Policies

Arrival

The hours and days your child attends the center are arranged at your enrollment meeting and are indicated on your contract. You may not exceed 10 hours of scheduled time per day. Any changes in hours or days must be approved by management in advance. In order to stay within PA state ratios, care may not be available for your child at times other than your scheduled hours. If the center does have sufficient staff coverage, we will make every effort to accommodate your needs. If arriving late, please call the Center by 10 a.m. to have your child included in the lunch count.

Each child must be accompanied into the center’s child care area by an adult. The accompanying adult must sign-in the child, wash the child’s hands and inform a staff member of the child’s arrival.

Departure

When picking up your child, you must sign-out the child. A list of adults permitted to pick up your child will be kept on your emergency contact form. Your child will only be released to those persons you have designated. A photo ID is required when a designated adult other than the parent is picking up the child until the staff is familiar with such persons.

The center must be notified if you will be delayed in picking up your child. If at all possible, arrangements should be made for another designated adult to pick up your child at or before the scheduled time, if you are going to be late. If someone other than a designated adult comes to pick up your child, your child WILL NOT BE released to such person. This is a precaution to help ensure the safety of your child. The staff does not have the authority to deviate from this policy. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Emergency consent forms must be kept up-to-date.

Attendance

If your child will be absent, please notify the center prior to 10 a.m., or as soon as possible. If your child will be arriving late, please let the staff know the day before, or call before 10 a.m. to ensure proper lunch count. For children enrolled in the Pre-K Counts program or Kindergarten, a written excuse is required for all absences.

Holidays

The Cuddle Zone Learning Center will be closed on the following holidays (Tuition credit will not be given for these holidays):

Holidays and In-Service Days may be subject to change. Please see yearly school calendar for exact dates. For any holiday that falls on a weekend, the Center will be closed on either the Friday before or Monday after the holiday. Calendar is located under the Forms & Resources tab.

Vacation/Personal Leave Policies

A Full time private pay child will earn five vacation days after being enrolled for a period of 12 months. A part-time private pay child will be prorated according to contracted days and times. Notify management when you are planning to use your days so that your tuition for that week can be adjusted. Also vacation days may only be used if the child is absent from the Center on those days.

Withdrawal Policies

If you are planning to withdraw your child from The Cuddle Zone Learning Center you are required to provide at least a two week notice of the withdrawal, in writing. Failure to provide notice in writing will result in you forfeiting your security deposit.

If it becomes necessary for The Cuddle Zone Learning Center to request that you withdraw your child from the center, The Cuddle Zone will provide you with at least one week notice to make other child care arrangements.

Student records may be transferred to another school with written permission from the parent. This may include health, dental, assessments, report cards, and other pertinent information.

Dismissal/Non-violence Policies

Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated in the center. Parents will be notified by phone or at pickup of any incidents. In cases of another child being hurt, the parent will be asked to remove their child from care for the remainder of that day. If management observes repeated behavior with your child that is unacceptable to the policies of the center, the first step will be to verbally notify you. If the behavior continues, we will request a conference with the parents to discuss the situation. Finally, if the problem is not corrected, the next step will be a referral to an outside agency. Failure of the parent to follow through with the referral will result in the child being terminated from the Center.

Classroom Transition Policies

Children are moved to the next classroom based on the school year calendar. Each year, the children who have mastered the skills necessary to move to the next classroom, will start the new school year in that classroom. State ratios require the children to be a certain age in each classroom. For example, children must be three to move to Preschool. Children are grouped according to how they will start kindergarten. Our Pre-K Counts program requires the child to be three or four years old prior to September 1st. All school districts have different kindergarten enrollment dates. Please check with your school district and discuss with management especially for children born in September.

Transition activities begin in June. Teachers for the new school year will spend one week with your child in their classroom prior to visiting the new classroom. The following week children will be scheduled to visit their new classroom starting them with an hour and increasing time for approximately three weeks. Open House is scheduled in August for parents to meet teachers for the coming year and visit the classroom. You will receive a welcome packet and will also have an opportunity to schedule an individual transition meeting. Your child’s portfolio and any formal assessments are passed from one classroom teacher to the next.

Health Policies

Parents are required to keep an ill child home. If a child appears to be too ill upon arrival in the morning, parents will be requested to take the child home.

Parents are responsible for finding other child care if their child is ill. Parents will be notified and expected to pick up their child promptly for the following reasons:

• Fever: A child with an auxiliary temperature greater than 100.7 degrees. The child may return after 24 hours of a normal temperature without the use of aspirin or non-aspirin products.
• Vomiting/Diarrhea: A child experiencing episodes in a short period of time. The child may return after the vomiting/diarrhea has stopped for 24 hours without the use of medication.
• Eye Inflammations/Unexplained Rashes: A child with an unexplained rash or eye inflammation will be sent home until it has either resolved itself, or a physician determines the rash/inflammation is not contagious. A doctor’s note will be required when the child returns.
• Antibiotics: If antibiotics are given, a child should not return to care until 24 hours after the first dose is given. This is provided they have been fever free within the last 24 hours.

Small children in a group setting occasionally receive minor bumps, scratches, etc. So all staff are trained in first aid, and will administer care as needed. Additionally, you will be notified in writing of any care given. In case of accidents requiring medical attention, the parent’s insurance is the primary source of coverage. Finally, in the case of an emergency, paramedics will be notified first, followed by the parents.

All children, parents and staff must wash their hands upon entering the classroom.

Medication

We may not administer any fever reducing medication in order to allow a child to remain in care.
The exception is for children who have received immunization shots.

• All medicines must be in the original container.
• Physician’s written instructions including dosage are required.
• Containers must be clearly marked with the child’s name.
• All medicines must be given directly to a staff member upon arrival.
• Parents must record daily in the Medicine Log:
  • Child’s name, date, name of medication, time to be administered, the dosage, and parent signature. Parent must sign each line for multiple medications.
  • “As needed” is not acceptable in lieu of times. Parent must decide if child needs medicine and at what time (as per the designation on the bottle).
• Staff will record in the Medicine Log: the time given, dosage, and signature.
• Tylenol-type medicine may be kept at the center with the parent’s and physician’s written instructions. Please label all such medicines with child’s name. The expiration dates of all medicines will be checked by the staff. All expired medications will be sent home. The Center is not permitted to dispense medication that has expired.
• If your child requires medication on a long-term basis, a long term medicine form (located under the forms & resources tab) should be used and a physician’s update is required every three months.

Immunizations

• All children must be immunized as per the state regulations. All immunization records must be kept in the child’s file. Health appraisals will be requested at the following ages: 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years and 5 years. Once the child starts first grade, health assessments are required every two years.
• TB Assessment form is required 30 days after enrollment.
• Forms are located in the office or under the Forms and Resources tab.
• Parents agree to complete child health appraisal forms and return them to The Cuddle Zone Learning Center within 30 days of start date provided a copy of the child’s immunization record has been given to us at enrollment.

Supervision

Children in the center will be supervised at all times by a staff member upon being signed in and dropped into the classroom. Children are the parent’s responsibility before signing in and after signing out, or removing a child from their classroom. Likewise, a staff member may not use any form of physical punishment, including spanking a child. So redirection is the form of discipline used by The Cuddle Zone staff and in some instances “taking a break” may be used. We encourage students to make “smart choices”. A staff person, parent or any other visitor may not use harsh, demeaning, or abusive language in the presence of the children.

Outdoor Play Policy

All children are required to be outside a minimum of 15 minutes twice a day. The temperature guidelines are over 25 degrees with the wind chill factor and below 90 degrees with the heat index. Children must have closed toe, rubber soled shoes for use on the climbing equipment. Children should be dressed appropriately. Additionally, snow clothes and boots or extra shoes are needed to play in the snow.

Non-Discrimination Policy

The Cuddle Zone Learning Center will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, disability, age or gender in the aspect of enrollment or care.

NOTE: This is not an all inclusive list of our policies. Please refer to our parent handbook.