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.