30am - 2:45pm Toddler Class/Nursery/Kindergarten Aftercare 2:45pm - 5:30pm Grades 1–8 8:10am - 3:10pm Grades 1–8 Aftercare 3:25pm - 5:30pm Main Office 7:45am - 3:45pm
THIS HANDBOOK IS A LIVING DOCUMENT. IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION AT ANY TIME. THE MOST UP TO DATE VERSION WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE ON THE “PARENT FORMS” SECTION OF THE WEBSITE. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT/GUARDIAN TO INFORM THEMSELVES OF CURRENT SCHOOL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
3 Class Schedules
TODDLER CLASS DAILY RHYTHM 8:00-8:30 8:00-9:00 9:00-9:15 9:15-9:45 9:45-10:00 10:00-11:15 11:15-12:00 12:00 12:00-2:45 Arrival Creative Clean-up Snack Quiet Time Transition Transition Dismissal for Extended Play, Meal Outside, Inside, Finger Half Day Care: Lunch Preparation, Playtime, Play, Story & Nap Daily Activity Gardening
EARLY CHILDHOOD DAILY RHYTHM - NURSERY AND KINDERGARTEN 8:00-8:30 8:30-9:45 9:45-10:15 10:15-10:40 10:40-11:00 11:00-11:45 11:45-12:00 12:00 12:00-2:45 Arrival Planned Clean up Circle Snack Outside time Story Dismissal for Extended activity, Half-Day Day Creative play
GRADE SCHOOL DAILY RHYTHM - GRADES 1-8 7:50-8:10 8:10-10:10 10:10-10:45 10:50-11:30 11:35-12:15 12:15-1:05 1:10-1:50 1:55-3:00 3:00-3:10 Arrival Main Lesson Snack & Period 1 Period 2 Lunch & Period 3 Period 4 Classroom Recess Recess Chores & Dismissal
Note: Your child’s Class Teacher will provide you with a schedule of specific specialty classes for the year. School Closing, Delayed Opening, & Early Dismissal
Inclement weather, snow days, early closings, and delayed openings are determined by the City of Charlottesville. At 6:00 a.m. the administrative chair will check the City of Charlottesville’s decision and alert the media outlets of the same decision for CWS, indicating the time of drop-off in the event of a delayed opening, and will place a message on the school’s Facebook page with the same information.
We try to announce widely on local media outlets with as much advance notice as possible; however, weather can move and shift quickly, the county and city are often wide-ranging experiences, and each member of the faculty and staff should proceed with the caution and consideration required in such times. Faculty are expected to follow the procedure described for emergency substitutions should you be unable to arrive at school due to inclement weather.
EARLY DISMISSAL PLAN
In the event of inclement weather or other circumstances where it is clearly not safe for students to remain at school, the administrative chair will initiate early dismissal and call all media outlets to dismiss school. The administrative chair will send out a campus-wide email and update the Charlottesville Waldorf School’s website to communicate the closure.
If students are not picked up within a half hour of the communicated dismissal time, the administrative chair or receptionist will call the students’ emergency contacts. Teachers will dismiss students to the grade school aftercare room, where the administrative chair will supervise them until they are picked up by their parents or emergency contacts.
MEDIA SOURCES FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND/OR DELAYED OPENINGS:
Radio: WWWV (97.5FM), WINA (1070AM), WZGN (95.1), WCNR (106.1) TV: Newsplex (CBS19, ABC16, FOX27), NBC29 CWS Website: www.cwaldorf.org CWS Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cvillewaldorf
4 Where to Go with Questions
The social ethic of our school community is that people speak directly to each other in voicing concerns and questions and ideas. Ideally, these conversations happen face-to-face, mirroring the direct human encounters we seek between teacher-and-child and student-and-classmates. We understand that some concerns and questions can be quite strong, but we expect all interactions between faculty, staff, and our community members to be mutually respectful. To that end we require our faculty and staff to maintain strict confidentiality about information related to parents and students.
The administrative chair, office manager, admissions director, business manager, faculty chair, college chair, and marketing coordinator are available to speak with parents during the school day.
Teachers are, of course, constrained by their classroom schedules, but most will have some time during the school day when they can meet with parents or return calls. In addition, most teachers are available by phone for part of the evening, but given the nature of their daily class preparation, may not be. Please check with your child’s teachers about their evening availability. Each faculty and staff member has a cwaldorf.org email address through the school.
We strongly encourage you to come forward with your questions and engage staff and faculty in conversation.
If you are ever unsure about where you should bring a question, a concern, or an idea, please contact the administrative chair, who will either answer your question personally or direct you to the proper party.
Below is an outline of where particular questions should go first:
If you have a question concerning... Contact... Your child’s progress, behavior, discipline, curriculum, First: Your child’s Class or Specialty Subject Teacher homework, classroom work, reports, dress code, festivals or assemblies If concerns remain: The Early Childhood Chair or the Grade School Chair
If concerns remain: the Faculty Chair One of your child’s teachers or the curriculum The Early Childhood Chair; the College; or the Faculty Chair School policies, procedures, website, or whom to ask The Administrator about your concern Aftercare enrollment The Aftercare Coordinator Fundraising, marketing, or events The Marketing and Events Coordinator Enrollment, Waldorf education in general, observing in a The Admissions Director classroom, or visiting the school Financial matters, your child’s contract, reimbursements, The Business Manager class accounts, tuition, or fundraising
Parent involvement, social functions, Parent Association Parent Association Executive Committee meetings
5 Organizational Structure
Our school is organized around the principle that those educators working directly with the students are responsible for the pedagogical decisions and policies of CWS. For this reason, the Faculty, College of Teachers, Administration, Board of Trustees, and the Parent Association work together, each group recognizing and relying upon the expertise of the other to carry out the mission of the school.
THE COLLEGE OF TEACHERS determines the pedagogical direction of the school and is thus responsible for the hiring, mentoring, professional development, and evaluation of all faculty. Members are faculty and staff, who are committed to assuming this responsibility on behalf of the school. For a current list, please contact the Main Office.
Membership on the College of Teachers is open to those faculty or staff members of CWS who, working with anthroposophy and the educational ideals of Rudolf Steiner, have made a deep and long-term commitment to CWS, have taught for at least one year at CWS, and are confirmed in their teaching or administrative abilities. The members of the College must exhibit the ability to contribute to and function as part of a group through the consensus process agreed upon by the College; devote the requisite time to group meetings and to the enactment of the directives of the group; lay aside personal considerations in favor of group solutions; participate in the practical work of interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, and pedagogical development; hold the long-term well-being of CWS as the paramount consideration in all decision-making and strategy-planning efforts; and employ the many recommendations found in the study of anthroposophy that enable one to address problems and challenges from a spiritual point of view.
THE FACULTY CHAIR works out of a model of collaborative leadership with the Faculty, the College of Teachers, the administration, and the Board of Trustees to plan and implement the pedagogical and administrative objectives and decisions of these bodies. The faculty chair serves as faculty liaison to the Board of Trustees, the administration, and the parent community. Inspiring a culture of collaboration, the faculty chair ensures that the faculty carry out its role in fulfilling the school’s mission.
DEPARTMENTAL CHAIRS for both the early childhood and grade school departments are responsible for maintaining oversight of their departments, organizing weekly departmental meetings, and providing support to faculty and parents in their departments.
THE ADMINISTRATION is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the school. The administrative staff carry out the decisions and standing policies of the Board and College and strive to serve the needs of the faculty, parents and students. They include the administrative chair, business manager, admissions director, marketing and events coordinator, early childhood program development coordinator, office manager and facilities manager.
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES is responsible for the financial well-being and long-term success of the school. It establishes financial policies, oversees the development and implementation of the school’s budget, sets tuition rates, and develops long-range plans to support the continued health and growth of CWS. The committees of the Board are the Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Long-Range Planning, Enrollment, Marketing, and Development Committees. To contact the Board of Trustees, email [email protected].
THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL coordinates and communicates the daily operations of the four parts of the school - the Parent Association, the faculty, the administration, and the Board – which each report back to their respective groups.
THE PARENT ASSOCIATION (PA) enhances communication, cooperation, and community building within the school; to provide opportunities for parent education; to coordinate volunteers; and to show appreciation for faculty and staff. The PA sponsors numerous events and activities at the school. Upon enrollment in the school, every parent becomes a member of the CWS Parent Association. The PA Chairs are the parent liaisons to the Leadership Council. In this role, the PA Chairs meet regularly with the administrative, faculty, College and Board chairs to communicate about the various aspects of school life and thereby serve as a liaison between the school and the parents at large.
6 Who’s Who at a Glance
Position 2019-2020 General Responsibilities Board of Trustees Ted Jones, Chair Responsible for legal matters and decisions affecting financial matters; contractual agreements with parents; hiring and evaluation of administrators; fundraising; long-term planning; building acquisition, use, maintenance, and leasing. Interim Administrator Devynn Thomas Day-to-day operations of the school; institutional coordination and communication. Reports directly to the Board of Trustees Interim Faculty Chair Bethany Craig Along with the college chair, collaborates with all bodies of the school to plan and implement the pedagogy and policies of the school. Faculty liaison to the Board of Trustees and parent community. Reports directly to the Board of Trustees. Business Manager Dawn Grzegorczyk Responsible for day-to-day financial matters of the school, specifically payroll, paying CWS bills, collecting tuition, Aftercare, and other payments; assisting in the preparation of the CWS budget; bookkeeping; and working with coordinators of fundraising events as needed. Admissions Director Sarah Pevehouse Responsible for all aspects of enrollment, specifically responding to enrollment inquiries by phone, e-mail, or personal contact; scheduling and giving tours; ensuring that new families receive the necessary paperwork; developing and promoting outreach events. Marketing and Events Amanda Polson Responsible for communicating the school’s mission and values to Coordinator the wider community in collaboration with the administrative team, marketing committee, faculty, and Board of Trustees. Manages the Holiday Bazaar and other school-wide fundraising events. Office Manager Devynn Thomas Supports the work of the administration, specifically answering the phone; maintaining school records; inventorying and ordering supplies; planning and executing special events as needed; issuing health alerts, preparing paperwork and keeping files up to date and in conformance with Virginia daycare regulations; performing minor first aid for students as needed; organizing building use; maintaining an updated school calendar, and creating the bi-weekly newsletter. Facilities Manager Shane Pevehouse Responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the buildings and grounds, works with volunteers to coordinate facility needs. Early Childhood Chair Sue Lim Representative to the College on matters relating to the early childhood program; contact person for conflict resolution when a parent-teacher problem is not resolved by the individuals involved; monitors professional development of early childhood faculty. Grade School Chair Summer Anderson Available for class teachers to discuss issues of concern regarding their schedules, teaching, and responsibilities; stays informed of academic and or behavioral concerns about students in those grades; conveys topics for discussion and or decision to the grade school; oversees Grade School responsibilities pertaining to the strategic plan and the AWSNA site visit report; ; helps to organize Grade School Back to School Nights in collaboration with, the faculty chair, and the administrative chair. Specialty Subject Chair Barbara Jolly Monitors professional development for all specialty subject teachers; serves as contact for parental concerns in those classes, sending difficult concerns to the faculty chair; is available for specialty subject teachers to discuss issues of concern regarding their schedules, teaching, and responsibilities; stays informed of academic and or behavioral concerns about students in specialty subject classes; conveys topics for discussion and or decision to the grade school meeting organizer.
7 I. General Inforformation
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WALDORF EDUCATION
In the social and economic chaos that followed World War I, Emil Molt, a German industrialist and manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Factory, called upon his friend, Rudolf Steiner, to formulate a new kind of education. Both men believed that to effect a renewal of human societies, a cultural deed of establishing a new kind of education was required.
Schooled in modern science and philosophy, Steiner was a spiritual thinker whose articulated philosophy is commonly called Anthroposophy. While Anthroposophy is not taught at Waldorf schools, it does inform the curriculum and methodology, which recognize the need to respect both the material and spiritual realities of all humans. Waldorf schools thus strive to educate not only the intellect but also the child’s full and essential humanity—his or her ability to feel and to do as well as to think. The Waldorf curriculum also recognizes that our common humanity develops in clear, predictable, and understandable stages, which should be honored, not rushed through.
Since the first Waldorf school opened in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919, Waldorf education has spread throughout Europe and the United States (the first American Waldorf school opened in New York City in 1928) and now exists in 64 countries. At last count, there were 1,090 schools and 2,000 kindergartens worldwide. Each school is self-administered and independent but follows Steiner’s essential curriculum and utilizes his insights into human development.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CWS
In 1980, a group of parents and one pair of grandparents began meeting in the kitchen of a farmhouse about twenty- five miles south of Charlottesville to discuss the possibility of opening a Waldorf school. A small study group ensued, soon attracting other members and forming relationships with Waldorf teachers from the Washington D.C. area. By the spring of 1982, the study group felt ready to open a school. Although contacts in the wider Waldorf community advised them to wait, this energetic and determined group decided to proceed. In June the group secured a rental space in a farmhouse at the Crossroads, a settlement in southern Albemarle County, and hired a teacher, Sharifa Oppenheimer, to attend a Waldorf teacher preparation course and prepare to welcome the first kindergarten class in the fall. As Ana Koehne, the founding grandmother, once said, “Generosity of spirit and pocketbook…make Crossroads possible.” The school opened as the Crossroads Waldorf School, with twelve students, in September 1982.
Over the next several years, the school worked with two challenges: finding sufficient space for a small but growing number of students and trying to locate experienced Waldorf teachers to embody and develop the Waldorf grade school curriculum. In its earliest years, the school frequently faced the problem of whether to hire anthroposophists who were inexperienced as teachers or to hire experienced teachers with no prior Waldorf training. The latter ultimately proved more successful, in large part because it forced the school to put in place a program of professional development in Waldorf education for its teachers, which eventually evolved into an extensive mentorship program that still serves as the basis for faculty development today.
From 1984 to 1991, CWS inhabited a number of spaces in and around Charlottesville: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, and Camp Holiday Trails. In July 1991, the grade school and two early childhood classes moved to the former Crozet Elementary School in the western Albemarle County village of Crozet. Three early childhood classes continued at St. Paul’s in town. At the same time, the school entered into an informal mentoring relationship with the Baltimore Waldorf School, followed in 1992 by a formal sponsorship for membership in the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, AWSNA.
In June 1995, CWS graduated its first eighth grade class of ten students. October 1996 witnessed the founding of the College of Teachers, eleven teaching and administrative faculty members who had formed a long-term commitment to the school and to working with anthroposophy on a daily basis. In June 1997, after a five-year mentorship process, CWS was accepted as a full member of AWSNA.
Throughout its history, CWS has sought to find a permanent location with the expressed intent of creating buildings that embody the mission of the school. Anticipating that this campus would be located closer to Charlottesville, the faculty and Board of Trustees decided in 2002 to change the name of the school to the Charlottesville Waldorf School. In the spring of 2002, a group of parents, grandparents, and friends purchased a thirteen-acre property on Rio Road just outside the city limits of Charlottesville and gave the land to the school. In September 2007 the first new building,
8 housing eight classrooms, was completed. In November 2010, two new buildings opened: the Music and Arts Building, including an office, a classroom, and a library; and the Pavilion, an open-air space for community gatherings.
The Charlottesville Waldorf School celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in the 2011-2012 school year and in 2013 was accredited by AWSNA and NCPSA (the National Council for Private School Accreditation). In addition, the school purchased the Little Red House area of our early childhood campus in 2013 and is expanding its parent education calendar, reintroducing the Parent-Child program, increasing Early Childhood class offerings, and increasing the number of specialty subjects offered in the grade school. The school also is seeking to establish strong roots in the Charlottesville area by hosting social and artistic events on campus that are open to the wider community, including painting workshops, a regional high school fair, and an anthroposophical study group. Our campus is also the site of summer programs, year-round classes in Irish music and dance, as well as a variety of wider Charlottesville community activities, some of which are run by outside organizations that rent our campus. In spring 2013, the Board of Trustees created two new administrative positions: administrative chair (replacing the school administrator) and development director. In 2018, the administrative staff expanded to include a full-time enrollment & community coordinator and an early childhood program coordinator. With this increase in support staff, CWS continues its progress toward establishing itself as an institution providing the Charlottesville and Albemarle area with education out of an anthroposophical understanding of the human being.
STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES
The Charlottesville Waldorf School exists to offer education based on an anthroposophical understanding of the human being as developed by Rudolf Steiner and as nurtured through the active self-development and child observation of our faculty. We seek to provide the child with the physical environment and stimulation of the imagination needed at each stage of his or her growth in order to awaken the new capacities required to reach his or her full adult potential.
Our programs thus provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum presented in age-appropriate ways in each classroom, beginning with our youngest toddler children and continuing through eighth grade. The early childhood program is play-based and engages the young children in the activities they need to develop physical, social, and imaginative capacities in a warm, home-like environment. Great attention is given to the rhythms of the day and the cycles of the year in the teachers’ work on the décor and on artistic and practical activities. Teachers also work closely with the parents of their students in discussions of developmental stages and how to work with them at home.
The grade school program engages students in intensive three-to-four-week studies of themes accompanied by high academic, artistic, and behavior standards that are designed to prepare the child for later demands on his or independent judgment. These main lesson blocks provide students in grades one through eight with academic skills through the study of human culture that follows the awakening of human consciousness through history. The grade school class teacher stays with the class for several grades, if not for all eight grades, and serves as a loving authority, who comes to know the students very well, thus being in a position to meet readily the needs of the individual student.
Both programs hold the clear goals of cultivating a reverential attitude toward the world and the capacity to engage the imagination in the world; developing faculties of perception; and strengthening the will to carry out one’s own initiatives, whether through speech, athletics, mathematics, music, scientific discovery, or artistic expression. We see all of this as vital to the healthy development of the child toward adulthood.
RUDOLF STEINER AND ANTHROPOSOPHY
Rudolf Steiner, the co-founder of the first Waldorf school and the inspiration for all other Waldorf schools, was born in a village in Croatia in 1861, moving frequently with his father’s work for the railway until settling near Vienna in his late teens. Steiner entered the Technische Hochschule, the most prestigious scientific and technical university in Austria, at the age of eighteen. Enrolled in an advanced course of study of the natural sciences, mathematics, and the physical sciences, Steiner became deeply interested in the scientific writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who is known today chiefly as a dramatist and poet. After moving to Weimar, Germany, in 1890, Steiner became the editor of Goethe’s scientific writings at the Goethe-Schiller Archives. During this period, he published his first major work, The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity (also known as The Philosophy of Freedom), on the basis of which he was granted the Ph.D. from the University of Rostock.
In 1907 Steiner moved to Berlin, where he edited a literary magazine and taught at an evening school for working class citizens. Here he agreed to become the head of the Theosophical Society in Germany, with the understanding 9 that he would teach only what he himself experienced and therefore knew to be true. After years of conflict with other Theosophical Society leaders, Steiner resigned from the Society in 1912 and organized the Anthroposophical Society. Moving to Dornach, Switzerland, he and other anthroposophists began construction of a building he named the Goetheanum, which was to be a center for the anthroposophical movement. While World War I consumed Europe, citizens of seventeen nations gathered in Dornach to make this building a reality.
The first Waldorf school opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. Begun at the request of Emil Molt, the director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Factory, for the children of his employees, it was what Steiner called a cultural deed that has since spread to about 1,000 schools worldwide.
Steiner continued to travel widely in Europe, teaching, lecturing, and bringing new impulses into education, economics, agriculture, medicine, community life, and religion. Although the first Goetheanum was completely destroyed in a fire on December 31, 1922, Steiner designed a second building that was completed after his death (on March 30, 1925).
As may be apparent from this very brief biography, Steiner’s work was wide-ranging and complex. Everything he did, however, was based in the world view he named “anthroposophy.” In an effort to explain and condense this world view, Ronald Koetzsch, a professor at the Rudolf Steiner College and the editor of the journal, Renewal, describes the following primary tenets of anthroposophy:
The world and everything in it is the consciously wrought product of a benevolent, loving, cosmic intelligence.
Every material phenomenon – everything that can be perceived by the sense organs – is a manifestation of an invisible, spiritual reality, of a being with consciousness, affect, and volition. This includes stars, planets, stones, plants, animals, as well as the human being. The spiritual is primary, dominant, and ongoing. It transcends and survives its material manifestation.
The human being is the highest creation of this conscious cosmos of spiritual beings, the culmination of a purposeful, complex process extending over eons of time. In this creation process, high spiritual beings have given, out of selfless love, their own substance to create the human being according to divine laws. The spiritual, archetypal human being himself is the source of all other, lower forms of life.
Each human being has a spiritual essence that antedates birth into the physical world and continues after death of the physical body. This individual spiritual essence is involved in a process of development and evolution during which it incarnates at different times and places.
The human being is capable of acting in an undetermined way, as a free being.
Every human being has the potential to develop the ability to perceive the invisible world.
BOOKS AND WEBSITES OF INTEREST
FAMILY LIFE Navigating the Terrain of Childhood: A Guidebook for Seven Times the Sun—Guiding Children Through Meaningful Parenting and Heartfelt Discipline Rhythms of the Day by Jack Petrash by Shea Darian
You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Parenting: A Path Through Childhood by Rahima Baldwin by Dotty Turner Coplen
Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing our Children Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television from Birth to Seven by Jerry Mander by Barbara Patterson, Pamela Bradley, and Jean Riordan Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Lifeways: Working with Family Questions Children by Gudrun Davy & Bons Voors by Sharifa Oppenheimer
Between Form & Freedom—A Practical Guide to the Authentic Parenting: A Four Temperaments Guide to Teenage Years Understanding Your Child and Yourself by Betty Staley by Bari Borsky and Judith Haney (SteinerBooks)
10 FAMILY ACTIVITIES Beautiful Paper Stars: Craft Drawing with Hand, Head, and Painting with Children Decorations for Every Season Heart: A Natural Approach to by Brunhild Miller by Ursula Stiller and other German Learning the Art of Drawing craft experts (Floris books) by Van James (SteinerBooks) Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children The Waldorf Book of Breads The Children’s Year by Carol Petrash collected by Marsha Post (also one by Cooper Frynes-Clinton & Rowling about soups) (SteinerBooks) Festivals Together—A Guide to Festivals, Family & Food Multi-Cultural Celebration by Diana Carey and Judy Large by S. Fitzjohn, M. Weston, and J. Large Toy Making with Children by Freya Jaffke
EDUCATION AND CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Waldorf Education - A Family Guide Rudolph Steiner Education and the The Way of the Child by Pam Fenner and Karen Rivers Developing Child by A.C. Harwood by Willi Aeppli Waldorf Education: Teaching from Children at Play the Inside Out What is a Waldorf Kindergarten? by Heidi Britz-Crecelius by Jack Petrash by Sharifa Oppenheimer (workbook also available) Teaching as a Lively Art Phases of Childhood (SteinerBooks) by Marjorie Spock by B.C.J. Lievegoed The Incarnating Child Childhood School as a Journey by Joan Salter by Caroline von Heydebrand by Torin Finser Who’s Bringing Them Up? Television Will-Developed Intelligence Dumbing Us Down and Child Development by David Mitchell & by John Taylor Gatto by Martin Large Patricia Livingston
Towards Wholeness Millennial Child The Well Balanced Child: Movement by M.C. Richards by Eugene Schwartz and Early Learning by Sally Goddard Blythe Rudolph Steiner Education Endangered Minds (Hawthorn Press) by Francis Edmunds by Jane Healy
FOUNDATIONS OF WALDORF EDUCATION BY RUDOLF STEINER
Education of the Child Study of Man Deeper Insights into Education
Understanding Young Children Practical Advice to Teachers Education and Modern Spiritual Life
Prayers for Mothers and Children Discussions with Teachers Education as an Art by Rudolf Steiner and others The Four Temperaments The Kingdom of the Child
THESE BOOKS AND OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE FROM:
• The CWS school store located in the foyer of the Music & Arts Building
• Steiner Books: www.steinerbooks.org
• Your local public library
• The Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore: http://www.steinercollege.edu/store/
• The Charlottesville Waldorf School Parent Library located inside the Trapnell Memorial Library
• The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) website: www.whywaldorfworks.org
11 LIFE AT SCHOOL
THE EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM
Charlottesville Waldorf School’s Early Childhood Program consists of a toddler class, three-day nursery, five-day nursery and two mixed-age kindergartens.
The early childhood classes follow a daily rhythm as well as a weekly rhythm and have a yearly seasonal structure to their curricula. The daily rhythm consists of free play; circle time with its movement, song, and finger plays; quiet time; snack time; outdoor time; and story time. Each week also follows a predictable sequence of special activities tied to a day of the week. While the weekly rhythm varies some from teacher to teacher and by the ages of the children, most classes will color, bake, and paint weekly. As is true throughout CWS, the Early Childhood Program celebrates seasonal events and festivals. See the Festivals section or speak to your child’s teacher for further information about these.
The school day begins at 8:30 a.m. Your child’s school experience will be best supported from the start if he or she arrives promptly in the morning and is picked up on time after school. Late arrival hinders a child’s smooth entry into play with the other children in the classroom, whereas late pickup may cause stress and worry for the child.
THE GRADE SCHOOL
Students in grades one through eight also experience daily and weekly rhythms. Main lesson work begins inside the classroom at 8:10 a.m. It includes movement, art, music as well as academic work. Students break for snack and recess after main lesson and finish out their school day with specialty subjects. The specialty program varies from year to year and can include nature study, Spanish, handwork, games and sports, woodworking, choir, art, language arts, math, orchestra, form drawing, newspaper, and yearbook.
12 EARLY CHILDHOOD FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
This is a brief description of some of the ways in which we honor the needs of the young child while laying the foundation for later academic work, within a play-based program.
Parent/Child Toddlers Nursery Mixed-Age Kindergarten Mathematics Simple counting songs in Helping with snack As in Toddler class, plus As in the Nursery, plus circle time, sequential songs, preparation (counting cups simple counting games in the sequencing skills in finger poems and craft activities and adding grains), setting context of circle and finger knitting and needle knitting, the table (notion of quantity plays Counting stitches and rows in bowls/cups), fingertip games knitting with 6 year olds Language Arts Teacher and parents modeling Rhythmical verses and Teachers modeling clear As in the Nursery, with more kind and clear language, songs associated with body speech and careful use of complex sequential stories repetitious songs, poems, movement, circles, finger/lap language throughout the for 5 year olds and more and blessings at snack time, games, puppet shows, and day; nature-based stories told elaborate fairy tales for 6 year oral storytelling with props simple stories told orally orally and repeated so that olds that supports vocabulary children may learn them development and early literacy Social Skills Teacher and parents assisting Rhythm and repetition Teachers helping children As with Nursery class, plus in bringing the children’s play providing a strong feeling of learn to share toys, take turns, encouraging and supporting from parallel into more shared safety, leading to freedom use good manners, take care 5 and 6 year olds to practice activities. Modeling ways to in their play. Reverence for with their friends self-advocacy in solving minor communicate with peers nature and friends. Empathy disagreements Science Baking bread, nature-based Being able to stay outdoors as Planting, tending the garden, Nature walks in all seasons crafts; Spending time outside much as they can, observing, tending the worm farm, and weathers; gardening in the changing seasons; exploring, and touching cooking, contributing to projects, leaf-raking, helping children find all of the the world around them; compost, observing nature, playground pond, and natural treasures outside Gardening; Experiencing the experiencing physics during amphibian life cycle four elements during daily active play chores Handwork Kneading bread every week; Observing teachers’ Baking bread, processing Sewing projects to promote simple drawing; having yarn handwork (knitting, sewing) herbs, processing raw wool, fine motor skills and hand- and wool available for children and also seasonal activities plus a wide variety of seasonal eye coordination; simple doll to work with; teaching parents such as making lanterns, crafts made with natural making for 6 year olds to craft activities that they can making wool balls, making materials encourage perseverance of do at home with their children bread a larger, multi-stage project; finger knitting for 5 year olds and knitting for 6 year olds as above; Woodworking: simple bird feeders 3D construction skills for 6 year olds Fine Arts Teaching parents to observe Being surrounded by beauty Weekly drawing, painting, and As in the Nursery the impact that a beautiful and natural materials; coloring modelling sessions; creating child-friendly environment has a classroom environment that on them and their children. includes carefully selected Parent education about art artwork appropriate to the activities that they can use at young child home Movement Free play time inside and Free playtime; climbing, As with Toddlers, active Circles designed with large outside; introducing balance jumping, rocking, walking, free play indoors and out motor movements to promote boards and rocking boat; swinging; circle time to support development integration of midline barriers finger-plays with hand (associating speech and body of physical body and and early movement patterns, gestures; circle games movements) foundational senses; circle and to promote coordination using gross and fine motor games with intentional variety and development of movement of movements foundation senses (touch, balance, proprioception) Music Songs in circle time, for Songs rich in rhymes and Songs sung throughout the As in the Nursery transitions and blessings; rhythms during transitions day, mostly in “mood of the music from different cultures and circle time fifth” that uses various rhymes and accompanying movements; parents encouraged to use songs at home Practical Skills Encouraging the step into Supporting the child’s As in the Toddler class, Promoting autonomy and using breakable dishes and self initiative for caring for supporting the child’s growing independence in getting cups; having an established himself; allowing children to ability to care for him or ready to go outside and clean-up time and a time to experience self-care through herself; support with finishing keeping belongings in order; clear the table after snack; feeding, getting dressed and potty training; learning table tying shoe laces for 6 year encouraging the children to undressed, and supporting manners; helping prepare olds; folding and sorting participate in setting the table potty training snack foods laundry; setting the table; and preparing the snack; cutting vegetables and fruit; allowing time and space for kneading dough for bread; children to put on jackets, cleaning up after snack for boots, and hats themselves 6 year olds: clearing table, sweeping floors, wiping tables; doing this work on behalf of the group 13 GRADE SCHOOL CURRICULUM
First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Eighth Grade Mathematics Qualities of 4 Processes, 4 Processes, Review 4 Fractions and Geometry, Geometry, Geometry, numbers, Place value, Long division, Processes, decimals, Percentages, Practical/ Algebra 1 Counting, 4 Multiplication Measurement, Intro to Freehand Economics Consumer Processes Tables Time Fractions geometry Ratio/ Math, Percent Beginning Algebra Language Letters, letter Writing Grammar, Grammar, Composition Composition, Creative Creative Arts sounds, sentences, Cursive, Spelling, from outlines, Research writing, writing, blends, Word Reading in Individual Punctuation, Study of papers, Grammar, Grammar, families, Groups, Reading, Composition, plots and Business Expository Research Handwriting, Class Play Class Play Reading, characters, writing, writing, papers, Introduction Class Play Grammar, Class play Class play Class play to Reading, Spelling, Class Play Class play History/ Folk and Fables and Stories of Norse Myths, Ancient Rome, Renaissance Revolutions, Social Fairy Tales Legends of the Hebrew Virginia Civilizations: Medieval Times, Age of American Studies Heroes and People, History India, Persia, Times, Early Exploration History to Saints Native Mesopotamia, Islam Modern American Egypt, Greece Times Stories Geography Landscape Virginia North South African Asian Drawing Geography, American American Geography Geography Map-Making Geography Geography Science Nature Nature Farming, Zoology Botany Astronomy, Physics, Physics, stories and stories and Gardening, Geology, Chemistry, Chemistry, observation observation House Physics, Human Meteorology, Building, Gardening Physiology Anatomy, Cooking and Nutrition, Gardening Gardening Foreign Songs, Songs, Songs, Writing, Writing, Writing, Writing, Writing, Language: Poems, Poems, Poems, Reading Reading, Reading, Reading, Reading, Spanish Cultural Cultural Cultural simple texts, Grammar, Grammar, Grammar, Grammar, (Grades 1-8) activities activities activities Simple Simple Simple Dialogue Dialogue grammar dialogue dialogue Handwork Knitting Knitting and Crocheting, Design, Cross Knitting - Hand Hand sewing, Sewing Purling Simple stitch, Simple socks or stitching, Doll Embroidery, Machine, Design, embroidery mittens (4 making Garments, Bags, Simple Fiber - wool needles) Quilting clothing cleaning, carding, and spinning Woodwork Use of tools, Use of tools, Building Building Building carving and carving and projects projects Projects shaping shaping Fine Arts Wet-on-wet Wet-on-wet Wet-on-wet Painting, Painting, Painting, Perspective Pastels, watercolor, watercolor, watercolor, Drawing, Drawing, Drawing, Clay drawing, Clay Drawing, Clay Beeswax Beeswax Beeswax Modeling, Modeling, modeling modeling modeling modeling, modeling, modeling, Form Form Form Form Form drawing drawing drawing drawing drawing Movement Story-based, Story-based, Story-based, Strategy, Ball sports, Team sports, Team sports, Team sports, imaginative imaginative imaginative 2-sided Frisbee, Track & field Track & field Track & field and circle games and ball- games, Basic Competitive games passing ball skill team sports, games games Track & field Music Singing, Singing, Rounds, Part songs, Recorder, 5/6 Recorder, 5/6 Soprano/ 7/8 Choir, Pentatonic Pentatonic Diatonic Soprano Choir, String Choir, String Alto/ 7/8 String Recorder Recorder Recorder, Recorder, Ensemble Ensemble, Tenor/Bass Ensemble, String String Songwriting Recorder, Songwriting Ensemble Ensemble 7/8 Choir, 7/8 String Ensemble, Songwriting
14 FESTIVALS, ASSEMBLIES & PERFORMANCES
Grade school students perform several times during the school year: at the Harvest Assembly (October), Friends and Family Day (November), at Winterfest (February), at Music Night (early May), and at the Closing Assembly on the last day of school. Different grades may perform at each assembly. Watch the newsletter for details such as when festival dress or orchestra dress is required or ask your child’s teacher. All CWS families are warmly invited and strongly encouraged to attend these performances.
FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS
The seasonal festivals celebrated throughout the year are an important part of life at a Waldorf school. Every child is expected to attend school on festival days. The dates of festivals are listed in the School calendar and their details announced in the Newsletter. In addition to the major festivals detailed below, the School celebrates other holidays and events; in the past these have included Halloween, the Lantern Walk for grades one and two with a separate Walk for early childhood classes, Thanksgiving, Winterfest, and May Day. Teachers may also choose to celebrate other seasonal or cultural festival days. Nursery and kindergarten families should check with their teachers to see which of these school-wide events their classes will attend and how they will be celebrated.
MICHAELMAS: This festival of courage takes place in late September, as the entire school community assembles as a medieval village and watches the tale of St. George and the Dragon enacted by the faculty. Children in older grades then set up “tasks of courage” for the younger grade-school children, culminating in a raid on the “dragon’s lair.”
THE SPIRAL OF LIGHTS: Celebrated close to the winter solstice, this festival of love and light marks the presence of growing light in the darkest time of the year. Participants walk through a spiral to light a candle and add their gift of light.
THE SPRING FESTIVAL: This festival is celebrated close to the spring equinox, which often falls near Easter and Passover. It marks the birth of new life and rebirth of the earth each spring. Various activities have become traditional at CWS and often include a school-wide shared snack, a middle-school egg drop contest, and early childhood and early grades students hunt for treasures.
MAY DAY AND MAY FAIR: May Day is celebrated at CWS and takes place on or near the first of May. The early childhood classes make festive May crowns and all the children dance Maypole dances. In the grade school, the fourth grade, dressed in colonial costumes, performs several Maypole dances while the fifth grade plays traditional songs on recorder, as the other grade school classes look on. Later in the day, a small May Fair takes place in the Pavilion, with booths run by the middle school students for the enjoyment of the children in the lower grades.
AFTERCARE
Childhood is a precious time, one that is nurtured and revered at CWS, both in the classroom and in our after-school programs. These after-school hours are times for the children to join friends and experience the joys of play in a safe, caring environment. We strive to make CWS Aftercare the next best thing to being at home with family. Annual and monthly contracts are available at discounted rates, and we encourage all parents to contract for this program so that we can ensure adequate supervision of the children. A drop-in rate is also available ($15/day). You can find contract forms and rates on the website.
Early Childhood: Aftercare is available five days a week from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. The schedule is similar to the morning program, with snack time and free play inside and outside. Although we offer this for the youngest members of the school, we encourage parents to pick up the little ones sooner rather than later.
Grades: Aftercare is available Monday through Friday, 3:25 – 5:30 p.m. The schedule allows time for rest, snack, social time, games, fresh air, reading, and school work as well as light, organized activities that align with our philosophy.
Monthly and annual contracts allow CWS to better plan for the numbers of children each day. While drop-in aftercare is available, please note that we have staff-to-child ratio limits for the number of children in aftercare each day, so drop-ins are taken on a first-come, first-served basis and THE MAIN OFFICE MUST BE NOTIFIED NO LATER THAN 2:30PM. If the roster for the day is full, the Main Office staff will notify you that there is not a space for your child that day. If at the end of the school’s dismissal time (3:00 p.m. for early childhood children or 3:25 p.m. for grade school students) your child has not yet been picked up, he or she will be escorted to the appropriate aftercare program and you will be charged the drop-in rate. 15 SECTIONALS
We are happy to offer students Sectional Music Lessons on our campus after school. All students are expected to follow all school rules while in sectionals. As the sectionals teachers are unable to supervise children who are not in a given lesson, we ask that students are signed out of their sectional lessons promptly. Sectionals teachers will ensure that students are either signed out by adults authorized to pick them up or signed into Aftercare at the end of each lesson. Any student not already contracted who is signed into Aftercare after a sectional lesson will incur a fee for Aftercare.
EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM EXTENDED DAY
Families who need their early childhood children to stay for a long day may contract to have them stay for lunch and nap and or aftercare. These options are also available at an extra charge for drop-in needs; check with your child’s teacher for space availability.
Early childhood children who stay for lunch do best with lunches that they can open and eat themselves. Please include a small drink. Sending food that needs to be peeled or specially prepared makes it difficult for the teacher to attend to the needs of the whole group. Please do not send chocolate or candy to school. If your child will be staying for nap, please provide a small blanket, pillow, and a small, soft “lovie” that will stay on your child’s cot.
YAY! LUNCH PROGRAM
Yay Lunch! will now deliver lunch directly to classrooms, so parents can conveniently order healthier versions of foods kids love. All meals are local, allergen-friendly, and delivered fresh daily. You can schedule lunches up to a month in advance at yaylunch.com.
SUPPORTING SCHOOL LIFE AT HOME
The primary goal of CWS is to nurture the gradual unfolding of the young child into a capable, caring, and creative adolescent. Rules, guidelines, policies, and classroom activities are designed to support that goal. We recognize that the school can reach its goal only with the active participation and advocacy of the parents; therefore, we ask every family enrolling a child in CWS to study the following characteristics of our community and to support fully our guidelines, expectations, and mission.
ROUTINES
As children are most secure in a predictable environment, we stress rhythm in our daily, weekly, and yearly schedules. Regular and timely attendance at school is important to the child’s development, to his or her relationship with classmates, and to the academic and social progress of the entire class. We ask that parents establish regular home routines in support of their children and the school.
Experience has shown that the following home routines are helpful to our students: regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and tasks; celebration of family festivals; adequate sleep; outdoor play; a quiet time and place for homework and music practice.
CLOTHING
Our dress code stresses functional, plain, modest, and neat clothing that is appropriate for the weather conditions. CWS encourages the home standard to support the spirit of the school standard.
MEDIA
Recognizing that the presence and influence of television, computers, mp3 players, computer and video games, films, etc., are endemic in our society, we do not require parents to sign a “media agreement” as do some Waldorf schools; however, as children are highly sensitive to their environments, and as one of the goals of Waldorf education is to foster the child’s innate power of imagination, we ask that parents work as hard as they can to eliminate their child’s exposure to media.
16 FOOD
As children work best when they are not hungry, we ask that parents ensure that their children eat a wholesome, satisfying breakfast before school.
Because we want the children to be alert, engaged, and appropriately energetic at school, we ask that parents send children to school with lunches in which every calorie counts. Research has shown that this means focusing on proteins, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Your child’s teacher may have additional suggestions and or restrictions, which will be included in the classroom orientation.
SCHOOL WORK AND ASSESSMENTS
We expect each child to create his or her best work for each assignment. When a child does this and this effort is recognized by the teacher, the child feels deep satisfaction as well as the motivation to continue to work in this way. In Waldorf education, not only are letter and number grades unnecessary, they defeat our goal of helping the child develop self-motivation from the inner sense of being engaged in worthwhile work.
Students are regularly assessed by their teachers. Parents are informed of the results of these assessments during two 30-minute conferences each year in addition to a mid-year report and more extensive narrative report at the end of the year. We ask parents and teachers to speak with each other concerning the child and the class regularly throughout the year. Our students are rarely tested until they are in grades 6-8, during which years the number and frequency of tests gradually increase. This practice provides the middle school children with the experience of testing that develops capacities to excel and show mastery across the wide spectrum of measurement models.
HOMEWORK
Many studies have shown that students learn best from in-class time with teachers and peers and that several hours of homework are unnecessary—even counterproductive—for long-term learning. Our students work hard every day. We believe that when they are at home they should spend their time with their families and friends. We therefore limit homework assignments and only assign the most meaningful work.
Students at CWS generally begin to receive some form of homework in the third grade with gradual increases at each grade level. Students in sixth through eighth grades usually receive nightly assignments, including musical instrument practice and assignments from specialty teachers. Teachers expect that homework will be completed in a timely and responsible manner.
MUSIC LESSONS AND INSTRUMENT PRACTICE
Waldorf students make music every day. The youngest of children sing and play tuneful, rhythmic games. In first and second grades, students experience music in song and pentatonic flute playing. In third grade, the soprano recorder is introduced, and stringed instruments are briefly introduced. For the next two years, all students play in class orchestras, while in grades five, six, seven, and eight, they combine to form mixed-grade orchestras. In addition to their orchestral work, middle school students also participate in a choir class.
Beginning in grade four, students are expected either to take private lessons or to participate in sectionals and to practice five days a week. Parents will need to rent or purchase the appropriate instruments for their children and arrange for either private lessons or after-school sectionals. The music teachers can supply information about lessons and rentals.
SOCIAL REALM
We stress cooperation rather than competition in the social realm. This is true of the games chosen for outdoor play as well as classroom activities and even casual interactions. Each child is honored for his or her individual gifts; each child is expected to learn to value the gifts of schoolmates. We encourage parents to arrange play dates with classmates so the children will have an opportunity to know and interact with one another outside of school.
We expect children to respectfully respond to all adults in the school setting. Children are expected to follow rules and directions, which are in place to support an orderly and courteous community life.
Recognizing that we are also a community of adults, we ask teachers and parents to model appropriate behavior for the children. We strive daily to maintain a community based on mutual respect, trust, and support. We promote person-to-person contact, utilizing electronic communication only to impart specific, logistical information. 17 II. Parent Participation
The Charlottesville Waldorf School was founded as a parent initiative and has benefitted ever since from the energy and dedication of parents. Parents participate in the life of the school through the gift of their time to numerous volunteer efforts—driving for field trips, helping prepare for festivals, serving on committees, painting sets for plays, taking photos, serving as class parents, organizing, and fundraising. Parents also lend their time and insight into leadership roles on the Board of Trustees and the Parent Association.
PARENT ASSOCIATION ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The Parent Association serves to provide support to the entire community by focusing on four main functional areas:
• Hospitality • School ambassadorship • Community building • Fundraising
The PA Executive Committee (PAEC) meet regularly in a Leadership Council with the administrative, faculty, College and Board chairs to communicate about the various aspects of school life and thereby serve as a liaison between the school and the parents.
The PA organizes monthly meetings on a weekday morning and evening to accommodate a variety of family schedules. Additionally, the can be reached via email at: [email protected].
CLASS PARENTS
The PA leadership includes a Class Parents from each class, who support the work of the PA and help as needed in their specific classes. The volunteer parents from each class are vital to the function of the PA and to the classroom. The Parent Association Executive Committee serve as leaders of the class parents, representing them in meetings with the Leadership Council and facilitating meetings of class parents throughout the year.
The school asks that each class host one or two events each year. Host responsibilities include helping to set-up and clean-up for the event, serving as a greeter, giving out programs, and providing donations of refreshments. The class parent informs the other parents in the class of upcoming PA events, and recruits volunteers, as needed, from their respective classrooms.
In addition, the class parents:
• Communicate with other parents about upcoming events that affect their class • Support the class teacher with requests for help during festivals or field trips • Manage individual class fundraising events in conjunction with the development director • Encourage class camaraderie with class get-togethers and parties • Help to organize class gifts to teachers • Supervise the class activity for the Holiday Bazaar
THE PARENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIP
The faculty looks upon the parent-teacher relationship as vital in the education of each child because we understand that parents and teachers working in partnership allows each individual child to develop in a healthy way. We also know that it is only through ongoing communication that the adults caring for each child can build the kind of strong relationship that allows them to keep the child’s best interest at heart.
Throughout the school years, there will be many choices to make and differences of opinion will arise as an inevitable and necessary function for such a living process as the education of a child.
To maintain the long-term health of the parent-teacher relationship, it is important to have a commitment from both the parent and teacher to be available, timely, respectful, and empathetic. Constructive dialogue is possible only when it comes from a place of trust and respect for the efforts of both the parents and the teacher. This relationship is based on a mutual love for the child.
18 Whenever parents believe that their concerns are not being heard or acknowledged by the lead or class teacher, they may bring their unresolved issue to the attention of either the early childhood chair, the grade school chair, or the faculty chair, who will follow up with the faculty member and seek to work towards a positive resolution (refer to the table on pg 5). If in doubt about whom to contact, parents are welcome to contact the administrative chair or the faculty chair.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PARENTS AND TEACHERS
The child’s education is the entirety of his or her life and, therefore, does not end upon leaving the classroom. The world at home is different from the world at school, and it is the interweaving of activities, thoughts, and influences from one to the other that makes the fabric of the child’s life. We encourage parents to keep their child’s teacher informed of home situations that may affect in-school behavior.
Class Meetings
Evening class meetings for the parents of each grade and early childhood class are scheduled during the year. These are special opportunities to enrich the parents’ knowledge of and to build a deeper connection with the curriculum as it unfolds throughout the year in your child’s class. In addition to a notice in the weekly newsletter, e-mails or written notices may be sent home prior to these meetings. These notices will include information on time, location, and any specific topics to be addressed. If you have a specific topic that you would like to have addressed in a class meeting, please contact your child’s teacher. Parents are asked to send at least one representative of their family to every class meeting.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice yearly: in October and March. These twice-yearly conferences will take place on the days set aside for them in the school calendar. Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher at any time during the year, however, with any questions or concerns relating to their child or to request an additional conference. Each teacher will inform parents of when he or she may be reached by phone. Teachers may also be contacted by email.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Toddler Class, Nursery and Kindergarten (except for Rising First Grade) students receive a written curriculum description at the end of the school year. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice during the school year in October and March, and parents and teachers may arrange additional meetings at any time.
Rising First Grade students receive a written report at the end of the school year. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice during the school year in October and March, and parents and teachers may arrange additional meetings at any time. Parents should be aware that reports are written for the parents and not the children; therefore, the school recommends that parents refrain from sharing reports with younger children.
Grades 1-7 Mid-year progress reports are sent out after the middle of the year (February), and narrative end-of-year reports are sent out at the end of the school year. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice during the school year in October and March, and parents and teachers may arrange additional meetings at any time. Parents should be aware that reports are written for the parents and not the children; therefore, the school recommends that parents refrain from sharing reports with younger children and exercise discretion in relating the contents of reports to older children.
Grade 8 Narrative reports are sent out after the middle of the year (February) and at the end of the school year. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice during the school year in October and March, and parents and teachers may arrange additional meetings at any time. Parents should be aware that reports are written for the parents and not the children; therefore, the school recommends that parents exercise discretion in relating the contents of reports to eighth-grade students.
19 STUDENT ASSESSMENTS
The school performs two class-wide assessments in the early years to identify both readiness and potential learning difficulties:
Rising First Grade Readiness Assessment
Each January all kindergarten students who will be six years old prior to June 1 of that year are assessed by their kindergarten teacher and the Rising First Grade Committee. Every child’s rate of growth and development is unique; therefore, careful consideration of readiness is necessary. The kindergarten teachers then present the rising first graders to the full faculty.
When there are questions or concerns regarding a student’s readiness, the kindergarten teacher discusses these with the child’s parents as early in the school year as possible. This process is most effective when parents and teachers work together and communicate openly and honestly. If it is the Rising First Grade Readiness Committee’s determination that a student is not ready for first grade due to the child’s individual rate of maturation, an additional year of kindergarten may be recommended. The Rising First Grade Readiness Committee may also determine that our grade school program will not meet the child’s needs, in which case the committee will recommend that no contract be offered for the following year.
Assessment of Literacy, Math, and Movement by a Remedial Specialist
Each spring all second grade students and students from other grades (typically first, third, and fourth) selected by the Care Group are assessed in a variety of areas by a remedial specialist contracted by the school. Each student meets individually with the specialist and is assessed for literacy, numeracy, fine and gross motor skill development, visual and auditory processing, and speech and language. The specialist prepares a written report on each child, which she reviews with the second grade teacher and which is given to the parents.
VISITING CLASSROOMS
CWS holds regular Observation Days throughout the school year intended for currently enrolled parents, prospective parents, and visitors wishing to learn about Waldorf education. CWS teachers welcome parent visits and ask that they attend the entire program whenever possible.
To schedule a classroom visit, please contact our Admissions Director, Sarah Pevehouse, at [email protected] .
VOLUNTEERING
As seasoned CWS parents know, there is no shortage of opportunities for volunteer involvement during the school year. Parents are needed to serve as drivers on field trips, to act as class parents, to help with events, and to greet visitors, among many other tasks. To support the school in its mission, each parent is required to commit to at least 15 hours of volunteer work toward all-school events (festivals, admissions events, or the three major fundraisers) – 30 hours total for two-parent families through the course of the year. Of prime importance is that all parents give their best to the school’s three major fundraisers: the Holiday Bazaar, Annual Giving, and the Spring Fundraiser.
These efforts - besides offering opportunity for community - are essential to the short-term as well as the long-range health of the school. Because tuition alone does not cover the cost of operating the school, CWS conducts an Annual Giving campaign beginning in the fall of each year. Every parent is asked to contribute at a level meaningful to him or her.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
CWS BULLETIN
This weekly email is the primary source of information about events, programs, class-related news items from faculty, reports from the Board of Trustees and its committees, articles of interest to parents, and calendar updates. Please read the Bulletin to stay up to date with what’s going on at school. You are automatically subscribed when your child is enrolled. If you do not receive the bulletin, please contact the Main Office at [email protected].
20 THE NEWSLETTER
The quarterly Newsletter is sent to our full mailing list, including school families, extended families, and friends, and contains broader articles of interest relating to CWS and Waldorf education, as well as submissions from faculty, students, and community members. Current families are automatically subscribed to the Newsletter, there is also a sign up form on the website.
THE DIRECTORY
A list of school faculty, staff, board members, and enrolled families—including addresses and phone numbers—is published each school year and placed on the parent forum of the website in September. It is a private publication for school communication. Use of the phone list for business or solicitation purposes is not permitted.
PARENT LIBRARY
CWS has a lending library of works on Waldorf education and related topics. We also publish a reading list of materials that will help parents acquaint themselves with Waldorf education. These materials are available upon request from the enrollment & community coordinator, Sarah Pevehouse, the faculty chair, Michael Wright, or directly from the school library, where parents of currently enrolled children may check them out.
THE CALENDAR
A preliminary calendar is sent to parents over the summer listing dates that school will be open and closed for the next school year. A finalized calendar, including festivals and events, is delivered at the beginning of the school year.
CWS WEBSITE
The CWS website www.cwaldorf.org provides general information about our school and has an on-line Calendar of Events as well as some helpful links and thoughtful articles. We encourage you to visit the website and share it with your friends.
WALDORF ON-LINE
In addition to our school’s website, visit www.whywaldorfworks.org, a site developed and hosted by the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA).
Parents may also enjoy www.waldorfworld.com, which includes general information on Waldorf education, job listings, and links to other Waldorf sites.
CWS SOCIAL MEDIA
CWS maintains an official Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram page. Additionally, the CWS PA has a Facebook forum page available to any enrolled families.
21 III. Business and Legal Matters
Charlottesville Waldorf School is a full and accredited member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and a member of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). Additionally, our preschool program is licensed by the Department of Social Services of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in accordance with Virginia Daycare Regulations.
TUITION AND FEES
A schedule of fees and tuition as well as payment policies and options is available on the website www.cwaldorf.org and in the Main Office. For the 2019-2020 school year, CWS is using TADS, an independent third party, to process all tuition payments and fees. Payments can be made via TADS from your checking or savings account, by check payable directly to TADS, or using American Express, Mastercard, Visa, or Discover credit cards. Please note that there is a convenience fee of 3.0% associated with using a credit card to process your payment. All tuition, fees, and other charges will be included in the TADS payment plans.
Tuition payments are due on the 15th of the month. Early care and aftercare amounts are billed monthly and are due upon receipt of the bill. Amounts that remain unpaid within 30 days of the date due will result in the suspensions of the child(ren) from school. Exceptions to the policy will be made on a case-by-case basis through a written request to the CWS Board of Trustees.
TUITION AGREEMENTS
All students who attend CWS must have a tuition agreement signed by their parents on file at the school before their attendance will be allowed.
FINANCIAL AID
The Charlottesville Waldorf School strives to develop a diverse student population and to serve every family enrolled in the school that values a Waldorf education as a family priority. The school’s Financial aid (FA) program addresses families’ needs for help with tuition while being mindful of the financial health of the school. Tuition support is available based upon demonstrated need. It may not be possible, however, to accommodate every family’s unique circumstance. Therefore, the School asks parents/guardians to pursue all other sources of income for tuition payments.
A third-part financial assessment organization (TADS) is used to provide a framework through which household need can be measured fairly and equitably. Recommendations from TADS are used by the Financial aid Committee in accordance with its policies to determine the financial aid award amount.
We offer financial aid for students applying for 5-day nursery, 5-day kindergarten, and the grade school. Financial aid is not available for Parent/Child, Toddler Class, 3-day Nursery, or Summer Programs.
WITHDRAWAL & TERMINATION
Once a contract has been made with the school, the parents are financially obligated to pay this contract in full. If a family decides to leave the school, or if the child is dismissed for cause, the contractual relationship is still binding. Failure to meet the financial obligation of the contract may result in the Board of Trustees taking all lawful steps to collect unpaid amounts Please see a copy of your Tuition Agreement for withdrawal and termination procedures.
HEALTH RECORDS, BIRTH CERTIFICATES, & IMMUNIZATIONS
A complete physical examination is required for all children entering school in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as is evidence of immunization against certain communicable diseases (measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hemophilus influenza B, and hepatitis B). 22 Students in all Virginia schools are required to have the vaccinations, as required by Virginia law. Parents need to show the school documentation of these vaccinations. Exemptions from immunizations may be granted for religious or medical reasons. In the event of an epidemic, the Health Department may require parents to keep un-immunized children at home.
For all newly enrolling students, parents must bring in a birth certificate (original) or a passport to the Main Office. This document should be seen by the receptionist or administrative chair before the child attends classes at CWS.
ILLNESS AT SCHOOL
If a child has a fever or becomes ill after arriving at school, the school will contact a parent (or the emergency contact if the parents cannot be reached) to arrange for the child to return home. State regulations require an ill child be isolated from other children; it is therefore imperative that parents pick up the child as quickly as possible upon notification. In addition, parents must inform the school within 24 hours or the next business day after his child or any member of the immediate household has developed any reportable communicable disease.
PLEASE NOTE: According to VA Department of Health Guidelines, a child must be fever free for a full 24 hour period before returning to school. “Fever Free” is defined as having a temperature less than 100° without the use of fever- reducing agents (Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, etc.)
Charlottesville Waldorf School does not administer any form of drug to a child unless we have on file a specific form signed by the parents authorizing its use. Please see the Medication Administration Policy on page 28 for more information.
STUDENT ACCIDENTS
It is the policy of the school that accidents occurring during school days and school events are the financial responsibility of the parents. Accidents requiring any emergency action by the school and resulting in financial charges are the responsibility of the parents.
SCHOOL RECORDS
If school records are requested, parents will complete and sign a Records Release Form, and the CWS Office will send one set of records at no charge, $10 per copy from then on.
Official CWS Records are delivered on behalf of families in good financial standing.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION PROCESS FOR EMPLOYEES AND PARENTS
Conflict inevitably arises within any community and it can present an opportunity for growth and change. Conflict itself is not unhealthy but when conflict is not resolved, it undermines healthy working relationships. For that reason, we ask our faculty, staff, and parents to take time to work through conflict towards resolution. If you or someone you know is in conflict, we encourage you to take the following steps.
When you feel you are in conflict with another person or group—approach that person or group first and seek resolution. When meeting with a group, you may wish to take a support person with you.
If the conflict involves a classroom situation, a difficulty with a teacher, or other pedagogical issues, you should speak with the teacher concerned.
1. If you do not feel there is resolution, then you should take the issue to the early childhood or the grade school chair, either in writing or in person.
2. If you still do not feel there is resolution, then you should take the issue to the faculty chair, either in writing or in person.
If the conflict involves a financial situation, a difficulty with a staff member, or other administrative issues, you should speak with the staff person involved. 23 1. If you do not feel there is resolution, you should take the issue to the administrative chair, either in writing or in person.
2. If, after meeting with the administrative chair, you still are not able to feel resolution, then you should write a letter to the board chair describing the situation and indicating possible actions that might help you resolve the conflict.
If the conflict involves issues that you have with a group within the school, you should meet with the group. You may wish to seek a support person to go with you.
1. If you do not feel there is resolution, you should take the issue to the faculty chair (for the College of Teachers), the administrative chair, or the board chair, depending on the group involved.
2. If, after this meeting, you still are not able to feel resolution, then you should write a letter to the board chair, describing the situation and indicating possible actions that might help you resolve the conflict.
Guidelines for writing a letter to describe your situation:
• State the problem or conflict clearly.
• Provide specific examples that support what you are trying to say, including dates and names of those involved, if applicable.
24 IV. Policies and Procedures
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Waldorf Education is built on a foundation of active learning; therefore, attendance in all classes is essential to the growth and healthy development of the child. It is our desire that all teachers in the grade school emphasize the importance of every child being present for the full day of school. The Charlottesville Waldorf School attendance policy is as follows:
Every class teacher will take attendance and post it on his or her classroom door no later than 8:15 a.m. An administrative staff member will come at that time to pick it up.
Absences must be reported to the Main Office by the parent via phone, letter, or e-mail. If no communication has been received by the parent or guardian by 9:00 a.m., the Main Office will call the parents to verify the whereabouts of the absentee.
Tardy slips will be distributed by the Main Office, and any student arriving late and unaccompanied by a parent, must bring a letter from the parent explaining the reason for the lateness. If a student reports to the office without a letter, the Main Office will call the student’s parents to verify the student’s whereabouts before arriving at school.
It is the responsibility of parents to contact teachers in the event of absences lasting longer than 3 days and to provide any necessary tutoring and make-up work in consultation with the class teacher and specialty subject teachers.
While all schools expect families to avoid excessive absences, at Waldorf schools something essential is lost when the child misses any part of the school day. Each Waldorf teacher—from nursery through eighth grade—strives to create the day’s lesson as one would create a work of art: bringing balance, harmony, and beauty into his or her presentation of material to the children. In addition, Waldorf school subjects are taught in blocks, which build upon what has come before; what is not experienced directly is not easily made up, and make-up work is not equivalent to what is missed. Make-up work also creates additional work for the teacher. How to address the needs of individual children will be left to the teachers’ discretion. In the grade school, it is the responsibility of the parents to contact teachers in the event of absence and to provide any necessary tutoring and make-up work in consultation with the class teacher and the specialty subject teachers.
The faculty strongly urge parents to plan family trips and vacations during scheduled school breaks; to strive for a regular, rhythmic home life so that the child’s health is supported; and to help children learn punctuality and reliability through dependable attendance.
The Charlottesville Waldorf School will record instances of lateness and absence as excused or unexcused. Notification, including an explanation of any instance of lateness or absence, must be received within three days of the student’s return to school or the instance will be considered unexcused. Notification can be made in the form of a written note, phone call, or email to the Main Office. Medically documented or administratively pre-approved absences will be counted as excused.
Excused Absence: This includes illness, family emergencies, religious holidays, high school visits, and doctor’s appointments.
Unexcused Absence: This includes family trips, rest and recreation days, and any absence beyond ten days that is not documented in a medical note.
If your child is sick and will not be in school, please inform the Main Office by 9:00 a.m. If your child is ill with a communicable disease, you must let us know within 24 hours or the next business day.
All grade school students who arrive after the morning bell has rung at 8:10 a.m. must report to the Main Office with a note explaining the lateness or accompanied by a parent. Students in grades 1-4 will wait in the Main Office until a faculty member is available to accompany them to their classrooms so as to minimize the disruption to their classes. Students in grades 5-8 may report directly to their classrooms once they have received a late slip from the Main Office and are expected to enter their classrooms as respectfully as possible.
25 BEHAVIOR AT SCHOOL & DISCIPLINE
At CWS, we strive for a balance between the sanctity of the individual and the norms necessary within any community. Teachers and staff treat each child with respect and kindness. The students in turn are expected to treat teachers, staff members, and their fellow classmates with respect and kindness. Examples of disrespectful and are inappropriate behavior at school include the following: rudeness; foul language; bullying and teasing; hitting, biting, kicking, pushing, running or rough play inside the building, shouting out, interrupting, or yelling inside the building.
Discipline, when necessary, follows from our understanding of child development based on Waldorf Education and engaged through Social Inclusion (Kim Payne). When meeting a discipline issue, teachers begin with a holistic approach using a variety of pedagogical methods, such as seating arrangements, positive recognition of appropriate behavior, telling illustrative stories and biographies, conflict resolution, and child study.
While we expect gentle means to redirect the children, CWS has no tolerance for disruptive and disrespectful behavior. If any child continues to exhibit inappropriate behavior, more direct steps may be taken. A holding team for individual children or for a whole class may be formed to support the situation and strive for a positive and harmonious solution. For the youngest children, redirection or timeouts may be used. As children mature, service work or after-school detention may serve as a consequence.
Children who repeatedly disrupt the class or exhibit acts of aggression or bullying can be sent to the Main Office and single or multi-day suspension may result.
At all stages of discipline, your child’s teacher will keep parents, department chairs, college chair, head of administration, and mentors fully informed.
We work as a team at CWS to support each child and family in our community.
BUILDING SECURITY: LITTLE RED HOUSE AND NURSERY COTTAGE
Due to the proximity to Rio Road of the lower early childhood campus, we will be locking the doors to both the Nursery Cottage and the Little Red House at 9 a.m. If you arrive after this time, please go to the Main Office with your child to sign in before entering your child’s classroom.
Teachers will unlock the doors at dismissal times, but doors will be locked again during lunch and nap. Please go to the Main Office if you ever need to access one of these classrooms at times other than drop off and dismissal.
DROP OFF & DISMISSAL
MORNING DROP-OFF
Grade school children may be dropped off beginning at 7:50 a.m. Classes begin at 8:10. No child may be dropped off prior to 7:50 a.m.
Nursery and kindergarten children must be brought directly to their teacher between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. Some classes may start outside during certain seasons. Individual teachers will inform parents about beginning the day inside or outside.
DROP-OFF PROCEDURE
The lower parking lot is reserved for Early Childhood drop off only. Because parking is limited at CWS, a drop off option for grade school students occurs at the main entrance for the school on the upper campus parking lot. The drop-off line will circle around the parking area. Alternatively, parents may park in available parking spaces in the upper lot or the basketball court. Cars parked on the basketball court must be removed by 8:15 am. If dropping off, parents should remain in the vehicle and have children exit on the right side.
Grade school children should plan to arrive in their classrooms by 8 a.m. to allow them time to settle in before main lesson starts at 8:10. Any child arriving after 8:10 a.m. will need to be escorted to the Main Office or sent to the Main Office with a note explaining the lateness and will be given a tardy slip. Students in grades 1 through 4 must wait in the Main Office until a faculty or staff member is available to escort them to their classrooms. Please build room into your
26 morning schedule to account for the drop-off line.
EARLY CHILDHOOD DISMISSAL
Dismissal policies for early childhood programs vary by class and will be communicated by the class teacher.
For extended-day students, parents should come to the nap rooms between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. to pick up children. Any child in the Early Childhood Program who has not been picked up by 3:00 p.m. will be signed into Aftercare, and the drop-in fee will be charged for those who are not already registered for Aftercare.
DISMISSAL PROCEDURE
As is the case with morning drop-off, the lower parking lot is reserved for families with early childhood children.
Grade school parents should loop around the upper parking lot and join the car line to receive their children at the bottom of the hill. A faculty member will relay who you are picking up to the Grade School Building, and your child will be sent down to the pick-up area accordingly. The line usually forms around 2:45. Once grade school dismissal begins at 3:10 p.m., you must join the car line if you are coming down the driveway from the upper lot, even if you already have picked up your child. This is necessary because we must leave the driveway clear for incoming traffic from Rio Road.
Please note that any other person who is picking up your child must be on your authorization list, located on the back of the enrollment form. Please call the Main Office by 2:30 pm to notify the office manager of any changes to the pick- up process. While in the pick-up line, never leave your vehicle unattended. If you need to visit your child’s classroom or teacher, use the upper parking lot to park and walk down to ensure that the pick-up line keeps moving.
Any grade school student who has not been picked up by 3:25 p.m. will be brought to Aftercare, and the drop-in fee will be charged for those who are not already registered for Aftercare that day.
After 3:25 p.m. all children must be under adult supervision, either in music lessons, with their parents, or in Aftercare. The school cannot be responsible for children left unattended on the school grounds after the end of the school day.
DRESS CODE
The intention of the CWS dress code is two-fold: to promote an atmosphere that is conducive to learning; and to encourage students to attire themselves in a manner that is practical and safe for school activities.
PROMOTING AN ATMOSPHERE THAT IS CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING
• Solid colors, plaids, stripes, and repeated patterns that cover an entire garment are permitted. All other images or patterns including, but not limited to, words, numbers, sports logos, cartoons, and other school’s logos or initials, are not permitted. Small brand labels [2” or less in width and height] are acceptable but discouraged. This restric- tion is for indoor as well as outdoor clothing. CWS logos and shirts from school-sponsored activities are allowed.
• Clothing should fit well and not extend over hands or feet. Shirts may not have spaghetti straps, fall off the shoul- der, or have a low neckline. Shirts must meet the tops of pants. Underwear must not be visible.
• Torn, defaced clothing may not be worn at school. All clothing must have completed hems.
• Clothing and jewelry with symbols pertaining to alcohol, drugs, sex, or violence are not permitted.
• Jewelry should be tasteful and not distracting. Earrings may not extend below the earlobe until eighth grade. Body piercings other than ears are not permitted.
• Writing and drawing on clothing and skin are not permitted.
ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO ATTIRE THEMSELVES IN A MANNER THAT IS PRACTICAL AND SAFE FOR SCHOOL ACTIVITIES:
• To ensure comfort in all activities, it is important for the students to dress in layers that can be easily put on and removed. Appropriate gear for the wide-ranging weather systems of Virginia is required. All children should have
27 a raincoat, rain boots/snow boots, warm coat, winter hat, mittens or gloves, and appropriate leg coverings. If this is not available when needed, parents may be called to provide suitable clothing for the student. Please label all clothing with your child’s name, especially outerwear.
• Clothing must allow students a full range of motion--running, reaching, bending, sitting--without requiring continuous readjustment.
• A child’s clothing, hairstyle, and jewelry should not pose a distraction to him/herself.
• Shorts may be worn at a temperature of 65 or more degrees. Shorts and skirts must reach mid-thigh and shorts must be hemmed. Bike shorts and leggings may only be worn under skirts, shorts, or shirts that reach mid-thigh.
• All shoes should have a closed toe and back and be suitable for running, jumping, and playing active games. Heels should be no more than 2” high.
• While not required, sun hats are recommended for the playground. Hats may not be worn in school buildings. Sunglasses should not be worn in buildings or on the playground.
CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT FOLLOWING THE DRESS CODE:
• Parents may be called to bring clothing that is in compliance with the dress code.
• The student may choose appropriate clothing from the school “clothing closet.” The parent will be charged a nominal fee for the use of these items; but when they are returned, clean, the fee will be refunded.
• The student may not be allowed to participate in certain activities.
FESTIVAL DRESS
For assemblies we follow a more formal approach. We ask that students dress with the group in mind. Please follow the daily dress code guidelines for appropriate clothing. Because students are sitting on stage, long pants or skirts and dresses that are A-line, full, or pleated and are close to knee length are recommended. Shirts, tops, slacks, skirts, and dresses may be solid color or print fabric. Spaghetti straps or off-shoulder designs are not permitted. Neck ties or bow ties are appreciated.
GRADE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA DRESS
Traditional black-and-white orchestra dress, white shirts or blouses and black pants or skirts, may be required for some performances. The orchestra teacher will inform parents when this is required.
ELECTRONICS POLICY
Students may have cell phones in school if the phones are turned off and stored out of sight during the school day. Students must turn off cell phones before entering school buildings in the morning and may not turn them on again for any reason while they are on the campus until after 3:25 p.m.
Students must first ask permission to use their cell phones between 3:25 and 5:30 p.m. and stand outside buildings and away from the younger students.
Parents may send messages to students through the Main Office during the school day and can instruct students to check cell phone messages after dismissal each day. Cell phones that ring, vibrate, flash, send or receive text messages, or are used in any way during the school day will be confiscated and stored in the Main Office until the end of the school day, at which time it will be the student’s responsibility to pick up the phone again. While the school will make every reasonable effort to store confiscated items securely until safe return to the student or parent, CWS does not assume liability for any such item.
28 Students may not use personal listening devices of any kind on campus at any time unless otherwise instructed by a faculty member for educational purposes; this includes activities such as the Holiday Bazaar. If a personal listening device is brought to school, the student must turn the device off and put it away (including any headphones or ear buds) and must not turn it on again until he or she is off campus. Personal listening devices are also not allowed at extra-curricular activities or on school trips. This includes after-school sports. A student may not have a personal listening device (including headphones, or ear buds) out or on while he or she is under the supervision of a coach or other CWS faculty, even at an off-campus site. Any device used in violation of this policy will be confiscated and stored in the safest possible location at the discretion of the faculty member or coach. While the school will make every reasonable effort to store confiscated items securely until safe return to the student or parent, CWS does not assume liability for any such item.
Students may not use other electronic devices in school, on school trips, or at school-sponsored events without the specific, expressed permission of the faculty. “Electronic devices” includes but is not limited to cameras, televisions, video and DVD players, radios, laptops, PDA’s, Bluetooth devices, game systems, and handheld gaming devices.
When adults are on school grounds or on a class trip, they are asked to use any electronic devices with discretion. When adults are waiting for a child, they are asked to move away from other children to make a phone call or check email. If an adult is supervising children, they should wait until they can be alone to use any electronic device.
FIELD TRIPS & CLASS TRIPS
Classroom lessons are often supplemented with field experiences for our students. From a simple kindergarten trip to pick apples at a local orchard to a week-long adventure for eighth graders, CWS provides many opportunities for students to experience the world outside the school. Individual teachers make decisions each year on field trips for their classes; parental permission slips for field trip participation are necessary.
During two grade school years, the teacher takes his or her class on an extended trip, usually lasting a week, which has special significance for the student’s development.
THE EIGHTH GRADE TRIP
Waldorf students share a remarkable eight-year journey in the classroom, often with the same class teacher. To mark the endpoint of this journey and to give the students and their teacher an opportunity to share a challenging experience, eighth grade classes at CWS undertake an extended class trip. The trip provides these young adolescents with a sense of achievement in several ways: first, they have helped to pay for the trip through their own efforts, preparing and selling school lunches, vending their own handmade crafts at the Holiday Bazaar, etc.; second, trips provide a challenge, so that the students will have a sense of accomplishment and growth, much as adolescents in other cultures gain from initiation experiences; third, the trips provide each class with a chance to spend time together as a class, apart from the rest of the school community, as a culmination of their years here and before they go on to high school.
DRIVER VOLUNTEER INFORMATION FORM
If you intend to drive students on school-related trips, you must submit and maintain an updated and complete a CWS Driver Volunteer Information Form each year, showing that you have adequate liability coverage to the business manager, Cyndy Caughron. These forms are distributed at Back-to-School Nights and are available on the school website (http://www.cwaldorf.org/community/forms/) and in the Main Office.
ITEMS LEFT AT SCHOOL
Please label your child’s belongings so they may be identified and returned. Lost items should be looked for in individual classrooms or in the Lost and Found Bin outside the Pavilion.
HEALTH POLICY
Our Health Policy seeks to support community well-being by recommending preventive, proactive, even cautious 29 health measures and assessment when considering the readiness of your child(ren) for school participation.
In general, your child should not attend school if any of the conditions below are present:
• child is unable to participate in regular school activities due to general ill health • child has not been fever-free without the aid of medication for 24 hours • multiple instances of vomiting or diarrhea • lice are detected, and elimination treatment has not been applied • pink eye is diagnosed, and it has not been 24 hours since the first application of antibiotics • strep is diagnosed and it has not been 24 hours since the first application of antibiotics (also refer to fever-free policy)
Symptoms for parents and teachers to look for to identify illness, as recommended by VA DSS, include the following:
• fever greater than 101 F • severe coughing – child gets red or blue in the face • high-pitched croupy or whooping sounds after coughing • difficult or rapid breathing • yellowish skin or eyes • tears, redness of eyelid lining, followed by swelling and discharge of pus • unusual spots or rashes • sore throat or trouble swallowing • infected skin patches • crusty, bright yellow, dry, or gummy areas of skin – possibly accompanied by fever • unusually dark, tea colored urine – especially with fever • grey or white stool • headache and stiff neck • vomiting • severe itching of body or scalp or scratching of scalp
Any teaching or administrative faculty who observe possible signs of illness or potentially contagious disease will send your child to the Main Office for assessment, which may result in your child having to return home.
In this case, CWS expects parents to retrieve their child as soon as possible—no longer than 30 minutes, please. If this is not possible, we must be able to call upon extended family or friends to make this happen for the good of all.
Ultimately, your courtesy, consideration and community-minded approach will serve all and be graciously returned in kind.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE POLICY
Parents should report a physician-confirmed case of the following communicable diseases to the Main Office, at which point a health alert will be sent out via e-mail to the parent body.
• Chicken Pox • Conjunctivitis, Acute Bacterial (Pink Eye) • Diarrheal Diseases (Campylobacteriosis, E. coli O157, H7, Giardiasis, Salmonellosis, Shigellosis) • Fifth Disease (Erythema) • Hepatitis A • Hepatitis B • HIV Infection and AIDS • Influenza
30 • Measles (Rubeola, Red Measles) • Meningitis, bacterial (H. influenzae, meningococcal, pneumococcal) • Mumps • Norovirus • Pediculosis (Head Lice) • Pertussis • Ringworm of the Body (Tinea Corporis) • Rubella (German Measles) • Scabies • Streptococcal Diseases (Including Impetigo, Scarlet Fever, and “Strep” Throat)
MANAGEMENT OF HEAD LICE
A child found to have an active case of head lice will be Parents should remove nits from the child’s hair every sent home. Children may return to school only when day for next 10 days after treatment. no nits can be found. If the parent or guardian chooses to use a treatment other than a pediculocide, the child It is recommended that a child be retreated 10 days after must stay home until no nits are found. Ten days after initial treatment as immature eggs do not respond to the pediculocide has been applied, the child will be re- treatment. checked for nits. MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION POLICY Recommendations: The Commonwealth of Virginia mandates that we obtain a Written Medication Consent Form before we administer medication to your child during school hours. This form is available online and in the Main Office. This applies to over-the-counter medication (including sunscreen and bug repellent) as well as prescription medication. Parents must bring all medication and completed Written Medication Consent Forms directly to the Main Office in order to be accepted – do not send medication in with your child.
If your child needs over-the-counter medication (including sunscreen and bug repellent) during school hours, please follow these guidelines:
• Over-the-counter medication must be in its original container and be labeled with the child’s first and last names.
• Provide the Main Office with the Written Medication Consent Form (available online and in the Main Office) and the labeled over-the-counter medication. This form authorizes CWS to administer medicine for up to ten days without a doctor’s signature.
• Over-the-counter medication will be administered • Per Commonwealth of Virginia guidelines, all in a manner consistent with the directions for use permissions for long-term medication administration noted on the original medication packaging. If your must be updated at least every twelve months. instructions are not consistent with those on the original packaging, written instructions from the If your child needs prescription medication during child’s health care provider are required. school hours, follow these guidelines:
• If over-the-counter medicine is needed for over ten • Prescription medication must be in a child resistant days, a doctor’s signature is required on the Written container. It must have the original pharmacy Medication Consent Form (Note: this does not apply label that includes the child’s first and last names, to topical sunscreen and bug repellent.) authorized prescriber’s name; pharmacy name and phone number, date prescription was filled, name
31 of medication, route of administration, dosage of the medication, how often to give the medication, date the medication is to be discontinued or length of time in days the medication is to be given.
• Provide the Main Office with the Written Medication Consent Form (available online and in the Main Office) and the properly labeled prescription medication as noted above. This form authorizes CWS to administer medicine for up to ten days without a doctor’s signature.
• Prescription medication will be administered in a manner consistent with the directions for use noted on the original medication packaging. If your instructions are not consistent with those on the original packaging, written instructions from the child’s health care provider are required.
• If prescription medication is needed for over ten days, a doctor’s signature is required on the Written Medication Consent Form
• Administer the first dose of any new medication at home, unless the medication is an “in school” medication only.
• Per Commonwealth of Virginia guidelines, all permissions for long-term medication administration must be updated at least every twelve months.
If your child needs emergency prescription medication during school hours, follow these guidelines
• All emergency prescription medication (ie. Epipen, Albuterol inhalers, etc) must be accompanied by a “Medical Management Plan” written and signed by the child’s health care provider.
Self Administration of Medication
• Only allowed under special circumstances (usually only inhalers) with a physician’s order and under the supervision of the administrative chair.
• A medication order must be received from the student’s medical provider stating that self-administration is necessary and that the child is qualified for self-administration.
• Authorization, parental consent, and proper labeling do not vary from prescription medication standards.
• Each child who is allowed to self-administer medication should receive a pass that they must carry with them on school grounds at all times.
• Staff must be appropriately prepared for working with the student.
• Self-administration of medication is a privilege which can be taken away if medication policies are abused or ignored
PLEASE NOTE: Medications not retrieved from the Main Office within 2 weeks of the earlier of expiration of permission or the last day of school will be discarded.
RELIGION: A POSITION STATEMENT
CWS is affiliated with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the international community of Waldorf Schools. The goals of every Waldorf school are profoundly affected by the spiritual and moral values at the core of Waldorf education. The faculty draws on Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy for its insight into human development. The image of the human being that we seek to present, cultivate, and support is one of compassion, respect, strength, and joyful interest in the world.
CWS has no wish to impart any particular religion to the students, nor are services offered of any kind. However, the existence of the spiritual world is acknowledged in our daily work with the children.
CWS is open to children of all backgrounds, and the curriculum is rich in the histories and stories of many great religions around the world. Through their experiences in the classrooms and in the celebration of the seasonal festivals of the year, students are empowered to develop understanding and respect for the diverse cultures of the world.
Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, on Judeo-Christian traditions, the festival assemblies celebrate our common humanity, not our separateness in belief or practice.
32 Students from many religious and cultural backgrounds have been educated at CWS, finding their essential spiritual nature uniquely recognized and honored, with their personal/family beliefs respected.
LIBRARY POLICY
Please contact the librarian if you have questions about • The loan period will be for 1 month. Books may be library use, book donations, or would like to be a library renewed for another month if there is no hold on volunteer. In order to ensure that books are available to them. everyone, CWS has adopted the following policy: • Whenever a book is checked out of the library, an • Students currently enrolled at CWS and their parents, email will be sent to the parent’s address submitted who have a signed Library Agreement Form on file via the library agreement form. In order to keep with the office will be allowed to take out a maximum track of overdue or lost books, a list of overdue of 3 books at a time. Faculty and staff may check out books will be sent home monthly. If a book is lost, an unlimited number of books the replacement cost of the book will be charged
through TADS for students and parents.
NO PETS OR SMOKING ON CAMPUS V. Charlottesville Waldorf School Grounds Map
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