Does my child need to be potty trained?
A child enrolled in either our Twos or Threes program is not required to be potty trained.  If your young child is still using diapers you, the parent, are asked to keep a supply of diapers, wipes, a changing pad and a spare set of clothes in your child’s backpack. A child enrolled in our Fours program is required to be potty trained.  If your four-year-old child has a condition that prevents him/her from being potty training, then it is possible a waiver may be granted by the Board of Directors. We strongly encourage all our students have a change of clothes with them, just in case there’s an accidents (such as a juice spill or too much glitter glue!)
 

My child’s birthday is very close to the cut-off date, can my child be placed in the next higher grade?
RPCNS follows the Maryland State Department of Education’s regulations for grade eligibility, which states all children enrolled in a grade must reach the age of that grade by September 1st of that school year. For example: A child must be two by September 1st, 2017 in order to be eligible to be enrolled in a Twos class for the 2017-2018 school year.
 

Is each family allowed only one co-oper?
No, many families share their co-oping obligation with two or three adults. For example:  If a mom, dad and grandmother want to spend time in their child’s classroom co-oping, that’s possible.  Each co-oping adult must submit all the required forms and take the Orientation Tour prior to co-oping (see the list below). 

• Provide proof of age (usually a copy of a driver’s license)

• Release of Information Form- to run background checks against the sex offenders database

• Medical Report- one page form to be filled out by your doctor

• Orientation Tour form which is completed at the conclusion of the tour (which takes about 20 minutes)

• Fingerprint report- scans must be done biometrically

Extra forms can be provided by the Admissions Coordinator at your request.

 

Is there training required to co-op?
Yes.  Before our school year starts all parent members are required to attend a Parent Orientation session and a Orientation Tour. Later after the school year begins, you will be required to attend a "Co-oper Check In".  In these training sessions, you will meet with your child’s teacher in your child’s classroom, and learn how to function effectively as a teacher assistant.  You will learn not only how the room is set-up/organized, and what is in it, but what you are to do at what point over the course of the morning’s multi-hour school day.  Our co-opers are counted towards our staffing ratios, consequently, the Office of Child Care considers our co-opers equivalent to regular paid staff.  As such, each co-oper must take the Basic Health and Safety Training and pass the accompanying exam every year.

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How does the "Non-Co-op" option work?

We are happy to now provide an option to "buy out" the in-classroom co-oping requirement, called the "Non-Co-op" Option.  For an an additional fee, a "Non-Co-op" student will still be placed in one of our cooperative classrooms where most parents rotate co-op duty.  For the students who are "non-co-op", the co-op requirement will be covered by another paid parent or RPCNS staffmember. So your child will get the benefits of a cooperative classroom, with less time commitment for the parents.  Non-co-op families still get a chance to contribute to the school by holding a small job at the school.  

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