Family policies

We ask your written permission before we share any photo of your child, on this site, in newsletters or on social media, and you can change your answer at any time. We never put a child's name with a photo, and the photos on this site are examples until we replace them with our own.

Please keep your child home with a fever, a stomach bug or anything else that could pass to the group, and until your child has been well for a full day. If a child becomes unwell at school, we call you and ask you to come. Hand washing, which we do all morning on a farm, helps but does not replace staying home.

A child goes home only with the people on your list. An adult signs each child out at the gate, and we ask anyone we do not know yet for photo ID. If your plans change, tell us before pickup and in writing.

Pickup is at 1:00 pm. If you are running late, call the school and we will stay with your child in the schoolhouse. A pattern of late pickups gets a conversation with the director, and the details are in the family handbook.

Families pack a lunch and a water bottle, and the school offers a garden snack in the morning. Tell us about any food allergy when you enroll, privately, and we plan snack and lunch around it. Please do not send nuts, since children share tables and the animals are fed separately.

We close for the holidays and breaks on the school calendar, which families receive when they enroll. On a day of ice, a hard freeze or dangerous weather, the school may close or open late, and we tell families by text before 7 a.m.

We ask for a month's written notice before a child leaves, so that we can offer the place to a family on the waitlist. Moving away or a change of plans midyear is understood, and the director will talk it through with you.

Children do not use screens at school. Teachers keep phones put away during the morning, except to call a family or the office, and photos are taken only for families who said yes.

Dress your child for the weather and for the barn: closed-toe boots or sturdy shoes, long pants and layers you do not mind getting muddy. A spare set of clothes stays at the schoolhouse, so please label everything.