Cypress Oaks School Handbook
Phone: (863) 324-6636
Fax: (863) 324-6636
Email:
cypressoaks@aol.com
www.cypressoaksschool.com
Hours: 6:30AM – 6:00PM
Monday – Friday
Director: Carolyn Elmore
Associate Director: Charlotte Elmore
DCF License # C14PO0105
“Never do for a child what he can do for himself.”
– Maria Montessori
Our preschool program is open to all children regardless of race, nationality, and religion, gender, or physical ability. The child must be at least one year of age and in good health. We reserve the right not to enroll children with chronic health problems that require nursing skills. Age groupings are generally based on the child’s age as of September 1 of each year. Groupings are flexible and a child may be moved from one group to another to meet special needs. All staff members are experienced early childhood educators. All participate in an ongoing program of inservice education and studies for professional advancement in order to remain alert to the ever-changing needs of today’s family and to the findings of current research. 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
Ages 0 – 1 years (toddler)
$130
Ages 1 – 2 years (toddler)
$120
Ages 2 – 3 years
$110
Ages 3 – 5 years
$100
VPK Extended Care
$75
All prices include a nutritious hot lunch prepared in a food service certified kitchen. Sibling discounts are available. We do not offer discounted 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 of each week or on the first business day of the month if aid 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 person 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. Medical records are due by the end of the first week.
Absences
Tuition is due for the entire week regardless of how many days the child attends, if any. 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 authorized by the state. Normal weekly tuition fees still apply during a holiday week. The school closes at 2PM 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. Half-day preschoolers may not arrive before 8:30AM and must be picked up by 11:30AM unless prior arrangements are made with the director.
If a half-day preschooler is here for any reason past 11:30AM, $7 will be charged for the first hour (or part of an hour, which includes a lunch fee) and $5 for each subsequent hour (or part of an hour) until the child is picked up.
Health and Safety
Your child’s health is a matter of major importance to all of us. Upon enrollment, you must provide us with the following: an immunization record (with all shots up to date), and a physical (within the last year). All these documents must be originals and are kept by the school in the student’s permanent file. Both documents must be turned in no later than 5 business days after enrollment. All immunizations and physicals must be kept current. It is your responsibility to keep track of these records, but we will remind you when they need to be updated.
Your child may be sent home if any symptoms of illness arise during the day. In such cases, your child will be isolated and you will be contacted. Your child must be picked up as soon possible, as we have no provisions to care for ill children.
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.
Keep your child at home if he/she:
· is running a fever
· has vomited in the past 12 hours
· has a heavy green or yellow nasal discharge
· has a constant cough
· has symptoms of a possible communicable disease, such as sniffles, red eyes sore throat, headache, fever, abdominal pain, etc.
· has diarrhea
· has 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 either 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.
Our Responsibility
When you enroll your child in our school, we assume the responsibility of giving you assistance with special needs in relation to your child’s school adjustment, growth and development.
· Conferences in relation to your child’s progress will be arranged upon request.
· Tests that we administer are primarily for screening purposes. You may be referred to persons who provide special education services if we feel that your child’s academic performance or physical development needs further evaluation.
· Your child will be given maximum consideration as an individual. We look after your child’s health and safety while they are at school, and present age appropriate program geared to what we believe to be developmentally sound and educationally beneficial.
Dress Code
DO:
· Dress your child in comfortable clothing that can get dirty and can be removed by the child.
· Leave a complete extra set of clothing (mandatory).
· Leave an extra sweater or jacket at school for unexpected cool weather.
· Label all belongings with the child’s name.
· Dress your child in sturdy shoes (preferably tennis shoes) with socks. We have mulch on our playground and it can cause injuries to feet without socks.
DON’T:
· Dress your child in one-piece outfits, overalls, bodysuits, suspenders, belts, or other clothing that is hard to manage in the bathroom. Clothes that do not
come off quickly can sometimes cause toileting accidents.
· Dress your child in dress shoes, sandals, flip-flops, open-toed shoes, boots, or dress-up shoes.
Meals
Snacks
Parents have the responsibility to send in two snacks daily for their child. These snacks should be non-perishable and are stored in the child’s cubby. All snacks should only be single serving portions packaged in a sandwich or smaller Ziploc bag that will be discarded after snack time. Do not send large Ziploc bags or grocery type bags into the classroom. These pose a suffocation hazard.
Lunch
Lunch is served at 11:30AM. A hot lunch from our licensed food service kitchen is included in the weekly tuition fee for toddlers and full-time preschoolers, 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, sate 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. No “sippy cups” are allowed outside the toddler class.
Birthdays
We celebrate birthdays at snack time. You may send a cake, cookies, or cupcakes. Please check with your child’s teacher for servings needed. We do not recommend icing on items for children younger than the prekindergarten class.
Nap
Nap time is between 12:30PM and 2:30PM. All preschoolers are required to rest during nap time. Sometimes nap may be rescheduled later in the day to accommodate special activities or field trips. All children must bring a rest mat that is at least 1” thick, and must be free from tears or rips. Absolutely no pacifiers or bottles are allowed in any classroom.
Items from Home
No toys from home are allowed. The only exception to this rule is special toys or blankets (teddy bears, “lovies”, etc) that may be brought the first day of school to help ease the transition from home. Once the transition is made, however, the article must be left behind.
Curriculum
The program we pursue is geared toward helping children develop habits of observation, questioning, and listening. It gives them awareness of their own feelings and of their right to express those feelings by sometimes channeling them into other means of expression. They learn that they are free to make choices and that as long as they stay within the limits of consideration for people and things, they do not always have to conform. An open-ended program like ours prepares children to utilize their intellectual and creative abilities in future learning tasks. The children are continuously challenged by the specific learning goals we have set up for them:
· In order to begin to read and perform other academic tasks, the children must first gather meaning from the world and develop a wide experiential background.
· In order to gather meaning from the world, children must have many sensory and sensory-motor experiences – they must touch, hear, see, smell, and taste. Perceptual development follows – this is how children interpret their sensory experiences, which is a prerequisite for developing their minds.
· Readiness skills are strongly emphasized. Pre-kindergarten students (ages 3 and 4) begin intensive work on reading through a phonics and literature based program, math, language arts, social studies, and science. We
employ the Florida Core Knowledge Curriculum for the Pre-kindergarten 3 and Pre-kindergarten 4 classes.
Classroom Time
Preschool classes are held from 8:30AM to 11:30AM. This teaching time is very important to us and your child, so please see that your child arrives on time. If you have any questions regarding your child, please call the office and a message will be given to his/her teacher. Teachers cannot leave their classes unsupervised to answer phone calls.
Most of all, please remember that we are here for your child. We give them our undivided attention. We strive to consider our parents’ needs, but the children come first. If questions arise, please discuss them with the classroom teacher. The office staff cannot answer question about academic or behavioral progress since they do not interact with the children in the classroom.
*This policy supersedes any policy previously held by