1. What is the “New Village”?
The ''New Village'' refers to the community of adults and children who have come together in order to create a place in which everyone feels accepted, acknowledged, seen, respected and supported. It is a place where adults create the atmosphere in which the children can thrive physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. In this "village" all the children know each other well, and learn to learn from each other, to look up to each other, and to support each other.
There are a few rules for the children. The two most important rules are:
- You do not have to like everyone, but you do have to love them.
- If you do something that you know to be wrong, take responsibility and you can be sure that you will not be punished but that rather, you will be helped and supported in your attempts to apologize or "make things right'' - honesty builds trust.
As an adult in this New Village, you are invited from the outset to participate to the degree that is healthy and meaningful for you - you do not need to wait until you feel invited - you are invited from the outset! It is a place where each individual adult is responsible for finding ways to get to know others. In other words, the expectation is that you will take the initiative and get to know people!
Parents are invited to volunteer and participate in ways that are meaningful for them and that allow them to feel happy and in no way overburdened. There is never a need to carry a load that’s too heavy. If you are overwhelmed, put down the work and offer the opportunity for someone else to take over the work. If others don’t step up, then we need as a community to examine whether that event or activity is actually still relevant.
Humor is written in large letters over the village! A sense of lightness and gratitude at the opportunity to be engaged with children and other adults in this way is what gives the school energy. Each one of us has the duty to be as positive and open as possible in order to contribute to the healthy atmosphere of the school. That benefits the children!
All children and adults should be able to find their reflection in the stories, music and celebrations that are part of the village. This village has no specific religion, culture, background, socio-economic or otherwise plays the dominant role - the world lives in this village. In this village, the children learn that people sing, speak, dance and even see and explain the world differently, depending on where they come from and, at the same time, that we are guided by the same motifs and the question - How do I live a meaningful, fulfilling, connected life that brings me and those around me happiness and joy?
New Village is a place where children learn to think critically, to feel warmly, to sense the interconnectedness of everything, to develop a strong and sturdy sense of Self, to relate to others in a healthy and open manner and to become ready to approach new life phases after leaving this village.
2. How is the school organized and managed?
The organization of our school includes the following key bodies:
A. The Teaching Team
B. The Office Team
C. The Management Team
D. The Board of Directors
A. Teaching Team
At the very core of the school are the children. Our team of teachers is there to ensure that a child has as nourishing, fulfilling, meaningful, happy and safe a childhood as possible. It also sees as its task to offer the atmosphere and content that will allow children to reveal from within, who they intend and are intending to be. The intention is to allow students to graduate from the school with a strong sense of SELF and be thoroughly prepared for the next steps that they will take in life. That means something different for each student, given that each individual is unique.
The teachers meet every week to share observations, to discuss the children's progress, developmental questions, curricular questions and to organize the daily, weekly and yearly rhythm of the children's lives at school.
All questions regarding the social-emotional & academic well-being of your child and all curriculum questions can be directed to members of the full-time teaching team.
2023-2024 Full-time teaching team includes:
- Chako Takahashi (KG)
- Claudio Salusso (4th grade lead & Generalist)
- Cristina Cabrera (Spanish & Handwork)
- Gurleen Babra (Middle School Language Arts lead)
- Ita Molina (2-3rd grade lead)
- Kyle Walenga (1st grade lead)
- Lalla Carini (Generalist)
- Leny Gonzalez (Preschool)
- Marta Shcharbakova (KG)
- Robin Barneby (Preschool)
- Sam Wilder (Garden & Land)
- Sofia Salusso (CWOW & Language Arts)
- Yana Meydbray (4th - 8th Grade Math lead)
2023-2024 Part-time teachers include:
- Adam Kirk (Orchestra + Choir + Afterschool Music)
- Harpreet Sidhu (Punjabi substitute teacher)
- Lucas DeGiulio (CWOW)
Throughout the year the school may invite other specialists and teachers to work with the students. Email updates will be sent as new members join our staff.
B. Office Team
The New Village thrives in part due to the hard work and enthusiasm of the office team. All questions regarding health & safety, admissions & marketing, calendars & key dates, attendance & reports, tuition & fees, etc. – can be directed to the office team.
- Sam Wilder (Admissions Coordinator, Admin & Health Liaison)
- Mitchell Danielson (Business Manager & Bookkeeper)
C. Management Team
The New Village School is a teacher run and teacher managed school. The management team is composed of full-time teachers who have been in the school for at least one full academic year. All questions regarding the running of the school, HR & personnel, questions of sensitive nature, mission & vision of the school, the land, etc – should be directed to members of the management team.
2023-2024 Management Team Members include: (Updated on August 1, 2023)
- Chako Takahashi
- Claudio Salusso
- Cristina Cabrerra
- Lalla Carini
- Sam Wilder
- Yana Meydbray
Please relay your questions to any one member of the team, a sub-group or the entire team.
D. Board of Directors
The Board of Trustees has as its task to ratify and discuss as necessary financial and legal questions related to the work of the Management Team and the school as an organization. The legal and fiscal health of the school provides the necessary security for the school and as such the teachers that work closely with the Business Manager also work closely with the Treasurer of the Board. The yearly budget is created by the teachers and bookkeeping office and is studied and discussed with the Treasurer of the Board and then when in final form, ratified by the Board as a whole.
2023-2024 Board Members include:
- Geoff Barneby (Board Chair / President)
- Anna Louie (Treasurer)
- Yuliya Patsay (Secretary)
- Greg Price
- Nicolay Kreidler
- Claudio Salusso ( Management Team Representative)
- Yana Meydbray ( Management Team Representative)
All decisions made in every circle are made concordantly, through a consensus process. A concordant decision means that every single member of any circle faced with the task of making a decision, has to be fully and wholeheartedly in agreement when the decision is made. In this way, when the decision is made, all participants are fully informed, fully in agreement, and the school stands on solid ground since the decision was made on the ground.
Any question from the community about any decision made at the school must be addressed to the circle where the decision was made. Teaching Team decisions are addressed to the Teaching Team through any teacher of your choice. Management Team decisions are addressed to the Management Team through any teacher of your choice. Board decisions are addressed to the Board Chair.
Key Email Addresses:
3. How do I know what’s going on?
Direct communication and face to face conversation is the best way for us all to communicate. If you feel that there is something that you don't understand or don't know, simply ask. Go to a teacher of your choice and ask for a meeting. If any concerns arise, use them as an opportunity to connect with the teaching team and engage in dialogue.
In general, e-mails play a big role in our communication with parents. Urgent information, general information, curricular or developmental content is sent mostly via e-mail or may be part of a Parent Evening. An emergency email-text alert system will be used in the case that urgent information needs to reach the community as a whole. If there are any emergencies involving your child at school, you will receive a phone call. It is essential that we have your updated contact information on file and that you have a contingency plan in place in the case that a midday pickup is needed.
Our website includes a school calendar which is updated frequently to reflect the most up-to-date information regarding parent evenings, conferences, festivals, and other key dates.
Parent Evenings:
Parent Evenings are the primary way of staying abreast of what is going on at the school, in the classrooms and in the lives of the children and teachers. They are the main way we come together as a learning community. Child Development, curricular questions, and other pertinent themes are discussed. These evenings are also a way to get to know other parents at the school in a deeper way, not just as parents of a child but as adults in their own right. Parent Evenings are listed on the school calendar and reminders are sent out to the parent body.
We strongly urge you not to miss these precious opportunities to stay in tune with what’s happening at school and in the lives of the children. It is important that at least one representative from each family is in attendance. Meetings are not recorded and are not accessible by Zoom. Should you not be able to attend, we ask that you seek an in person report from a fellow parent.
Parent Teacher Conferences:
The New Village School holds parent-teacher conferences twice a year. All parents will be invited to attend the Fall conferences. Spring conferences will be held for families as needed. The teachers always try to make themselves available if parents feel the need for a conversation outside the official parent-teacher conference times
Please bring any questions that you have about curriculum, classroom themes, or anything relating to the daily life of your children directly to the teachers. We are always happy to discuss these themes with you.
Reports
Teachers write reports about each child. These reports are to be read only by parents if the child is in 1st – 4th grades. Children in grades 5th – 8th, are invited to review reports together with their parents. Reports are sent at the end of the year.
4. Navigating Challenges
Direct Communication
Direct communication is a key tenet of our school. The New Village School asks that all community members: children, parents and teachers - speak directly to the community member with whom one has an issue of any kind.
We ask that all questions or concerns about any aspect of the school go to the person or circle that can address that question or concern. Speculating about why something is happening is not helpful, especially since there are ways to speak to a person who most probably can give an answer.
Please do not speak about someone else's child with other people. If you have a concern about what someone else's child is doing outside of school hours, go to that parent directly. If it is something that is happening during school, please speak to a teacher.
Our goal is to help the children learn that when a story arises, unless they have actually witnessed something happening, they should ALWAYS check to see if the story that they heard is the full story and actually took place in the way it was told. Hearing one version of a story and acting upon that information can lead to unnecessary pain and confusion.
We ask that you do the same. If you do not know exactly what happened and you want to know, please ask. If your child comes home with a story about someone else, please do check with the teachers first before taking the story that you heard as the whole story. It is your child's perspective of the story and is thus true for your child, but it may not be the whole story.
Entangling in your child's story does not help. "Entangling" means: Getting involved on an emotional level and making the pain worse by adding your own childhood memories or emotional responses to the story without first finding out what actually happened.
The teaching team is here to support you. If you find that a difficult conversation is needed, the teachers can help facilitate such a conversation. We always ask that you come to the table with an open heart and an open mind. Please assume that everyone in this community has the best intentions. The goal of any conversation must be to gain a higher level of understanding of each other. At times agreement may not be reached. We can disagree and still not become personally insulting or reproachful. We are in this school because we care about the children and each other.
If it comes to a point where a conversation is no longer possible, we strive to find ways to part in dignity.
Behavioral Challenges
We do not use the system of rewards and punishments at the school. The modern day " taking away rewards" is also avoided. If a child is having difficulty being a "social being" in a group, the Teaching Team speaks about the child and attempts to discover why that is the case. Parent conversations take place, in the hope that the Teaching Team and the parents can together support the child in being able to behave according to the needs of the group and of course of the child. Sometimes, the team might decide to have a child work with a group that is older or younger, in order to give the child a chance to re-orientate and to find new ways of behaving.
On the rare occasion when the team does not feel able to find a way to help a child work well with the group, parents will be informed and the child may have to go home or stay home for a period of re-orientation.
Should a child’s challenges be beyond what the team is able to work with and should the behavior be detrimental to the health of the group, the parents will be supported in finding a better fit.
Conflict Resolution
If a child comes to a teacher and says that someone/everyone is doing something, we call the children together in order to find out what the story is from as many perspectives as possible.
We require the children to tell the whole story. We ask if there is anything the child did that contributed to this incident taking place. We help the children avoid hyperboles “everyone,” “no one,” “always,” and “never”.
We speak respectfully to each other during these conversations and listen without contradicting. We place our perspective next to the other child's perspectives. We come as close to a complete picture as possible.
Even if there was no intention of hurting another child involved, we do ask the child who inadvertently pushed or made another child trip, to apologize and to understand that it still hurt, even if the child did not mean to do so.
If a child deliberately hurts another, a serious conversation takes place with that child and if necessary, with parents until it is clear to the child that it may not happen again. The children should learn the appropriate language and emotional attitude to resolve conflicts rather than to let them fester or to hold on to a grudge for a long period of time. Our goal is to help the children learn these strategies so that conflicts can be addressed quickly and hopefully at some point, without our help. Children are always encouraged to come to the teachers if they have tried to resolve a conflict but were not successful. We are always ready to help.
5. Learning Differences
The New Village School celebrates different learning styles and ways of being in the world. The teaching team routinely discusses modifications and accommodations that enable neurodiverse students to thrive.
We offer limited small group after school tutoring as the need arises. We work with parents to ensure that students in need of formal individualized learning plans are able to be successful. The school complies with ADA guidelines. Please direct questions to Lalla Carini.
6. Getting to and from school
Drop Off:
Our school day runs from 8:10 to 3:30. School drop-off is between 8:10 – 8:20AM. Children can be dropped off at the front of the school. Teachers will be stationed in the front to receive the younger students (1st – 2nd). Kg parents are welcomed to walk with their children, sign them in and hand them off to Chako & Ms. Marta.
Latecomers must come in through the office and check-in with Mr. Sam so that they can be put into the attendance book. This is important should we ever have an emergency at the school.
Punctuality is essential. We fully understand that tardiness is something that happens occasionally because of traffic or other unexpected circumstances, but perpetual late coming is felt to be disrespectful to the group.
Van Service:
We currently offer van service from the Stone St Parking Lot in the Presidio in San Francisco. The shuttle leaves the parking lot daily at 8:05AM. Space is limited. Please sign-up in advance. Please note a small fee is charged separately for this service.
Pick Up:
School pick-up is between 3:20 – 3:30PM. We ask that the parents of children in grades KG-4th - park their vehicles in the parking lot (not in the circle) and walk over to pick up their child at the front of the school. Children will be released directly to parents or permitted adults. KG students need to be signed out by an adult and may not be released to older siblings. Please notify Mr. Sam of any changes to pick-up plans. Any child in KG-4th not picked up by an adult by 3:30pm will be taken to aftercare.
Afterschool “Tea-time” Program:
Afterschool care is available daily between 3:30 – 5:30PM. On early dismissal days, festival days, and on a few other occasions, hours may be differ. In this case, notice is sent in advance. If you intend for your child to attend aftercare, please contact Mr. Sam. Please note that the afterschool program fees are charged separately. Any child in KG-4th not picked up by an adult by 3:30pm will be taken to aftercare.
Absences:
Our curriculum is delivered mainly through in person instruction. We ask that you commit to minimizing absences throughout the year. All dentist and doctor’s appointments should be scheduled during afterschool hours or school breaks. Please inform the school of any absences (planned or unplanned) in advance or as soon as possible. To do so, please email the teaching team teachers@thenewvillageschool.org, with the subject line: “Absence.”
Illness:
In general, if a child is not feeling well, the child MUST stay home. If a child is not feeling well enough to go on a CWOW day, they should not be at school. If there are any signs of contagious illness: pink eye, chicken pox or any other childhood illnesses, please do let us know immediately so that we can let the community know. Parents can then look out for signs of such an illness.
If you wish your child to contract chickenpox, for example, and have deliberately exposed your child to an infected child, your child MUST stay at home until there is no danger of infecting someone else.
Additionally, please conduct regular lice checks. Traveling, staying in hotels, being on airplanes all contribute to children getting lice.
Make-up Work:
For our younger students, no work is generally sent home and make-up work is not needed. They catch up when they return to school. Our older students (in grades 4th-8th) should contact a classmate to find out what was missed. It is the responsibility of the absent student to make-up all and any missed work.
7. Zero Waste
The New Village School is committed to minimizing the creation of waste in school and otherwise. We ask that you support our efforts by minimizing waste that comes to school in the form of supplies & packaged products.
8. Clothing and Dress Code
All of the children should enjoy being in their bodies and should clothe themselves to enhance that enjoyment through natural materials and warm, supportive clothing. Children are expected to have tidy hair, clean faces and clean clothes when they come to school.
All of the children should be dressed age-appropriately. We ask that crop tops, midriffs, torn jeans and overly revealing clothes do not make it to school.
We ask that children be dressed in clothes that do not serve as free advertising for companies. Please - no commercial logos. Pictures on T-shirts can be very distracting especially if they are from movies or other areas of entertainment. Small pictures or pictures of real animals on them are acceptable.
Shoes should be safe to run and move in. Children at the school are very active all day and therefore shoes that are closed and support the ankles are really essential. Sandals, flip flops, flashing shoes or crocs for example, may not be the best footwear. Shoes are generally not worn inside (apart from the woodshop). Spare “house shoes” or slippers are welcomed.
Children should have as few school clothes as possible, thus helping them remember what clothes they brought with them every day and helping them remember to take them all home at the end of the day. A sense of the value of clothing is really important, given that most of them are made by fellow human beings in various countries, who do not always work under the best conditions. The least we can do is to honor the clothes and look after them.
If a student wished to bring to school their bicycle, skateboard or scooter, they MUST also bring a helmet. Children will not be permitted to cycle, skate or scoot without proper head protection.
CWOW & Land days:
We greatly value our relationship with the great outdoors. For grades 1st – 8th, Classroom Without Walls (CWOW) days and Land days take place weekly rain or shine. It’s essential that children have proper outdoor gear including: rain gear (top & bottom) / lightweight water bottle / sturdy backpack / secure lunch & snack containers / warm Layers / good walking shoes / sun protection. Please be on the lookout for weekly emails with details regarding CWOW days.
Lost & Found:
Lost & Found will be located in the front of the school by the woodshop. If you are missing an item, please check there. The best way to ensure that you can find a missing item is by LABELING it in advance. Please label everything. Water bottles, masks, socks and jackets are the items that get lost most frequently. If you could find a way to label those, you are more likely to get them back.
9. Food
Food brought for snack and lunch should be nutritious and healthy. A substantial meal for lunch is very important. The day is long and a good breakfast, a tasty snack and a warm lunch is really helpful for the child to be able to sustain their energy throughout the day. Having children at least help if they are young or make the snack and lunch themselves as early as possible is the best way to ensure that what is in the snack and lunch bag will be eaten!
Please look into securing a good thermos. The microwave is generally not available to the children at lunch. Children should also bring their own water bottles which can be refilled at the sink. Please do not send disposable packaging to school. Nutrition bars, cheese sticks, jerky meats – should be avoided or unwrapped prior to being brought to school.
Please NO CANDY or GUM.
Do notify Mr. Sam and the teaching team of any food ALLERGIES your child may have. Food is served to students on occasion and it is important that we note any ingredients that your child does not tolerate. (This year, we are excited to bring back our parent-run hot lunch program! Please stay tuned for more information. )
10. Homework
Children in grades 1st – 3rd generally do not have homework. Children in the 3rd grade do engage in the “Shelter Project” which is completed mostly at home.
From 4th Grade onwards, homework begins and expands as the children become older. We attempt to keep homework at a healthy amount, leaving time for relaxation and for other extra-curricular activities. The teachers check in with each other thus have a sense of how much work is assigned. We attempt to give homework that is constructive, creative and allows the child to practice and become more proficient at the work done in class. If at any time a parent feels that a child is overwhelmed by homework, please inform the team. If a child seems to be avoiding doing homework, we engage in conversations, trying to find out why and if necessary, speak to parents in order to find ways to support this work.
11. Media & Tech
Technologies can be very addictive and as adults, we know how difficult it is to break the habit of always checking our phones for communications that might be there! Extra vigilance is needed in order to support our children in these times of technology saturation.
Children should be allowed to develop and enjoy the pictures they create with their own imagination before being exposed to pictures created by others for them. The impact of pictures created by filmmakers, TV show makers and especially creators of cartoons is immense, and clutters the growing minds and imaginations of children and adults. Children are more susceptible and at the mercy of these images and therefore the younger the child the more critical it is that they not be exposed to the “im- press – ions” these pictures make.
We want our child to learn and digest content offered in an uncluttered and unencumbered way. There is no need for an 8-year-old child to wonder about war, violence, global warming or any other frightening themes that are often dealt with in movies even for young children.
We also want our children to develop a healthy relationship with self and peers through open, honest, direct in-person communication. Social media, texting and other forms of digital communication can often hinder that process.
We are a school that strives to carry children from the start of their schooling all the way to 8th grade. We realize that the needs of the children in preschool are very different from those in middle school. For this reason, our take on media differs depending on age group.
Preschool – 3rd Grade: Screen-Free Childhood
We ask that children in this age group refrain from all entertainment and educational programming delivered through screens. We understand that screens are pervasive. You may use Facetime or similar communication with family and friends; your cars may have built in screens that cannot be turned off; your living arrangements may not allow for a dedicated office space; grandma or grandpa may have a TV at home. We simply ask that you do not rely on screens for entertainment, hold off on movie night, and do not allow your young children to play on an iPad. Audiobooks and stories are welcomed, but should be used in moderation and not replace reading or storytelling.
If one child has seen a movie, it means that all the children have "seen" it because that child will have to ex-press what was im-pressed through the strong images on a screen. Children inevitably speak about strong images they have experienced or play them out at school.
In a close-knit community such as ours, anyone who chooses consciously to overlook these requests is causing children of parents who choose consciously not to do so, to be affected by the strong images that are used in movies these days to gain the audience's attention. When arranging playdates with other families, it is always good to check in to see what level of comfort the families have with exposure to movies, videos and video games. Agreeing together preemptively is much better than trying to address upset after the fact.
4th – 5th Grade: Only with Parents
As your child grows, we understand that there may be some digital content that you would like to share in a family setting. An occasional, carefully chosen and curated family movie or documentary is welcomed. We ask that you do not allow children in these grades to have their own devices, play video games or engage in any sort of regular, lengthy screen time.
Protect school nights. Our curriculum is delivered through the primary medium of storytelling. Our main goal is to develop a strong capacity for mental picturing and imagination. Viewing of electronic images on school nights will interfere with the processing of memories that happens during the night and make the recall of stories more difficult. This is true for any age, but particularly under the age of 12.
6th – 8th Grade: Highly Regulated
In recent years we found that many of our middle school students have their own devices ( iPhones, tablets, iPads, etc.) We have already seen quite a few difficulties come about from this. Those who can text have begun to rely on this as their primary mode of communication. They shy away from face-to-face discussions and are far less considerate when communicating by text. For this reason, we ask that you wait until the end of 8th grade to allow your child to have their own device. When you do, we ask that you take incredible care in how you help them manage this responsibility.
Additionally, in middle school we ask that children do not have their own social media accounts, do not play violent video games, and do not have unregulated screen time. Students should not bring their devices to school unless specifically asked to do so by a teacher. If your middle schooler is asked to bring a computer to school to complete work, please make sure internet access on the device is properly restricted.
If for various logistical reasons your child must bring a phone to school, we ask that you notify us in writing. All devices (phones, smart-watches, tablets & otherwise) must be labeled with your child’s name and handed over to Mr. Sam for safekeeping during school hours. Any device not turned in, will be held by a teacher and returned directly to the parents.
Campus-Wide
As for us, the adults, we ask that we all – parents and teachers – make a concerted effort to tuck our phones away. Let’s enjoy greeting one another and exchanging pleasantries. Let us not photograph children at circle or during performances. Let’s be present and rely on our own memory to create the pictures for us to keep, simply put! Teaching team members do use phones to convey urgent information to the group throughout the day and may on occasion take photographs, but we too will limit this use to only what is absolutely necessary.
Have questions or need help? Please reach out to the teaching team if you have questions or need more support in this area. Our goal is to truly embrace media minimalism and support our parent body in finding ways to make this possible for all. We do not wish to judge or alienate anyone. If you have questions for us – please bring them and let us discuss them together. And if you disagree - great, let’s sit down and explore why.
12. Signature Required
Thank you for taking the time to carefully review this document. We truly appreciate your continued support for our work at the New Village. We ask that you acknowledge receipt of this document and sign below as a way to state your intentions to uphold the values and key tenets of our school.
It is our hope for everyone in our community to align in our common goals to the greatest degree possible. If questions remain, please reach out to the teaching team and schedule a time to speak.