POLICIES

Introduction

The following information outlines our daily policies and procedures throughout the school year. Please refer to these policies along with the Parent Handbook and Contract Agreement, as most questions can be answered within these two documents.

School Calendar

The school calendar lists all school closures, most celebrations and early dismissal days. All celebrations are for all the students, so if a date falls on a day that your child does not attend, your child is still invited on that day for the duration of the celebration. We have two graduations, one for each classroom. The Preparatory Classroom’s graduation is the Thursday of the last week of school, in June, and this is their last day of the school year. The Primary Classroom’s graduation is the next day and the school will close at 1:00 p.m. Parents and family members are invited to attend the graduations.

Tuition, Fees and Other Dues

Tuition installments, other fees, and balances due are written on your sign in sheet. Payments should be placed in the ‘little house’ by the sign in book and checks made out to the school (BVMS for short). Cash payments are to be handed directly to a teacher and a receipt will be issued. Tuition installments are due beginning on the 25th of the current month for the upcoming month and should be paid by the 1st of the upcoming month. For example, the November installment is due on October 25 and should be paid by November 1. Please let us know if your payment will be late to avoid any late fee charges.

Arrival Routine

We will continue our arrival routine by saying goodbye to your child in the entrance room or Preparatory Classroom hallway. A teacher will greet your child and send or escort them to wash their hands and to their classroom. It is distracting for the students to have parents come into the classroom and can make goodbyes more stressful. If your child is having a difficult time please let a teacher know and we will assist you.

Sign In / Sign Out Procedures & Parent Log Book

Please make sure that whoever drops off or picks up your child signs in and out with a full signature. The sign in sheets will be set up per month and you sign beside the corresponding date, not the number of times your child attends. Notices may be attached to your sign in page; please take these when they are present. Any information that needs to be conveyed to your child’s teacher should be written and dated in the parents’ logbook located beside the sign in book. Absences should be called into the school or written in the parents’ logbook.

Drop Off / Pickup Times

The academic day begins at 9:00 a.m. Please be considerate and try to be on time. It is very disruptive to have children arriving after class begins, especially if circle has started. You can begin to arrive at 8:45 a.m., without paying any daycare fees; this helps ease congestion at 9:00 a.m. It is also important to arrive on time for pick-up. Depending on your schedule, you can begin arriving at 12:45 p.m. or 2:45 p.m. for pick-up. Arriving after 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. will be considered late and will result in a $10.00 per hour charge. This late fee will be added to the next month’s tuition installment for continued late pick-ups. Late pick-up after 4:00 p.m. will result in a $1.00 per minute charge.

Phone Calls

It is difficult to answer the telephone during classroom hours from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. You may leave a message that will be checked at 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m. If you have an emergency and need to reach us, call, let the telephone ring a couple of times, hang up and call back. Continue doing this until someone answers the phone. The telephone does not work on the upper yard so someone may or may not be available to answer the telephone from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Snacks

Snack schedules go out prior to the beginning of the month. If you do not receive a snack schedule then you are not required to bring in snack for that month. Each classroom has a different snack schedule. Snack should only consist of fruits and/or vegetables as suggested on the schedule. The snack should be washed and prepared for service. If you are unable to bring in snack on your scheduled day please let us know as soon as possible so we can make other arrangements or switch days with another family.

Lunches

We practice healthy and nutritious habits at school. We ask that lunches consist of healthy food, a drink and a cloth napkin or washcloth to be used as a placemat. Please do not send Sippy cups because they leak, other beverage containers may be used and please show your child how to open and close them if necessary. Cookies, chips, donuts, candy, chocolate milk, soda, and the like will be returned to the lunch box and sent home.

Birthdays

Birthdays are celebrated on or near your child’s birth date. The child makes a time line at school using our red and blue number rods and photos you provide. The day we celebrate the birthday, please bring in your child’s favorite book to be read at circle. Please do not bring in any special treats or favors to be passed out.

Classroom Cleanliness and Sickness

We try to work very hard to keep the school as germ free as possible. Our policy is to hand wash with soap and water. We do not use hand sanitizer on the children unless soap and water is not available. Also, we need your co-operation in keeping your sick child at home when they are ill. The pink parent handbook and contract agreement goes into more detail concerning our sick and illness policies.

Extra Clothes

Every child is required to have extra/spare clothes at school for any accidents or spills. Your child’s extra clothes boxes should be checked periodically to make sure the extra clothes still fit and are season appropriate. Also, if your child needs to borrow extra clothes from our supply please return them. If you would like to donate clothes we are happy to accept them and anything we do not need we will put in the green Campus California box by the entrance gate.

Safety Precautions Entering / Exiting School and Crossing the Road

Only adults are to open and close the entrance gate to deter children from running out of the gate unattended. The latch is high enough that most children cannot reach it. Please do not lift your child up to open it. Also, the greenbelt bordering Parktrail and Summerfield Road sometimes becomes a gathering place for the children and adults at pick-up. Please make sure you are keeping a close watch on the children and they do not run near any of the roads. The staff is no longer supervising the children once they are signed out. Parents can park on the north or south side of Parktrail, Please cross Parktrail at the corner in the crosswalk if you park on the south side.

Parent / Teacher Conferences

Formal Parent/teacher conferences are held in March. The school closes, one week, at 1:00 p.m. on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to accommodate the conference schedule. You will be given a written evaluation of your child that the teacher goes over during the conference the following week. We are also available to have a telephone or face-to- face conference throughout the school year if you have any concerns or questions concerning your child. We will not discuss concerns or issues in front of your child and will work with you to set up an appropriate time for such a discussion.