In this partnership, TRCCS agrees to the following:

• Provide a safe and positive learning environment and program guided by the core principles of Public Waldorf Education.

• Treat family members and students respectfully.

• Maintain regular ongoing communication with families.

• Inform family members of the progress and activities of the class.

• Provide opportunities for family and community education throughout the year.

• Encourage open and direct communication with opportunities for parents to provide feedback and input.

Family members will agree to the following:

• Provide a home life for their children that supports the efforts and approach of the school, including a rhythmic daily schedule, adequate sleep, a healthy diet, restricting electronic media exposure, and minimizing stressful circumstances in daily life.

• Read the TRCCS Electronic Media Concerns and Guidelines (below) and make the necessary changes to be in alignment with the school and other families in this mutual effort.

• Read the TRCCS Family Handbook and follow the school’s policies, procedures, and practices.

• Read the school newsletter to stay informed and respond as needed.

• Learn about Waldorf education to understand and be able to support the approach.

• Ensure regular and punctual daily attendance by their children.

• Monitor and support their children’s adherence to the school’s dress and behavior codes.

• Attend regularly scheduled class family meetings and individual parent/teacher conferences.

• Participate in community service (volunteer) activities for the school using a guideline of 40 hours per primary parent or guardian per year as the expected contribution. TRCCS emphasizes parent involvement and contribution as key elements of our charter, and our enriched curriculum is dependent on financial donations and volunteered time from our parent body.

• Treat teachers and staff respectfully.

• Communicate concerns or conflicts quickly and directly to the appropriate person; follow established procedures for healthy resolution of disagreements or conflicts.

TRCCS Electronic Media Concerns and Guidelines

At the TRCCS there is a conscious intention and effort to provide an educational environment that nurtures the imagination and healthy development of every child. Because electronic media exposure tends to work cross-purpose to this, the TRCCS teachers need the support of parents in restricting media use in the home. Similarly, parents who choose our school because they want to protect their children as much as possible from the negative effects of electronic media also need the support of the parents of their children’s classmates.

For these reasons, the Pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade class teachers request that the TRCCS parents limit or remove children’s exposure to electronic media. In order to support the work of the teachers to create and maintain an environment that cultivates imagination, wonder and beauty, we ask that you make the necessary changes in your household(s). TRCCS definition of electronic media includes all electronic screen and voice technology devices: TV, videos/DVD, movies, video games, computers, cell phones, etc.

We ask that any exposure to electronic media with children in grades 4th through 8th be limited and mostly on the weekends. Attention to content is particularly important if use is allowed. We ask that parents of these older students work in partnership with our teachers to limit exposure to electronic media in ways that protect them from its negative influences while also encouraging their increasing capacities for discernment, critical thinking, and self-discipline (i.e. media literacy).

We recognize that restricting electronic media use in the home requires a commitment to a family lifestyle that runs counter to our mainstream culture. We also recognize that protecting children from media exposure is especially challenging in homes where older siblings are present, and when a child lives in more than one household. A wholehearted effort to thoughtfully protect children from media exposure can only be successful when we educate ourselves about the effects of electronic media on children, and then exercise continual determination to go “against the grain” in order to do what we believe is most healthy for them. We ask that every parent join us in this challenging, but so very important, commitment.

It is important that new families understand how we must work together to create this Waldorf-inspired environment for all of our students.