Parent FAQ

If you come to campus, attend any event, read your Watkinson Weekly e-newsletter, or stay informed about what’s happening at school, you are involved!  Details are on the Get Involved page, or -- if you have a fresh idea, feedback, or are interested in a specific role within the community -- email us or come to a meeting to find out more.  We're not just here for our students, we're here to for each other. We all deserve to be part of a supportive community! 

NO! Come as you are. Social gatherings are informal.  Some are for families, some are for parents only, some are for students only – we’ll let you know for each event who should attend, and these details are provided on the WPC Preview Calendar of regularly recurring events.  The spring fundraiser is really the only occasion that would call for your "nice" clothes.

The Preview Calendar is a two-page printable calendar that gives a brief overview of frequently recurring WPC and school events to which families are invited as well as a concise academic schedule. All events and dates are subject to change. The latest information is always provided in the Watkinson Weekly e-newsletter and in the school events calendar.

The main site, Watkinson.org, is a public website that provides information for both existing families, prospective families  and anyone unaffiliated looking for information about the school. As such, it takes a few clicks to reach information more pertinent to current parents. In addition to navigating from the main page, There are three other sites aimed more directly at current students and families (detailed below): 

welcome.watkinson.org

Athletics and Activities Hub

start.watkinson.org

Parent and Student Login

On welcome.watkinson.org, you will find the part of the Watkinson website aimed at parents of currently enrolled students. On this page, students and families can each log in to access official student-specific and family-specific information. Once logged in, you can complete enrollment documents and health forms, as well as view academic schedules and reports related to your student(s). You may also navigate back to the main/public-facing Watkinson.org website from this page.

Current Students and Families

On Watkinson's Athletics and Activities Hub you will find updated information on current sports seasons, including pre-season training and post-season schedules. This information is aimed at students and families with current athletes on the teams.  The site is maintained by our Athletics Director and contains the most current information available online. The link to the Athletics and Activities Hub is provided at the bottom (footer) of every Watkinson Weekly e-newsletter. 

Your student has access to same-day changes and updates via their email. Information on activity and athletics changes and cancellations are distributed via Watkinson all-school email notices -- email notices to all students, teachers, and staff. Parents do not receive all-school email notices. While this might seem inconvenient at times, keeping all-school notices targeted to students and staff only is in line with Watkinson's goals for its students, including independence and responsibility. (Remember that this also spares you from hearing about every lost item on campus.) 

Public-facing pages

At athletics.watkinson.org you will find seasonal schedules, photos and news. This site is viewable by the public (those outside the Watkinson community) and updated less frequently than the Athletics and Activities Hub. This site is available in the navigation pop-up menu accessed from watkinson.org by clicking on any menu option at the top right of the page.

NO! You already have. WPC is funded by Watkinson school fees you have already paid. Every family contributes automatically. These funds constitute the WPC annual budget, and the parent community determines how best to use the funds to support community-building and helping families stay informed and engaged. All spending usually falls into one of four categories: faculty grants, support for student activities, family engagement, and staff appreciation. The WPC does not do any additional fundraising beyond the fee-based budget. Instead, volunteers help support the fundraising efforts and events of Watkinson's Development Office throughout the year. Here is an example of how the WPC budget typically breaks down.

If you didn't pick up a copy of the carpool list on Back to School Day, currently, the carpool list is available from your Grade Rep or the WPC by request. The family directory will be available by link in the Watkinson Weekly e-newsletter sometime in September.  We hope to have both available on the welcome.watkinson.org site later this fall -- behind the login -- as well as an additional page for additions and corrections. In the meantime, please email us at parentcommunity@watkinson.org if you need help getting ahold of either. 

Yes. The Watkinson Parent Community offers grants to any faculty member who has an idea for a program or project that will contribute to the betterment of the school community. The WPC budgets 20% of total funds to grants annually. Faculty and staff may apply for grants through the  grant application page  (also linked from start.watkinson.org). Grant applications are considered on an ongoing basis by the Grant Review Committee: the Co-conveners of the Watkinson Parent Community, the Finance Director, and the Head of School. Grant proposals must be for a unique opportunity, a “once in a school’s life”  special event, or seed money to start a new program/idea that will benefit a significant portion of the student body and be a non-recurring, non-capital expense.  

Information about the course selection process can be found in the Course Catalog in the section "Watkinson Academic Policies and Procedures."  This process is different for Middle School and Upper School students. You can find the details of the process for each in "Course Selection - Middle School" and "Course Selection - Upper School."

Afternoon Activities

Afternoon Activities are considered in the same category and as an alternative to athletics. The guidelines are described in the Family Handbook , which you can navigate to via watkinson.org  or start.watkinson.org by selecting  the Forms page.  In the Family Handbook, the section: "Athletics and Afternoon Activities" covers the essentials. For details on what is happening in the current season, including descriptions, sign-ups, waiver forms and meeting times, the best source for parents is the Watkinson Athletics & Activities Hub.

Clubs

In true Watkinson fashion, clubs are student run and student initiated once a minimum number of students and an attached staff member can be found. The students communicate details primarily through announcements at all-school meetings and campus-wide email notices. We have no links to share here! Meeting frequency and timing varies from club to club, but most club meetings are during the designated club time -- for Upper School or Middle School accordingly -- during the middle of the day, typically before or after lunch. Some clubs will maintain a Google Classroom for their club as well. There is a tremendous variety of clubs to be involved in! For the few clubs that involve trips or specific signups, information is announced and/or sent to the students directly, rather than parents. Once your student becomes engaged with such an activity, additional communicaitons may involve parents. 

Trips

Optional service trips (to the Dominical Republic every November, for instance) are neither clubs nor activities, but rather involve their own process of applications and advanced planning . Keep an eye out for information in the Watkinson Weekly for these opportunities -- both for students to participate and for the parent community to support.