Link to Dress Code, Hair Dyeing and Cellphone Policy  

DRESS CODE POLICY

Parent help with enforcing our school dress code is most welcome. Please familiarize yourself with the list of clothes we consider inappropriate for school and ask your child to change before they leave for school if you think their outfit may be in violation. In keeping with our Waldorf philosophy, we discourage clothing that draws attention to the point that what we see is the clothing, not the child; we want to see the child. Below is a list of clothing, attire, and accessorizing considered inappropriate for school:

· Underwear showing

· Sagging pants below hips

· Very short shorts or skirts

· Shirts or blouses draping off the shoulders

· Large and/or distracting logos, graphics, or writing on shirts

· Graffiti-type writing on pants

· Slippers or pajamas

· Bare midriffs

· Bare feet or flip-flops

· Excessive make-up, tattooing, piercing, and use of hair dyes (without express permission)

· Clothing that restricts full participation in Games class and movement

Additionally, students are to remove caps/hoods/hats as they enter classrooms, unless the teacher specifies otherwise.

What We Encourage

Siskiyou School children engage in a variety of activities and vigorous play every day, so their clothing and footwear should allow them comfort and freedom of movement. We are also big believers in the importance of warmth for the growing child. We thus ask parents to make sure their children come to school with appropriate outerwear when the weather gets chilly. Additionally, it’s important that the children wear “solid” shoes. They do a lot of running and jumping on the chips and the blacktop, and we want them to have the best possible footing. Sneakers—or equivalent athletic-support shoe—as approved by the Games teacher are required for Games classes and strongly recommended as footwear for all day/everyday use. Bare feet are not allowed indoors or outdoors.

Consequences

It is the Siskiyou School teacher’s call whether an item of clothing meets the dress code or not; its appropriateness will not be up for negotiation or discussion. Within the above-defined spectrum of acceptability, teachers of 6th - 8th graders may allow their students more latitude than teachers of younger students.

HAIR DYEING POLICY

Since we are in a professional school environment, we prefer children to not have distracting brightly-colored hair. Before any hair-dyeing takes place, students need to check with their teacher and parents as described below. The teacher reserves the right to ask a child to change their hair color if it falls outside our guidelines.

Hair Dyeing Protocol

Middle school students, grades 6-8, are allowed to dye their hair if they get permission from both their parent and class teacher.

· First, students need to get their parent(s) to agree to their hair dyeing idea and to have their parent(s) sign a permission form that includes a description of their plan. (Please ask the office for the form when needed.)

· Second, students need to get their class teacher to agree to the plan they discussed with their parent. They are to bring their signed parent permission form to the class teacher, explain their idea, and solicit his/her permission as well.

· The class teacher may or may not approve the original plan and may offer other suggestions during this conversation. As needed, the teacher will be in communication with the parent(s) until parents, teacher, and student are on the same page.

· When agreement about the plan is reached between teacher and student and/or teacher and parent as needed, the teacher will sign the teacher approval form.

Once a student has approval from parent and teacher and both forms signed, they may move ahead with the hair dyeing plan.

Siskiyou School students understand that if they arrive at school with their hair dyed, without having gotten prior signed approval from both parent AND class teacher (no matter how low-key the dyeing is), the following consequences will be immediately activated:

1. Students will be sent home before the start of classes.

2. Students will not be allowed to return to school until they dye their hair back to their normal color.

3. Students will lose the privilege of dyeing their hair again for the remainder of the year.

Students who want to dye their hair over the summer and start the school year with dyed hair need to get permission from their parent(s) and the Administrator either via phone call or by email.

CELL PHONE POLICY

Students are not allowed to use cell phones during school. If children need to call their parents during the day, they must go to the office to use the office phone. If cell phones are seen or heard during the school day, they will be collected. If it’s the first offense in a semester, the phone will be returned at the end of the day. If it’s the second offense in a semester, the student’s parent will be called, and the phone will be kept until the following day. If it’s the third offense, the student will not be allowed to bring a cell phone to school for the remainder of the semester, and their parent will be called.

· When children walk onto campus, cell phones must be off (not in airplane mode) and in a bag/pack. If a cell phone is visible in a pocket, it will be taken.

· No earbuds, music, texting, or videos are allowed.

· If a student needs to contact their parent after school, they may use their cell phone in the office as of 3:20.

· Cell phone use in the dismissal area is not allowed.

· If a cell phone is seen in the dismissal area, it may be confiscated until the following day.

· Teachers have the freedom to allow students to use their phones for specified and supervised academic tasks in the year.

· If parents deem it necessary, students in grade 6-8 may bring cell phones to school.

· If a child in grades 4 or 5 needs to bring a cell phone to school, parents must create a special arrangement with the class teacher and the office.

· We expect that children in grades 1-4 will not carry cell phones to school.

These same rules apply at all school-related functions, events, and festivals (Michaelmas, WinterFaire, school dances, etc.) including during set-up times.