Miscellaneous Policies

School Supplies and Fundraising 

Other than your scholar’s uniform and replacement technology fees, you won’t have to worry about expenses, school supplies, or fundraising. In fact, fundraising of any kind is not permitted — we prefer that you focus your time and energy on your child’s academic success and well-being.

Gifts to Staff

Our staff is thrilled to accept your thanks and kind words, but they do not expect gifts. To avoid issues of favoritism and competition, staff members can accept only gifts that are homemade (e.g., a card, a letter, your child’s art, or baked goods) rather than store-bought. Parents may collectively give a gift to staff in the form of a gift card only (no cash!), which may not exceed $150. This ensures that all gifts are appropriate and avoid any appearance of impropriety. 

Requests for Specific Teachers or Peers

Each year, we do our best to ensure that your child is placed in a classroom with teachers and scholars who will provide them with the best possible learning experience. To accomplish this goal, a school may reassign a scholar to another classroom during the school year at its discretion. We do not accept or accommodate requests for a specific teacher or for certain scholars to be placed in the same class.

Transfer Requests

Success Academy offers internal transfers for eligible families who cannot continue attending their current school for emergency and convenience reasons, but who would like to remain within the SA Network. Approval of transfer requests is contingent upon available space at the requested school. School leadership will determine eligibility of request submissions to prevent disruptions to the school environment and the scholar’s learning.

To protect the lottery process, new-to-SA scholars are only eligible for transfers to schools admitting scholars via the lottery for their particular grade. Families are able to submit a transfer request that will take effect the following school year if a request is submitted in the second half of the year. If you would like to request a transfer, please reach out to your principal.

Mandatory Reporting

If we suspect that a scholar is being abused or neglected at home, we will make a report to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services at ocfs.ny.gov/main/cps or by phone at 800-342-3720.

Individual Supervision on Field Studies 

If the school’s leadership decides that a scholar requires individual supervision to ensure their safety or the safety of others on a field study, Success Academy may request that a parent or volunteer chaperone chosen by the parent accompany the scholar. 

Parental Classroom Observations  

We believe in transparency, and have always had an “open-door” policy allowing parents a 30-minute window to observe their scholar’s classroom. This policy goes into effect after the first six weeks of school, once scholars have settled in.

Food Allergy Policy 

Our schools are nut-aware but not guaranteed to be nut-free. Nut allergies are a medical condition that can cause severe and life-threatening reactions. For the safety of scholars with nut allergies, snacks and lunches brought to school should not contain nuts.

We acknowledge that peanuts and tree nuts are just two food allergens that can cause serious/life threatening reactions. For a full list of food allergens that require labeling in the United States, see here. 

If your child needs to carry allergy medication such an an epipen or benadryl for potential food allergic reactions, please make sure that you have submitted a Medication Administration Form (MAF) completed by their doctor.

Birthday Celebration Policy

If you’d like to celebrate your scholar’s birthday, you are welcome to provide each child in their class with a snack or treat, which can be dropped off at arrival. Please reach out to your scholar’s teacher to coordinate.