Parent Handbook

I. Organization

A. Mission Statement.

B. Statement of Purpose.

C. Structure.

II. Tuition Schedule..

A. Registration.

B. Class Offerings.

C. Tuition.

D. Supply Fee.

E. Discounts.

F. Insufficient funds.

G. Tax Receipts.

III. Attendance

A. Sign-In/Sign-Out.

C. Authorized Persons.

D. Late Pick Up.

E. School Calendar.

IV. Health & safety

A. Discipline.

B. Nutrition Snack/Lunch.

C. Illness.

D. Medication.

E. Emergency/Fire Drills.

F. Accident/Incident.

G. Dress Code.

H. Bathroom Assistance.

V. Miscellaneous.

A. Backpack.

B. School T- shirt.

C. Birthdays.

D. Field Trips.

E. School Pictures.

F. Special Programs.

G. Fund Raisers.

H. Use of Child’s Photograph.

I. Organization

A. Mission Statement

B. Statement of Purpose

As an outreach to the community, our church offers a pre-school program for two, three, and four year olds within a Christian environment.  Our goal is to help children grow emotionally, behaviorally and academically.  At each developmental level, we provide a wide range of age-appropriate learning experiences, preparing them to be able to enter kindergarten with confidence and an eagerness to learn.

C. Structure

We are licensed by the Florida Department of Family Services.  The St. Luke & St. Peter School Board sets policy; the Director carries out policy; the Rector is the spiritual monitor for the school.

A registration fee will be due at the time of enrollment and is renewable at the beginning of each school year.  This fee covers administration costs, special activities, and some school supplies.  The fee for the 2009-2010 school year is $60.00.  This fee is only refundable if St. Luke & St. Peter Preschool is unable to accept your child(ren) for enrollment.  The registration for a second child is $30.00.

2 Year Olds:  1 day (Monday) or 2 days (Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday)

3 Year Olds:  2 day (Tuesday/Thursday)

3 Year Olds:  3 days (Monday/Wednesday/Friday)

4 Year Olds:  3 days (Monday/Wednesday/Friday)

4 Year Olds:  4 days (Monday – Thursday)

Tuition fees are due and payable on the first day of the month.  Tuition fees cover the academic school period, which is based on a 10-month school year.  Please refer to the table below for the tuition for the 2009-2010 year.

All payments shall be made by check or money order, payable to St. Luke & St. Peter Preschool and placed into the tuition payment box mounted on the wall.  Please do not pay with cash.  A late payment fee of $10.00 will be assessed if payment is not received within ten (10) days of the due date.  If tuition is not received within ten (10) days of the due date, your child may be denied admittance to school.  

Church Members will receive a 10% discount on tuition each month.  Please see Ms. Victoria for details.

A fee of $15.00 will be charged for any check returned for insufficient funds.  Ten (10) working days will be allowed for you to pay, IN FULL, the tuition due with either a cashier’s check or money order.  If full payment is not received within ten (10) days of notification, your child may be denied admittance to school.

A receipt will be given to each family at the end of the fiscal year accompanied with the Tax ID # of St. Luke & St. Peter Preschool.

All parents are required to walk in and sign their child(ren) in AND out of our school using the sheet provided outside each classroom.  This is required by State regulation, necessary for our record keeping and a safety issue for the children as well.

We ask that parents pick-up their child promptly at 12:30 p.m. or by 2:00 p.m. if your child is in Lunch Bunch.  (Refer to Late Pick up below)

Parents who pick up their child(ren) after our regular closing time will be charged a late pick-up fee.  The fee is $5.00 for the first five minutes and $5.00 for each additional five-minute time period.  If you know that you cannot make it on time, please make every effort to notify the staff.  At fifteen (15) minutes past closing time, the staff will attempt to make contact using the names and numbers listed on the child’s emergency information form.  If no contact can be made thirty (30) minutes after closing time, the staff will contact legal Authorities.

We believe that children learn through positive reinforcement and direction aimed toward desired behavior.  Every attempt will be made to maintain Christian disciple and treat children with love and fairness in accordance with God’s word.  Strategies will include:

·                     Talking with the child and telling them of our confidence that they can do better;

·                     Redirecting the child’s activities;

·                     Placing child in time-out; and

·                     Meet with child and parents if behavior continues.

We will NEVER hurt, embarrass, or humiliate a child for any reason!  We will ALWAYS praise, hug, encourage, and reward good behavior.

Any child who bites or commits any other violent act will be sent home immediately.

Each class will have a designated snack time.  We ask parents to send an individual size nutritious snack (peanut-free) and a sports bottle or sippy cup with water or juice to school each day with your child.  St. Luke & St. Peter Preschool does not provide lunch.  If your child is attending our Lunch Bunch program, please send your child’s healthy lunch in a lunch box/sack with the child’s name.

We will sometimes have cooking activities and parties in our program, so please notify the Director if your child has any known food allergies.

Maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment is of utmost importance to us.  Should your child show signs of illness while at school, we will contact you and request you pick up your child immediately.  (Please keep your emergency contact information, i.e. phone/pager numbers on file current.)  If your child is sick please keep them at home and advise the school.  The following guideline should be considered when determining if your child should stay home:

·                     Fever of 100.0 degrees or higher;

·                     Diarrhea or vomiting in the previous twenty-four hours;

·                     Too sick to participate in the full program, including outside play;

·                     A constant cough, wheezing, sneezing and/or nasal discharge; or

·                     Symptomatic of a communicable disease (these are usually sniffles, reddened eyes, sore throat, headache, abdominal pain, fever, rash, etc…).

Parents will be notified immediately and asked to pick up their child if the child shows any of the above symptoms while on campus.

Please notify the Director promptly if your child has a contagious illness or health problem; these include, but are not limited to:

·                     Strep throat

·                     Chicken pox

·                     Pink eye

·                     Head lice, or

·                     Impetigo.

A doctor’s note may be required before re-admittance.

Medication required for your child during school hours can be administered under the following guidelines:

·                     The parent fills out a school form.  (Authorization for Medication) authorizing the school staff to administer the medication, indicating dosage requirement and potential side effects of the medication.

E. Emergency/Fire Drills

By law, we are required to perform a fire drill once a month.  This allows the faculty and students to learn how to react to the alarm safely.  The alarms are quite loud and can be a bit startling the first few times we do it, but soon the children will become accustomed to the sights and sounds of the drills and learn how to react safely.

Our staff makes every effort to ensure the safety of our children, and as partners in the care of your child, we know you need to be aware of your child’s health while on our care.  In the event your child suffers a serious injury, we will make every effort to contact you immediately.  Should you be unavailable we will contact the person(s) listed on your child emergency contact form.  (Please keep this information current).  The information you provide in the medical section of your child’s enrollment form will assist us in providing prompt and effective medical attention.  At least one member of the staff will remain with your child until you or your designated person arrives.

We recommend that your child be dressed in comfortable play clothes, socks and sneakers for their time at school.  The hands-on curriculum will include messy projects and daily outside play so the clothes should also be easy to clean.  Hard-soled dress shoes, open-toed sandals, or oversized clothing are not allowed to be worn as they can cause accidents on the playground and in other areas.

During cool or cold weather, please remember to send your child’s coat/jacket with his/her name on the label.  Also include a change of clothing just in case of an accident.

Potty-training is not required for children entering our 2 year old classes.  Children entering our 3 year old and 4 year old classes need to be fully potty-trained.  We realize that during the stressful beginning of school and when having “too much fun” a child may forget to use the bathroom.  We will provide regular bathroom breaks, but understand that accidents may occur.  Please provide a complete change of clothes, marked with your child’s name at school just in case.

If your child needs extra assistance in using the bathroom please notify his/her teacher.  Each child deserves and will receive respect and privacy when using the bathroom, but help will be provided as needed.

We ask that you send your child to school with a large backpack that contains extra clothes.  We found that children feel more comfortable with their own clothes, if for any reason they need them.  Please label the backpack with their name.  We will be using the backpack to send home their work.  If your child is not potty trained, please send them with a supply of diapers and wipes for the day.

We will be having t-shirts for sale.  The children are required to wear their official school t-shirt when we go on field trips.  We will also be having Chapel Day on Thursdays and Fridays.  The children can wear them on that day as well. 

We celebrate every child’s birthday.  We will be in contact with you as to which day will be best to celebrate.  We invite you to bring in a special snack to serve during regular snack time.  Parents are welcome to come to help celebrate.  If you are planning a birthday celebration outside of school and you wish to invite children from school, please include everyone.

We will be going on several field trips throughout the year.  All efforts will be made to schedule field trips on dates that the majority of our students are enrolled in school.  Due to our class offerings on different days of the week, this may not be the day that your child is enrolled.

Professional school pictures will be taken at least once per academic year.  Purchase of your child’s photos will be optional.

We will have special programs during the school year for the children and their families.  Information regarding these events will be posted and announced in our school newsletter.

In order to keep our tuition cost low, St. Luke & St. Peter Preschool will have occasional fund-raising activities to help cover costs of improvements such as computers, new play equipment, and special educational items.  We encourage parents to participate in these activities, as your child is the final beneficiary of our fund raising efforts.  We welcome all help and ideas to improve our school for the benefit of the children.

We like to feature some photographs of your child in our classrooms and perhaps in our school programs.  Parents shall grant or decline permission by executing our Photo Permission Form and returning it to the school office.