Parent Handbook

Payment of registration fees means you have read, understand and agree to the policies presented here. Please take the time to read these carefully!
Registration fees are NON-REFUNDABLE.
Be sure you want to play before you pay!

Fees and Payment
Registration fees are:

• $30 registration first or single child.
• $5 additional registration for each child attending classes.
• Each family contributes to our supply drive, donating either paper towels, toilet paper, or tall kitchen garbage bags. Details about our specific needs will be shared before the first day of class.
• There is no registration fee for a child in the volunteer nursery.
• Registration fees can be paid by check ("HSoBX") or PayPal (payOBX@gmail.com).
• Payable at time of registration
• For more, see our page on How to Register.
  

Registration fees cover items such as facility use, the damage fund, electricity and water, and liability insurance. In order to bring transparency to our finances, HSoBX will provide members with the annual operating budget so that members may see exactly how fees are distributed.

Fee payments for classes are paid directly to the instructor by placing a check or sealed envelope of cash into the teacher’s "mailbox." The mailboxes are set up in a portable filing box located at the welcome desk. Class fees are due for single payments on the first day of class, for installment payments on the first Tuesday of each of the first three months of the semester. By registering for a class, you are agreeing to pay for all the classes of the semester, not just the ones you are able to attend.

Returned Checks
Should one of your checks be returned for insufficient funds, you are responsible for any bank fees in addition to the amount of the check. After two checks have been returned for insufficient funds, oBX and/or oBX instructors may revoke check writing privileges and require cash or Paypal payments.

Registration
Registration schedules for each semester will be announced on the email list. Class registration will occur via an online form (for registration at the co-op) and an email to our registrar, Lydia Netzer, for class requests. Please check the web site for current class descriptions, teacher biographies, and class and semester schedules.

Class attendance
It is assumed that students will arrive on time to class and attend all classes for which they have registered. If a student must miss or be late for some reason, please notify the instructor. By registering, you are agreeing to pay the instructor for scheduled classes for the entire semester, not just for classes attended.

Instructors are expected to fulfill their part of this contract by being available and prompt for all class sessions. If they are unable to teach a class, they are expected to notify their students. In the event that a teacher cannot attend a class, a substitute teacher will be arranged if possible, or the class will be canceled for that day. An instructor may use one sick day during the semester without prorating fees, but after that will prorate fees for missed classes.

Add/Drop Policy
If you have registered for a class and would like to drop that class, you have two weeks to do it. On the day before the third meeting of co-op, add/drop is closed, and you will be expected to pay for the classes you've signed up for, for the rest of the semester.

Bringing a visitor
Visitors are welcome during the lunch hour, 11:30 to 12:30. If your guest would like to observe or participate in class, please give the administration and the teacher a week's notice. This allows teachers to ensure there are adequate supplies and supervision for an extra student.

Parking
There is no parking allowed on Yarmouth Street (residential only) or in the very small church parking lot unless you have a handicap sticker or are a teacher at HSoBX. Please park in the Chrysler Museum's 2nd lot, located on Grace Street across the street from the museum. Others may arrive on church business during our day at UCN, and it is important that they be able to park in the church lot.

Facility Usage
The Unitarian Church of Norfolk (UCN) is collaborating with HSoBX to provide space for our program at significantly below the usual facility rental rate. While using the space, please keep in mind UCN's generous subsidy of our program. We do not want a negative impact to UCN due to our presence here. While present at HSoBX, we expect all participants to comply with the following:

• A parent, guardian, or authorized “surrogate” will be on-site with the student participant at all times.
• Children who are not attending a class will be seated and engaged in quiet activities in the Social Hall. Children may not roam unsupervised through the facility, or play kinetic games in the Social Hall.
• Lunches and snacks will be “brown bag” only; the kitchen is not available to us for food preparation, although the microwave can be used for heating drinks and food. During the lunch hour, children may play outside, but should remain on church property. Children may not cross the street to play near the Hague unless accompanied by a parent.
• The following areas are strictly off-limits: The Sanctuary (unless for a class), the Teen Tower, and the banks of the Hague. Children may not climb the trees, and should protect and respect the church's landscaping and plants. It is the parents' responsibility to ensure that the children are aware of and follow these rules.
• Any phone calls, office needs, photocopy requests, or other questions/needs will be directed to Ginny Harvey, Patricia Richman, or Lydia Netzer, and not to the church staff.
  
• As part of our agreement with UCN, we will hold one fundraiser per year to benefit UCN.
  

Drop off Policy
Each child must be paired with a custodial adult for the day. The vast majority of the time, this adult is the child's parent. Occasionally, parents will make arrangements to supervise each other's children. If you do trade parenting duties with another parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that the surrogate has the necessary information and authority to make decisions in case of an emergency.

Use of the Nursery
The nursery is managed by a parent volunteer. This volunteer is responsible for opening the nursery, toy maintenance, and locking up. You may not drop off your child in the nursery. If your child makes use of the nursery, you need to be present to provide direct supervision to your child or make an arrangement with another parent who will provide direct supervision. Please clean up after your own child. Although the Nursery is free of charge, we ask that members using the Nursery register for it as a "class" so we can have an idea of how many bodies to expect. There is no registration fee for a child making use of the Nursery.

School closings
In the case of inclement weather or regional emergencies, HSoBX will follow Norfolk Public School decisions as follows:

• Norfolk closes, HSoBX closes
• Norfolk 1 hour late, HSoBX 1 hour late
• Norfolk 2 or more hours late, HSoBX closes
  

When possible, there will also be email notification. You may also call one of the Directors for more information. HSoBX will allow for one official "snow day" per year. If we are closed one day due to inclement weather or other issues, regular payments will still be made to the instructors for that month. However, if we are closed for more than one day due to weather, fees shall be pro-rated.

Communication

The primary communication system for HSoBX is the Yahoo group email list. All messages are sent as "regular messages" and we do not use the "special notices" feature. This issue is of particular importance for classes that require special clothing (we're going outside today even though it is raining, or wear your give-away stuff because we are painting, etc.) and also because we have many students with food allergies (we're serving eggs, or peanuts, or dairy, etc.). Teachers also use the regular message format to connect with students about assignments, website updates, and class updates. Any parent who chooses the no-mail, digest, or special notices only setting will be missing a significant amount of communication and is responsible for checking their own messages.

Parent and instructor "mailboxes" are set up in a portable filing box, located at the welcome desk. Your folder must include an updated emergency contact card and you may speak with Rosemary Ayers, our Director of Volunteers, about updated or creating an emergency card.

Conflict resolution

HSoBX recognizes that whenever people are working and learning in groups, conflicts will arise. These may be between instructors, staff, facility representatives, and/or members. Should a conflict arise we ask that the following procedure be followed:

1. Wait 24 hours and see how you feel before acting.
2. Speak to the person directly in a private setting.
3. If you cannot resolve the issue directly, speak to one of the Directors who will facilitate a meeting to resolve the issue.

Family Participation Policy
This policy will help our program run as smoothly as possible by allowing the parents, the organizers, and UCN to understand how we will work together to ensure the success of our program.

• Remain on site for the duration of your child’s classes.
• Assist in the cleanup of the UCN facility, and understand that each parent is responsible for cleaning up after their own child(ren).
• Understand that each parent is responsible for his/her child’s behavior, and will help her/him to behave appropriately for this setting.
• Each parents is financially responsible for paying the registration fees and class fees on time.
  
• Repeated infractions of these policies may result in being asked to withdraw from the HSoBX program without refund of registration or class fees.
• HSoBX administrators have the right to refuse registration, at their discretion.

Nursery Participation Policy
The purpose of the nursery is to provide a quiet, safe haven for the babies and toddlers, as well as a place for the children of teachers and administrators, while their parents are teaching. Only children aged 5 and under may be in the nursery, while their siblings are in class. In order to insure our continued permission to use the nursery facility, parents who wish to have access to that room must agree to the following:

• If you have a child in the nursery, you must be there to supervise him/her, unless you are teaching and have a written arrangement with the nursery director.
• Every parent whose child has used the nursery will assist in cleaning that space at the close of the HSoBX day. It should look better when we leave than when we arrived.
• Diaper changing occurs in the downstairs bathroom. Diapers may not be changed in the nursery. All dirty diapers will be disposed of in plastic bags in the downstairs bathroom garbage can. This garbage can will be emptied at the close of the HSoBX day.
• Toys on the top shelf are not to be used. These have been newly purchased for the nursery.
• Please report broken toys to Colyn Martin the same day. You are responsible for replacing anything that your child breaks.
• Please limit snacks brought into the Nursery to pretzels, apple juice, and graham crackers. Breast milk is always welcome!