Children love to share their school with their parents! Ms. Helen and the teachers also like to know that parents are involved with Happy Day School and in their respective classrooms. Happy Day connects parents with their children’s experiences at school throughout the year.
In September, a parent evening is held at school. This is a time for parents to gather, meet one another and the teachers. The Parent Handbook is reviewed and any and all questions are addressed.
Traditionally, the month of December is Parent Sharing Month at school as we invite parents to spend a half hour to two hours reading a book and leading a special project or activity in their child’s classroom. Projects range from special skills or interests parents may have to sharing family holiday traditions. It is a special time for the children, parents and teachers.
During the year, we also involve parents by requesting their help with a variety of events and jobs: parents organize and set up the annual April art gallery, repair classroom furniture, bookshelves, toys etc., make up a group of chaperones for all of the great outings, develop and implement plans to raise funds for CHDS scholarship fund, garden and perform general maintenance, sew drama area clothes, pillows etc., make costumes and organize our annual Spring cleaning.
Every February, we invite parents to participate in Parent Talk Night led by a CHDS alumni parent, Dr. Paula Rauch, who serves as Chief of Child Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Paula shares some valuable insight on the challenging process of parenting, specifically focusing on the different developmental issues typical of preschool aged children. Parent questions and concerns are always welcomed and addressed.
There are two parent / teacher conferences every year – in November and May. This is an opportunity for the parents to meet with their child’s head teacher one-on-one and discuss a thorough update about progress at school. Each head teacher fills out the school’s evaluation forms, reviews them with the director and shares them with the parents. In addition, conferences may be requested at any time during the year.
