Parent Handbook

Kid’s Cottage, LLC

Contact Information/Location:

Kid’s Cottage is located on Route 3 approximately 2.27 miles West of Route 301 and 1.90 Miles East of Dahlgren Rd (206). We are located next door to the Union Bank and the King George Health Department. Our physical address is:

10057 Kings Hwy

King George, VA22485

(540) 775-4936

Directors/Owners:

Katy Wheeler

Ashley Esmacher

Introduction:

Welcome to Kid’s Cottage, a state licensed child daycare center located in the heart of King George, Virginia. We are so glad that you are choosing us to provide your family with quality childcare! This parent handbook can be utilized by you as a tool of reference. It provides important information about our center and purposeful guidelines which have been carefully planned.

Our Mission:

Kid’s Cottage exists to provide safe, quality childcare for working parents/guardians of children ages 6 weeks through age 5, in King George, Virginia. Our main goal is to provide a comfortable and safe environment that focuses on the whole child, stimulating critical thinking skills, fine and gross motor skills, character education and instilling a lifelong love of learning.

Drug Free/ Smoke Free Environment:

Kid’s Cottage is a drug free and smoke free zone always. This includes all tobacco products, electronic smoking devices, etc. Smoking is prohibited indoors and outdoors in view of children by all employees. Random drug testing will be conducted if warranted.

Hours of Operation:

Kid’s Cottage is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily. We are closed the following holidays:

New Years Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

President’s Day

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Veteran’s Day

Thanksgiving Day (and the day after Thanksgiving)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We also reserve the right to schedule up to two teacher in-service days per year. Parents will be notified at least two weeks in advance of an in-service day so that other arrangements can be made. The regular weekly tuition will be charged for those weeks which include a holiday or in-service day as staff is paid holiday pay on those days.

Emergency Closings/Procedures:

Weather related closings will be posted on our website, Facebook and Brightwheel, announced on our answering machine and broadcasted on the following radio stations as soon as possible:

Thunder 104.5 WFLS 93.3

Policy For Communicating an Emergency Situation:

In the situation of a natural disaster that would require us to evacuate our building we will make every effort possible to contact you immediately using the phone numbers provided on the emergency contact list. If we are unable to reach you all children will be relocated as stated in our Emergency Evacuation Plan filed with the county and approved by our licensing agency.

In the situation of a medical emergency we will follow the protocol advised by the State of Virginia fire marshal. 911 will be called immediately and the child will be taken to the preferred hospital as stated by the parent/guardian on the child enrollment form. A staff member will immediately call to inform the parent/guardian of the situation as soon as 911 has been called. If the parent/guardian cannot be reached a staff member will continue to call the numbers on the emergency contact list and continue trying to reach the parent/guardian.

****If children are evacuated from the building, parents will be notified of a reunification location. The onsite location typically will be on playground at furthest point away from the building, or in parking lot behind Department of Social Services. Should we have to evacuate entirely away from the building, children will be transported to Peace Lutheran Church. Emergency Personnel will assist in transportation efforts.

Enrollment:

Enrollment is open to families with children ages 6 weeks through 5 years of age. Parents/Guardians will need to complete the enrollment form and contract and include a non-refundable $55annual enrollment fee. When enrolling, please bring the required documents including: birth certificate, completed registration forms and signed enrollment contract, up to date immunization records, current completed physical, and any medical authorization forms necessary. A child is to be considered enrolled in the center only after the registration form, registration fee and deposit have been received. The registration fee and deposit are nonrefundable. The rest of the completed required paperwork needs to be received by your child’s start date. In most cases your child will be enrolled in a classroom according to his/her age, however if we feel your child is not developmentally ready we may place them in a different classroom. ALL preschoolers are required to be potty trained before enrollment in the preschool classroom.

Payment Policy:

Tuition is due every MONDAY by the close of business. If tuition is not paid by Tuesday at 12pm there will be a $45 late fee added to you weekly tuition. There will be a $40 fee added for any returned checks due to insufficient funds. We accept all methods of payment. If your child is enrolled in a classroom and has had a birthday but not moved up due to space your tuition will be lowered to the new age rate and your child will stay in that room until space is available. If your child has had a birthday but is not moved up due to not being potty trained or we do not feel he/she is ready, you will pay the rate of the room he/she is in due to additional staff members being needed.

Custodial Parent’s Rights to be Admitted:

According to Virginia State Code 63.2-1813 – Custodial parents or guardians shall be admitted to any child day program. Such right of admission shall apply only while the child is in the child day program.

Multi-Family Discount

If you have more than 1 child, a 10% discount will be applied to second, third, etc. child. This discount is applied to the lowest tuition.

Vacations:

Every enrolled family receives 1 vacation week per year “tuition free”. Children must be enrolled for aminimum of 6 months to be eligible to use tuition free weeks and may not be in attendance during thetuition free week. In addition, eligible tuition free weeks must be taken as complete weeks and not split up into days.

Withdrawal:

A two (2) week written notice is required before withdrawing your child.Kid’s Cottage will accept two weeks of tuition, payable at the weekly rate, should the notice be impossible. If this is the case, payment will be expected at the time we are made aware of your intentions to withdrawal the child. Tuition will still be expected to be paid as long as the child is currently enrolled, whether the child is in attendance or not. It is the parent’s responsibility to withdrawal the child from Kid’s Cottage.

Staff:

The staff members at Kid’s Cottage have been carefully selected based on a detailed interview process and their prior experience. All of our staff have passed background checks and have various certifications including but not limited to: CPR/First Aid, Daily Health Observation, Medication Administration Training, and Playground Safety. Kid’s Cottage also provides staff development training regularly and holds faculty meetings monthly to maintain constant contact.

Staff/Child Ratios

Kid’s Cottage will not exceed the following state required ratios:

1:4 or 2:8 Infants Birth- 16 Months

1:5 or 2:10 16 Months – 2 Years

1:8 2 Year Olds

1:10 3-5 Year Olds

Ratios for toddlers and preschoolers may be doubled for 2 hours at naptime as long as all children are resting quietly on their mats/cots and enough staff is in the building to meet required staff/child ratio if there is an emergency.

Dress Code:

Children who attend Kid’s Cottage should wear comfortable (easy to move in) clothing that is easy to launder. Your child will be outdoors daily and also will participate in various projects that may get your child’s clothes dirty. Please dress your child appropriately for the weather as we do go outside most days. We will also not allow wearing flip flops of any kind as these have been found to be a hazard on the playground. Children ages 2 and older need to have a complete set of clothing (labeled in a large Ziploc bag) to keep at the center. Infants and toddlers will need to have 2 complete sets of clothing also labeled in a large Ziploc bag. A complete set of clothes is: socks, underwear, shorts or pants, and a shirt. If one set of clothes come back to you dirty, please return it with a clean set the following day. Infants will be required to wear closed toed shoes as soon as they are able to pull up to a standing position.

Transfer of Records:

In order to best meet the needs of your child, we’d like to be able to transfer your child’s records at the end of the school year including: Pre-K report card, PALS scores, student samples, physical and immunization records. In order to do this you will need to provide us with the name of the school your child will be attending when entering Kindergarten and we will need your authorization.

Lost & Found:

A lost and found box will be located in the office. Parents are encouraged to look inside the box if they know that their child has lost an article. Unclaimed items will be given to a charitable organization throughout the year.

Change of Address:

Kid’s Cottage must be able to contact parents in case of an emergency. Parents must notify the office when changes in address or telephone number have been made.

Photographs:

Staff members will occasionally take pictures of the children for classroom use and the photos may be put on our website or Facebook for advertisement purposes. Photos online will never show a child’s name. If you do not wish for photos to be on our website please see the office for a form to be completed.

Termination:

Kid’s Cottage wants to keep a partnership with our parents to meet the needs of all families. Our overall goal is to work together to make sure that ALL families are happy and feel safe in our center. If a parent chooses not to partner with us for the benefit of the child or those unwilling to follow our guidelines may be subject to termination of childcare. Parents will be notified in writing of a reason for termination of care. Specific incidents that may be subject to termination include:

  • Repeated incidents of biting, hitting, or other unacceptable behaviors from a childin the preschool room that endangers him/herself or other children and staff members.
  • Failure on the parents’ part to adhere to the sick policy.
  • Failure on the parents’ part to pick up their sick child in a timely manner.
  • Repeatedly picking up child after the closing time.
  • Failure to pay tuition for two or more weeks concurrently.
  • Failure on the parents part to give the center the required documents (emergency contacts, proof of identity, health & shot records)

Biting Policy

Biting is quite common among young children. Our most common cases of biting occur in our infant and toddler rooms, not to say it has never happened in a preschool setting. When a child is bitten the area is washed with soap and water to clean the wound. Then, an ice pack is applied to reduce swelling. Parents are called if the bite breaks the skin. An incident report is filled out for parents to sign. The child who is biting is never named and the parents of that child are told of the incident. We work with the children and families to get through these situations. We only remove children from the center for biting for extreme cases in which it is constant, however it can be a normal stage in the development of some children. We can provide more information to you on biting if you are interested.

Discipline Policy:

Your children are treated with love and respect and we believe that children will learn self-discipline and self-control with careful guidance. We keep our expectations within each child’s individual reach and change our goals as we see fit. We focus on positive reinforcement and positive redirection. A child may be asked to sit for a short period of time and if so we follow age appropriate time outs( one minute per year of age) followed by a discussion with the child’s teacher. Staff will never impose punishments for failure to eat, sleep or toileting accidents. If a situation arises where a child is consistently endangering himself, peers or staff, it may become necessary to have the child withdrawal from the center. Every attempt will be made to work together with the parents and the child to correct the behavior. However, the safety of children is always our primary concern. The administrator would be in communication with the parents prior to this occurring.

Sick Policy:

In the event that your child should become ill during the day we will contact you immediately and expect for you or an emergency contact to pick up your child within 1 hour.

In an effort to keep Kid’s Cottage as healthy as possibly we ask that you please check your child carefully should he/she get sick during the night. If your child has any of the following symptoms do not bring them to the center.

•Fever of 101 or higher

If your child has had a fever of 101 or higher he/she may not return to the center until he/she has been fever free without medicine for 24 hours.

•Vomiting (with or without a fever)

Your child must be vomit free without medicine for 24 hours before returning to Kid’s Cottage

•2 or more instances of diarrhea within 24 hours

•Diagnoses of a communicable disease in which case the parent is responsible for informing the center within 24 hours or the next business day.

•Symptoms of communicable disease as listed in our morning health inspection. While it is a rare occurrence, a child may be sent home due to symptoms of illness or if a child is acting in a manner that raises concern for illness. Parents may be asked to not return without a note from a physician. This is to protect your child and others from the spread of germs other than allergies or the common cold. This decision is at the discretion of a director or MAT certified staff member.

Also, if your child has been diagnosed with a communicable disease he/she is not to return to the center without a note from a physician with an allowable date to return and stating that the child has been treated and is no longer contagious.

Medication Policy:

We will not administer any medications that were purchased over the counter unless they are prescribed by a doctor and have a prescription label from the pharmacy. Any medicines given require a form to be completed by the parent/guardian for EACH medicine. In addition any medicines given must follow these guidelines:

  • Be prescribed by a doctor.
  • Be in its original container.
  • Be given to a member of management.
  • Cannot be kept in book bag or diaper bag.
  • Container must be labeled with child’s name, amount to be administered, and times to be administered.
  • Long term medicine that states “once or twice day” needs to be given at home unless extenuating circumstances. Please see management to discuss this if needed.

Kid’s cottage will apply sunscreen, insect repellent, diaper ointment and lotions, however there is a form that needs to be completed in advance. This can be printed from our website or obtained from the office.

Accommodating Special Needs Policy:

We will make all reasonable modifications (to physical plant, lessons, meal policy, behavior policy), in order to best accommodate your child with special needs. We will work together to create a plan that we all feel will be beneficial to your child and the center as a whole. Our center is an inclusive child care center and we strive to be able to accommodate all children and have taken steps in order to be able to do so. Our facility meets ADA requirements with required width in walkways, door handles, and bathroom facility. We have employees on hand that are trained in medication administration and taking care of children with various special needs and we are willing to continue/add training to meet your child’s specific needs. We are familiar with IEP’s and would love to be a part of helping your child reach his/her goals. Please provide us with a copy of your child’s IEP so that we can better understand his/her goals. Our teachers are also trained on how to create behavior logs that will facilitate the growth of good behavior. For special dietary needs please see our meal policy section.

Arrival and Pick-Up Policy:

Upon arrival to the center ALLchildren must be brought into the office and signed in. Then each parent is responsible for taking his/her child to the appropriate classroom and turning him/her over to the teacher, at which time we accept responsibility of the child. Parents should not under any circumstancedrop their child off in the parking lot or inside the doorway.