This is not an all-inclusive listing of our policies and procedures and is intended to serve as a quick reference to answer some of the most frequently requested information.
You can download and view a complete copy of our Parent Handbook, as well as other helpful documents and resources here.
GENERAL INFORMATION
A) INFANTS
In an effort to make your child's time with us as comfortable as possible, we encourage you to send in a feeding schedule along with their bottles, food, bibs and spoon. In addition, you must provide us with disposable diapers, wipes and ointments. If your child uses cloth diapers, you should provide plastic bags. Flexibility, responsiveness and emphasis on individualized care for each infant are especially important to us in providing a sense of security for both you and your baby. All of your baby’s belongings and food must be clearly labeled. In the event that food or bottles are not labeled, you will receive a phone call for clarification. We will not dispense unlabeled food and bottles.
B) TODDLERS & PRE-SCHOOLERS
Our 2-5 year olds enjoy structured academics, arts and crafts, including coloring, painting, cutting, pasting and encouragement for creativity. Cooking, music, field trips and special events such as puppet shows and musical entertainers are favorite activities. We provide a balance of quiet activities, such as story time, puzzles, and games with more active play, such as tricycle riding and using our fenced in play yard.
C) TOILET TRAINING
ABC will be happy to assist you with toilet training. Please continue using diapers until your child is confident and can begin using cloth underwear. Please do not send your child in pull-ups. Work with the staff in developing a schedule for toilet use. Please note that the same strict sanitary practices apply to toilet training as to diapering.
D) DIAPERS
You will be notified in your daily communications when your child is running low on diapers or wipes. In the event that your child runs out of diapers, ABC diapers will be provided at a cost of $1.00 per diaper, which will be added to your next invoice.
E) CLOTHING
Children are engaged in various activities during the course of the day; some of these activities can be messy, and/or athletic in nature. Additionally, children are engaged in outdoor play daily, weather permitting. Due to these activities, children are required to be dressed in seasonably appropriate, comfortable, clothing.
Coats, hats, gloves, scarves and winter boots must be provided in the winter months. It is not necessary for the children to wear their winter boots to school. Teachers will change the children into their winter boots when they go outdoors.
All children are required to have two seasonably and size appropriate complete change of clothing at the center at all times. A complete change of clothing includes, shirt, pants, underwear, socks and shoes. Teachers will post reminders for parents to update changes of clothing as the weather begins to change.
All clothing items must be clearly labeled with the child’s first and last name. This includes, coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and boots. ABC Kidz Kare is not responsible for lost or damaged items of clothing.
F) REQUIRED ITEMS FROM HOME
IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER TO LABEL ALL YOUR CHILD'S ITEMS THAT YOU BRING TO THE CENTER. WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT IS NOT LABELED PROPERLY!!!
1. If your child is not toilet-trained, an ample supply of diapers (enough for changes every 1-3 hours and more).
2. Any ointments, creams, or wipes your child may need.
3. Two (2) full sets of clothing for all children, as spills and accidents do happen. Please include: pants, top, socks, underwear and shoes. These will be kept here in case of an emergency. If you feel it necessary to provide 3 or more sets of clothing please feel free to do so. If your child does not have a change of clothing and soils the clothing that they are wearing, ABC clothing (if available) will be provided, which must be washed and returned. Parents may be contacted during the day to provide clothing for their child if none is available.
4. If your child is enrolled in a toddler classroom, or older, bring a crib size fitted sheet and blanket or all-in-one nap mat for your child at rest time. These items should be small enough to fit neatly in the bottom compartment of their cubby. All children need a chance to rest and relax as determined by the Department of Public Welfareand therefore, allll children in the center will have a rest period. A mat will be provided for each child and disinfected regularly. Please take these items the last day of each week that your child is here to be washed.
5. If your child is an infant please bring a clean sheet, preferably a pack-and-play sheet) and blanket for your child's crib. You are to take these items the last day of each week that your child is here to be washed. Please return these items on Monday of the following week.
6. If your child is in the Young Infant room, please supply a Boppy cover. We will provide your child with his/her own Boppy while in our care. You are asked to take the cover home the last day of each week that your child is here to be washed. Please return the Boppy cover on Monday of the following week.
7. Lunch should be brought in a lunch box or bag with your child's name on it. There should be an adequate amount of juice or milk. NO RED JUICE! We do have a microwave to heat lunches. You need to provide utensils for meals and desserts, as we do not have these to provide. Lunch boxes will be placed in refrigerator on designated shelves. Please pack ready-to-serve lunches with enough of a variety of nutritional items. Please alert Director and teacher of any food allergies. (Snacks will be provided at 9:30 AM & at 3:30 PM. We try to avoid sugar products as much as possible).
8. NO toys are to be brought from home unless it is Show and Tell. We appreciate your understanding that “toy guns” or “war toys” are not allowed at school.
G) BIRTHDAYS
Your child may celebrate this special day with us if you wish. Cupcakes, cake, etc. may be brought in for snack time. Check with the teacher for the number of students in your child’s class. If you are planning a private party for your child, you may distribute the invitations at the center, only when all the children in the class are invited.
H) PARENT / TEACHER CONFERENCES
Please be sure to make an appointment with your child’s teacher to discuss your child's development. It will be a time of sharing joys, expressing concerns and of getting to know the staff and the program better. Your child will be given progress reports bi-annually. Parent / Teacher conferences will be offered once a year.
HEALTH & SAFETY
A) PRE-ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS
All children are required to have a complete up to date Child Health Assessment form on file at ABC Kidz Kare. (Child Health Assessment forms must be updated at the following ages: 2 mos., 4 mos., 6 mos., 9 mos., 12 mos., 15 mos., 18 mos., 24 mos., annually thereafter) This is per our licensing regulations. If you have chosen not to have your child immunized, please ask the Center Director for an immunization waiver form. Immunizations may be waived for certain reasons. Please discuss this with the Center Director to determine whether you have the right to be enrolled and not have your child immunized. Parents are required to have a wavier on file in place of an immunization record, so that the center can maintain compliance with licensing regulations.
B) CHILDREN WITH SEVERE ALLERGIES
For the safety of your child, parents are required to provide a signed copy of the “Authorization For Emergency Care for Children with Severe Allergies” form, detailing any allergies, food or otherwise, from which their child suffers, at the time of enrollment or when the allergy is discovered. This form must be completely filled out by the child’s physician and parent(s) or legal guardian(s), and must be updated every six months, or more frequently, as needed. In addition to this form, parents must provide a copy of any additional physician’s orders and procedural guidelines relating to the prevention and treatment of the child’s allergy. This form can be obtained by request from the Center Director.
Parents must also execute a “Release and Waiver of Liability for Administering Emergency Treatment to Children with Severe Allergies” form. This form releases ABC Kidz Kare from liability for administering treatment to children with severe allergies and taking other necessary actions set forth in the “Authorization for Emergency Care for Children with Severe Allergies” form, provided ABC Kidz Kare exercises reasonable care in taking such actions.
Any medication required to treat an allergic reaction must be provided in accordance with the Medication Policy detailed herein.
C) COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
To avoid the spread of infection and illness, we can not permit a child who has any of the illnesses or symptoms of illness specified below to be admitted to the center on a given day unless medical diagnosis from a licensed physician, which has been communicated to the center in writing, or verbally with a written follow-up, indicates that the child poses no serious health risk to himself or herself or to other children. Such illnesses or symptoms of illness shall include, but not be limited to any of the following:
Severe pain or discomfort;
Acute diarrhea, characterized as two bouts of diarrhea
Two or more episodes of acute vomiting within a period of 24 hours;
A temperature of more than 101 degrees;
Sore throat or severe coughing;
Yellow eyes or jaundiced skin;
Red eyes with discharge;
Infected, untreated skin patches;
Skin rashes, excluding diaper rash, lasting more than one day;
Difficult or rapid breathing;
Visibly enlarged lymph nodes;
Blood in urine.
If antibiotics are required to treat the illness, children must be on the antibiotic for 24 hours before returning to school.
Children must also be symptom free for a period of 24 hours.
The center shall not permit a child or staff member with an excludable communicable disease as listed below, to be admitted to or remain at the center until a note from the child’s or staff member’s licensed physician states that the child or staff member has been diagnosed and presents no risk to their self or others.
a. Chicken Pox (Child may return after blisters scab over)
b. German measles
c. Hemophilus influenza
d. Measle
e. Mumps
f. Strep throat
g. Tuberculosis
h. Ring worm
i. Whooping Cough
j. Giardia Lamblia
k. Hepatitis A
l. Salmonella
m.Shigella
n. Impetigo
o. Lice
p. Scabies
q. Common Cold
If antibiotics are required to treat the illness, children must be on the antibiotic for 24 hours before returning to school.
Children must also be symptom free for a period of 24 hours.
If a child shows any of the symptoms above, the parent will be called and asked to come within the hour to pick up their child. We do not have the provisions to care for sick children other than for a brief period of time until the parent arrives. If a parent cannot be reached, we will contact the emergency contacts listed on the Emergency Contact Form.
If your child has been diagnosed with a communicable disease, please contact the Director so a notice can be posted.
Because of staff scheduling requirements, credit or refunds are not given for illness or other absences.
D) BITING
ABC Kidz Kare recognizes that biting is a developmentally appropriate behavior for children in the infant through 2 ½ year old classrooms. Parents with children in these classrooms should expect that their children may be bit, or will bite another child. The staff understands that parents are concerned and can be upset when their child is involved in a biting incident. We ask that you remember this is a developmentally appropriate behavior, and that the staff is working to identify situations, which provoke or elicit this behavior so it can be prevented in the future. Parents are expected to work with staff to identify methods and strategies to curb this behavior.
Children older than 3 years of age may occasionally be involved in a biting incident. For children in this age group who bite, the staff will use the discipline procedures outlined in the discipline section of this handbook, as well as observe the child to determine what provokes or elicits this inappropriate behavior. Parents are expected to cooperate with staff to help their child control this behavior.
Furthermore, children, in the older age groups, who bite 3 times in a school year, will have their services terminated, since the safety of all the children in the program is of the utmost concern of ABC Kidz Kare.
Parents will be notified by incident/accident report that a biting incident occurred during the course of the day. The staff may not discuss with either parent the identity of the other child involved in the incident. This information is considered to be confidential and cannot be disclosed. The staff of ABC Kidz Kare cannot discuss the medical history of any child involved in a biting incident with the other party. It is recommended that any child involved in a biting incident be seen by their family physician if the parents are concerned about communicable diseases possibly resulting from the biting incident.
E) DISPENSING MEDICATION
ABC Kidz Kare will only dispense over-the-counter and/or prescription medication that is in original, labeled containers, and is accompanied by a doctor’s note with explicit dosage and administration instructions. ABC Kidz Kare will only give medication to the child for whom the doctor’s note is written and for whom the medication container is labeled. One doctor’s note per course of treatment is required. If a child, for example, is to be given a course of antibiotics for 10 days, the doctor’s note must identify the dates that the medication is to be given.
Parents are required to complete a Medication Form each day that medication is to be dispensed. Medication Forms can be found inside all classrooms. Medication Forms, doctor’s notes and medication are to be turned into the child’s teacher.
ABC Kidz Kare will dispense over-the-counter, fever reducing/pain medication (ex. Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin) on an as needed basis, with a doctor’s note detailing the recommended reasons for administration and appropriate dosage. Parents are required to supply an unopened bottle of the fever reducing/pain medication clearly labeled with their child’s name. (One note and bottle of fever reducing/pain medication is required per child.) Prior to administering fever reducing/pain medication, staff will contact a parent or person listed on emergency contact form (if a parent can not be reached) to inform them of our need to administer the medication. Staff will also inform the parent or emergency contact person if it is necessary for the child to be picked up due to illness. Refer to the policy listed above regarding picking up ill children.
Parents are responsible for ensuring that all prescription medication is properly labeled by a pharmacist and replaced prior to the expiration date.
FIELD TRIPS
ABC Kidz Kare occassionally supplements the in-class curriculum with off-premise field trips. Parents are required to give written permission for their child to attend each field trip. Notification of a field trip will be sent home in advance of the trip, with all pertinent trip information including destination, date, time, reason for trip, cost, and mode of transportation. Accompanying the notification paper, teachers will include a permission slip to be filled out, signed, and returned to the teacher. The field trip permission slip must be filled out completely and accurately, and all trip costs must be paid in advance in order for your child to attend.
All children attending the trip must leave a clearly labeled car seat in the upstairs hallway. Only children with a car/booster seat may attend field trips.
If parents wish to attend the trip with their child, they should discuss attending with the classroom teacher. ABC Kidz Kare provides all required supervision for all field trips, but invites and welcomes parents to attend.
Parents will not be permitted to transport any child, other than their own, on an ABC Kidz Kare sponsored trip.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS
A) INCLEMENT WEATHER
In the event of heavy snowfalls, building emergencies, hurricanes, tornadoes, or other severe weather conditions, the center may open or remain open for as long as safety permits. As a general rule, ABC will follow the
Please follow this 3-step procedure to receive the most up-to-date information:
1. Listen to KYW Radio 1060 AM – School Code 851
2. Watch KYW Channel 3 – School Code 851
3. Call ABC Kidz Kare at 610-692-2451 ext. 19 for voice mail update
For the safety of both the children and staff, ABC management reserves the right to open or close the center at its own discretion.
B) HOLIDAYS
We will be closed on the following days:
New Years Day
MLK Jr. Birthday
President’s Day
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Friday prior to first day of fall semester
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Thanksgiving Day
Day after Thanksgiving
Christmas Eve (Half-day)
Christmas Day
If one of the above days falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be observed on the preceding Friday. If the day falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday. Holidays have been taken into consideration in the overall tuition rates, and full tuition is due for weeks in which these holidays occur.
During the week in between Christmas Day and New Years Day, ABC will be open from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM daily.
The Friday prior to the first day of the fall session, ABC will be closed for a teacher in-service day.
DISCIPLINE
Learning to interact in a socially acceptable manner is a skill that is developed within our childcare program. Sometimes children have difficulty functioning appropriately in a group setting. When the behavior of a child necessitates the constant attention of our staff, away from the rest of the group, "Time-Out" or “redirection” will be used. Problems arising in this area will be addressed with parents. Children repeatedly harming another child will be asked to find another caregiver, in accordance with a state mandate. It is our aim to be helpful and work closely with parents to resolve any problems in the above areas.