Educator Statement of Commitment

Our School Environment

• We commit to individual cleaning responsibilities as stated in the cleaning schedule and to weekly safety checks.
• We commit to involving children in the upkeep of the environment inside and out.
• We commit to organizing materials and supplies in a way that is easily accessible and logical for adults and children.
• We commit to preparing daily provocations and to ensuring the environment is always rich with materials.
• We commit to developing and making visible weekly planning and projecting documents.
• We commit to making our school’s identity visible in the school.
• We commit to choosing completing each year two “big” projects that we have pinned to our Pinterest board.

Professionalism

• We commit to a social time away from the school for getting to know each other and having fun two times a year.
• We commit to sharing ideas and inspirations and to creating an environment that is open to evolution.
• We commit to having open communication with colleagues and families, including regular meetings with one another.
• We commit to engaged participation in the work of Project Infinity.
• We commit to weekly shared readings and written reflections regarding our experiences, strengths and challenges.
• We commit to broadening our personal fields of knowledge and sharing with our colleagues.

Colleagues

• We commit to being respectful and professional and to remembering that everyone has good intentions.
• We commit to open communication with our colleagues especially during times of frustration and stress.
• We commit to weekly scheduled planning time with one or more of our colleagues, including the Thursday check-in.
• We commit to keeping a communication board and to and responding to daily email from colleagues and families.
• We commit to making our communication with each other more visible and to collaboration as a style of working.

Children

• We commit to engaging with children in experiences that are open-ended.
• We commit to nurturing children’s confidence on a daily basis.
• We commit to respecting and being patient with children’s process and discovery.
• We commit to using observation as a tool to learn more about children.
• We commit to staying abreast of research about children and childhood.
• We commit to being advocates for the rights of children and the importance of childhood.
• We commit to daily documentation of children’s experiences as a tool to deepen learning and our understanding of how children learn.
• We commit to revisiting documentation with children.
• We commit to keeping portfolios for each child.
• We commit to recognizing the importance of slowing down in order to be present with children.

Community

• We commit to giving visibility to children with in the community.
• We commit to building relationships with our local establishments by giving gifts made by the children.
• We commit to regular outings in the community.
• We commit to an in-depth exploration of a specific aspect of the community.

Families

• We commit to two family meetings per year for exchange with parents.
• We commit to upholding our communications plan with families.
• We commit to two surveys of families per year.
• We commit to creating strategies to support more parent involvement (room parents, fundraising, social events).

 Ourselves/Yourself

• We commit to developing strategies to manage and alleviate stress.
• We commit to developing strategies for self-improvement.
• We commit to taking personal responsibility and to completing self-evaluations twice per year.

 Overall Mission of the School

• We commit to making efficient use of our time.
• We commit to using observation as a tool to learn more about children.
• We commit to respecting the “appointments” that have to be made each day such as snack and lunch.
• We commit to knowing, understanding, and adhering to the school policies as stated in our employee and parent handbooks, including the policies regarding health and illness.
• We commit to understanding the fundamentals of the Reggio Emilia approach.
• We commit to giving visibility to the complexity of children’s learning processes.
• We commit to engaging The Nest community in conversation in order to support our growth.