School Policies
Mission Viejo Montessori School takes and records attendance daily in all classrooms. If you are taking your child out of class for a medical or dental appointment, please notify the office and your child’s teacher. In the primary classroom, if an absence is unexcused, the teacher will establish close supervision of the child’s attendance practices. If unexcused absences continue, the school may have to ask the family to withdraw.
Beginning the school day on time allows your child to participate in valuable social interaction and learning experiences, which they would otherwise miss. This is especially important for Kindergarteners and Elementary students, as chronic tardiness can affect your child’grades. It also helps in the child’s full participation and enjoyment of school. Circle time, when teachers introduce new classroom activities to the group, begins at 8:30 a.m.. We ask that students arrive by 8:25 a.m. so they can easily join the group activities. If you arrive late and the program is already in session, please say goodbye quietly before your child enters the classroom so the class is undisturbed. Your child can then join the group without any disruption or embarrassment. When you must arrive late, please notify the office so we will know whether to count your child for the day’s activities.
In the event your child will be absent due to illness or vacation we ask that you notify the school as soon as possible. When you call to report your child absent, we will ask you whether your child is ill. If your child has an illness of a highly contagious nature, such as Strep throat or chickenpox, we will notify the teacher and parents of other students. Children must stay out of school until symptom free for 24 hours for the following list of illnesses/symptoms:
We have taken into consideration the fact that children occasionally miss some school days. We considered this absentee rate before setting tuition rates. Thus, we do not pro-rate for absences.
Please prearrange extended absences from school for reasons such as family business or travel with the Director. Tuition installments must be paid in advance to hold the child’s place in a class.
The State of California requires that children be in good health to attend school. There will be an informal health check of each child as they arrive at school. If a child becomes ill during the day, a parent must take him or her home within an hour of being called. Children’s behavior can suggest illnesses when combined with fever, diarrhea, several loose bowel movements, unusual mucus discharge, deep coughing, or other symptoms. Children must remain home for 24 hours after a normal temperature has returned before returning to school.
The school is required to have at least two (2) emergency contacts listed besides the parents or guardians. In case of a medical emergency, the school staff will be in charge until the parent arrives. Parents are responsible for all costs. We take children out of class immediately upon determination of illness. The teacher brings the child to the front office and endorses him/her to the staff in charge until the parent arrives to pick-up his/her child.
California law requires Mission Viejo Montessori School maintain up-to-date medical records including immunizations on all of the attending students. The immunization records maintained at school should be updated annually. For a list of required immunizations by age, please ask at the front desk. A child whose family chooses not to immunize due to religious faith must sign the waiver on the state immunization form.
School staff is prohibited from administering medicine, prescription or over the counter, without a doctor’s prescription. If your child must take a medicine while attending school, you must fill out and sign a permission slip. There is a space in your child’s Health History form to list allergies and chronic illnesses. Please fill this out carefully.
A letter from the child’s health practitioner must accompany medication for chronic illness or allergies. The letter must state the symptoms that would require the medication to be given, the exact dosage amount, times to be given and the number of days to be given. This letter and a signed Parent’s Medical Release form must be on file for your child. Mission Viejo Montessori School reserves the right to refuse to administer any medication we believe we are unqualified, inadequately staffed, or untrained to administer.
Naptime is a routine made easier for children when they follow a regular schedule. As children mature they begin to give up their nap. Thus, some students do not nap but do continue to have a short rest time before engaging in interesting activities. These children should bring a small beach towel in a labeled pillowcase to rest on. The school provides cots for the parent’s convenience, but require parents to bring a blanket and crib-sized sheet or small sleeping bag (stored in a labeled pillow case) for the child to nap with. These are then sent home every Friday to be washed. At least 2 teachers with 24 children put them to sleep, and we follow a teacher-child ratio of one teacher supervising 24 napping children if all children are napping. The classroom is converted into a nap room for the classes that do nap (Toddlers and Preschool).
Children will have many opportunities to participate in sharing. Mondays are sharing days and children may bring an item to share that represents a recent special event or something from their cultural background.
The School is enriched with many activities and carefully selected Montessori Educational Materials, which fill your child’s day. Please leave personal toys and playthings at home. Precious items, such as jewelry or hand quilted baby blankets should also remain at home. The school is not responsible for items that may get lost or broken. Toys of aggressive nature are discouraged.
We help your child celebrate his or her birthday with their classmates at school. Our special celebration shows how our natural world extends a loving welcome to each child born on earth. We invite you to send pictures of the birthday child at each year of life. We use this pictorial time line to help understand the meaning of birthdays. You may send a special treat for the class if you wish. Please no balloons, party favors, or entertainment. We ask parents who wish to send invitations for home parties to use the sign-in sheets in the front lobby. This spares the feeling of children they do not invite.
Many children and teachers enjoy contributing a book to Mission Viejo Montessori School Library in honor of their birthday. A nameplate is placed inside the book with your child’s name. The purchase of a library book is a special gift and a legacy for many future students.
Please label everything that comes to school with your child’s full name. Items forgotten by the children are kept in a lost and found bin for one month. Articles left for more than one month will be donated to charity.
Discipline in the Montessori classroom is established for the child by giving them an environment that encourages them to move freely about and choose activity. We teach children to respect each other and their environment in an atmosphere of joy and caring. Courtesy and grace are modeled for the child by the staff.
Misbehavior is redirected into positive action and children are encouraged to express themselves verbally. Occasionally, a child may need time to collect his or her thoughts and feeling. When this happens, the teacher may invite the child to choose between participating in an activity and taking “time outâ€? with an open invitation to return when the child feels ready to join in with the others. When circumstances involve recurring behavior difficulties, we may ask that you work with the school toward redirecting your child’s misbehavior. Physical punishment is never used.
As children grow and develop, they sometimes go through difficult stages. One example is toddlers’ biting. This behavior is part of natural development and may be unrealized, often accidental, or sometimes provoked. The staff readily handles harmful behavior by preventing the situation or by redirecting the child into positive activity. On occasion, a child may have extreme difficulty and may repeat the behavior in spite of being redirected. If the child repeats a harmful behavior three times during the day, that child will be sent home for 24 hours to protect other children in the group. Continued aggression may result in a request that the parents withdraw from the program.
Mission Viejo Montessori School will report all accidents occurring on the school grounds to the parent. All staff members are trained in first aid and will administer first aid as deemed appropriate. If your child has had a serious accident away from school, such as a hit on the head, bruises, cuts, sprains, or broken bones, you must report it to a staff member when your child arrives at school. Law mandates that Mission Viejo Montessori School report any signs of child abuse to the authorities.
Mission Viejo Montessori School follows the major holidays observed by both the Capistrano Unified and Saddleback Unified school districts. These holidays include but are not limited to the following:
In addition to the standard holidays, Mission Viejo Montessori School also is closed for Teacher Inservice Days and the Annual Montessori Conference.
Please see the Current Calendar for this year’s holidays.
Mission Viejo Montessori School holds fire drills and earthquake drills regularly. We also stock the school with emergency supplies, which we rotate and check frequently. We will supervise children at the school until parents arrive or for a maximum of 72 hours following a major earthquake or disaster. After this time, we will take the children to the nearest central disaster site. The nearest public school is traditionally chosen as a disaster site. The closest public school for us is Montevideo Elementary School. It is located at 24071 Carrillo Dr. in Mission Viejo. This is where additional assistance and counseling will be available. We request that parents leave an out-of-state contact person on the designated place on the ID emergency form. We also suggest that an envelope containing a letter to your child and a family picture is kept on file in case of a disaster.