Parent Handbook
Creative Learning Place is a unique learning center which offers classes in a variety of subjects with the purpose of opening hands, hearts and minds. CLP was founded by Karen Golden, a professional storyteller, arts educator, community activist and homeschool mom. After thirty years of teaching, organizing conferences, classes, festivals and events and hosting a daily talk show on public radio, Karen decided to put her knowledge of connecting people and ideas together at Creative Learning Place. Each teacher is meticulously handpicked by Karen and the teachers are not only qualified to teach, they are also passionate visionaries which bring education to the next step.
All Creative Learning Place classes take place at The Westside Jewish Community Center
5870 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking:
Please note, although there is a parking lot at the WJCC on the back side of the building, we cannot always guarantee parking as it is frequently full. There is no parking in the lot prior to 10:00 am. There is plenty of street parking on S. San Vicente and the side streets on the south side of the WJCC. Please arrive early so you can find a parking place and walk your children under age ten into the building. We will send further information regarding parking and drop off upon registration.
Food:
Please pack a snack for your child if they are signed up for more than one class. Students can eat snacks and lunch in the lobby or at the outside picnic tables and in designated classrooms. Please clean up after you eat! We are special guests at WJCC and it is important to respect the building.
Special Building Note:
The WJCC is a large complex with a number of offices and other programs. Please supervise your child at all times when they are not in a class. Although CLP is a drop off program, it is the parent's responsibility to arrange for student supervision between classes. CLP is not responsible for students between classes. If you would like to grant your child permission to leave CLP when they are not in class please use this link Permission to Leave CLP link.
Please refrain from loud talking or running while on the WJCC campus. Also, please do not congregate in the office hallway. There will be no running or loud talking in the court yard between the hours of 1:00 - 3:00. Let’s set an example of great homeschool behavior. Thank you!
Class Drop policy:
If you enroll your child in a class and wish to drop it after the first class you will be charged for one class but not the remainder of the session. There will be NO refunds after the first week of class except for special emergency circumstances. Please choose your classes wisely! If you commit to a class, you must pay for the entire session. Students enrolling in classes after the start of the semester will have their tuition pre-rated and will be billed accordingly.
Charter School Payment Instructions:
CLP is a vendor for a number of charter schools and we would be happy to add your school if it is not listed on our CLP charter school partnership page. Please follow these instructions to make sure we are paid in a timely manner:
- 1. It is your responsibility to submit your class requests to your charter school assigned teacher. They will in turn submit this request to your school and they will send us a Purchase Order (PO) and we will bill your school and be paid.
- 2. If you use all your charter funding and do not have enough funding to cover your class payments you will be billed and must pay the difference.
- 3. We require that a PO be received by CLP prior to the start of class or your child will be dropped from the class.
CLP is a video-game-free and video-free environment. Online educational learning programs, such as Compass Learning or other software parents and/or charter schools are using with students, may be used. Teachers have observed that younger students are late and not transitioning well into classes after break times on devices, and problems with focus and attention have been noticed as well. We are encouraging more creative interaction during breaks and during any down time that is not being used for reading or studies. For example: paper and pencil for games like tic tac toe, drawing, origami, card games, board games (being mindful of the location played and spreading out of pieces). We also have drawing materials and paper that may be requested.
Parent Visitation:
Parents are welcome to visit classes at any time. Individual teachers will have the final say as to how often they will allow parents to remain in class for the duration of the class.
Please refrain from talking in the class rooms during class.
CLP does not have the staff to monitor major behavior challenges. If a student exhibits difficulty with behavior in a class room, the parent will be notified and this may result in the CLP staff determining that CLP is not an appropriate learning center for this student.