ENROLLMENT
The center is licensed to accept children age 18 months to 5 years whose parents work or attend school. With the above limitations, school is open to all children regardless of race, nationality, creed or sex, whom we might appropriately serve.
An enrollment interview conducted by the Director is required prior to admission. While not required, it is very beneficial for your child to visit
at least once prior to beginning school. Also, for your child's safety and to comply with state regulations, the following forms must be completed prior to enrollment:
1. Application Form
2. Immunization Form (filled out by doctor or health dept.)
3. Health History Form
4. Child Care Food Program Form
5. Income Verification (current check stub)
6. Payment and Policy Agreement Form
7. Emergency Evacuation Form
It is necessary that all records be kept current. Please notify the Director immediately of any changes in address, telephone number, employment
or other pertinent information.
FEES POLICIES
Fees are calculated by a sliding fee scale based on gross total family income and the total number in a family. Payroll check stubs or other evidence of income must be presented. Fees are adjusted any time family income changes, and new income verification is required annually in January.
Payment of the assigned fee is required each week with no reduction for absences, scheduled holidays, or school closings due to inclement weather.
After six months of continuous enrollment, each child is given one free week per calendar year (January through December). Please tell the office for use of the free week. If you do not use the free week by December 31st, you will lose it, and it may not be rolled-over to the next year.
There is no registration fee at the time of enrollment, however a re-entry fee of $25 will be charged if you withdraw your child and later wish to re-enroll him/her. Please give at least one-week notice if you plan to withdraw your child.
Weekly fees are required on Monday for the week that care is given, but are not late until 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Payments may be made by cash, personal check, cashier’s check or money order. If they are not paid, a fine of $5.00 for each late payment will be imposed. Any time there is not a “zero” balance, an additional $5.00 will be charged each week.
Regular weekly and full payment of fees by the parents or legal guardian for childcare service is required. Failure to do so is grounds for immediate termination.
If a check is returned, it will not be reprocessed, and that amount must be paid in cash. A $30.00 returned check fee will be added to your account. If more than 2 checks are returned, cash payment will be required for weekly fees.
FOOD
The center participates in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and a CACFP application must be filled out for each child. This application allows the center to obtain reimbursement for a portion of our food cost. New applications are required each year in September.
As part of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, we are required to serve certain components and certain amounts at each meal. We carefully maintain these specific requirements as set out by the CACFP. Copies of the exact requirements are available in the office, and weekly menus are posted on the bulletin board in the front entry, listing breakfast, lunch and snack items.
Each child should be here by 8:00 a.m. if he is to have breakfast. NO FOOD may be brought into the center except for birthday parties. No chewing gum is allowed. Birthday parties or other special events must be scheduled
in advance with the office. It is preferred that these parties are scheduled at snack time (2:30). However, they may be celebrated at lunchtime.
Holiday parties are sponsored by the Board at Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween. The Christmas party is an open house with a program in the evening to which everyone is invited. There is an open house for parents in the fall and two other parent programs are offered during the year in conjunction with the other United Way Child Care Centers.
CLOTHING AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS
Simple clothing that is comfortable and washable is recommended to facilitate your child’s participation in all the Center’s activities. Also, easy removal for restroom use should be kept in mind when dressing your child.
Outdoor physical activity is a part of our daily schedule, expect when it is raining, so be sure to include appropriate clothing (i.e. sweater, jacket, hat, mittens) for winter weather. Shoes should also be suitable for outdoor activities. (Pea gravel is very uncomfortable in sandals.)
One complete change of seasonally appropriate clothing should be kept in a bag in the child’s locker at all times. Please label each article to assist us in returning these to you. We cannot replace lost articles.
Please leave your child’s toys at home or in your car. If you have a book or tape that may be of interest to all the children, we will appreciate this being shared with the class, but ask that it be left for several days. Other items such as food, chewing gum, or money should be left at home at all times.
There is a graduation program given at the beginning of each summer for students who will enter kindergarten in the fall. While there is no specific dress requirement, caps and gowns are not permitted.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES
To insure the best care for your child, we ask your cooperation in the following:
1. Bring your child into the center in the morning and completely fill out the sign in sheet provided at the classroom door.
2. Come into the center in the afternoon to pick up your child, sign your name and time by your child’s name and let the teacher know that you are leaving. Please do not allow your child to leave the building ahead of you.
3. If an adult other than yourself is to pick up the child, let us know in advance, and tell us how to identify this person; otherwise we will not permit the child to leave until we have contacted you. We will not allow a child to leave with an older child.
LATE PICK-UPS
Parents are required to pick up children by 5:30 p.m. every day. Late pickups (for whatever reason) will result in the following penalty: one dollar for every minute past 5:30 p.m. There is an atomic clock in the office, which will serve as the official timekeeper.
SCHEDULE AND HOURS OF OPERATION
The center is open 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please do not bring your child prior to 6:30 a.m. and pick them up by 5:30 p.m. Although we are open 11 hours each day, we ask that your child stay no more than 9 hours each day. This is too long for a two, three or four year old child. Please try to have your child at the center by 9:00 a.m. so that he/she will receive maximum benefits from the program offered. If your child will be absent, please let us know.
Each classroom determines its own activity schedule, but everyone observes the following:
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Lunch
12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Naptime
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Snack
It is our practice to take the children outside each day that it is not raining. We do not have adequate staff keep a child inside when the others in his group are going out. If your child is too ill to be outside, he is probably too ill to be at school.
After lunch, a nap period is scheduled. We provide each child his own cot, sheet and blanket which are washed weekly. Your child may bring a favorite pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal for naptime if he/she wishes. We ask that you take these personal items home and wash them once a week.
Field trips are offered periodically with prior notice of date, place and mode of transportation given, along with a permission form.
The center is closed on the following holidays:
New Year’s Day Labor Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Thanksgiving Day
Good Friday Day after Thanksgiving
Memorial Day Christmas Eve
Fourth of July Christmas Day
These closings may vary if the holiday falls on a weekend. We also close for 2 days of teacher in-service, which will generally be at the end of August. Every four years, when the State Conference is in Chattanooga, we will have in-service in October. The Parent Newsletter will give advance notice of our closings.
The center’s closing schedule during inclement weather follows the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Listen to your local radio stations or watch the television for information regarding UTC in the event of inclement weather.
ACCIDENTS
In spite of our best efforts, accidents may happen at the center, and sometimes injuries may result. The staff will respond promptly according to the nature of the injury.
Minor injuries, such as normal scrapes and bumps, will be brought to your attention when you pick up your child.
You will be advised through an accident report of all known injuries your child may incur while attending the center. These reports will be kept in your child’s file in the office. You are welcome to request a copy.
You will be notified immediately in the event of a serious accident and shall be expected to assume direct responsibility for your child as quickly as possible. If you cannot be reached, we will contact the person authorized to act in an emergency. If no one can be reached, the center will utilize the release form on the application.
CONDUCT
One of our primary goals is to teach self-control, and to encourage children to develop age-appropriate maturity. It is important to the staff that the children do not hurt themselves or others as they learn self-control. In the event that some type of redirection by the teacher is ineffective, a brief “time out” period will be utilized.
The policy of the center is to use NO physical punishment, or any discipline, which is shaming, humiliating, or frightening to your child. Please do not ask us to spank or threaten your child.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
We know it isn’t practical or realistic to expect parents to keep children home every time they have a runny nose. But with some symptoms a child may endanger his or her own health and the health of the other children and staff by being at the center when he or she is sick. Please keep your child at home if he has a fever or develops symptoms of disease that may endanger the health of the other children. Your child will be sent home if he appears to have symptoms of illness during the day.
Please keep your child at home if he is diagnosed as having any contagious disease.
A child must be immunized in accordance with state laws, which should include the following by age 2: the 4th DPT, 3rd Polio vaccine, one MMR and Hib. Children under 30 months are required to have a physical examination.
The center is authorized to administer only current prescription medications with the child’s name on it. No over-the-counter medications will be dispensed. A medical form also must be filled out and a calibrated medicine dispenser must accompany each container of medicine. Medicine is kept in a locked box in the office or in the refrigerator.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
We are pleased to be partners with you in the care and education of your children. Parents are always welcome at the school. If you have ideas, talents, or time to share, please let the director or your child’s teacher know.
We want you to know, to understand, to discuss with us our goals for our child. We want you to look often into our busy, happy, noisy, creative classrooms and see your child at play. We want you to realize the validity of that play and the importance or what he/she is learning. Parents and teachers together can help your child develop his/her full potential.
We will be happy at any time to schedule a conference at your request. Semi-annual conferences are regularly held in the Fall and Spring to update you on your child’s progress. Please remember that the teachers are not able to accept telephone calls during class time since their responsibilities are to the classroom first. Calls are acceptable from 12:30 to 2:30. Feel free to call the office at any time.
There is a Parent Advisory Board made up of 3 to 4 parents from each class whose primary purpose is to serve as a liaison between the parents and staff.
In the fall, we have a Parent Open House which every parent is expected to attend. In December, the children perform songs and a festive party follows. Two other United Way parent programs are offered during the year.
CURRICULUM
We hope your child’s stay here will be a time to grow, to explore, to experiment, to discover, to play, and most importantly to be a child.
Our program is based on Diane Trister Dodges’ “Creative Curriculum.” The teachers plan weekly themes and accompanying activities, which are posted in each classroom. Each room also follows a daily schedule so that the children remain on a regular routine.
In the monthly newsletter, the teachers will give an overview of their weekly themes and other activities for the month.
According to Dodges’ Parent Handbook:
“The activities we plan for children, the way we organize the environment, select toys and materials, plan the daily schedule, and talk with the children, are all designed to accomplish the goals of our curriculum and give your child a successful start in school.
Play provides the foundation for academic or ‘school’ learning. It is the preparation children need before they learn highly abstract symbols such as letters (which are symbols for sounds) and numbers (which are symbols for number concepts). Play enables us to achieve the key goals of our early childhood curriculum. Play is the work of young children.”
PROCEDURES FOR CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING CHILD CARE AGENCIES
The Tennessee Department of Human Services has the responsibility for investigation of child abuse reports. State law says that all persons – whether parents, childcare personnel, or others – have a legal responsibility to report suspected child abuse. This statement will address parental and child care agency concerns.
Suspected child abuse is to be reported directly to the local county Department of Human Services Office (look for “Child Abuse” in the phone book) or to law enforcement. DHS will conduct an investigation in cooperation with local law enforcement authorities and the district attorney to determine the validity of the report and a decision regarding further action.
In the initial stage of an investigation, the law allows DHS counselors to talk with children without prior parental permission (when it is believed to be necessary) and without child care (or school) personnel or parents present (when that procedure is necessary).
At the appropriate time, or if childcare personnel are suspected perpetrators of abuse, parents will be consulted. The child’s best interest is the first consideration.
Questions or concerns about this procedure should be addressed to the local Department of Human Services.
(Provided by the Department of Human Services.)
CLIENT GRIEVANCE POLICY
In the event of complaint or dissatisfaction on the part of the parent or legal guardian, they may initiate action by the following Grievance Procedure:
1. Contact the Director with your complaint in writing. You will receive some type of written action within ten days.
2. If you are dissatisfied with the action taken within this ten-day period, the parent may then request a hearing before the Board of Directors by contacting the Chairman of the Board. The center will give you the necessary information to do this. The Board of Directors or their representative will meet with you within thirty days of receipt of your notice to the Chairman and will take action on the matter within ten days.
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