Current Parents
Important Links and Notices
Parent Portal
Parents should log into the portal in advance of the start of school to confirm their contact information and update their child’s emergency information. Parents may also view the school Handbooks and Directories as well as their student’s mid-year (for 7th and 8th grades) and year-end reports from the 2019-20 school year on. Directories are still in the process of being updated for the 2022-23 school year.
Click below to create your profile (if logging in for the first time) or to log in. Please note that e-mail addresses are case-sensitive. Please contact Daniela Squizzato if you have trouble creating an account.
Calendar
Please visit the calendar page for the most up-to-date information. You can add a shortcut to the calendar page directly to your device home screen for easy viewing.<BR
Tuition Management
SchoolMessenger
We now use SchoolMessenger to send emergency alerts. With the SchoolMessenger app, parents have 24/7/365 access to important school notifications such as weather and emergency alerts. Sign up for the FREE SchoolMessenger app today to:
- Set your communications preferences for calls, emails, texts, and more
- Receive emergency and weather alerts
- Review your messages on any device – smartphone, laptop, etc.
Go to http://go.schoolmessenger.com to download the SchoolMessenger mobile app for Apple and Android devices or use the web-based version from your internet browser. Please note, the SchoolMessanger app for parents and teachers is blue. The gold app is for administrators.
Families must opt-in to receive SMS (text) messages as one of their communication channels. To opt-in, simply text Y or Yes to the short-code 67587.
- Families only need to opt-in once. If you have previously opted in to SchoolMessenger at another school, you will not need to opt-in a second time.
- Only cell phones on file with the school will be recognized. If you need to change a cell phone for SchoolMessenger alerts, please email office@waldorfct.org.
Extended Care
For families looking to sign up for the contracted rate for consistent Extended Care use, please submit an Extended Care Registration for each child you wish to sign-up. Rates will be prorated based on start date.
To sign-up for drop-in use, please submit an Extended Drop-in Registration for each child you wish to sign-up. Please see form link for drop-in rates.
For any additional questions about Extended Care, please contact Claudine Collet at ccollet@waldorfct.org.
Reporting Absences and Changes to Pickups
Please e-mail office@waldorfct.org or call the office and leave a message in our attendance mailbox, 203-364-1113 x600.
Health
Please view the Illness Protocols and Procedures section from our Parent Handbook. COVID-19 test kits are available for families to pick up from the office. Visit our COVID-19 page for quicklinks from the CDC.
Dress Codes
Outerwear
We will have our students outside even more than usual this year. This means it is very important that you have a ready supply of warm and appropriately sized rain and snow gear ready for your child. Often older students are less inclined to wear clothing appropriate to the weather. Parents, please take note!
Bus Company (for Newtown families): All-Star Transportation, 203-304-9778
Family Tip Sheet
The Family Tip Sheet is a snapshot of information for the new school year including a supply list for Early Childhood families.
Re-Enrollment
Re-enrollment is critical to the health of the school and planning for next year. For this reason, we have a progressive administrative fee for contracts not returned on time. Reach out the Enrollment Office, enrollment@waldorfct.org, if you have any questions. As a reminder, the schedule of fees is below:
- $200 after February 17;
- $400 after April 1;
- $600 after June 1;
- $800 after July 15;
- $1000 after August 25.
FACTS Re-Enrollment Websites
for families who have already created their re-enrollment logins
Tuition Insurance
HVWS recognizes that life circumstances occasionally require withdrawal from school, possibly making it a financial hardship to honor the Tuition Agreement you signed. For this reason, Tuition Insurance is now mandatory for all families. Tuition Insurance equals 2.70% of net tuition (tuition after the non-refundable deposit and any discounts and/or variable tuition calculations).
Health Assessment Forms
Health Assessment Forms are required after enrollment. State law requires complete primary immunizations and a health assessment by a legally qualified practitioner of medicine prior to school entrance in Connecticut. We require a State of Connecticut Department of Education Health Assessment Record for the following students:
- all early childhood students (annually),
- rising first graders,
- rising seventh graders,
- students newly enrolled at HVWS.
If your child falls into one of these groups, please email your updated Health Assessment Record (which is a standard form that can be generated by your pediatrician) to office@waldorfct.org or mail it to the school at 40 Dodgingtown Rd. Newtown, CT 06470 by the start of school. If your child’s next physical is scheduled for after this date, please email us the date of the appointment.
No child may be admitted to school without proof of immunization or an allowable medical or religious statement of exemption*. Allowable religious exemptions are those that were on file at a school in Connecticut before April 28, 2021 for students enrolled in K-12 in Connecticut on or before April 28, 2021. (Children who turned 5 years old by December 2020 would be considered Kindergarten age at the time of the change in law.) Students enrolled Pre-K at the time of the change in law with a religious exemption on file at a school in Connecticut must be up to date on all required immunizations by September 1, 2022. If your child was enrolled in Pre-K in CT on or before April 28, 2021 with a religious exemption on file at school, your pediatrician may be able to recommend a delayed schedule. All children entering school in CT for the first time who enroll after April 28, 2021 must be up-to-date with required vaccinations before starting school.
In the event of a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak at the school, students whose immunizations are not up to date for that disease according to state regulations will be excluded from school if a public health official determines that the school is a significant site for disease exposure, transmission and spread into the community. In such case, such children shall be excluded from school until: (1) the public health official determines that the outbreak danger has ended; (2) the child becomes ill with the disease and completely recovers from it; (3) the child is vaccinated according to public health protocol; or (4) the child has proof of immunity to the disease.
In the case of the influenza vaccine, which is now required in students who are 24-59 months of age, the CT immunization regulation requires at a minimum 1 dose of influenza vaccine for school entry, each year between August 1st and December 31. Children in this age group who have not received the flu vaccine by December 31st must be excluded from school for the duration of influenza season (through March 31st) or until they receive a dose of the influenza vaccine. Children do not have to be excluded from school if the following conditions are met: (1) the school has received a statement signed by the child’s HCP indicating that the child has an appointment to receive the required immunization (this is considered “immunization in progress”)**; (2) the school has received a statement signed and dated by the child’s HCP indicating that the child has a medical contraindication to immunization.
In the event of a national or state vaccine supply shortage, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Public Health Commissioner, respectively, the Commissioner or their designee may temporarily suspend the immunization requirement for the particular immunization affected by the supply shortage.
**Continued enrollment in school for more than thirty days after the named immunization appointment shall be contingent on the school receiving written documentation from the HCP stating either: that the named appointment was kept and the child received the scheduled immunizations, or that the child was unable to receive the scheduled immunizations for medical reasons and a new appointment date is named.
*Immunization Exemptions
On April 28, 2021, Governor Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-6, “An Act Concerning Immunizations,” which updates Connecticut’s immunization requirements for students attending PreK-12 schools, day care programs, and institutions of higher education by removing exemptions that are not medical. The following FAQ address some questions that families have regarding the implementation of this new law.
Medical Exemption FAQ
Q. Are medical exemptions to statutory vaccination requirements still available under this new law?
A: Yes, Public Act 21-6 retains the prior law’s medical exemption from vaccination requirements for students. The Commissioner of Public Health developed a particular form for use by medical professionals for this purpose, accessible here.
Religious Exemption FAQ
Q: Does the removal of religious exemptions apply to both public and private schools?
A: Yes.
Q: What does it mean for a student to submit a “valid religious exemption”?
A: Under the law, such an exemption must be “a statement . . . from the parents or guardian of [the] child” that specifies that the immunization is “contrary to the religious beliefs” of the child or parents/guardian. The law requires that the statement be properly acknowledged, as prescribed in General Statutes Sections 1-32, 1-34, and 1-35, by one of the following individuals: (1) a judge of a court of record or a family support magistrate, (2) a clerk or deputy clerk of a court having a seal, (3) a town clerk, (4) a notary public, (5) a justice of the peace, (6) an attorney admitted to the bar of this state, or (7) a school nurse. There is no particular form that must be used, and there is no requirement that more than one parent/guardian sign the statement. As noted, for students enrolled in school in Grades K-12, this exemption must have been presented and be fully executed no later than midnight April 27, 2021.
Q: How does the law treat students who transfer from one Connecticut school (public or private) to another?
A: The law continues to allow for an exemption on religious grounds for students who transfer schools within Connecticut (including from a public to a private school and vice versa). However, such students must have been enrolled in a Connecticut school on or before April 28, 2021, and must have submitted a valid religious exemption to either school prior to that date.
Q: What does it mean for a student to be “enrolled in” school on or before April 28, 2021?
A: Generally speaking, a child is enrolled in school at such time as a parent or guardian provides documentation, consistent with the school’s policy, establishing that such child is eligible to attend school in the current or upcoming school year, and that the family intends for the child to do so.
Q: What students who had a valid religious exemption from a prior school year but withdrew from school as a result of the pandemic (or for other reasons), and who now wish to exercise that same exemption upon their return to school in the district?
A: The religious exemption remains available to any student who was enrolled in school in Grades K-12 on or before April 28, 2021, and had a valid exemption as of midnight on April 27, 2021. Thus, any student who was enrolled in school pursuant to a valid religious exemption at any time prior to April 28, 2021, but subsequently withdrew from school, and who seeks to reenroll on a date after April 28, 2021, could assert a valid religious exemption.
Q: How does this law apply to students in Pre-K?
A: Students enrolled in a preschool or other pre-K program before April 28, 2021, (that is, as of April 27 at midnight), and who presented a valid religious exemption to the school by that time (April 27 at midnight), must comply with the immunization guidelines and schedules specified by the Commissioner of Public Health by (1) September 1, 2022, or (2) within 14 days after transferring schools, whichever is later. Such students may, however, be permitted to follow an alternative vaccination schedule if recommended by a medical professional. Validly submitted religious exemptions for pre-K students may be valid upon such student’s transfer to Kindergarten, but not beyond (1) September 1, 2022, or (2) within 14 days after transferring schools within Connecticut (public or private school), whichever is later.