Policies & Notices

Alice Birney Public Waldorf TK-8 School provides a unique educational experience for its students. Rudolf Steiner described Waldorf Education simply as, “The teacher with the child in the moment.”  Unlike traditional education or home study, the success of this “living” education depends upon the presence of the child at school. As you know, we do not depend on textbooks or worksheets which can easily be sent home if the student misses school. At our school, the artistry of the teacher inspires the child’s genius.

Your child is sincerely missed by their teacher and classmates when they are absent or tardy. It is difficult for them to recapture the threads of the social fiber that were woven by the group on the day of their absence. This is strongly felt by the child when they reenter the classroom after an absence or when they come in late. Being late interrupts the classroom and interferes with the learning environment for all students. Timely arrivals build good habits and help establish a rhythm for the day that includes opening activities. Timeliness is a virtue that helps to build the child’s physical and moral strength. Aside from that, it is uncomfortable to enter the room late. It is an unfair disruption for the teacher and the class.

Our goal is to educate children and prepare them for life. In order for students to be successful and fully participate in our experiential curriculum, they must be present each day and on time. Please make every effort to plan medical appointments after school and plan family vacations during days when school is not in session. If an early dismissal from school is necessary, avoid recess and lunch periods when it is more challenging to locate children.

Students absent from school are required to have a parent or guardian report the absence: online at alicebirney.scusd.edu, by phone, written note, or by completing a form in the front office for each and every day the student misses.

Please call the Alice Birney Attendance Line at 395-4510 and press 1. Leave a message and include the following information:

• Parent’s name
• Child’s full name
• Teacher’s name
• Date(s) of absence
• Reason for absence
• Include any medical notes or documents

1. You have five days from the first day your child is out to clear and absence. 

If a student’s absence has not been cleared, office personnel or an automatically generated recorded message will call home. Please note: If your child has missed a day that is considered an unexcused absence (vacation, car trouble, etc.), you will still receive a call.

2. Being more than 30 minutes late (on three separate days), is considered a truancy.

3. If your child has any contagious ailment, such as Strep Throat, Whooping Cough or COVID, please notify the school so that the proper measures can be taken in regard to your child’s classmates.

4. Children are allowed 10 days during the school year for health related absences. 

After 10 days of health related absences, each additional health related absence must be cleared by a doctor’s note or they will be considered unexcused absences. If your child is being dismissed early from school or coming in late due to a medical appointment, please provide the office with a note from the service provider. 

5. The State of California considers a student with 3 or more days of unexcused absences as truant.  A tardy of 30 minutes or more, three or more days, are also truants.  The 1^st Truancy Letter will be sent to parents after 3 unexcused absences or 3 tardies of 30 minutes or more or any combination of the two. The 2^nd Truancy Letter will be sent to parents after 1 additional unexcused absence or tardy over 30 minutes.  If attendance issues are not resolved, a 3rd Truancy Letter will be sent after 1 additional unexcused absence or tardy over 30 minutes. The 3^rd Truancy Letter includes a SART (Student Attendance Review Team) meeting.  A contract will be signed at the meeting. If the contract is not upheld, there will be a referral for a SARB (School Attendance Review Board). 

Please Note:  

Excused absences include: illness of the student, medical appointment, medical absence (absent with medical verification), court appearances, funeral service (1 day in state/3 days out of state), and religious holiday. Arriving late to school due to a medical or dental appointment must be excused with a note from the healthcare provider, or the late arrival will be posted as tardy.  

Unexcused absences include: vacations, going to work with a parent, and transportation issues. Unexcused absences must also be reported to the school to clear an unverified status.

Absences must be cleared within one week.  After one week, the school is unable to clear absences or a medically excused tardy.

You can monitor your child’s absences by accessing Infinite Campus.

The instructional day for students in grades TK-8 begins at 8:00 AM. Students should arrive no earlier than 7:45 AM because staff supervision is not available. The exception is for those participating in the Alice Birney free breakfast program and those registered in a before school program. Students participating in the free breakfast program, line up at the single black gate next to the cafeteria.  At 7:30 AM, the gate will be open for them to go directly to the dining area. They are to remain in the cafeteria until dismissed to the playground at 7:45 AM when supervision begins outdoors. 

If students arrive late to school, they must enter through the front office and check-in before walking to class. 

The instructional day ends at 2:12 PM and at 1:12 PM on Thursdays. Unless students are participating in an authorized, pre-arranged, school-sponsored activity, students must leave the campus and surrounding areas or be picked up daily before 2:30 PM and by 1:30 PM on Thursdays. School staff are unable to provide supervision after that time. As stated in Penal Code Section 11165.2, it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian of the student to provide care and supervision.

• The Alice Birney office will be open from 7:45 AM – 3:30 PM Monday-Friday on regular school calendar days.
  • Use 916-395-4510 for all telephone communication. Before 7:45 AM and after 3:30 PM, a message can be left on the school voicemail. Please allow 24-48 hours to receive a return call. Because students, teachers, and parents on campus take first priority and there may be only one person in the office, you may reach the voicemail during regular office hours.
  • If you prefer to communicate with the principal by email, please use mechelle-horning@scusd.edu . Every attempt is made to respond to messages within 48 hours. While students are on campus, the principal’s main objective is to be outside and in classrooms with the children. Meetings and returned messages will most likely occur after the students leave campus.
• The Alice Birney Calendar on the web page is intended to keep parents informed about important dates, activities and programs. Information will be available digitally through Parent Square so please make sure that you have updated your email address with the nonprofit parent guild and through Infinite Campus. 
• Parent meetings are scheduled by the class teacher. These meetings are educational, informative and essential to stay connected to your child’s teacher and solidify your sense of class community.
• Communication is a significant part of the education program. It is important for parents to keep in close contact with their child’s teacher concerning their progress. The teacher schedules conferences at the end of the first trimester, and parents are encouraged to contact the teacher at any time during the school year.  You will receive a schedule prior to the conference period. Report cards are prepared at the end of each trimester/semester.  In addition, your child’s teacher may request a home visit with your family.
• We ask that you make arrangements for carpools, play dates and other appointments in advance rather than during the school day. Please inform teachers in advance as well. This relieves stress on your child and on the office staff. 

There are times when parents need to communicate with their children during the school day.  In order to facilitate communication while also protecting instructional time, we ask that you use the following procedures to help us in minimizing classroom interruptions:

• IF YOU NEED TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD EARLY OR LEAVE SOMETHING FOR YOUR CHILD: 
  • Please call the school office.  The office staff will help you.  To protect each child’s safety, you must sign your child out before leaving. Please schedule appointments for after school and avoid the lunch period when it is difficult to locate an individual child. Once children have arrived at school, they are not permitted to leave the school grounds without parent permission. For your child’s safety, the teacher will not release a child to anyone who has not obtained permission from the office.
• IF YOU WISH TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER:  
  • Please do not interrupt teachers before class.  Please email the teacher. Each teacher will notify you of the best ways to reach them.  The office staff will take emergency messages and the teacher will contact you as soon as possible. 
• IF STUDENTS NEED TO CALL HOME:  
  • Students will only be allowed to call home for health reasons, emergencies or upon teacher request.  Children should not expect to call home to arrange for play dates or get homework or instruments.  Please help them to organize their day to avoid wasting class or office time.  Students who are picked up late will be allowed to use the phone only after supervision ends.
• IF YOU HAVE A CONCERN:  
  • The Alice Birney staff is interested in effective communication for problem solving.  Should you have a problem or concern related to your child and school, please discuss it with your child’s teacher first.  If there is not a resolution, let the teacher know.  If necessary, talk with the Principal by scheduling an appointment with the office manager. If appropriate, a follow-up meeting and/or student study team meeting will be scheduled with the teacher, parent and administrator.
• IF YOU HAVE A COMPLIMENT:  
  • If your child has a particularly good school experience, be sure to let us know.  We would like to share your joy.

Students are actively involved in their learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Clothes worn to school must be comfortable, properly fitted, and simple. Students will get dirty so plan accordingly. Often, shoes are removed in the classroom and comfortable slippers are worn. Shoes or boots must be worn at all times when outside. Alice Birney students have many opportunities to play in the rain and should have outerwear to keep them dry (raincoats, poncho, head covering, boots). Umbrellas are not allowed for students.

Students must bring a water bottle, daily, to stay hydrated for their best learning!  
Please write student's name on all clothing, boots, lunch bag, and water bottle.

Students’ clothing must not present a health or safety hazard nor a distraction which would interfere with the educational process of themselves or others. A student who violates these standards shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action. In keeping with California State Law, SCUSD policies, and in accordance with ACLU guidelines, we specifically expect the following to be observed by all students while on the school campus or other school related activities including, but not limited to, field trips:

• Shoes worn must have back straps and toes covered. Shoes must be free of lights, high heels, or wheels. Shoes must be suitable for all school activities and meet comfort and safety requirements.
• Clothing must be free of the following:
  • references to drugs, cigarettes, weapons or alcohol
  • indecent, obscene, lewd words/pictures
  • nudity, profanity
  • violent or offensive words
  • any depiction of an illegal item or activity
  • any item that causes a substantial disruption defined as: the school administrators or teachers being unable to proceed with regular school activities due to the interference of students’ violation of dress code

As a school of choice, the Alice Birney community recommends supporting the healthy development of our children by reserving nail polish and hair coloring for grades 6-8. We ask for clothing to be free of commercial, corporate pictures and logos, or team names larger than a tennis ball. We encourage our older students to recognize and hold dear their responsibility as models for the younger children and consider how their clothing style choices may be received by these students.

We encourage families to carpool, walk, or ride bikes to school whenever possible. If you must drive to and from school, please do not let your vehicle idle while waiting. 

All students in grades 1-8 will enter through the black gate near the cafeteria. Students can be dropped in the circle driveway, in the white zone near the crosswalk, walk up, or ride their bicycle or scooter. If using the driveway, it is wide enough to have a left side-passing lane for an easy exit. When entering the driveway, please pull all the way forward before stopping to let children out. Please do not let children exit your vehicle from the driver’s side. Vehicles dropping students off near the crosswalk should pull forward in the white zone, say a quick goodbye as students exit, and pull out onto 13^th Street. Do not park in the crosswalk, white or red zones. If you will need to park or need extra time to say goodbye, please do so past the white zone. 

Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students will enter through their own teacher designated gate near the front circle driveway. Each teacher will detail their drop-off and pick-up procedures and locations.

Recently, the City of Sacramento has updated parking violations at bus stops and crosswalks. 

• Please note that you will be ticketed if you are stopped/parked within 60 feet of a bus stop. There are several bus stops on both sides of the streets so be mindful of where you are parking or waiting for students. We have bus stops on both sides of 13th Street and 43rd Avenue. Several of our parents received costly tickets. There are also painted solid double lines in front of the school to increase safety. 
• Please remember that you may not make a U-turn in front of the school or through a double line. Moving violation tickets are expensive and it is a safety hazard for our families and our neighbors.
• Sacramento enforces a $25 fine for parking, stopping, or standing within 20 feet on the approaching side of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, or within 15 feet if there is a curb extension. This rule applies strictly to the approach side of the crosswalk and is enforced even if the curb is not painted red or marked with signs. (Assembly Bill 413)

The parking lot is reserved for STAFF ONLY and must not be used for dropping off or picking up students or parking. 

DO NOT park or block the disabled parking spots, even temporarily,  to run into the office or wait for your child. 

If you want to walk your children up, please park along 13^th Street or Norfolk and use the crosswalk. Do not block our neighbors’ driveways, move their garbage cans, park on their piles, or allow children to walk or play on their landscaping. 

If you arrive and the gates are locked, do not allow your child to climb over or squeeze through the opening. They must walk around to the front office. 

Each class has an assigned pick-up location along 13^th Street or 43^rd Avenue where they will wait with their teacher. Your class teacher will inform you of the location. Unless a student is biking or walking home, they will exit with their class to the designated pick-up location. Bikers and walkers may exit through the front black gate. Grade one students are picked up at the front of school near the flagpole. 

Caregivers who are picking up can wait to the south of the West Gate and then go to their child’s class designated location to receive them from their teacher (Please do not block the West Gate, sidewalk, or crosswalk area). If a sibling or an alternate caregiver will be picking-up, please notify your child’s teacher. 

Students attending an aftercare program on campus will not go out front during dismissal. Please let your teacher know if your child will be attending one of the programs on campus. 

Students picked up late after 2:20 or 1:20 on Thursday will need to be signed out by an authorized adult in the front office.

Each child must have current emergency information on file in Infinite Campus. If at any time your emergency information changes, please change it through Infinite Campus and notify your class teacher. In addition to the parent phone number, each child must have at least two different numbers listed in case of an emergency. 

If your child is seriously ill or injured at school, you will be called immediately.  If you cannot be reached, attempts will be made to contact another number that is listed on for emergency use. In case of an accident requiring medical services, 911 will be notified first and then parents called. 

School district insurance will not cover any student who might suffer an injury while at school.  For this reason, parents are encouraged to provide their own student accident insurance. For their protection, your child will only be released to someone listed on their emergency contacts in Infinite Campus.  The office staff will ask for proof of identification before releasing your child.

Safety and Emergency Procedures

Although safety is our number one concern for students while on our campus, natural disasters and other emergencies may arise. In the event of a whole school emergency on campus, parents will be notified by an automated system through Parent Square. If your contact information has changed since registration, please update it in Infinite Campus.  Unless instructed to do so by first responders, please do not walk on school grounds during an emergency or during a drill. This includes 4^th R and the NorCal Arts Extended Learning program.

If you arrive at school for drop off and the school is locked down, do not leave students. Wait in a safe designated area off campus until the school is cleared by first responders. If you arrive for pick up and the school is locked down, please wait off campus in a safe designated area. Students will only be released when the situation has been cleared by law enforcement or other first responders.

School personnel are trained and have responsibilities during emergencies. Please allow them to do their job and keep students safe.

To maintain safety while students are on campus (7:00 AM-6:00 PM), all visitors and volunteers must enter and exit through the front office and sign in and out. When signing in, you will obtain a sticker/badge that must be worn while on campus. Before volunteering, please check with the office manager to ensure your clearance is up to date for this school year. If you are not currently a cleared volunteer, then you are considered a visitor. A parent or guardian visitor does not have the same definition as a volunteer.

A visitor is limited to 10 visits in a school year that last 30 minutes or less. You may NOT be alone with students other than your own child. You must remain in view of school staff at all times. You must follow the SCUSD Visitor Code of Conduct, which includes making an appointment with your teacher to visit the classroom in advance. The complete Code of Conduct can be found in the SCUSD Annual Parent and Student Rights Notification and Standards of Behavior.

Alice Birney is a school without neighborhood boundaries, meaning that all students enter through the Sacramento City Unified School District Open Enrollment process. This allows diverse students from throughout all Sacramento city neighborhoods the opportunity to attend a tuition-free Waldorf school. All specifics around the Open Enrollment process are available on the SCUSD website.

Please note that although siblings living in district boundaries have priority in lottery placement, participation in the district’s Open Enrollment process is required for attending Alice Birney. Enrollment at Alice Birney is not complete until registration occurs with the enrollment center. Specific dates and times will be communicated for registration by the SCUSD Enrollment Center. Please check your emails frequently. Accepting the enrollment is different from completing registration.

Enrollment info

Our cafeteria is open daily 7:30 a.m. – 7:55 a.m. to serve breakfast. Breakfast and lunch are free for all students. Lunch is free to students daily. Many students choose to bring their own lunch from home. Please label lunch baskets, bags, and boxes as well as containers with the child’s name. For health reasons, students are not permitted to share food from their lunches. Healthy nutrition is promoted at Alice Birney. Students are not allowed to have junk foods, candy, gum, energy drinks, or soda. Please refrain from sending sugary treats. Because there are a high number of students with airborne nut allergies, Do NOT send nuts or nut butters to school for any occasion.

All medications to be administered at school, including aspirin, cough drops, over the counter, and vitamins require a signed medical consent to be on file. If a student is required to take prescription medication during school hours, a medication permit signed by both the physician and the parent is required. The medication, along with the form, will remain in the office. Students are not allowed to have any form of medication with them to self-medicate. Please do not send medication in lunches.

All medication must be carried into the office by an adult and given to the school nurse for proper storage.

Students who require an inhaler or Epi-Pen may get a note from their doctor stating that they are trained in how to use the medicine and that they may carry it on their person.

Parent participation is not mandatory. The participation of parents is essential for Alice Birney Waldorf School to provide the many opportunities and activities for students that make the school unique and students successful. An important aspect of our education is that children see parents and teachers working together in the classroom, the gardens, at school festivals and in the home. Children learn directly the value of group cooperation, dedication, problem-solving and hard work. School staff and parents work together to be worthy of imitation and to set the example for children to follow. Parent participation develops and maintains a naturally beautiful environment for the children inside and outside of the school.

Parent participation is not limited to being present on campus. There are several ways that parents can be involved: laundering rags, making telephone calls or sending emails, helping to plan and organize field trips, soliciting donations of funds or materials, building, gardening, and much more. If you are struggling with how to be involved, please speak with a teacher. They always have wonderful opportunities and ideas.

Except with prior principal approval for extenuating circumstances, students are not to bring personal items or valuables including, but not limited to: electronic devices, money, jewelry, cell phones, toys, stuffed animals, trading cards or family keepsakes to school (see Cell Phone and Electronic Device Policy below).  Many tears are shed each year when things disappear that should not have been brought to school in the first place. The school is NOT responsible for items brought to school under ANY circumstances.

Each year, photographs and videos are taken of students at school and events. Some of these pictures may be used outside of school for promotional purposes. Please notify your child’s teacher and the principal in writing if you do not want your child’s image used. Parents and other volunteers must obtain permission from the classroom teacher and other school personnel before photographing or taping on campus.