CO-OP RESPONSIBILITIES
Parents are the only family members allowed to co-op in the classroom during the Morning Program. Any parent who is listed as a co-oper MUST attend the mandatory "co-op training'' sessions. Under our licensing guidelines set by the Maryland Office of Child Care, all co-opers must be fingerprinted for the purpose of a Background Check and submit a Medical Examination form. You will not be allowed to co-op unless you have completed the proper paperwork (including fingerprinting) and have attended co-oper training.
It is essential that you be on time to co-op, which means arriving 10 minutes before the beginning of class.
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Co-opers are required to be up-to-date with the Covid-19 vaccine schedule.
When You Co-op
On your co-op day, you might perform the following tasks:
• Work with groups of children or individual children in activities;
• Perform housekeeping duties (pick up toys, clean bathroom, wipe tables) while the teacher is directing an activity;
• Take a regular headcount of children during any classroom transition (going from inside to outside, outside to inside, etc.);
• Help children care for themselves (wash hands, use bathroom, put on boots);
• Change diapers;
• Go on field trips with the class;
• Guide children with suggestions for working out problems with each other.
The co-oping parent must work in class to serve the interests of all the children, not just his/her own child. Siblings are not permitted to come with parents to co-op regardless of the age of the sibling. Spring Knolls encourages parents to swap and share childcare of siblings. Spring Knolls can provide a list of other co-op families that may be interested in a childcare share for siblings while co-oping. If the co-op responsibilities of a given family are not fulfilled, their co-op status may be reviewed and changed at their expense.
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The following table indicates how often each parent should expect to co-op:
If a parent needs to change his or her scheduled co-oping day after the sign up has been closed, the parent must notify the Director directly. If a parent cannot co-op on their scheduled day due to illness, personal reasons or child not attending on the scheduled day, the Director must be contacted immediately and the parent will be assigned a make-up co-op day. If a make-up day cannot be scheduled, the family will pay a penalty for the missed coop day. Families will not be asked to make up days for snow days and other unforeseen cancellations of Spring Knolls.
The penalty for failing to appear on your scheduled co-op day is $60. Parents who miss two co-op duties without prior notice may be removed from co-oping status at the discretion of the Board.