Family policies

We ask your written permission before we share any photo of your child, on this site, in newsletters or on social media, and you can change your answer at any time. We never put a child's name with a photo, and the photos on this site are examples until we replace them with our own.

A student with a fever, or who was sick overnight, stays home until the next morning. A guide calls a parent when a student feels unwell at school, and we ask families to tell us when a student will be out.

A guide is at the door at arrival and at dismissal. Only adults on a family's pickup list may collect a student, and we ask to see ID until we know you. A parent who wants an older student to walk or bike home tells us in writing.

The guides send the school calendar each summer. We close for Thanksgiving week, two weeks in December and a week in spring. When ice or storms close the school, we text every family before 7 a.m..

We ask for a month's written notice before a student leaves, and the enrollment agreement says what happens to a term already begun.

Students use computers for research, writing and drafting plans when a project needs them. Phones stay in a basket by the door during the day, and a student can always ask a guide to call home.

Wear what you can build, paint and sit on the floor in. Closed shoes on workshop days, a water bottle and a lunch from home. There is no uniform.

Students bring lunch and a snack, and the back room has a refrigerator and a microwave. Tell us about allergies at the visit; we ask privately once you enroll.

Families message the office before 8:30 a.m. when a student will be absent or late. A student who arrives late joins whatever is happening and a guide catches them up.