Amazing Life Games Preschool welcomes parents to become part of the ALG community. While the most obvious way to become involved is through co-oping, ALG recognizes that this option doesn’t work for all families. There are many ways to get involved in the school beyond co-oping.
We welcome parents with special skills, hobbies, or cultural traditions to bring them to the classroom for an hour or two. We have had parents share their medical equipment, pets, favorite recipes, and dances with children in the school. In addition, parents have redesigned our logo, created designs for our annual t-shirts, helped with bookkeeping, built a greenhouse and helped to break down the school on occasional weekends. We also have a very dedicated parent-led steering committee that oversees the day-to-day functioning of the school.
ALG also creates opportunities for parents to get to know one another. Whether it is our annual Family Fun Day or our traditional thanksgiving feast… there are great ways to meet other families (current and alum) whose children attend ALG.
We also share pieces of your child’s day through our daily blog and bi-monthly photo albums. These dialogues are great ways to see your child in action at ALG, and the many ways that play is helping your child grow.
Parent resources are listed to help you learn more about current research on child development and links to other useful websites. Resources include all DC-mandated medical, health, and travel forms, ALG tuition, and the ALG Parent Handbook.
Parents and the professional staff work together to create ALG’s unique environment.
ALG has functioned as a cooperative program since 1991 and has been enriched by the talents and experience of parents and the greater sense of community resulting from greater family involvement. Parents who contribute classroom or administrative time are charged lower tuition.
Most parent involvement comes in the form of direct classroom participation. “Co-opers” spend one or two mornings a month at the school on a day when their child attends. Co-oping offers parents the unique opportunity to interact with their child and their child’s peers in a comfortable environment free of everyday distractions. Co-oping also allows children to learn from and interact with other parents.
Co-opers also fill administrative positions at the school and, along with the director, form the school’s steering committee. All parents, including non-co-opers, are expected to attend parent meetings, workshops, and parent-teacher conferences and help out with clean-up workdays at the school and our annual fundraising events.
The cooperative system brings parents and children into a community centered around the children’s early experiences out in the world. Parents gain valuable support and camaraderie, and children benefit from forming relationships with many interested adults around them. Many families form lasting friendships during their time at ALG for both parents and children.
Below is a list of all the forms DC requires for your child’s enrollment at ALG. New families will have to complete all of the forms below.
Returning Families: Please keep in mind the new requirements for cooping parents. Three new requirements, detailed below, are in addition to the annual DC Provider Health Certificate. For your child, returning families only need to update their medical and dental forms each year after their birthday.
Please submit all forms to Amazing Life Games by August 10. If your child's birthday is between July 16 and August 30, please note their doctor's appointment date on the form and turn in the medical and oral health forms after they have gone to the doctor.