GENERAL POLICIES

General Policies & Information

Parent Obligations

Each parent is required to be on campus during the entire co-op day and participating in either the teaching or organizing of the days activities except for their one free hour for “Mom Time”. New families are not required to teach theirfirst year. We would like to encourage you to sign up to be helper in classes, get plugged into a Mom’s Time and committee and allow us to get to know your gifts and you to know ours before you commit to teaching a class. That said we do expect our helpers to actively participate in the planning and implementation of the class.

 Each teacher is expected to be on time to her class.  If you are teaching one class immediately following another, please be mindful of that 5 minutes so you are not late to your next class.

Information Center

There will be an information table in the foyer with a mailbox folder for every co-op family. A bulletin board for general WATCH information will also be posted nearby. Please check this area weekly for any updates and news concerning WATCH.

Emergency Procedures

In case of a fire, alarms will sound and all children should be evacuated along assigned routes to safe areas away from the building. Keep children as calm and quiet as possible. Move quickly, but do not run or allow children to run. All exits are clearly marked, and emergency exit routes are shown on wall maps in each room. All classes need to remain together with their teacher and facilitator.  Should we be unable to enter the building again, teachers and facilitators will need to remain with their classes until parents locate their children. In the event of an Tornado, everyone should immediately go under a table and assume the duck and cover position. It is important that you stay away from any windows and remain in the room until given further instructions.

Lunch

We encourage each family to stay after co-op for lunch, you can choose to eat outside in the enclosed play area or inside in the fellowship hall. If staying inside please let children know that they can play only in the gym. Each parent is responsible for their children and to make sure his/her children clean up after themselves.

Nursery Information

Please see the Nursery Coordinator for nursery policy details.

Bad Weather Closure Policy

In case of inclement weather, closure information an email will be sent to all members.

Emergency Contact

We are independent of the church’s operation and ask that you not call St. John's regarding co-op matters. Please address all inquiries to any WATCH officer.

Finances

It is our goal to keep our fees as low and easy to comprehend as possible. Therefore, all of the prices are per family, regardless of how many children attend.

GENERAL BEHAVIOR

General Behavior

 It is wonderful how God teaches us about ourselves through our own children.  Parenting can be the most humbling job in the world!  Everyone needs guidance, regardless of their age.  Here are some general behavior guidelines for everyone in our co-op. 

 1) When we meet for co-op or field trips please be mindful and aware of where your child is at all times, especially if your child is under the age of five.  This prevents accidents and putting another mother in the position of babysitting your child. 

 2) With regards to new families joining our co-op, please talk to your children about how they should treat new children.  Remind your child to notice and include the new children in class games or to sit with them at lunchtime.

 3) It is not permitted that children, or adults, use words like: stupid, dummy, idiot, shut-up, I hate you, etc…  In line with that thinking, all profanity is forbidden. 

 4) When correcting your child please use respect and gentleness when doing so.  It can be frustrating when your child disobeys but please do not humiliate him in front of his peers.  Gently and privately go to a different area and deal with the situation there.  This shows respect not just to your child but to everyone around you as well.

 5) Children may not run inside any of the buildings.  In addition, rough behavior in the hall is not allowed, as the sound carries to the rooms and can be very distracting to those working in the church. 

 6) All classrooms should be left in better condition than they were found.  This means that, at the end of the class period, ALL children and adults are responsible for pushing in chairs, returning tables to their original places (if they were moved), white boards cleaned, and trash picked up from the floor.  If you are the last class in a classroom for the day, please have one of your students remove the trash bag from the trash can and take it to the large trash cans in the kitchen. 

 7) Please park on the back side of the church and enter through the back doors.

 8) Hitting, kicking, spitting, biting, etc. to or by adults or children in our co-op is strictly prohibited.

 9) Please be sure to clean up any messes made in any of the rooms or on the church grounds.  This includes, but is not limited to, lunch, snack messes, class materials, and personal supplies.

 10) Food or drink is NOT allowed in any room that has carpet unless it is part of a class lesson.

 11) If you find that you will be absent from a class for any reason, it is YOUR responsibility to call your class helper to let her know she will be teaching the class that day. 

 12) Because of liability issues, climbing trees on the church grounds is not allowed.