Morris School District
Lafayette Learning Center Preschool’s
Parent Handbook
2016-2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. WELCOME
2. VISION & MISSION
3. HOME-SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
4. OUR CURRICULUM AND CLASSES
5. CLASSROOM SCHEDULES, ROUTINES, TECHNOLOGY USE
6. HOME LANGUAGE POLICY
7. SCREENING. OBSERVATION AND ASSESSMENT POLICY
8. PROGRESS REPORTING: CONFERENCES AND REPORT CARDS
9. VISITOR’S POLICY
10. WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL NEED FOR SCHOOL
11. SNACK and LUNCH
12. FOODLESS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
13. PARTY NUTRITION GUIDELINES
14. LOST AND FOUND
15. SCHOOL PICTURES
16. EMERGENCY CLOSING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
17. EMERGENCY RELOCATION INFORMATION
18. TRANSPORTATION
19. MEDICAL RECORDS/MEDICAL POLICIES/ATTENDANCE/ABSENCES
20. WHEN TO KEEP A CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL & HEALTH OFFICE GUIDELINES
21. HOME FILE CHECKLIST & THE IMPORTANCE OF A MEDICAL HOME
22. TOOTH BRUSHING POLICY
23. BEHAVIOR POLICIES AND DISCIPLINE
24. FAMILY SUPPORT POLICY & PUBLIC INQUIRES & COMPLAINT PROCESS
25. HIB POLICY (Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying)
26. PRESCHOOL INTERVENTION AND REFERRAL TEAM (PIRT)
27. CHILD FIND STATEMENT and CST SUPPORT SERVICES
28. PARENT COMPACT
29. HIGHLY QUALIFIED STAFF
30. SCHOOL DIRECTORY
31. SCHOOL CALENDAR
1. WELCOME!
Welcome to the Lafayette Learning Center Preschool! We are happy to be a part of your educational team for the 2016-17 school year. At LLC, we offer preschool services for three- and four-year olds. Our staff is dedicated to providing rich, multi-sensory experiences designed to help your child make continuous progress on individualized goals as well as the NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards. We value our parent-school partnerships and believe that together we can make a difference in the lives of y/our children.
To facilitate student, parent, and faculty growth through our shared partnership, we encourage you to ask questions, communicate with your child’s classroom teacher and support staff. Please join our Home and School Association, attend meetings, volunteer and actively participate in other opportunities offered by our school. We welcome your input and ideas.
This handbook was written to provide you with a general reference guide of important school information. Our procedures were established to help your child arrive at school, actively engage in child-centered learning environment, and leave safely at the end of each session. Please take the time to read it and reference it throughout the year. For additional information about our school procedures, policies, or programs, please feel free to call our main office number at 973-292-2222 ext. 0 or visit our school website www.morrisschooldistrict.org
2. OUR VISION AND MISSION
The Lafayette Learning Center Preschool is dedicated to fostering a community in which learning is meaningful, challenging, and lifelong. Our vision is for every child to learn, develop creativity, practice self-regulation, and meet expectations of growth. Together we will achieve this through a continuous, research-based process of collaborative planning, data-informed instruction, and reflective practices.
Our mission is to enable students to acquire strong physical, social, emotional, and cognitive (attending, remembering, and thinking) skills that will enable them to become independent learners. Teachers are charged with providing an enriched classroom environment that enables children to creatively explore and develop essential understandings of the world around them. We will measure student progress through performance-based assessments and measurable goals. Our preschool is dedicated to nurturing the minds and bodies of our children, moving them toward achievement of the NJ Preschool Standards for Teaching and Learning.
MORRIS SCHOOL DISTRICT
Lafayette Learning Center HSA
3. Welcome from the Home-School Association!
Dear Parents and Guardians:
The Lafayette Learning Center Preschool Home and School Association (H.S.A.) is a parent group open to parents of all children in the school! We welcome new and returning families to participate in the H.S.A. and join us in this very important organization. It’s a great way to become involved with the school and with your child’s educational experience. Our H.S.A. meetings are held right here at Lafayette Learning Center, our first meeting is September 13th at 9:15 a.m. in our auditorium. We alternate meetings monthly at either 9:15 a.m. or 6:00 p.m., with babysitting provided for our 6:00 p.m. meetings. We recognize that it’s not possible for all parents to attend the H.S.A. meetings so any help you provide is greatly appreciated.
The H.S.A. mission is to support and enhance our children’s environment. As caring and committed parents, we work hand in hand with the teachers and staff of the school, creating a connection between home and school to help assist communication between parents, teachers and school administrators.
We provide coordinated classroom assistance; organize seasonal festivals, entertainment and events during the preschool year; and proudly host several staff appreciation breakfasts and luncheons as a small way of thanking our dedicated teaching staff for their tremendous work. The H.S.A. also raises money for the school, enabling the purchase of gifts to enhance the preschool and the educational opportunities for our children. No gift is too small, or even simply by participating in one of our fundraising events will help raise funds for our wonderful school!
These combined contributions have enabled the H.S.A. to provide many generous gifts. In recent years we have successfully endowed the preschool with new playground equipment and sandbox, die cut machine and cuts, a laminator, convection oven, shelving for the children’s book exchange room and gym storage area, digital cameras, petting farm, family fun nights, parties and picnics, craft supplies, toys and more.
We look forward to seeing you at events throughout the year. Please join us and become an active participant in our Lafayette Preschool Home & School Association!
We look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night on September 15th at 6 p.m., and to welcoming you to the H.S.A.! Sprinkles the Clown will be on hand for any children who need to come with their parents.
Sincerely yours,
Trisha Held
Mom/President / Parent/Secretary / Parent/Treasurer4. OUR CURRICULUM and CLASSES
The Morris School District preschool program has been developed to address the educational and developmental needs of children ages 3-5. It is comprised of three types of classes. We have inclusive classes that educate both typically and specially developing three- and four-year old students, with class size between 13 to 18 students. We also have preschool disability classes for students with Individualized Educational Programs and the need for smaller groups sizes and more individualized programming, as well as classes with highly specialized instruction for students with autism.
Children participate in a full-day session five days per week. Our full-time staff, all of whom have met highly qualified state standards, includes certified teachers, speech therapists, behavior specialists, occupational therapists, teacher assistants, assistant behavior specialists, and a school nurse. We also have a complete Child Study Team to attend to the needs of students with identified disabilities.
Our classrooms have a variety of centers that are supplied with materials that promote creative and thoughtful play. Students engage in social and independent activities both indoors and out on our playground. Daily routines are employed to promote self-regulation, curiosity, problem solving, and language development, as well as increased capacity for using multiple intelligences to develop reading literacy and technological literacy.
We are fortunate that our LLC program has use of excellent classroom and special area facilities. Our classrooms are a minimum size of 22’ by 36’ with center areas typical of quality preschool programs. We also have a large, fenced-in outdoor play area, full-size gymnasium, and an auditorium for special events and performance activities.
Curriculum
Our classes employ the Tools of the Mind (TOM) curriculum, which is a research-based program endorsed by the NJ Department of Education. The TOM curriculum was designed to enhance student growth in all areas of development, with a special emphasis on fostering self-regulation through the development of students’ attending, remembering, and thinking skills. Students follow a daily schedule which includes many purposeful activities and structured environment designed to foster creativity, imagination, problem-solving, communication, meta-cognition, and the expansion of core understandings and skills.
We encourage you to learn more about our Tools of the Mind curriculum – its history, philosophy, activities, staff training, related resources, or samples of play plans via the TOM website at www.toolsofthemind.org.
We also have one general education CABAS preschool class which is based on the principals of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). This class is student centered, data driven and research based and carried out based on the needs of each individual learner. Like our other classes, our goal is to foster each student’s development across academic, behavioral, physical and social domains. Instruction is aligned to the NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Expectations.
Our Inclusive Classes
The 2016-17 school year marks the eleventh year for our inclusive classrooms at LLC. Each of these classes serves approximately 13-18 students, including students following a typical developmental path as well as those with identified disabilities. The teachers utilize the Tools of the Mind curriculum and work towards achievement of the NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards.
Our Classes for students with a variety of disabilities
A small number of our classes exclusively serve students with identified disabilities, with approximately 6-8 students in each class. Students must be evaluated by a Morris School District Child Study Team to determine eligibility for these classes. Instruction is framed within Tools of the Mind curriculum resources and guided by Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) that document student needs and specialized goals related to the attainment of the NJ Preschool Expectations for Teaching and Learning.
Our Classes for Students with Autism
Some of our preschool students diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) present with very intensive needs and are therefore served with specialized, research-based curriculum of a different sort. These students receive applied behavior analysis (ABA) provided on a dyad or one-to-one basis throughout their day along with therapies as indicated by their needs. Other preschoolers with ASD are best served in hybrid programming that includes ABA plus a self-contained classroom setting. Still other preschoolers with ASD are able to have their educational needs met through our inclusion or preschool disabled classes coupled with ½ to 2 hours per day of ABA trials, social skills, groups, and/or shadowing. Eligibility for any combination of these services is determined by the IEP Team, based on the particular student’s individual needs.
5. CLASSROOM SCHEDULES AND ROUTINES
The School Day
The instructional day for most 3-yr old students is from 8:05 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. and for most 4-yr olds is from 9:05—3:20 p.m. Our self-contained classes are from 8:05 a.m.—2:20 p.m. Children are selected for our general education spaces through a lottery system.
Routines
Children benefit most from a combination of individual and group experiences and from combinations of quiet and more active experiences. During each preschool day, the students participate in the following:
Circle: Children meet as a large group to participate in a variety of activities designed to foster language skills, turn-taking, and foundational understandings. Students learn to greet one another, build literacy skills, identify their name in written form, discuss information in stories, sing songs, identify numbers and sounds represented by the alphabet, attend appropriately to lessons, and much more.
Snack: Children have the opportunity to sit down together, have a snack and practice their social, self-help and language skills.
Play planning: Students are assisted in making play plans prior to entering the center of their choice. Children will be coached to design progressively more advanced work; from scribbling and dictating their intent to drawing and writing it. Children then read these plans before and during their play as well as on the following day to facilitate recall and extension of their play activities.
Work time: Children work on art activities, work with manipulatives, participate in cooking projects, and play lotto, Bingo, or other board games at developmentally appropriate levels. Their guided work time is designed to build on skills such as thinking, remembering, following directions, fine motor control (in preparation for handwriting, keyboarding, etc.), social skills, creative expression, problem solving and more.
Small group time: Children work in small groups with a teacher on specific activities designed to meet their individual needs.
Gross motor activities: Children participate in games in the classroom, which involve large muscles, on a daily basis. The LLC has both a large gym and an enclosed pre-school play area where students can ride bikes, play with balls, and use pre-school sized climbing apparatus and other resources to joyously develop large muscles and gross motor coordination.
Technology usage: We do not allow TV or movie time within our weekly preschool programming. Teachers will access educational YouTube clips to show real-life situations related to the topics they are learning. For example, if we are studying community helpers, they may show a 1-2 minute clip on a fire fighter, EMT, or police officer helping someone. Teachers have even been known to film themselves engaged in “Make Believe Play Practice” to help the students engage in role-based play. Students love this!
In terms of school computer use, our students have access to iPads for up to 10 minutes per day, often using our STMath program. After that, the student is able to play with books, story boards, puppets, or other resources that are in their centers for his/her enjoyment.
In terms of home computer use, please check out the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s position paper at: http://issuu.com/naeyc/docs/ps_technology_issuu_may2012/9?e=0 They recommend
Emergency Drills
Fire drills and emergency drills are each held once per month as required by state law.
6. HOME LANGUAGE POLICY
Our LLC Preschool is dedicated to respecting children’s individual backgrounds, including home language. All classes are arranged to create an environment of learning. All classrooms will have learning centers reflective of the cultures of the children and respecting the backgrounds and lifestyles of their families. For example, our classroom shelves will be labeled with a picture as well as English and Spanish words to help students learn where things are stored. Whenever possible, staff is hired to mirror community culture and an adult that speaks Spanish and English is provided in many classrooms to foster the children’s primary languages while supporting the continuing development of the English language. For example, we will encourage children whose first language isn’t English to use their home language, gestures, pictures, or seek the help of a friend/adult to communicate when needed. We will do our best to have classroom activities reflect the ethnic background of families served as well as introduce children to cultures which are different from their own. For example, we will have dolls, books, kitchen items, clothing, music and other resources that reflect various cultures so students can share a variety of experiences with one another.