Welcome all new and returning families to the 2013/2014 school year! We are very excited to meet our new students and look forward to a great year ahead. Below is important information for the coming year. The Parent Handbook and Directory will be available after the first week of school.
First days of school...
High School: Begins Tuesday, September 3rd
Lower School: Begins Wednesday, September 4th
The Rose Ceremony will be held Wednesday, Sep. 4 at 8:30 am. All are welcome to attend this very special ceremony. High school seniors welcome their special friends into the first grade with a rose. This will be followed by a Welcome Tea. All parents are invited!
Early Childhood Center: Begins Thursday, September 5th.
Plan to arrive by 8:00 am and no later than 8:15 am. Please stay for a Welcome Tea to meet fellow parents and enjoy our community.
New Family Orientation: Saturday, September 7, from 10 am to noon, in the Eurythmy Room.
Basic School Information
School Hours:
High School Grades 9-12 8:00 am - 3:15 pm
Lower School Grades 1-2 8:10 am - 2:30 pm
Grades 3-8 8:10 am - 3:15 pm
Nursery/Kindergarten ECC Students should arrive no later than 8:15 am. 8:00 am - 3:00 pm
After School Care
Grades Nursery through Grade 12
Until 6:00 pm (5:00 pm on Early Dismissal Days - see school calendar)
Office Hours: During school days: 7:45 am - 4:00 pm (until 3:30 Wed. only)
School Holidays: Please refer to our School Calendar at www.highlandhall.org.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL DAY:
Early Childhood Center Drop Off
• 8:00 - 8:15 am Arrival time
• ECC parents must accompany their children to the classroom to sign them into their nursery or kindergarten class
Lower School Drop Off & Attendance
• 7:55 am - Arrive (time for traffic circle/parking)
• 8:05 am - Grades 1-8 line-up at door
• 8:10 am - Grades 1-8 begin
Lower School Tardy Policy
Students arriving after the morning bell must go to the main office to receive a tardy slip. Tardiness to any class is disruptive to the lesson and to other students. Students are allotted 10 tardies for the year. Please make whatever arrangements or adjustments that are necessary to get your child to school on time every day.
Lower School Absence
• Calling in an Absence: If your child must stay home for the day, please report the absence by 8:00 am to the Registrar at 818-349-1394 x202.• Excessive Absences: please refer to the parent handbook (available on our website) for details on our absence policy.High School Drop Off & Attendance• 7:45 am - Arrival time (please arrive early to avoid last minute congestion in the traffic circle.)• First bell rings at 7:55 am• Class begins at 8:00 am
High School Tardy Policy
• Students arriving late must go to the High School Office to receive a late slip. Please see the High School Handbook on our website under "Students" for the High School Tardy Policy.High School Absences• Calling in an Absence: please report absences to the High School Office at 818-349-1394 x201.
Health Issues
Please inform the Registrar (at 818-349-1394 x202) if your child has any communicable health issue or serious health condition that the school should know about.
Lower School & High School Pick Up
Grades 1 & 2 are excused at 2:30 pm from class and remain on the Little Yard. Children may be picked up by a parent at this time from the Little Yard. At 3:00 pm, Grades 1 & 2 are shepherded to the Middle Yard. As parents arrive in the Traffic Circle, the Traffic Director will call for those children to come to the traffic circle.Grades 3 - 4 are excused at 3:15 pm from class and remain in the Middle Yard if they are not being picked up immediately.Grades 5 - 12 are excused at 3:15 pm from class and remain on the Big Yard or basketball courts near the high school.
--> No Pick Up at The Bottom of Hill
Students are not allowed to meet their rides along Superior Street as the school does not provide supervision in that location. Parents are asked to cooperate with the school's efforts to keep students at the top of the hill until they are picked up.
Note: The Traffic Circle is a No-Parking Zone. Do not leave your vehicle unattended in the traffic circle.
Hot Lunch Program
Choicelunch, our lunch provider, offers a wide selection of healthy boxed lunches, including gluten-free and vegetarian options. The Choicelunch meals are convenient and affordable: a regular size meal is $4.80; a large size meal is $5.50. (Drinks are not included.) Orders must be submitted by 9 am the school day before lunch is to be served. Last minute lunches can be ordered (by 6 am the day of) for an extra $1. We have a few extra hot entrees to be used in the event a child has forgotten their lunch. Emergency lunches are only availble to families who are enrolled in the Lunch Program, so we encourage all families to sign up whether or not they intend to use the program regularly.
To sign up, go to www.choicelunch.com. Our school code is "highlandhall." For more details about our lunch program visit our website: www.highlandhall.org under Campus Life.
After School Care ("ASC")
Early Childhood Center - After School Care ("ASC") is held in the Kindergarten and is attended by the afternoon teachers. ASC officially begins at 3:00 pm when the children remaining are gathered for a short story/ring time. We ask that you not disturb this "quiet" time. The door/curtains will be opened when it is over.
Lower School & High School - All students are under the supervision of the ASC staff once they are dismissed from class. Charges for After School Care begin at 3:45pm, at which time any students remaining on campus are promptly signed in. After 3:45 pm, a parent or guardian must sign students out before taking them off campus.
NOTE: If you are volunteering your time on a committee that meets between 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm, ASC fees will be waived if you indicate the name of the committee meeting on the back of the sign out sheet.
ASC Pre-paid Plan: Parents can save on after school care fees by signing up in advance under our Pre-paid ASC Plan. The drop-in rates are $15 per child or $25 per family (2 or more children) for children who are not enrolled under the plan. Please click here for more information.
Parent Association
The Parent Association (PA) is our community of parents at Highland Hall, an important group that supports the school in a variety of ways. Every parent at Highland Hall is automatically a member of the PA and is encouraged to attend meetings and become actively involved in the life of the school. The PA welcomes your ideas and talents! To find out how to become involved, or if you have ideas or questions, contact us [email protected]. The Parent Association plays a vital role in both friend-raising and fundraising at the school. The PA also works with the Parent Education Resource Committee (PERC) to organize parent education events. Additionally, the PA is responsible for the network of Room Representatives and strives to facilitate communication between the school and our parents. Following are some PA programs:
SCRIP
When your family participates in the Scrip program at Highland Hall, you are helping the Parent Association raise money that will be used to make improvements and additions throughout the school. All of the Scrip programs are at no cost to you! Scrip money has been used to add playground equipment, fund an online library, help build a new website for the school and so much more! If every family participates we can raise thousands of dollars for the school. For example, if every family purchases $300 worth of Scrip cards per month we can raise almost $20,000 per year! Remember, you can purchase Scrip cards for all major gas stations and grocery stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts. Simply purchasing Scrip cards for your groceries and gas will meet (and usually exceed) this goal! We have a bounty of participating merchants includingStarbucks, Amazon, and Costco to name a few more. We encourage you to take advantage of this valuable program. See our website (under Parents) for more details.
Celebration of Service
Part of the depth of experience and community that we enjoy here at Highland Hall is due to our entire community participating in creating the amazing campus events that we hold. In order to accomplish this we have a strong volunteer program. Nursery and kindergarten families provide the school 25 or more service hours and lower school and high school families provide the school 50 or more service hours annually. There are many opportunities throughout the year for parents to fulfill these hours including parent meetings, crafting, manning tables, decorating or cooking for a Faire or event, room rep activities, chaperoning field trips, administrative work, and sewing-basically anything you do that is in service of the school counts. Classes with 100% volunteer hours filled and logged at the end of the year qualify for incentive monies marked for that year. This year could mean up to an extra $500 for your child's class fund per year!
All Celebration of Service hours are logged on the website. You will create an account with your own username and password by going to www.highlandhall.org under Parents/Log Volunteer Hours, (or go to:http://highlandhall.org/apps/events/). For assistance, email [email protected].
PA on the website
For more information about the PA, its officers, contact information, etc. please visit www.highlandhall.org and click the Parents button for a pull down menu. Additional areas of interest that are soon to be up and running on the site are our Highland Hall Yellow pages (a listing of professional services and contacts offered by our own community members.) and our Community Bulletin Board. To be added to the Yellow Pages, contact [email protected]. Check the website often for updates and information about our community!