Information provided in
this FAQ is from the Parent Handbook.
The Parent Handbook should be considered
the proper source if a discrepancy exists
or if you have further questions.
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What are the School’s Admission Policy and
Requirements?
When does
class begin and the school end?
How does
the Car Line work?
What if I
am running late to Pick Up my child?
Who Can
Pick Up my child?
Car
Pooling?
What
about Dismissal from Lunch Bunch/After
School Enrichment?
What if
my child is sick?
What
vaccinations are required?
My child
needs Medication, can the school assist?
What
about Snacks or Lunches?
What is
the Dress Code?
How can I
Volunteer?
Classroom
Events
Parent
Teacher Fellowship
Does MES
have Fundraisers?
Are there
Field Trips?
When is
Tuition due?
What is the Visitor Policy?
Montessori Episcopal School (MES) admits students of any
race, sex, color, national and ethnic
origin to all the rights, privileges,
programs, and activities generally
accorded or made available to students at
the school. MES does not
discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national or ethnic origin in
administration of its educational
policies, admissions policies, scholarship
and loan programs, or any other school
administered programs.
For admission, we must have on file the
following documents:
-
Enrollment agreement for the current
year, signed by both parents/guardians
-
Emergency Information Cards with current
information (including cell phone
numbers)
-
Signed acceptance of School Policy
Handbook
-
Student Health Record accompanied by all
updated shot records
-
Current Vision/Hearing screening Records
(age 4and older)
-
Any special instructions/testing records
regarding behavioral, medical (including
allergies), or nutritional concerns.
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Class begins each day at 8:15 am. Prior to this time,
the staff is occupied with Morning Prayer
and class preparation. We ask that
no children (exception: staff
children on premise) enter the school
doors before 8:15. It is important
that we begin our day promptly at 8:15.
Late arrival
is detrimental to your child and
disruptive to the other children in the
classroom. Most classrooms begin
with important directions and lessons
outlining the day which late arrivals may
miss. Car line runs from 8:15 –
8:30. If you arrive after 8:30, you
will need to park and walk your child into
the school to be signed in as tardy.
For the safety of your child, do not allow
your child to walk into the building
unescorted. Please walk to the front
office (regardless of the location of your
child’s classroom) and sign your child in.
A member of our staff will then escort
your child to class. Sign in is only
necessary if your child is tardy, regular
roll and sign in/out is handled by your
child’s teacher. Records of
tardiness and absences are kept by the
teacher and will become part of your
child’s permanent record.
We encourage you to display a positive attitude towards your
child coming to school. The more
comfortable you are with your child
attending school, the more comfortable
your child will feel being here. It
is important to make goodbyes/separations
as brief and cheerful as possible, as your
child exits the car. All
classes, with the exception of the
Introductory Classes, should use the car
line for arrival and dismissal.
This not only allows for a smoother and
consistent transition for your child, but
allows the school halls/classrooms to be
free of traffic and interruptions.
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To enter the school for the car line, please enter from
College Parkway and drive behind the
school. Car line starts at the yellow
curb in front of the school and on busy
mornings will extend around the side of
the school along the playground fence.
The entrance to the school from Old
Orchard should be used for parking and car
line exit only. Please do not attempt
to enter the car line from Old Orchard, as
it would be disruptive to the car line
process. Car line drop off is
always one lane only along the
yellow curb. At dismissal, we form
two lines corresponding to the yellow
arrows. Car line dismissal assignments are
handed out at Orientation before the start
of school.
To facilitate a speedy dismissal in the beginning of the
year, while the teachers are still
becoming familiar with parents and
vehicles, we strongly suggest that you
write your child’s name in bold letters
with a magic marker on a paper plate or
piece of tag board. Display this on
your passenger windshield of dash board
clearly so that the teacher can see it. It
can be difficult to recognize a driver
through tinted windows on a sunny or rainy
day.
Your child’s safety is very important to us. During morning
drop off, school staff and volunteers are
outside during the car line to watch your
child enter the school safely (please make
sure tote and jackets, etc; are ready to
go, and that seatbelts/car seats are
unbuckled when it is their turn to exit
the car at car line).
For dismissal,
we ask that you stay in your car and
allow your child’s teacher to load your
child into your car.
If you get out of the car, your child’s
first tendency will be to run to you, and
we cannot have children running in to the
parking lot. If you need to speak to your
child’s teacher, sending a note in your
child’s tote so that she may call you may
be best. Long discussions at the car line
not only holds up the car line, but also
does not allow for the teachers to keep an
eye on the children. We ask that you
please supervise your child once they are
released to you- it only takes a second
for them to dash in to the parking lot
when a parent is otherwise engaged.
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It is in your child’s best interest that he/she be picked up
on time as some children become upset if
they are kept waiting. A late fee of
$10.00 will be charged beginning fifteen
minutes after dismissal time, with
$1.00 charged for each additional minute
thereafter. Please respect the
teacher’s class preparation time and
understand that some must leave school on
time to pick up their own children. If an
emergency arises, please phone the school
immediately and let us know if you have
been able to make alternate arrangements.
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The school must have in writing the names of people
whom you have authorized to pick your
child up (you have an opportunity to put
them on your Emergency Card at
Orientation). This includes babysitters,
grandparents, car pools, and other school
families. Please advise these people to
have their Driver’s License available -
this is standard procedure and will be
enforced for the safety of your child.
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The office, as well as your child’s teacher, must be informed
in writing of any regular car pools. This
note should detail which families are
picking up which children on certain days
as well as appropriate phone numbers. If
the children are dismissed at different
times, the car pool driver must pick each
child up in the appropriate car line.
If the children get out at the same time a
prior arrangement can be made with the
school regarding pick up.
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The Lunch Bunch Dismissal will occur from the designated
Lunch Bunch Classroom in the Parish Hall.
If your child attends Lunch Bunch,
dismissal times and procedure will be
discussed at the beginning of school. Make
sure to sign your child out before you
leave.
After School Enrichment Program (ASEP) Dismissal occurs in the ASEP classroom in the Parish
Hall. The door faces Old Orchard and has a
stepping stone walkway that leads up to
it. Knock loudly, as sometimes the
class is doing activities in the main area
of the Parish Hall and it might be hard to
hear you at the door. There is a sign out
sheet that must be signed when you pick up
your child. School closes promptly at 4:30
each day. A late fee of ten dollars
will be charged for late ASEP pick ups.
Please respect the staff as they have
plans to leave school at 4:30, and in many
cases, must leave to pick up their own
children (and may be charged a late fee
themselves if they are late!). Any family
that is late more than three times may be
asked to leave the ASEP program.
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Please understand that no matter where your child attends
school, there is always the risk of
getting sick. In order to keep the
children and staff healthy, we ask that
you keep your child at home if he or she
displays any of the following symptoms:
ü
Fever of 100 degrees or higher within the past 24 hours
ü
Vomiting or diarrhea (no matter what the cause)
ü
Swollen glands
ü
Green discharge from nose or eyes
ü
Rash (need a doctor’s note to return to school to indicate that the rash
has been identified)
ü
Nits/lice found in hair
Your child must be contagion free for 24 hours
before returning to school. This policy is
necessary in order to keep children and
staff healthy. If your child should become
ill during school, we will call you to
come and pick them up. Your child may not
return to school until he/she has
been symptom free for a minimum of 24
hours. Communicable diseases can
be minimized by keeping children at home
when they show signs of being contagious.
If you take your child to the doctor and
get a diagnosis, please call the school so
that we may inform the other parents of
the class. If we do not know the cause of
symptoms that occur, it is difficult for
us to keep contagious diseases out of the
school. Please communicate openly
with us about illnesses so that we may
work together to maintain a healthy
environment. Be realistic as well;
exposure to germs is a necessary and
common part of attending school.
In case of medical emergency, emergency medical services will
be contacted immediately. The child’s
parent and physician on record will be
contacted as well. First aid or CPR will
be administered where appropriate.
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The following vaccines are required as per the Texas
Department of Health prior to admission:
Ø
Hepatitis B – 3 doses before the age of
two
Ø
DPT – 4 doses before the age of two, a
fifth dose after the age of four
Ø
H influenza type B (Hib) – 4 doses before
the age of two
Ø
Inactivated Polio (IPV) – 3 doses before
the age of two, a fourth dose after age
four
Ø
Pneumococcal conjugate (Prevnar, PCV) – 4
doses before the age of two
Ø
Measles, mumps, rubella-MMR – 1 dose by
age two, a second dose after age four
Ø
Varicella – 1 dose before age two
Hepatitis A - 2 doses before age 2
Please supply the office with any documentation of your
child’s updated shot records.
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Medication is administered through the office. Please
come in to the office in the morning to
sign the Medication Authorization Form for
however many days the medication needs to
be administered. The medication must be in
the original container. Please do not
send medicine in your child’s tote. We are
unable to dispense/topically apply any
medication without the parent’s written
permission. If your child has any
special dietary concerns, allergies, or
asthma, please inform the school as soon
as possible so that we may compile our
Special Needs list before school starts.
There is a list compiled in the beginning
of the year and posted in the office and
each classroom so that all staff is aware
of the special needs of those students. If
your child has a condition such as asthma,
we prefer that you leave a prescribed
breathing treatment here at school should
an emergency arise.
Allergies
If your child has food allergies, please
list this information on the medical form
as well as informing your child’s teacher
so that we may compile our Special
Needs/Allergies list at the beginning of
the year. For children who cannot eat the
school snack, a snack from home may be
brought to school for them to enjoy along
with the rest of the class.
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Each class receives a morning snack that is provided by the
school. Generally, we offer a nutritional
snack in the morning served with juice or
water. An afternoon snack is provided for
the After School Enrichment program. Many
classes have opportunities for the
children to sign up for a snack day;
specific information about this will be
handed out by the teachers.
Lunches
If your child has lunch as a part of the
daily routine in his or her classroom,
lunch must be packed in a lunch bag that
fits inside your child’s tote. Hot or cold
food must be kept in a hot/cold container
as we do not have the facilities to
refrigerate or heat up food. Please send a
nutritious lunch for your child. We
encourage children to eat their lunch, but
will not force them to finish. Many young
children get distracted by classroom
friends and activity and do not place a
priority on finishing their lunch, so do
not be alarmed if their lunch is not
finished. We ask that children eat their
sandwiches and vegetables or fruit first,
and save any sweet treats for last.
Please refrain from sending your child to school with:
·
Umbrellas- we have them here if we need
them for the children
·
Toys, unless agreed upon with your child’s
teacher for Show and Tell
·
Money, wallets, purses
·
Backpacks- we have limited storage space,
thus we use the red totes
·
Candy, Fast Food, Soda
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Uniforms are worn by all children, excluding the Introductory
Classes. Our goal is to give your child
flexibility without compromising the
overall appearance of the school.
Uniforms are to be worn Monday through
Thursday, with Friday being a “uniform
free day”. On “free days”, children
should wear comfortable, appropriate
clothing for school activities and playing
outdoors. Please refrain from
clothing which bare the mid-drift or is
binding in any way. Girls should
wear shorts under any dresses or skirts to
preserve modesty. All clothing
should be easily manipulated and enable
your child to be self-sufficient.
Please refrain from allowing your child to wear the following
items:
-
Belts
-
Cowboy boots, clogs, flip-flops, or
sandals
-
Jewelry- especially necklaces which
could be a safety hazard on the
playground
Click Here to visit
Uniform page for details and uniform
resources.
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As explained in our Enrollment Agreement, each family is
expected to help with at least two school
events each school year. On Orientation
Day, you will receive a form detailing the
upcoming events and you will need to sign
up for which events you may be interested
in. We feel that parents’ participating in
the program sends an important message to
the children, and it fosters great
communication between the parents and the
school!
Click Here to view volunteer
opportunities.
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The teachers will let you know if there are any activities
during school that they may need help with
(i.e., a cultural presentation, special
lunch, etc.) However, it is
important for you as parents to know that
for each event, there need to be no
more than three volunteers
allowed per class. Not only
is there limited space in the classrooms,
but we would like all of the parents to
get a chance to help out with classroom
activities. Your child’s teacher will
inform you of upcoming activities for
which you may sign up. Please make
alternate arrangements for siblings as
many times if you are there to volunteer
to help for the class, having another
child with you takes away from your
duties.
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Please join this group of parents who do much to support our
school. The success of Montessori
Episcopal School is due in large part to
the hard work of this group. Each family
is expected to sign up for two
responsibilities/activities per year as
well as participating in fundraisers. This
may be helping with a parent work day,
annual fundraiser, etc.
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MES participates in several “no-brainer” fundraisers year
round. Without dipping into your
checkbook you can support MES with a
minimal amount of effort by:
