Cypress Kids Club Handbook
Phone: (863) 324-2394
Fax: (863) 324-6636
Email: cypressoaks@aol.com
www.cypressoaksschool.com/cypresskidsclub.html
Hours: 6:30AM – 6:00PM
Monday – Friday
Director: Carolyn Elmore
Associate Director: Charlotte Elmore
General Information
Our
tutoring program is open to all children regardless of race,
nationality, religion, gender, or physical ability. The child must
be at least five years old by September 1 of the current school year
and not more than fourteen years old. We reserve the right not to
enroll children with chronic health problems that require nursing
skills.
All
that we expect of the children is that they come to school, be
themselves, and have respect for others. What we expect of parents
is that you read the operating procedures in this handbook and in
supplemental notes and newsletters that we may send home, that you
abide by the policies and procedures of the school, and that you
work in conjunction with the school to help your child become a
happy, healthy, and productive adult.
Financial Arrangements
Weekly tuition is as follows:
Family registration fee (one time)
$50
After school program $50
School holiday care
$10 per day in addition to weekly tuition
Summer Program
$100 (does not include lunches)
We
offer a nutritious hot lunch prepared in a food service certified
kitchen for $2 per day.
Sibling discounts are available. We do not offer discount rates for
children who attend only a certain number of days or hours per week.
Payments
Tuition is due in advance and may be paid either weekly or monthly.
Tuition is due in full on Friday for the next week or on the first
business day of the month if paid monthly. Late fees are $5 per day
and are strictly enforced. Late fees are added the day after
payment is due and accrue daily until payment is made.
Please make sure all payments are made in a timely manner and
your child’s account is kept current. The school cannot meet their
obligations if parents do not make theirs. The person who registers
a child is solely responsible for all expenses incurred by the
student while enrolled unless an agreement for shared or deferred
financial responsibility is signed by the persons responsible for
payment. If the child withdraws from the school for any reason, two
weeks written notice must be given or tuition will continue to be
charged until the child is withdrawn.
Collections/Returned Checks
All delinquent accounts over 30 days are turned over to a
collections agency for nonpayment of contracted fees.
All
returned checks will incur an NSF fee of $30 or 5% of the check
amount, whichever is greater. Clients with a history of NSF checks
will be required to pay by cash or money order only.
Registration
There is a non-refundable registration fee of $25 per family,
payable when you enroll your child. This fee covers insurance and
also holds your child’s place in the program until they begin
attending. If there is a break in attendance, a re-registration fee
will be charged. All registration papers and notarized medical form
are due the first day of attendance.
Absences
Tuition is due for the entire week regardless of how many days the
child attends. If a child is out ill for an entire week, a 50%
tuition discount is available for that week with a physician’s note
that the child was unable to attend and the reason for nonattendance
if the child’s account is current. Any physician’s note must be
signed by the physician, not a nurse.
Vacation/Holiday Credit
One week of vacation credit per family is given after the child has
been enrolled six months, provided the child’s account is current.
Two weeks of vacation credit are available per calendar year. No
credit for tuition is given for scheduled school holidays, which are
as follows: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day,
Thanksgiving Day and the day after, and Christmas Day. These are
the holidays closings authorized by the state. Normal weekly
tuition fees still apply during a holiday week. The school closes
at 2:00 PM on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Overtime Charges
An overtime charge of $1 per minute will be charged for any child
not picked up by 6:00PM.
Any parent who is habitually late in picking up their child will be
asked to withdraw from the school.
Health/Medications
We will administer both prescription and non-prescription
medications. A medication request must be filled out. All
medications must be in the original container with dosage
instructions, the child’s name, and physician’s name if a
prescription.
Children may not come to school if they have a communicable disease,
head lice, or nits.
In
case of accidental injury we will make every effort to contact a
parent. It is mandatory that you have a current home, cell, and
work phone number for both parents on file with us and keep these
updated when changes occur. If we cannot reach you or someone on
the authorized pickup list, then we will call your child’s
physician. In case of an extreme emergency, we will call an
ambulance for transport to the nearest hospital. Until the arrival
of a parent, physician, or paramedics, the school will make all
decisions about the care of the child. The parent will be required
to assume all responsibility for any resultant expense. The school
will maintain a signed consent form agreeing to this provision.
Authorization to Pick Up a Child
No child will be released to persons not authorized by the parent to
pick the child up – there are no exceptions to this rule. We must
have a written or verbal authorization for changes in this respect,
which are valid for that day only. A specific code number will be
used if you find it necessary to make changes over the phone. All
persons who are not personally known to staff members must present a
picture ID. No one under 18 years old may pick up or sign a child
in or out. Non-custodial parents may not pick up or see a child
without consent from the custodial parent. There are no provisions
for “visitation times” for relatives or friends of the family with
our students.
All
children must be signed in and out every day. No child is allowed
to enter or leave the school without a parent coming inside to sign
the sign-in/out sheet. Our insurance does not cover any child who
is not signed in for the day, and we are not liable or responsible
for any accident or injury to your child. If a child is left and
not signed in, you will be called to either pick the child up or
have someone on the authorized pickup list come to school to sign
him/her in.
Volunteers
We need and appreciate your voluntary assistance on field trips,
school beautification and repairs, and recruitment of future
students. All volunteers must meet the same requirements of the
Polk County School System, including a criminal background check.
Dress Code
Flip-flop type shoes and sandals are not allowed. Please see that
your child wears socks daily with sneakers or shoes with closed toes
and heels.
Meals
·Snacks
Afternoon snack is served with a drink daily.
·Lunch (summer and school holidays)
Lunch
is served at approximately 12:00PM. A hot lunch from our licensed
food service kitchen is available for $2 per day, or your child may
bring a nutritious lunch (no candy allowed) from home, including
milk. “Lunchables”, sent as an entire meal, do not meet DCF
nutritional guidelines. If these are sent, they must be
supplemented by a fruit or vegetable and milk. All beverages must
be either juice (90% fruit juice) or milk. Six fluid ounces of milk
must be supplied according to DCF regulations. No fruit drinks,
soda, tea, or hot drinks allowed. Also, state regulations prohibit
us from preparing or heating any child’s food, so please do not send
items that must be heated, such as frozen dinners, canned foods, or
leftovers. We are not allowed to store any student’s food in the
refrigerator.
On
occasion we have lunch out as a group as part of a field trip. All
children attending that day must participate in the trip and no
alternative lunches are allowed. Students must handle their own
money, and the teachers assist with ordering and making payment.
Items from Home
No toys from home are allowed. This includes cell phones, Gameboys,
purses with makeup, CD players, playing cards, videos, and other
distractions. Possession of knives, toy guns, and other violent
items is expressly forbidden and is cause for immediate expulsion
from our program.
Schedule
Upon arrival from school, the children begin their homework. All
students are required to work on homework without exception.
Students, in classes that have an agenda, are required to produce
the agenda each day so that the tutors are aware of homework needs.
When all students have arrived, a snack is served. After snack
time, homework continues. When complete, tutoring time is provided.
Alternative activities for students without homework. Special
activities and field trips are arranged for public school holidays.
Summer Program
On Monday through Thursday we offer an academic-based summer program
built around social studies and science concepts. Students spend a
half day with tutors on academic schoolwork, reviewing concepts from
the previous year and preparing for the coming year. The remaining
half day and Fridays are spent on field trips and other learning
activities relevant to the concepts being studied.
Field Trips
We take field trips on public school holidays and during the summer.
Field trip announcements are posted the day before on a message
board in the hall. This board will list departure and arrival
times, price, and lunch arrangements. School T-shirts must be worn
on all required field trips – these are available for purchase
through the main office. All field trip money must be paid in
advance and will not be accepted the morning of the field trip.
Students must accompany their group at all times. Please do not
request that your child stay at our preschool site during the field
trip; this disrupts both ratios and curriculum and is not allowed by
the county licensing unit.
This
policy supersedes any policy previously held by