Shrewsbury Montessori School's Partnership with Parents

Parent Partnership

First Week of School

Both of our campuses use a Phase-In schedule the first week of school to help our students ease into attending school for the first time or return after summer break. This schedule allows for a shorter school day the first few days of school with a focus by teachers and students on school and classroom layout and ground rules. We believe that children need to be happy, comfortable, and confident before they can learn. This is the goal of the first week of school.

We encourage parents to support their children during this transition by:

Being aware of different pick-up times during this first week
Planning for your child to participate in the Phase In Schedule
Preparing for quick, happy goodbyes at drop-off

These practices support and empower our students to make these first steps toward independent learning. Our youngest children ease into becoming students for the first time and our returning students calmly and gradually become used to being back to school.

First Day of School

We believe one of the best ways to help your child leave you on the first day is to empower them to make those first steps on their own. Parents drive up to the school where they are met by the Assistant Teacher. Parents are asked to remain in their cars while the Assistant Teacher opens the car door to greet your child. Parents give quick happy goodbyes and your child is led to the classroom where his teacher awaits.

Activities and Appointments

Children rely on routines to develop organizational skills and stability in their daily lives. It is very important for our students to participate in a full day of school without disruption. Arriving late, coming and going in the middle of the day, or leaving early affects a child’s focus disrupting his and his classmates’ concentration while learning.

We encourage parents to support full-day learning by:

Arriving at school at the scheduled time. Elementary students arrive between 8:15 and 8:30am. Shrewsbury Children’s House students arrive at 8:30am, or 8:45am depending on the classroom. Montessori Children's House of Auburn Morning Children arrive at 8:50am and the Afternoon children arrive at 12:20pm.
Scheduling activities after the end of the school day
Making appointments after the end of the school day or on days when there is no school
Planning vacation time around school days

Parent Conferences

We offer two opportunities during the year for parents to conference with teachers – once in the Fall and once in the Spring. To provide parents and teachers focused, uninterrupted time in their child’s classroom, we schedule our Fall Conference on a non-school day, and the Spring Conference during student enrichment and after school hours. We believe holding conferences within the classroom provides the best opportunity for teachers to show parents what their child has accomplished throughout the year using materials readily available.

We encourage parents to learn the most about their child’s experience by:

Planning ahead for conference dates
Utilizing the designated times we have set aside for this purpose
Preparing questions and concerns prior to meeting
Understanding that Children’s House and Lower Elementary conferences are parents-only. Upper Elementary conferences include the student

Contacting Teachers and Staff

It is very important that our teachers and staff be accessible and responsive to our parents. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher by sending an email or leaving a message by calling the school. Our teachers are focused on classroom learning all day and may not read their email until the end of the day or evening.

If you need to speak with someone immediately or would like a same-day reply, please call the school.

We encourage parents to contact us by:

Using email when possible
Sending a note in the weekly communication folder
Calling the school when necessary
Giving our teachers appropriate time to reply

Shrewsbury Montessori School
55 Oak Street Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545
Phone: (508)842-2116 Fax: (508)845-2491

Montessori Children's House of Auburn
135 Bryn Mawr Avenue Auburn, Massachusetts 01501
Phone: (508)832-9262