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Family & Community

Teacher checks name tag on student's backpack as he walks into the school

At The Friendship School, we believe that the success of our program depends on developing and fostering positive relationships with families. In order to best meet the needs of each individual child, we may ask for information from families about your background, beliefs, and customs. Children learn best when concepts presented are relevant to their own lives. Asking families to share information with us about how they define their own race, religion, home language (i.e. preferred family terminology for body parts, bodily functions, or familial relationships), culture, and family structure will enable us to make classroom experiences relevant to each child. The registration forms help us gather this information, which is kept confidential in the child's file. If there is additional information you feel would be helpful for us to know but we have not specifically asked for it, please include additional comments on a separate sheet of paper and submit it to the classroom teacher.

Children walking to their classroom while singing and playing instruments such as maracas

Methods of Communication

Seesaw- a parent communication application that allows the teacher to share happenings from the day, including photos. Seesaw is free and protects your child's information in accordance with Connecticut Public Act 16-189 (as do all applications we use at TFS). You can also send messages to your child's teacher through Seesaw and they will make every effort to respond within one school day... Your child's teacher will send information home on how to get the free Seesaw app and how to connect to your child's classroom.

  • Talking Points - a family communication app that allows families to communicate with school staff in over 100 different languages.
  • Email - Staff checks emails regularly and makes every attempt to return email communication within one school day.
  • Phone- each teacher has an extension to a voicemail box. You can call the school and ask to be connected to the voicemail. Staff make every attempt to return phone calls within one school day. 
  • Blue Folder- each student will receive a blue, plastic communication folder. This folder should come back and forth to school each day. Any important notes, forms, and money (placed in an envelope and labeled with your child's name and specifying how the money is intended to be used) that you want to make sure the teacher or school gets must be placed in this folder. 
  • Newsletter- Every other week, you will receive "The Friendship Family Newsletter" electronically from the school principal. The Friendship Family Newsletter will keep you informed of upcoming special events, schedule changes, and more. When we receive information about community events or programs, we will include it in our newsletter along with important information related to school activities. If you have ideas or items of interest we might include in our newsletter, please speak to one of the teachers or the school leadership. We strongly urge you to keep your newsletters handy throughout the month for easy reference. The newsletters will be delivered to your email inbox; please make sure your email address is up-to-date with our office.