Last updated: June 2026
The safety of every child in our care comes before everything else. This policy explains the commitments The Wresh Workshop makes to families, the standards we hold ourselves and our instructors to, and the steps we take if a concern is ever raised. It is a companion to the Student Services Agreement.
1. Zero Tolerance
The Wresh Workshop has zero tolerance for sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, or the sexual exploitation of any child or vulnerable person in our care. This applies to every owner, instructor, contractor, and volunteer associated with the School, in every setting — on premises, at performances, and outside of school hours.
2. Background-Checked Instructors
- Every instructor, contractor, and adult volunteer with student contact is screened through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement VECHS Level 2 fingerprint background check — covering Florida and federal criminal records and the National Sex Offender Registry — before any contact with students begins.
- Screening is repeated every three years and on any change in role.
- Instructors are trained on child safeguarding before they begin work and annually thereafter.
3. Observable Instruction & Your Right to Observe
- Observable rooms. All classes and private lessons take place in rooms with a window, glass panel, or open door that makes the interior visible from a public area. The door is never locked during a lesson; a solid-door room is propped open.
- Your standing right to observe. Every parent or guardian (or a guardian-authorized adult, in writing) is expressly permitted to enter and observe their child's class or lesson at any time, without notice. Our instructors will never refuse or discourage observation.
- Guardian presence — when required vs. permitted.
- Mommy & Me (ages 1–3): the attending parent or guardian remains with the child throughout the class.
- All other classes and private lessons: guardians are responsible for drop-off and pick-up; whether you stay on premises during the class or lesson is your choice. Many families do; many do not. Either is welcome.
4. Appropriate Contact
Music and performance instruction sometimes involves brief, observable, instructional touch — guiding a hand on the keyboard, lightly correcting posture, demonstrating diaphragm placement with the student's own hand. Our instructors always state what they are about to do before any touch ("I'm going to move your wrist a little — okay?") and stop immediately if the student declines.
Never permitted, by any Wresh Workshop instructor: kisses, lap-sitting (other than parent-and-child in Mommy & Me), carrying, prolonged hugs, tickling, wrestling, back-rubs, or any contact with the chest, buttocks, genitals, or inner thigh; touch that occurs out of view of a guardian or second adult; or any "secret" or private contact framed as just between instructor and student.
5. Off-Premises Boundaries
Outside of scheduled school activities, the following are not permitted between an instructor and a student:
- Babysitting, child-sitting, transportation outside of school activities, or any other paid or unpaid service to a student or sibling.
- Visits to a student's home, or hosting a student at an instructor's home.
- One-on-one outings, meals, or trips.
- Photographing or recording a student on a personal device — school media capture is governed by the Student Services Agreement media release.
6. Bathroom Protocol
- Mommy & Me: the attending parent handles all toileting and diaper changes.
- Other classes and lessons: if a student needs to use the bathroom and the attending guardian is not present, an instructor will escort the student to the bathroom door and wait outside in a visible hallway location until the student exits. Our instructors never enter the bathroom with a student. Each bathroom escort is logged in the same-day lesson notes.
7. Performances & Special Events
- End-of-semester performances and other sponsored events are held on the premises of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church or another approved School venue.
- The Wresh Workshop does not sponsor overnight events or off-site trips.
- Each child's own parent or guardian is responsible for the child before and after their time on stage.
- Backstage and green-room areas are configured to be observable at all times.
8. What We Do If a Concern Is Raised
If any allegation, disclosure, or credible suspicion of abuse or misconduct involving a Wresh Workshop student is received — by any means, from any source — the following steps happen immediately and in this order:
- Safety first. The student is moved to a safe, observable space with their guardian. The adult who is the subject of the concern is immediately suspended from all student contact pending investigation.
- Mandatory report to Florida DCF. A report is made to the Florida Department of Children and Families abuse hotline at 1-800-962-2873 (online: reportabuse.dcf.state.fl.us), without delay and within the timeframe required by Florida Statute § 39.201. Florida is a universal-mandatory-reporting state.
- Report to local law enforcement (Miami-Dade Police Department, or 911 if there is immediate danger).
- We do not conduct our own forensic interview of the child or take any step that could compromise the official investigation. We cooperate fully with DCF and law enforcement.
- We notify our insurance carrier, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida consistent with our facility-use agreement and on the advice of legal counsel.
- Communication with the affected family is handled with their privacy and the integrity of the investigation as priorities.
- No retaliation against any reporting party, family, or staff member who cooperates with the investigation, ever.
9. How to Report a Concern
If you ever have a concern — large or small, certain or uncertain — please raise it. You can:
Anyone with reasonable cause to suspect child abuse in Florida has the legal right and obligation to report it. We support every member of our community in doing so.
Questions About This Policy?
Reach out to Rachel at rachel@thewreshworkshop.com or (305) 306-7850.