Parent Responsibilities

By choosing PCNS for your child, you choose the many undeniable benefits of active involvement by parents in the education of their young children. As a PCNS parent, you will share the responsibilities of our preschool in the classroom, in decision- and policy-making, in administration, and in housekeeping. Active participation not only benefits your child, but also benefits you and all the other children and families with whom you work. You will gain mutual understanding, moral support, and friendship from other involved parents with the same concerns, interests and problems. Each school year we find it doesn't take long to form a tightly-knit community of friends!

The following list summarizes parental responsibilities.

• Assist in the classroom (about 7 or 13 days for 3's / about 10 or 18 days for 4's, dependent on tuition plan and enrollment)

• Participate on one committee

• Fulfill a housekeeping assignment

• Help to open the school (parents of 4-year-olds only) or close the school (parents of 3-year-olds only)

• Participate in Parent Work night

Assisting in the classroom

Each parent who assists in the classroom must attend a training meeting (prior to the start of school) with the child's teacher. This meeting is absolutely essential for understanding the parent's role in the cooperative nursery school program. The Classroom Representative schedules the days that each parent will work, taking into consideration days that the parent indicates ahead of time that he/she wishes to work (e.g. the child's birthday) or cannot work.

When a parent cannot work on a scheduled day, it is that parent's responsibility to find someone to work for them (another parent, or someone from the approved list of Classroom Aides). Since PCNS must maintain the class ratio of children to adults at 4:1, it is absolutely imperative that the working parents arrive at school early (for setup of the classroom) on the days they are to work; and if they cannot work, they must find a substitute.