Pine Hill Waldorf School
Parent Handbook

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VI. Communications

• School Calendar
• The Tuesday
• The Forum
• Annual Report
• Parent Table and Box
• Friday Morning Teas
• Class Meetings
• Class Newsletters
• Contacting Your Child's Teacher
• Parent Questions and Concerns
• School Evaluation

The calendar is published in the spring for the following year and is sent to parents then and in August. The calendar is set by the Executive Committee with input from the PHA and Faculty. The State of N.H. requires that we hold 180 instructional days of school. In addition, we are asked to include 5 extra days to cover school closings due to weather.

The State allows all independent schools the freedom to interpret the word "instructional" in accord with their curriculum. Pine Hill counts events like class trips, evening performances or assemblies, the science fair and Christmas fair as all or part of an instructional day.

The school publishes a weekly calendar and newsletter called the Tuesday. Its purpose is to keep you abreast of school related activities, meetings and coming events. The Tuesday is sent home on that day with each family's youngest child. If another arrangement needs to be made, please contact the office.

Another newsletter, called the Second Tuesday, is a parent produced publication that is distributed on the second Tuesday of the month along with the Tuesday. It features brief community announcements and advertisements. Submissions cost $1.

The Forum is a publication distributed approximately five times during the school year. The editorial board consists of a faculty member, a graphic designer, and a parent. The parent, as editor, has primary responsibility for the editorial content and production. S/he also serves on the Publications Committee of the PHA. Each issue of the Forum features faculty-written and parent-written articles around a central theme. Also periodically featured are classroom news, student work, short summaries of Board, College, and Parent Council meetings, and articles on the various festivals. Theme and article ideas should be submitted to the editor.

An Annual Report is produced by the Development Office and is distributed in the fall of each year. It highlights school operations, finances, fund raising efforts, and classroom activities from the previous year and articulates plans for the coming year.

The Parent Table, located in the hall by the office, serves as a place for parents to exchange messages, leave items for a specific person, and pick up unclaimed kitchen articles left after a school event. (General interest brochures, flyers and pamphlets belong on the bulletin board across the hall from the office.) When possible, write the name of the recipient on any items left on the Parent Table and notify that person that the item is being left for him/her. It is also helpful to date the items. Periodically, for space reasons, items that have overstayed their welcome will be removed.

The wooden Parent Box on the Parent Table is the collection place for PHA business: surveys, votes and suggestions. Please feel free to put comments and suggestions in it. They will be read and processed by the Parent Council and shared with the Administrator.

Teas are held at school from 8-9:30 am on most Friday mornings for any parents who wish to attend. Discussions are often led by a staff member, a teacher or a member of the Parent Council on a topic of general interest. See the Tuesday for announcements.

Your child's class teacher will hold at least three class meetings each year. You are expected to attend them. These meetings will help to inform you about the ongoing work in the classroom, class trips, plays, school events, discipline issues and Parent Council initiatives. They are an important forum for teachers and parents to work together. If you wish to put an issue on the agenda, please speak with your class teacher at least a day or two before the meeting.

Class teachers write short newsletters to parents on a regular basis which are usually sent home with the Tuesday. They describe the current main lesson work, upcoming events and other noteworthy information.

Each fall your child's teacher will inform you of his/ her office hours during the week when you can make contact directly at school and or at home in the evening.

Phone messages to the teacher may be given to the receptionist, who will put them in the teacher's mailbox. In the case of an emergency, feel free to contact the teacher right away. If you phone the school during the day, the message will be conveyed as soon as possible.

Your questions and concerns are important to the school. We urge you to raise them through the appropriate channels.

• Your child's teacher is your first avenue of approach when you need to discuss your child, the class or the curriculum.
• Questions or concerns about school policies and implementation, teacher performance, or other serious matters should be brought to the Administrator who will act upon them or will channel them to the appropriate body in the school.
• The Administrator will take up your concerns as promptly as possible. S/he will work with you to resolve them in a given time frame and communicate in writing when the issue is closed.
• If you need help in addressing an issue of concern to you, you may call on the school's Advisory Committee. This committee, consisting of two parents chosen by the Parent Council and two teachers chosen by the College of Teachers, serves as a liaison between parents and faculty. The Committee's job is to help foster communication when there are parent or faculty concerns. Your class Representative to the Parent Council or the Administrator can put you in touch with the Advisory Committee.
• If you need support in deciding how to approach the school, contacting your Parent Council Representative can be a good first step. The Rep.'s job includes being a sounding board and a listening ear, and s/he can put you in touch with the Advisory Committee, the School Wide Issues Committee or the Executive Committee of the PHA. Although the PHA is not set up to handle individual parents' problems with the school, it is the responsibility of its committees to work with the school to channel parents' concerns to the appropriate place for a satisfactory solution.

We ask parents to evaluate their experience at the school and their relationship to their child's teachers on a form which we send out each spring with the reenrollment agreement. The Administrator reviews these forms which help to determine what improvements to make in the on-going life of the school.

V. School Procedures and Policies       Table of Contents       VII. School Standards