Policies

School Policies

All of the Watchung Co-op's policies, practices, and answers to parents' frequently asked questions are included in the Parent Handbook. That document is distributed in the Fall to each Co-op family, or you can view a PDF version online by clicking here. For parents' convenience we have listed below two of the most frequently referenced policies, as well as our Emergency Evacuation policy.

Emergencies – Fire/Emergency Exit Plan

If emergency evacuation from the premises is necessary for fire or any other reason, the following plan will be executed:

Children will be led from the classroom in an orderly fashion with one adult at the head of the group and one adult at the rear
The teacher will take a class roster with emergency telephone numbers to check that all children are accounted for and to call parents/guardians in the event that the group will not be returning to the classroom
The group will gather at the designated meeting area: the far (northeast) corner of North Fullerton Avenue and Munn Street
The last adult out of each classroom will turn off lights and close doors
The group will remain in the designated meeting place and await further instructions from the fire marshal or other authority
One adult will call 911 from a phone outside the school building (by cellular phone)
The co-oping parent's first responsibility is to help escort the children to safety out of the building. Fire extinguishers are available; however, the children's safety comes first.

Ill Child Policy - When to Keep a Child Home

These are guidelines for when to keep a sick child home from school. This is reprinted from the Watchung Co-Op Parent Handbook.

Health – Illnesses, Contagious Diseases, Other Considerations

We strive to provide a school environment that is as safe and healthful as possible. However, such a goal depends upon understanding, cooperation, and communication between home and school. By conscientiously adhering to the health guidelines below, the spread of illness and infection can be significantly diminished.
On occasion, it may be necessary for a teacher to send a child home if the child’s condition warrants it; in this situation, the teacher would use the emergency contact information provided to contact a parent or other authorized person to pick the child up.

Child’s Illness

Please keep your child home if any of the following circumstances are present:

- first stages of a cold, accompanied by runny nose, persistent cough, or sneezing.
- fever (elevated oral temperature of 101.5 degrees F or over within the last 24 hours)
- rash or cold sore (within the last 24 hours)
- if you are waiting the results of a throat culture.
- severe pain or discomfort
- acute diarrhea, characterized as twice the child’s usual frequency of bowel movements with a change to a looser consistency within a period of 24 hours.
- two or more episodes of acute vomiting within a period of 24 hours
- sore throat or severe coughing
- yellow eyes or jaundiced skin
- red eyes with discharge
- infected, untreated skin patches
- difficult or rapid breathing
- skin rashes, excluding diaper rash, lasting for more than one day
- weeping/bleeding skin lesions not been treated by physician or nurse
- swollen joints
- visibly enlarged lymph nodes
- stiff neck
- blood in urine

Contagious Diseases

In accordance with State guidelines, contagious diseases that require a staff member or student to be excluded from school are:

- chicken pox
- German measles (rubella)
- flu
- measles
- meningococcal meningitis
- mumps
- typhoid
- tuberculosis
- whooping cough (pertussis)
- giardia lamblia
- hepatitis A
- salmonella
- shigella
- impetigo
- lice
- scabies
- pink eye (conjunctivitis)
- ringworm
- diphtheria
- small pox
- haemophilus influenza
- polio (poliomyelitis)
- strep throat(streptococcal infections)
- staphylococcal disease

It is important that you notify your child’s teacher when your child has contracted a contagious disease. (This is particularly true of German measles, so that pregnant mothers may be cautioned.) It shall further be the policy of the Watchung Co-op to notify, in writing, each parent whose child may have been exposed to a contagious disease if such an outbreak should occur at school.

Other Medical Conditions

The school should be informed of any ongoing medical condition concerning a student, e.g., orthopedic, allergies, asthma, etc.

Emotional Factors

Please tell the teacher when your child has had a difficult night or weekend, if there has been a death in the family, or of any other situation that may be upsetting to the child. The staff can be better able to help the child through their day.

School Closing/Delayed Opening Policy

When Montclair public schools close for a snow day or other emergency reasons, the Co-op will also close for the day. However, at the discretion of the School Director and/or the Co-op's Executive Board, the school may also close even if Montclair schools remain open.

In the event of any schedule changes, the Co-op will also make every effort to notify families as follows:

The School Director will notify every family of school closure or delayed opening. Please do not call the teachers.
The School Director will send an email out to all families using the email address(es) of the parent(s)/(guardian(s) as provided on the Emergency Reference form from the enrollment packet. We ask that if inclement weather is expected, families be certain to check their emails for notification.
Each family should reply to the email as acknowledgement that it was received. Should a family fail to acknowledge the email by 8 a.m. on the morning of a school closure or delayed start, the School Director will attempt to contact the family by telephone. This is done to ensure that every family receives timely notification of a closure or delay.

In the event of a delayed opening for the Montclair public schools, all of the Co-op's morning classes will begin at 10 AM and end at their regular times. Lunch will be held as usual. All afternoon classes will start at 12:30 PM. Afternoon dismissal will be at the usual time.

In the event an early dismissal is warranted once school is already in session for the day, families will be notified by telephone. Should the school be unable to reach a child's parent or guardian, the backup contact persons listed on the child's Emergency Reference Form in the enrollment packet will notified.

In addition to receiving a call from the School Director, there are several other ways to determine if the Montclair Public Schools (and consequently the Co-op) are closed or delayed:

Check the Montclair Board of Education website at www.montclair.k12.nj.us' for information on closings or delays.
Watching — or logging on to — New Jersey News12/Channel 62; WABC-TV/Channel 7; WNBC-TV/Channel 4; and WCBS-TV/Channel 2. Radio reports can be found at 1010 WINS and WOR 710AM.
Calling the main number at Montclair Public Schools Central Office: (973) 509-4000 — School closures and delayed openings
Listen for five 5-second blasts of Civil Defense Sirens with five 5-second, no-sound intervals between blasts at 6:30 AM and again at 7 AM.

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