For Families
Your Child Is in Great Hands
Collaboration with families is an essential element of SFPCC. Our community is a unique and thriving one due in large part to family involvement. Through on-going communication, we partner with families to help enhance each child’s individual experience. We work closely with families to know each day how your child is entering the Center, so we can support their transition. You will find fresh information daily about the activities and curriculum our teachers have planned for the classroom. Our doors are always open to caregivers, and you are welcome to check in on your child’s day at any time. At the end of the day, teachers can tell you what your children so often are too excited to recall – what they created, how they grew, what they ate, the stories they heard – to help you and your child transition home.
We also keep you in touch with the Center via phone calls, e-mail updates, and newsletters from both your child’s classroom and the Center. Parent-teacher conferences and written developmental evaluations give you a chance to take a step back and see how much your child has grown, how teachers are guiding their learning, and what to anticipate moving forward. SFPCC’s teachers are partners with you in creating a supportive and dynamic experience for your child and a seamless and connected experience for caregivers.
In addition, there are many opportunities for families to be involved in our community, and each one further enriches the lives and education of the children within our care. You can choose to be as involved as makes sense for you. One of the ways you could be involved is to be a classroom parent representative and serve as a member of the Center council. Another way is by helping out with social events such as our classroom breakfasts and Center-wide potlucks. Families can influence classroom curriculum by sharing their interests and culture through activities, stories, or materials.
Many of SFPCC’s families are part of the extended Harvard community — coming from all over the world yet sharing a strong commitment to the growth and development of their children — creating a supportive and dynamic place for children and families to belong.
We recognize the importance of making sure parents have a complete picture of what their child does each day. The little details can mean so much! Daily communication and a sense of trust between parents and staff are vital to our Center. That is why we maintain multiple communication channels so parents and staff get the information they seek to understand the day’s activities and help transition from and back to home.
Daily Communication
The Kaymbu App
We have recently integrated the Kaymbu app into our Center. Kaymbu is a private and secure parent communication app designed to enhance and streamline our communication with families. Kaymbu allows parents to receive daily communication, pictures, videos, newsletters, and other documentation privately, all in one place. Daily charts are sent through the app with information including lengths of naps, amount of food intake for each child, and the frequency and timing of diapering (where relevant).
Kaymbu helps us manage our classroom communication. Teachers have the option to share and deliver information to parents individually, in a small group, or to the entire classroom. Students' information is kept private at all times. No information or images will ever be used for any purpose outside of our school’s communication and classroom. The app is password protected; each user will create an account with a username and password to access the site.
Drop-off and Pick-up
** COVID guidelines have altered this form of communication
Drop off and pick up each day is a critical information sharing time and our staffing model is designed to have the necessary coverage to facilitate information exchange. Each classroom has its own schedule board to relate the day’s anticipated activities and any other important notices.
Monthly Communication
On a regular basis, classrooms typically send an email to parents highlighting the curriculum and activities for the class whenever there is a change in theme in the form of a monthly newsletter.
Other Communication
Each fall at the start of the year, parents are asked to attend a 1-1 parent-teacher conference with their child’s primary contact teacher. This is an opportunity to share information about the child and set general goals for the year. Parents receive a mid-year written evaluation that formally assesses the child’s progress relative to developmental benchmarks for the age group. At the end of the year, parents are given a year-end portfolio of their child from their child’s primary teacher that “captures” the year for each child through pictures, artwork and notes. Finally, every class maintains an emergency phone chain to notify families in case of an emergency.
In addition to these outlets, the annual Parents’ Night in September gives parents the chance to connect with the teachers in their child’s classroom and learn about the goals and objectives in the coming year. Individual classrooms also hold a fall breakfast in October, a holiday breakfast in December and a year-end breakfast in May/June for socializing and an opportunity to thank and recognize the teachers.
The Center hosts three Center-wide gatherings every year—the Fall Fundraising Dinner in October, the International Potluck Dinner in March and the Year-End Picnic in June.
Parent/Teacher Communication
SFPCC Calendar
