WELCOME TO THE AFFTON EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER! Dear Families: I would like to welcome you to the Affton Early Childhood Center. I am excited that you have enrolled your child in our preschool program and look forward to getting to know your child and your family. Our goal is to provide a safe, caring, and nurturing environment that will help to foster your child s growth and development. We are here to guide your child as they explore and make discoveries about the world around them. We believe that children learn through hands on experiences and play. We hope to help children build a positive self-image and learn to interact with peers. During their experiences at school they are also gaining skills for academic success, in a way that is age appropriate, meaningful, and fun. This family handbook is a guide for our school and our developing programs. We hope that it is able to answer many questions that you might have about your child s preschool experience. However, if you have additional questions or your questions were not addressed, please do not hesitate to let us know. We are committed to educating and caring for your child while they are at the Affton Early Childhood Center. We feel it is very important to have a strong connection between home and school. Through our strong partnership we look forward to building a lifelong love of learning and a firm educational foundation. Thank you again for choosing Affton Early Childhood Center. We appreciate the trust you place in us to care for and educate your child. Karin Fleming Director
OUR HISTORY The new Affton Early Childhood Center located at 9832 Reavis Rd. will be opening in August for the 2012-2013 school year. Prior to opening at the new location, the school has been operating out of St. George Parish school building for the last 6 years. In the past 2 years the program continues to grow and expand! OUR STAFF All of our preschool teachers are certified through the State of Missouri, many of them having multiple or advanced degrees. They are trained and certified in CPR and First Aid. Staff members participate in numerous professional development opportunities throughout the year to enhance research-based knowledge and educational practices. Affton s Early Childhood staff was selected because of their commitment to early childhood education, children, families, and continuous improvement. KEEPING CONNECTED There are several ways to stay connected to the news, information, and upcoming events for Affton Early Childhood Center. To keep up with the fun you can like us on Facebook (Affton Early Childhood). You can also find up-to-date information on the Affton website: http://www.affton.k12.mo.us/schools/early-childhood-center ATTENDANCE If your child will not be attending school please call the preschool office at (314) 633-5988 or leave a message for your child s teacher. If your child is enrolled in the full day program, please also call if your child is going to be late (past 9:00) so that we are able to include them in our meal count. In order for your child to get the most out of their preschool experience we encourage them to be at school and to be on time. BILLING AND TUITION In order to continue to provide quality programming for all of our families, we need all accounts to be kept up to date. All billing questions are to be addressed with the preschool office staff. Teachers do not have access to this information. Families will receive a payment coupon book to be used with the tuition payment. Tuition is due the first of each month. Missed tuition payment during the school year could result in your student being dropped from the program. Please make your checks payable to: Affton School District. Cash or money orders are also accepted. If you wish to make automated bill payments, please use the following information: Payable to: Affton School District Attn: Tuition Note Section: Please include your child s name Address: 9832 Reavis Rd., St. Louis MO 63123 Please give all tuition money to the director or school secretary. Teachers will not accept payments. If your family experiences a crisis or family transition, please make an appointment with the office staff to work out payment options. 1
BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS We believe that children respond best to positive reinforcement and redirection. It is important for children to learn what behaviors are acceptable and which ones are not. We are also teaching our preschoolers ways to appropriately interact with peers, be independent, and help one another. Preschool is a wonderful place to form friendships, learn to share and cooperate with others. It is also a wonderful environment to learn self control, build self esteem, and learn empathy for others. If problem behaviors occur, teachers will redirect and discuss alternate actions and words with the child. If behaviors continue to be an issue in the classroom, the teacher may request a conference with the parent so that as a team they can set up a behavior plan. CALENDAR As part of this packet you will find the Affton School District Calendar. All early childhood classrooms will be following this calendar. Please make sure that you are familiar with the calendar and make arrangements for your child on days that we are not in session. Those students enrolled in the Before and/or After School program will be sent information regarding the days and times of operation. CELEBRATIONS Birthday and holidays are exciting times for our students. All celebration treats need to be store bought and peanut free. This is for the safety and enjoyment of all! If you have questions about a particular treat, please feel free to ask the nurse or director. Please make sure you notify your child s teacher if you are planning on bringing a snack for a special day. For health and safety reasons, please do not bring in individual treat bags and party favors. Instead, we want to encourage you to consider having your child present a special gift to the classroom. Home party invitations should not be brought to school unless all classmates are to receive them. CLOTHING While at school your preschooler will be involved in a variety of activities, some of which may be messy. We ask that you dress your child in comfortable, washable clothing. Because safety is important to us, we recommend that your child wear non-slippery shoes that are good for running and climbing. Please no flipflops. Crocs and sandals are also less safe than a closed toe shoe. You will need to make sure that your child has a season appropriate change of clothing. This needs to include underwear, socks, pants and a shirt. Please place these items in a large zip lock bag with your child s name. Outdoor play is a very important part of our day. Please make sure your child is ready to play outside. If your child brings a jacket, coat, gloves, mittens, hat, or sunscreen to school, please make sure these items are labeled with their name. When in doubt, send a jacket as it is much easier to take it off than not to have it! 2
DROP OFF AND PICK UP We are overjoyed to be beginning our school year in our new building! This building will offer students a wide variety of opportunities for fun and learning. What our new building is a little short on is parking. It is because of this that we are implementing a new drop off and pick up procedure. Although we encourage you to use the drop off/pick up, if you wish to walk your child in, parking is only allowed in the lower lot (near the playground area) during drop off/pick up times. Parking is also available on the street. There is NO parking in the lane in front of the school during this time or in the upper lot (closest to Reavis Rd). If you walk, in you may take your child to their classroom area. Teachers will open doors when it is time for school to begin or let out. For drop off/pick up: o Inside this packet you will find a card with your child s name. This is to be placed on the dash board of your car. If you will be having multiple people pick up and need additional cards, please see Kathy Moran our new secretary. o You will also find a tag to put on your child s backpack. It has your child s name and teacher s name. o Please have your child sitting (in car seat) on the passenger side of your car. In order to keep them safe, we need to have them only exit the car on this side. o Please enter the parking lot from the Reavis Road entry. o Form a line along the front of the school building- please do not go further than where the sidewalk ends. o Beginning at 8:25am (morning and full day students) and 12:10pm (afternoon students) staff members will come outside and begin getting kids from cars and walking them into the building. Once in the building, be assured that they are being supervised by staff members and at start of school time. will be walked to their classrooms o At pick up times, please form the same line and make sure your child s name card is visible. Staff members will begin bringing students out to cars at 11:25am (morning students)/3:10pm full day). Staff members will put your child in the car, but will not buckle your child. If there is room in the line to move up, please do so and buckle your child before leaving the parking lot. If you are using before/after care, you will need to park your car and come in to drop off and pick up your child. If you have questions about your child or need to talk to a staff member about something, please set up a time outside of drop off/pick up time. This allows us to keep our line moving as well as give you the teacher s full attention. We thank you in advance for your patience with us while we learn each of your cars and practice this system. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES We will conduct safety drills for earthquakes, fire, intruders, severe weather and tornados on a regular basis to ensure that our staff and children know what to do in an emergency. 3
FAMILY INVOLVEMENT Early childhood, along with Parents As Teachers (PAT), will be offering a variety of special events. Notification for events will be sent home with your student, posted on the EC/PAT calendar on the website, and on Facebook. We encourage open communication between school and home. We welcome family members to be involved with their child s classroom. If you have a talent, cultural custom, or special interest that you would like to share, please let your teacher know. Please talk with your child s teacher about volunteer opportunities. There are also building volunteer opportunities. Please see the secretary if you are interested in helping out! If you have questions or concerns that you wish to discuss with your child s teacher, please call or email them to set up a time when you can talk. Drop off and pick up times are not ideal as they do not allow the teacher to give you her complete attention and privacy. ILLNESS Students need to be symptom free for 24-hours before returning to school. This includes, but is not limited to fever 100+, vomiting, and red, crusted or draining eyes. In the case of lice, if live bugs are found on your child, he/she will be sent home. Lice must be treated, and your child must be lice free before returning to school. INCLEMENT WEATHER In the event that inclement weather or other emergencies require us to close during the school day, you will be contacted and be expected to come for your child. For school closing, please check the website or watch for closing information on one of the local TV news stations. Affton School District uses School Reach in order to keep families aware of school closings district wide or school information. This allows all of our families to receive information at the same time, via a phone call. Please be sure to inform the office of the phone numbers that you would like to receive these calls on. MEDICATION Prescription medication must be brought to school by the child s parent or guardian. There must be a physician s written order for the medication with the name of the student, the name of the medication, dosage, time interval to be given, and diagnosis or reason for the medication. Parent/guardian must provide written permission requesting the school to comply with the physician s order. Any changes in medication need to come from the physician. REPORTING ABUSE All employees of Special School District and Affton School District are mandated by law to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect. 4
REST TIME For our full day children, there will be rest time. The teachers will be sending home a letter asking if you would like your child to nap or just to rest. We are providing cots for the children to rest on. You may send in a small sheet, towel, or blanket for their cot. If your child has a special blanket or soft toy, please send this item in your child s backpack. Please label all nap items with your child s name. These items will need to be taken home once a week to be laundered. SENSITIVE ISSUES Divorce or separation is a difficult time in a family s life. If needed, teachers can schedule separate conferences or send separate newsletters to continue parent contact and encourage involvement of both parents. Please be aware that we cannot deny a non-custodial parent access to their child unless we have a copy of a current court order. Also remember that responsibility of tuition payment must be decided between the parents. Please do not ask our office to intercede. Our role in situations such as divorce or death in the family (including pets) is to help support your child. Please keep us informed so that we can do whatever possible. SMOKING POLICY Affton Early Childhood is a smoke free campus. SNACKS AND LUNCH Snacks and lunch are provided as part of your tuition payment. Menus will be available for parents to see what the lunch option is (for full day students). If your child is not going to eat the lunch provided, you will need to send in a lunch for them. Although we are happy to refrigerate your child s lunch, it needs to require no heating or other prep. We will do a daily lunch count before 9am. If your child is going to arrive later than that and still require lunch, please make sure you let the office or your child s teacher know. Although we are not serving any peanuts or peanut products, we cannot guarantee that all food is peanut-free. If your child has dietary needs or allergies, please make sure that you contact the office. All full day families will need to complete and turn in the Free/Reduced lunch form. All information is confidential and is needed so that the district can receive reimbursement from the state. This reimbursement allows us to keep providing lunch services as well as keep tuition cost down. TOYS It is a good idea that all toys stay at home. There may be times that a child is asked to bring in a special item or toy to show or share with the class. VACATIONS When taking time off from school, full monthly tuition is still required to be paid in full. Tuition payment ensures continued enrollment. If over a long absence you make the decision to withdraw and not pay tuition, note that upon return you will have to re-enroll by paying enrollment fee and wait for an available opening. 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS Our History 1 Our Staff 1 Keeping Connected 1 Attendance... 1 Billing and Tuition Information. 1 Behavior Expectations 2 Calendar. 2 Celebrations 2 Clothing. 2 Drop Off and Pick Up 3 Emergency Procedures......3 Family Involvement... 4 Illness. 4 Inclement Weather. 4 Medications 4 Reporting Abuse.4 Rest Time 5 Sensitive Issues.. 5 Smoking Policy.. 5 Snacks and Lunch.. 5 Toys...5 Vacations 5
Affton Early Childhood Center COUGAR CUBS FAMILY HANDBOOK 2012-2013 9832 Reavis Road St. Louis, MO 63123 Phone: (314) 633-5988 Fax: (314) 633-0017