Top 20 Things to Know
The first week of school is in the books!!!! Hope it was enjoyable for you and your little ones. Our teachers and staff are always sharing helpful hints for transitioning our children (and ourselves) to life here at Annandale Cooperative Preschool. Here is an overview of 20 important things to know to ensure a smooth transition for your child from home to school.
1. Classroom Routines
Daily classroom routines are planned to help your child feel secure and gain a sense of order about the school environment. Your teacher has developed a unique schedule (daily sequence of events) to provide opportunities for both individual and group endeavors. The schedule is posted in the classroom and each parent should have received a paper copy at the mandatory classroom orientation. Please become familiar with the routine before you assist in the classroom for the first time.
2. Your Role as Teacher’s Assistant/Co-oper
Teacher assistants need to arrive at school no later than 8:45 am to help the teacher set up the room and prepare for the children’s arrival. The rest of the parents and children will not be allowed to enter the room before 9:00 am so please, no early arrivals! It is just as important to stay after school with your teacher until the last child has been picked up and the classroom has been closed for the day; plan on a 12:30 pm departure.
Talk to your child before you co-op about your role as Teacher’s Assistant in the classroom. Gently explain to your child that you are working with the teacher to help all the children at school. This means that you will have many jobs to perform that will take lots of your time. Tell your child up-front that you won’t be able to play only with them and that he or she will be the special helper of the day with important duties of their own. See the Primer for a further discussion on the subject.
3. Pick-Up Time
Pick up time is 12:15 pm sharp. Please be prompt so your child is not waiting while the teacher and assistant are packing up.
4. Confidentiality
While you’re working in the classroom, the behaviors of other children should be kept confidential and not discussed with other parents outside the classroom. However, you should always share your concerns with your teacher or, if necessary, with Marie Sloane, Director of Education. All qualified parents are required to sign a Statement of Confidentiality.
5. Universal Precautions
Diapering, toileting, and hand washing procedures are spelled out in detail in the Primer. We practice Universal Precautions at the Co-op, which encompass basic sanitary steps. When integrated fully into our school’s culture, these precautions can prevent accidental exposure to disease. All parents, legal guardians, and teachers receive training in universal precautions and are expected to follow the procedures. Learn where your teacher keeps the necessary supplies (plastic gloves, bags, etc.) in the classroom. It is important to model proper sanitation skills for the children. When washing your hands or helping the children wash their hands always turn the faucet off with a paper towel when finished. This avoids recontamination of the clean hands.
6. Bulletin Boards
Your teacher’s bulletin board is a key communication vehicle. Look on the board posted outside your teacher’s room for monthly co-oping schedules, news of upcoming areas of study, sign-up sheets for field trips, parent-supported events, and general classroom happenings. When parents read the board, they can help extend at home their children’s in-class experiences. Be sure to note changes on your teacher’s co-op schedule if you change your co-op service day. Teachers need to know in advance who to expect as their classroom assistant.
7. Attendance Sheets
All parents and caregivers are required to initial the attendance sheet when dropping off and picking up your child. The attendance sheets are located outside your child’s classroom. These attendance sheets are used to record daily attendance as well as in the event of an emergency. It is extremely important that these sign in/out sheets are accurate. If you see a highlighted space on the attendance sheet, that means you or your caregiver forgot to sign your child in or out. Don’t fret! Just initial over the highlighted area so that our records are spotless for our accreditation checks.
The attendance sheet is also the place the co-oping parent will record the snack brought for the day. The snack must be recorded before the other children arrive so parents/caregivers can be informed of what is being served that day.
8. Items From Home
Tell your child that the teachers at school have a firm rule: No toys from home are allowed in the classroom. Leave “lovies” in your car or outside the classroom on your child’s coat hook. Be sure your child brings a tote bag to school each day. Backpacks damage precious artwork when it’s folded to fit inside.
9. Change of Clothing and Classroom Dress
Your child will need a complete change of clothes for storage at school. This includes pants, shirt, socks, and underwear. Place this extra clothing in a plastic bag inside your child’s tote bag. It should be brought to school every day. Because the teachers are committed to letting the children learn by doing, they often get their clothes dirty. Please send your child to school in clothes that can get soiled or stained. Rubber-soled shoes work best for your child inside the room and outside on the playground. Wearing sandals, jellies, fancy dress shoes and jewelry is discouraged as it poses a safety risk.
10. Notes to the Teacher
Teachers are not allowed to release a child to an adult other than the parent or caregiver without express written authorization. See the Primer regarding standing carpool arrangements.
11. Illness
Do not send your child to school–or come to work at the school yourself–with any of the following symptoms: sore throat, fever (100 degree or greater), running nose (particularly from a fresh cold), persistent cough, diarrhea, or rash. If your child is too ill to go outside, please keep them at home. Call by 8:30 am, and let the school know that your child isn’t coming.
If your child or any member of your household develops a communicable disease such as chicken pox, fifth disease, head lice, German measles, strep throat, etc. you must notify the school’s Director of Health, Safety, and Transportation and Marie Sloane as soon as diagnosis is made. Please call her directly at 703-978-6127.
12. Allergies
Food allergies noted on the child’s health form are posted in the classroom. Food allergies are treated in several ways. If a child in the class has a dairy allergy for example, the parents in that class may decide to avoid serving milk-based snacks such as cheese and yogurt. Or the parent of the child with the allergy might choose to keep a long-lasting, non-dairy snack alternative in the child’s classroom that the teacher would serve in lieu of dairy.
Any allergies listed on the emergency form requiring medication (prescription OR over-the-counter) require completion of the Medication Administration Authorization form by a physician. This form is available from Marie Sloane, Director of Education. Please stop by the office to receive this form.
Due to severe nut allergies Annandale Co-op is a NUT FREE SCHOOL. No nut products are allowed inside the school at any time.
13. Healthy Snacks
Our state license requires that snacks offer items from two different food groups and if serving juice, only 100% fruit juice. If fruit is one of the two food groups in your snack then water must be served. A complete set of snack guidelines is presented in the Primer. Birthday celebrations are the exception to our healthy snack requirement. Cupcakes or another treat, in addition to a healthy snack, are fine to honor the special day. The sweet item must be served after the healthy snack has been served. You may serve snack on party plates. Party favors, hats, tablecloths, candles and balloons are not permitted. Your teacher can give you additional guidance and you can refer to the Primer.
The co-oping parent is required to bring the snack for the class on the day he/she is assigned as Assistant Teacher (co-oping parent) for the class. Guidelines for healthy snack suggestions are written in the Primer. Parents do not need to bring paper products to serve the snack to the children. The school owns sets of plastic cups and plates to be used in each class. It is the responsibility of the co-oping parent to take home the used plastic ware, wash it in the dishwasher and return it to school the next class day. Please remember to use the clean plastic bin provided to transport the clean plastic ware back to the preschool. Parents will provide napkins. This is a school wide effort to support our environment and reduce unnecessary waste.
14. Emergency Forms
Parents must be vigilant about keeping the contact information on their children’s emergency forms current. If any information changes please give the new information to the Director of Health and Safety as soon as possible so he/she can change the emergency forms. A Change of Information form can be obtained from Marie Sloane, the Director of Education.
On days you intend to spend your morning away from home, jot down the place you’ll be and a phone number on your teacher’s “Where Abouts” pad, which is located outside the classroom. Mention this information to the co-oping parent and/or teacher before leaving the school.
15. Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect
Under Virginia law, teachers or parents working in the classroom are required to report suspected child abuse or neglect. Co-oping parents who see or hear anything that leads them to suspect a child is being abused or neglected will contact Child Social Services directly. See the Primer for our specific policy. All qualified co-oping parents are required to complete the Child Abuse and Neglect training session. See the Parent Programs Directors, Dorothy Brady and Allison Laskowski, to receive information about this training.
16. Traffic Issues: Congestion
The entrance from Route 236 and the church driveway itself have been the sites of several near collisions and one serious collision. If you have to turn left from 236 into the driveway, visibility of oncoming traffic is very poor, particularly when cars are waiting on the other side of the highway to turn into the community college. For this reason, you must always wait for the green left-turn arrow before turning.
17. Traffic Issues: Parking Lot Protocol
Drive through counter-clockwise (with the the church and preschool building on the right hand side of your car). Park front-end in using only the spaces assigned to the preschool. No one can park in the center spaces of the parking lot. ONLY spaces on the perimeter of the parking lot that are next to the safety path are authorized parking spaces for preschool families. Please walk your children along the preschool safety path and in through our entrance. No one, including adults, is permitted to cut across the parking lot.
Don’t let children run ahead of you and open the front doors themselves—the doors are extremely heavy and close quickly. If you have other children along, please do not leave them alone in the car. Bring them in with you, have another parent watch them, or ask another parent to escort your preschooler into the building. Please review the parking lot requirements in detail in the Parent Primer. All parents and guardians transporting children to and from the preschool must be informed of these safety procedures. Please review these procedures with nannies, grandparents, or anyone else that will be bringing your child to or from the preschool.
The first three spaces closest to the preschool are reserved for the auction winners from last November’s auction. They paid a lot of money for the privileges to park there so please do not park in their spaces. These three spaces are marked “reserved.” The next two spaces are reserved for parents with very young children in car seats or pregnant moms. We ask that you avoid parking in these next two parking spots so they are available for new parents or pregnant moms. These spots are marked with a “stork” sign.
18. Traffic Issues: Special Stroller Parking Permit
One exception to the requirement that families park along the path and enter through the ACPS door can be made to accommodate stroller use for families managing multiple small children. If a stroller is necessary, a family is allowed to enter through the church main entrance from a specially designated parking area. To use the ACPS Staff Parking/Stroller Access Parking Area, families may submit a “Stroller Access Parking Permit” request to the Director of Education. Stroller Parking Permits are issued for 6 months and may be reapplied for once expired.
The ACPS Staff Parking/Stroller Access Parking area is the last parallel row of spaces nearest the ACPS doors, on the interior of the row. To maintain safety of the children, the path a stroller must follow to enter the school is from the ACPS Staff Parking Area/Stroller Access Parking is as follows:
- Families must walk children and strollers on the inside of the parallel row, away from the line of incoming traffic
- At the end of the parking row, families will use caution crossing in front of the ACPS traffic flow and up to the sidewalk ramp
- Follow the ramp and sidewalk into the church main entrance
19. Field Trips
Parents are required to sign-up to chaperone, drive, or both, one to two trips a year depending on how often the class meets. Under school policy, siblings may not accompany you and your child on field trips. See the Primer for additional regulations regarding field trips.
20. Health and Safety Issues
Safety is paramount at the co-op and we are proud of our excellent safety record. Please review the Primer for equipment safety on the playground and in the activity room. We have an excellent outsourced HR for schools.
In addition, state licensing requires that each class experience a fire evacuation drill once a month. Procedures are outlined in the Primer. The Director of Health, Safety and Transportation will also inspect the facility each month for safety infractions
It’s a lot to learn all at once, but soon the dos and don’ts will become second nature. Before you know it you will be reciting to new members the preschool protocols as you walk (not run) to school each morning.
Thank you for joining us this year and letting us play a role in your children’s lives.
