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Our admission process includes a 30 minute home visit and a 30 minute visit to the school. Parents are encouraged to observe before enrolling their child. In addition, at the beginning of second semester, re-enrollment packets for the next school year will be given to all currently enrolled students. Currently enrolled students and their siblings have enrollment priority for the next school year. Students who do not return their re-enrollment packets on time will lose their spot for the next school year to the next student on the Wait List. There is a non-refundable $50 application fee due with each enrollment packet. Students new to the school will be scheduled for an individual orientation meeting with the primary guide and parent/legal guardian either at the end of the summer or early fall. This orientation will preferably be a 30 minute home visit.
If you choose to withdraw your child from BMS, please give a minimum 2-week notice of your decision. If your child poses a threat to other children’s safety because of severe behavioral problems, this child will be permanently removed from our classroom. Unfortunately, a reimbursement for tuition is not available whether the school finds it necessary to remove your child from the classroom, or if you choose to withdraw your child from the school.
Children should not attend school with a fever, heavy runny nose, coughs, sore throat, pink eye, diarrhea or other symptoms of illness that may be contagious. If your child becomes ill at school, you will be contacted and asked to pick up your child immediately. Children must be fever-free, diarrhea-free, and vomit-free WITHOUT MEDICATIONS for 24 hours before returning to school. Please notify the school if your child has been exposed to a communicable illness. All preschool children are required by law to have an annual physical exam and current immunization records. If exempt from immunizations, a physician and both parents/legal guardians must state in writing with signatures the reason for exemption and that the child is in good health. Parents shall be notified in writing if non-immunized children are admitted to the school.
The Montessori classroom is based on children working spontaneously with materials that are self-teaching and self-correcting, allowing children to develop an inner discipline. When primary guide intervention is needed, we will use gentle words in hope of resolving the situation. At times, children need to take a break. They will be invited to find a space where they can calm themselves down and re-focus. This time will last as long as needed before the child rejoins the group. We do NOT permit any form of corporal punishment at BMS.
The first six weeks your child is enrolled at BMS will be seen as a trial period. If for any reason we feel we cannot meet the needs of your child, we will recommend alternative options.
Half-day children must be picked up by noon. Full-day children must be picked up by 4:00pm. Full-day children not picked up by 4:10pm will be signed into After-school care by the Extended Care primary guide. Families are responsible for all Extended Care charges. Emergency contacts will be called for half-day children not picked up by 12:10pm and for full-day children not picked up by 5:40pm. If a half-day child is not picked up by 12:30pm or a full-day child is not picked up by 6pm, authorities will be contacted. If you know you will be late to pick up your child, please make arrangements to have your child picked up on time by someone you have identified on your Authorized Pick Up form. In addition to Extended Care charges, a late pick up fee of $5 per minute will accrue beginning at 12:10pm for half-day children and 5:40pm for full-day children.
Throughout the year, we will have educational field trips that require transportation. For each trip planned there will be a permission slip that must be signed by parents/legal guardians. Parents will be asked to volunteer to drive and all children must be in age/weight-appropriate car/booster seats. The drivers must show proof of Driver’s License, Insurance and Registration for their automobile. If a child arrives past the scheduled leaving time, a note will be left on the school’s door with directions to our destination and the time of our expected return to BMS. Roll call will be taken before the children leave the school. It will be taken again after the children are in their designated vehicles, and again when we arrive at our destination. This process will be reversed for the trip back to school. We will also be taking continuous head counts and roll call. Children are expected to be on their best behavior in the vehicles. It is your responsibility to leave the appropriate car/booster seats at the school to be installed in the vehicle your child will be riding in. If there happens to be an accident, the vehicles will pull over to the side of the road and put on their hazard lights. Our drivers will be following each other and each car will have a cell phone. The situation will be assessed and 911 will be called if necessary. You will be contacted immediately. There will be a list of emergency contact information for each child and a first aid kit on each excursion. Staff and parents will keep the children safe and calm.
Often, we will be taking walking field trips around the town of Alma. These trips may or may not be announced. Parents/legal guardians are asked to sign a one-time permission slip at the beginning of the year for these excursions.
We would like to celebrate your child’s birthday in a special way. We ask that you prepare a special, healthy snack and bring photos with a brief biology for each year of your child’s life. Please join us for our birthday circle! If your child has a summer birthday, you will be asked to select a day near the end of the school year or on your child’s half birthday so that we may celebrate your child’s birthday during the school year.
At BMS, we enjoy celebrating and learning about holidays. Even though many holidays stem from religion, BMS is not religiously affiliated so we try to learn about as many cultures as we can. This is a great opportunity for parent involvement if there is a particular holiday you enjoy or by introducing us to your culture or your family’s heritage. Please contact your child’s primary guide if you have any concerns about your child celebrating holidays at BMS.