What to Know
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Our staff welcomes your calls during school hours and we also check emails throughout the day. It’s always best to share important updates about your child via email or a handwritten note to the front office, as verbal communication can be unreliable (especially during busy times of the day, such as drop-off or pick-up).
The best way to communicate with your child’s classroom guides is via email. All email addresses for our faculty and staff are listed here.
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At Desert Sky Montessori, communications are sent to families the following ways:
A monthly email newsletter from our Head of School, which details upcoming events and community news
Periodic emails from staff with important reminders, notices, and updates on events and fundraisers
Classroom-specific emails from your student’s guide and assistant guide, sent via Transparent Classroom
Announcements posted by faculty and staff in Transparent Classroom (which are also sent to your email address on file)
App notifications and email alerts from Pikmykid for matters relating to school closures, weather delays, and absences
Flyers sent home with students (remember to check your child’s backpack each day)
Phone calls from staff to report illnesses or incidents
To ensure all emails from Desert Sky land in your inbox, please add our email addresses to your Contacts.
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Desert Sky uses Transparent Classroom to track students’ work and progress. Your login will allow you to access information and pictures from your child’s experiences at school. Transparent Classroom can also be set up to text or email you updates about your child on a daily or weekly basis.
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We use the app notification and email alert system in Pikmykid to notify families of school closures and weather-related delays, and to pass along any other urgent information. You must have a Pikmykid account associated with your phone number or email address.
Our Head of School will also email urgent information to all parents as quickly as possible via Transparent Classroom. Please make sure your best email address is included in your Transparent Classroom account.
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Please email your child’s lead guide and attendance@dsmontessori.org if your child will be absent, tardy, or departing early from school.
Always include the student’s full name and the following information as applicable:
Date and reason for absence
Date, time, and reason for tardy arrival
Date, time, and reason for early departure
Any student arriving on campus after 8:30 am or leaving campus before 3:00 pm must sign in and out at the front office.
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We use the Pikmykid app to ensure safe and timely arrivals and dismissals. This app is easy and free to use. Simply follow the links below to install the app and sign up with a phone number or email account.
Watch this video for more information on this amazing tool and how it helps us keep your children safe and accounted for while at school.
Drop-Off: We encourage everyone to use the car line in front of the school, but you can also park your car and walk your child to the front door.
If you use the car line, a staff member will greet you and assist your child into school. There is no need to get out of the car. We do ask that you please say your goodbyes quickly to keep the car line moving for everyone.
Curbside drop-off is from 8:15 am to 8:30 am.
Should you choose to park and walk your child into school, we ask everyone to use the walkway to get to the front door and then say goodbyes quickly at the front door.
Pick-Up: Staff members will walk children out to the car line when a pickup is announced in the Pikmykid app.
Curbside pick-up begins at 2:45 pm and ends at 3:00 pm for the regular school day, and from 1:15 pm to 1:30 pm on Wednesdays.
If someone other than a designated parent will be picking up your child, you will need to assign the pickup person in advance in the Pikmykid app or call the front office to make prior arrangements. Non-parents or people not known to the school may be asked to present identification before taking a student from school.
If your child is in aftercare, you must park, announce your pickup in the Pikmykid app, and meet your child at the gate for dismissal. Aftercare staff will not release children if parents are sitting in their cars.
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Desert Sky Montessori maintains a private Facebook group for current families, extended families, and alumni to share ideas, events, volunteer needs, and comments and questions within our school community.
We realize some people may not use Facebook for personal reasons, but at this time, the group serves as a key communication channel for Desert Sky families to connect on and off campus.
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Birthday invitations for celebrations that will take place outside the school setting are to be distributed outside of school, unless your child’s entire class is invited.
