South Jordan Montessori Parent Handbook

Arrivals/Departures

Enter the subdivision on Bonanza Way (2 streets North of Bonanza Court), drive around the horseshoe until you are in front of the school facing East.  If you arrive within the drop off or pickup time frames (8:50-9 a.m and 12:00-12:10 p.m. for morning. 12:30-12:40 p.m. and 3:30-3:40 p.m. for afternoon) a teacher will help your child out of or into your car.  If you arrive after your student’s session has already started please bring your child inside to assure your child arrives safely at school.  During pick up, once your child is in the car, please pull forward 2 or 3 houses before you help your child fasten their seat belts so the line continues to move forward.  If you need to talk to a teacher, please pull forward and wait until we have the other children in their cars.  School is held Monday through Thursday.  The school entrance is down the stairs to the right of the driveway.  It will take us a couple weeks to learn your face and car, please be patient with us.  Please notify us beforehand if you have made arrangements for an alternate driver to pick up your child and remind them to provide identification.

Late Fees

If you are going to be late picking up your child (after 12:10 for morning session, after 3:40 for full day/afternoon), please notify us ASAP.  If you are more than 5 minutes late, there is a $5 charge for every 5 minutes late after 12:15 (morning) or 3:45 (full day/afternoon).

Tuition

There are several different options to pay the tuition for the school year.  Tuition may be paid in full at the beginning of the year or split into 9 monthly payments.

Enrollment is for the entire academic year. No credit is given for days missed due to holidays, vacations, or illness. Monthly installments are due on the 1st day of each month. A late fee of $5 per day is charged for unpaid balances after the 5th of the month.  Tuition that is 30 days past due may result in termination of enrollment until payment is received.  If enrollment begins during the school year, the annual tuition will be pro-rated for days remaining and the monthly installments will be adjusted accordingly.

Payment of fees and total annual tuition may be made by check, cash, money order, venmo or PayPal.

A $25 fee will be assessed for returned checks.

Discounts

A Sibling discount of 10% is applied to the tuition of any younger sibling(s).

Attendance/Missed Days

Please understand that it is not possible to discount tuition for illness, vacations or other missed days.  We are holding a space open for your child and we continue to have our committed expenses of running a school.

Parent Conferences and Communications

Our teachers will make every effort to maintain a close personal relationship with parents/guardians to enable us to effectively meet the needs of each child.  Every child is on their own path and we will do our best to inform you of any concerns or accomplishments as they arise.  We send home two student assessment each school year which gives details of your child’s developments.  If you would like a parent-teacher conference at any time we will be happy to schedule one with you, just let us know.

Please remember that teachers need to give their full attention to the children during school hours to provide a quality educational experience.  If you wish to talk at length to a teacher, please schedule a time outside of school hours and after pick/up drop off are over to do so.  We will be happy to talk to you .

In the event that a significant change occurs in your home, please consider informing us as soon as possible.  All information will be regarded as highly confidential.  We will be in a much better position to meet your child’s needs if we are kept up to date on any major adjustments in his or her life.  Common causes of distress include; either or both parents being away from home for an extended time, a new person living in the home, illness in the family, accident or death in the family, separation or divorce, death of a pet, etc.

Parent Volunteers

Our school depends heavily on volunteers to provide our students with enrichment activities.  Also, our field trips are often possible because of parents willingness to be volunteer drivers.  We are always in need of reading help, cleaning and with arts and craft activities.   If you have a particular skill such as photography, ceramics, puppetry, ethnic customs, sewing, baking, dance/tumbling, carpentry, music, etc., that would be an excellent way to contribute towards our student's education.  Please come and share your knowledge with the children.  Exposure to such activities  broaden our children’s knowledge of the world they live in.

If you are able to come volunteer, there will be a sign up sheet available during our Back to School Night.

Social Media

Our school has social media accounts with Instagram and Facebook.  We would also REALLY appreciate you liking or reviewing your experience with us on Facebook,  Google +, Yelp or Greatschools.

Parent Observation

You are welcome to observe your child at work in our school.  Please email to schedule a day that would work.  At the beginning of the school year, parent observation is usually not encouraged until the children are normalized (this usually occurs sometime after the first six weeks).

Preparing Your Child For School

TV/ Screen time

We notice a significant difference in the progression and behavior of children whose parents limit their screen time compared with (to) children who have significant screen time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following:

•  For children younger than 18 months, avoid use of screen media other than video-chatting. Parents of children 18 to 24 months of age who want to introduce digital media should choose high-quality programming, and watch it with their children to help them understand what they're seeing.
  •  For children ages 2 to 5 years, limit screen use to 1 hour per day of high-quality programs. Parents should co-view media with children to help them understand what they are seeing and apply it to the world around them.
  •  For children ages 6 and older, place consistent limits on the time spent using media, and the types of media, and make sure media does not take the place of adequate sleep, physical activity and other behaviors essential to health.
  •  Designate media-free times together, such as dinner or driving, as well as media-free locations at home, such as bedrooms.
  •  Have ongoing communication about online citizenship and safety, including treating others with respect online and offline.

We have observed these recommendations may seem difficult  to follow.  However, we strongly request that you not allow your child to have any screen time in the 1-2 hours prior to attending school. Children who have screen time prior to attending school take longer to transition and have a more difficult time normalizing in the classroom.  If you are having behavioral problems at home or if we are seeing them at school, one of the first things we will recommend is limiting screen-time to be in accordance to what professionals recommend.  Keep in mind screen time includes all computer, ipad, ds, tablets, Nintendo, cellphone, tv, etc. use.

What to Wear to School

Consider your child’s comfort and independence in using the bathroom---and provide clothing that is easy for your child to get on and off by him/herself.

Consider not making it to the bathroom in time.  Overalls, tight pants, snaps and buttons are all very challenging.  Children appreciate elastic waistbands that are easy to pull up and down and give them a sense of independence.  A labeled change of clothing is required for each student.  Please label a gallon ziplock bag for the extra clothing (shirt, pants, underwear and socks) with a piece of masking tape on each article with your child’s name.
Consider using messy art materials---and provide clothing that is easily washed.

Consider how you would feel playing outdoors in cool autumn/spring and cold winter weather---and provide your child with a warm sweater/jacket, coat, hat, mittens and boots as the weather indicates.

We enjoy going outside and experiencing all kinds of weather. If a gentle snowstorm is expected, we love to go out and experience it – send snowsuits/pants.  Of course we will always be safe and stay indoors in extreme weather

Please provide a child sized backpack in which your child can carry  items and work to and from school.

Please put a permanent label on each of your child’s coats, sweaters, jackets, snow clothes and backpacks.  This will help prevent the collection of unlabeled, unclaimed clothing the school acquires.

Health Procedures

Your child’s health is very important to all of us.  Colds, the flu and other contagious diseases are a serious problem for preschool children because they (can) spread so rapidly.  There are only a certain number of things we can do to prevent illness from spreading.  You can greatly aid in keeping students healthy by not bringing your child to school when he/she is ill or just not feeling well (which can often be the most contagious time for an illness).  Please notify the school promptly if your child has been exposed to a contagious condition such as chickenpox, head lice or Covid.

We will be following CDC guidelines when it comes to Covid procedures and protocols.  If your child is sick, please keep them home.  If they develop symptoms at school or we notice they were dropped off with symptoms, they'll be removed from the classroom and we'll call you to come get them.  We recommend having your child tested if they exhibit any of these symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat or a runny nose.  If a student happens to test positive for Covid-19, students who were less than 6 feet away from that student for more than 15 minutes will have to choose from the following options: quarantine at home for 10 days, quarantine for 7 days and return to school on day 7 with a negative COVID test, wear a mask at school for 10 days (as long as your child has NO symptoms) or wear a mask for 7 days and stop wearing a mask on day 7 with a negative COVID test.

Be sure to keep your child home if he/she has had a fever within the last 24 hours, a cold, cough, sore throat or runny nose.  If a child appears ill upon arrival at school, or becomes ill during the day, the parent/guardian will promptly be notified to pick up your child.

If your child has been out of school due to illness, we ask that you consider whether he/she is well enough to be outdoors before you send him/her back to school as utilizing the outdoors is an important part of our program.

Birthdays/Snacks

If child’s birthday is important to him/her we will celebrate it during school unless requested not to.  If your student wishes to provide a treat or snack to share with classmates, please let us know

If a student wishes to invite classmates to parties or arrange a playdate we will be glad to provide contact information upon request.  Please refer to this when sending invitations for home parties.  We are unable to distribute selective invitations to classmates as feelings are easily hurt.

Student of the Week

A signup sheet will be provided during Back to School Night for a week in which your child will be spotlighted and will provide a snack for his/her classmates which will be shared in a formal snack setting.  We also ask that you help your child choose out a bouquet of flowers to donate to the classroom during their spotlight week.  Flower arranging is a work we like to keep out year round and the children love making their classroom beautiful with fresh flowers.

Admissions

South Jordan Montessori School currently accepts children of ages 2.5 to six for all day or a morning or afternoon session.  Children enrolled in the Early Childhood program are expected to be toilet trained prior to enrolling and mentally, physically and emotionally able to participate in the program.

Withdrawals

Children are enrolled for the entire traditional school year or the balance of the school year.  We request that you give the school thirty days notice to withdraw your child from our program.  Withdrawal without thirty days notice will not receive any tuition reimbursement for the remainder of that month.

When a child begins our program, he/she begins a trial period of two to six weeks, during which time teachers and parents evaluate the placement.  Though rare, it is sometimes evident that a child is not yet ready or able to fully benefit from the program, and in this case we may request the withdrawal of the child.  We will refund the portion, if any, of the tuition payment remaining, after deducting the daily amount for each school day enrolled.  At a later date, when the child is ready, we would welcome him/her into the program.

Discipline

Students are taught conflict resolution skills and using the peace rug is an essential work that our students are encouraged to do.  The teachers assist and encourage all the students to keep each other safe and to exhibit kindness toward others as well as the animals and materials that are in their learning environment.  If a student continually struggles with staying in their space and/or keeping others safe after several requests from peers/teachers we will meet with you as well as your child to discuss possible solutions that may be implemented to help your child feel at peace as well as exhibit peace toward classmates.  Upon occasion, children may be asked to go home for the remainder of the day if they are not feeling safe at school and for some reason hit/harm another student and are invited to return the next day. Students may also be placed in their own safe space or asked to remain by a teacher for a short period of time to ensure that fellow students remain safe.

Cancellation of Classes

Should weather conditions cause closure of the public schools, South Jordan Montessori School will also be closed.  If it becomes necessary to close the school for some unforeseen condition, we will notify you to please come and pick up your child.

Class Pictures

School photographs will be taken in the spring.  You will be notified in the monthly calendar of the date on which the individual and class photographs will be taken.  We will be taking and posting pictures of your children on our Instagram and Facebook account and those images may be used for promotional purposes.  If you do not wish us to do this, please inform us.

Outdoor Activities

Our students go outdoors almost everyday.  We require that students come in weather appropriate attire and that you send them in rain/ snow gear when appropriate so that they can enjoy their time outdoors.  Our outdoor area includes a trampoline, chickens, trees to climb, sand box, bike path and play areas with play structures, an orchard with plum, apple, pear, and apricot trees.  There is also a vineyard and garden.  By enrolling your child in the school, you agree that your child may participate in said activities, and you understand that there is an inherent risk of injury associated with those activities and our school cannot be held liable for any injury or accident unless caused by our staff’s negligence.  A note will be sent home at the beginning of the school year if your child is for some reason unable to participate in any of the above outdoor activities which must be signed and returned so that we are aware of the situation.  Of course, we always do our best to implement safety procedures so that the risk of injury is minimized.

Field Trips

Part of our school’s curriculum includes monthly field trips.  We rely on parent volunteers for field trips and our students love it when their parents can accompany us.  Your student will ride in a private vehicle to go on the field trip. We require background checks for any parents that would like to volunteer to drive children other than their own on field trips. Please send your student with a booster seat on the day of the field trip and ensure they have everything they need for the field trip.

Snack, Lunch & Water Bottles

Due to Covid, we ask that you send your child with a healthy snack and a LABELED re-usable water bottle each day.  Please send snacks in a LABELED re-usable container/tupperware,  so they can save their snack for later and/or take it home if they don't finish it (less plastic in our environment too).  🙂

Our student of the week is responsible for providing a healthy snack for students on Wednesday of the week they are spotlighted so you don't need to send a snack with your child on Wednesdays.  Our school does a Baking Day once a month where the children will prepare a recipe to eat (cookies, breads, soups, rolls etc.).  Upon occasion students are invited to bring a snack for special activities or field trips and we ask that healthy snacks and lunches be sent on those days.  Children staying all day will need to pack a healthy lunch every day.