2015-2016 PARENT HANDBOOK Creative School Age Child Care, Inc. 9510 Chandler Street Pensacola, Florida 32534 (850) 479-7814 Csacc.com [email protected] INTRODUCTION Creative School Age Child Care is a private corporation that provides ten after school programs for Escambia County School District since 1988. The program operates on days that school is in session from dismissal to 5:50 p.m. This handbook is designed to inform parents and answer questions about the CSACC programs. OVERALL MISSION STATEMENT To provide a safe environment for children 5-12 years of age with a balanced assortment of developmentally appropriate activities. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES Foster positive self-esteem. Develop social skills. Encourage thinking, reasoning, questioning, and experimentation. Enhance physical development. Encourage and demonstrate sound health, safety, and nutritional practices. Encourage creative expression and appreciation of the arts. Respect cultural diversity. Develop understanding of self in relationship to family, community and world. Foster life skills and habits. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES CSACC lesson plans are posted daily for your inspection. Newsletters will be available to parents with upcoming events for the month. There will be daily activity choices for your child to choose. The choices will include the following types of activities:  Active/quiet activities  Alone or rest time  Indoor/outdoor time  Homework time and activities for enriching school work  Community presentations  Monthly theme and unit activities  Child-initiated and adult-initiated activities  Academic Play Centers PROGRAM SCHEDULE 2:10 p.m. Outside Play 2:45 p.m. Homework Club/Academic Play Centers 3:15 p.m. Snack 3:30 p.m. Theme Activity 4:00 p.m. Activity Centers/Clubs 5:00 p.m. Free Play 5:30 p.m. Circle Time 5:50 p.m. Program Closes WAYS TO PAY TUITION FEES OPTION 1: Cash or check on-site to site director on Mondays and Tuesdays. Receipts are given weekly. OPTION 2: Check by mail (Bill Pay) Please mail checks to: CSACC, Inc. 9510 Chandler Street Pensacola, Fl 32534 OPTION 3: Pay by Electronic Invoice An invoice from CSACC is sent to your email. You may click the link in the email and pay by credit card or debit card. OPTION 4: Recurring Charge Please complete the recurring charge form and your account will be charged automatically each week for the correct tuition amount due. NSF FEES A service charge of $20 is charged on all NSF checks, debit or credit transactions that are returned as insufficient funds. Cash payment for further services will be mandatory. LATE PICK-UP FEES CSACC closes at 5:50 p.m. daily. If you will be late, please call your school site and let them know. A five dollar ($5) late fee will be charged for every fifteen (15) minutes that you are late. The first fifteen (15) minutes can be prorated as the director’s discretion. TUITION FEES Full-time tuition is due on Monday or Tuesday for the week ahead. A $10 late fee is charged to your account if paid on Wednesday or later. Part -time tuition is due the first three business days of each month. A $10 late fee is due on the fourth business day of the month. NONPAYMENT POLICY If payment is not made by Friday each week, your child will not be able to return to the program until the account balance is current. ABSENTEEISM Tuition is not discounted based on absenteeism. END OF THE YEAR STATEMENT A tuition summary will be given at the end of the year for tax purposes. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE For state subsidized child care assistance, parents must make an appointment with Children Services Center to determine eligibility. Telephone – (850) 595-5400 for appointments or apply online at https://spe.schoolreadiness.org/pe/. For other financial aid, please contact your site director for more information. AFTER SCHOOL FEES PART TIME 1 DAY PART TIME 2 DAYS 1 CHILD = $14.00 2 CHILDREN = $27.00 3 CHILDREN = $40.00 4 CHILDREN = $53.00 1 CHILD = $28.00 2 CHILDREN = $54.00 3 CHILDREN = $80.00 4 CHILDREN = $106.00 FULL TIME FEES (3, 4, OR 5 DAYS PER WEEK) 1 CHILD = $50.00 2 CHILDREN = $95.00 3 CHILDREN = $140.00 4 CHILDREN = $185.00 Please Note: Non Refundable Registration Fee - $15.00 per child per year BULLYING POLICY CSACC is a BULLY-FREE Zone. This means that we do not tolerate bullying in our programs. Name calling, put-downs, inappropriate language will not be tolerated. CSACC expects children to respect classmates, staff and their school. We encourage students and parents to tell our directors about problems that the student has to ensure the emotional and physical well-being of students. DISCIPLINE POLICY Behavior at CSACC is to reflect positive character traits which include respect, trustworthiness, fairness, responsibility, caring, and citizenship. Good social skills that are needed in life are encouraged. We strive to encourage the children to have appropriate behavior through clear guidelines, consistent consequences, and positive staff interaction. Parental support will be requested when issues arise in the after school programs. Problem solving tools (conflict resolution) is taught to help the children solve problems and make good choices. The CSACC program incorporates the Peace Place as a safe place to discuss issues and problems. In the event that a student’s behavior is disruptive, harmful or negative to the extent that it is detrimental to other students, program or staff, written documentation will be done and shared with parents. Program site directors will record such incidents with incident reports and confer with parents or guardians concerning the possibility of removal from the program. A plan for handling future behavior will be discussed with staff, parents and student. The plan may include behavior modification, positive reinforcement or redirection methods. If another incident occurs, written documentation will be done and the site director will contact the parents to discuss the necessary requirements for continuing in the program. A third incident requiring written documentation will result in dismissal from program. After school program directors may request information and assistance from school staff with any discipline problem before dismissing an individual from the programs. This may include information regarding behavior that may be caused by emotional problems, trauma, medical problems, or information regarding special techniques that are being used with the student during the school day. All official School Board and Florida DCF policies relating to discipline will be followed. Repeated behavior issues may result in: 1 Day suspension 3 Day Suspension 5 Day Suspension Permanent Suspension Immediate/Permanent Suspension can result, due to the following. Fighting Injuring self, another child or staff Inappropriate language Running from Staff Destruction of Property Stealing Threatening violence Leaving a designated area without permission Harassing or bullying another child Biting/Spitting DAILY ATTENDANCE AND SIGN OUT PROCEDURES Your child’s attendance is taken daily at 2:00p.m. The group leader and the site director keep records of their attendance. It is your classroom teacher’s responsibility to see that your child arrives at our site each afternoon. Your classroom teacher and the site director of our program needs a written note if your child’s itinerary changes. Each afternoon you be asked to sign out your child in our sign out book. If someone else is to pick up your child, they must be listed on your enrollment form. Picture IDs will need to be presented if our staff does not know the individual. We absolutely do not accept phone authorization. If an intoxicated adult arrives to pick up a child, the child will NOT be released to the adult. ILLNESS POLICY For the children who become ill while attending CSACC, parents will be contacted and the child sent home for the following:  Oral temperature of 100 degrees or greater  Vomiting once  Liquid stools  Uncontrollable and persistent coughs  Appearance of acute illness or complaint of severe pain In the event a child exhibits any of these symptoms, the child’s parent will be called. When the director deems a child too ill to remain in the CSACC program, parents have the responsibility and will be expected to pick up their child as soon as possible. Until the parent arrives, the child will be excluded from activities with other children. He/she will rest in a quiet area secluded from the main program area, supervised by a staff member. Children with chronic health problems (asthma, allergies, etc.) and/or special needs may attend CSACC. Our staff works closely with parents to provide quality care and optimum services. Parents will be notified about outbreaks of the following:  Strep throat  Impetigo  Measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella  Pinworms  Lice  Salmonella A parent may not bring a child to the program if the child has:  A strep throat or impetigo that has not been treated with antibiotics for at least 24 hours.  A rash of acute symptoms associated with fever or symptoms of illness.  An oral temperature of 100 degrees or greater.  Persistent vomiting and/or diarrhea in the previous 12 hours.  Lice MEDICATION POLICY No over the counter medicine will be given by CSACC. Prescription medicine will be given to your child if the following conditions are met:  Medicine is in the original container and has legible directions for dispersing, the child’s name, and the doctor’s name.  Letter from doctor is accompanying the prescription authorizing the dispersing of the drug to your child. CELL PHONES Cell phones must remain with the children’s personal belongings. Children are not permitted to use personal cell phones for talking, text messaging or picture taking during any CSACC program. If a child needs to talk with a parent or guardian they may request to use the CSACC phone. CSACC is not responsible for lost or damaged cell phones. CSACC staff is prohibited from exchanging messages on any social web site, exchanging cell phone numbers or text messaging with minor children in CSACC programs. CSACC EMERGENCY CLOSING POLICY If the Escambia County School District is closed on a school day, CSACC is closed. Parents will be notified by TV, radio, and internet. If the Escambia County School District is open during the school day, but cancels all after school activities, then the after school program will be closed as soon as all the children are picked up. Parents will be notified by telephone on these occasions by CSACC staff. CSACC ACCIDENT POLICY If your child is involved in an accident during the after school program, the CSACC staff will administer First Aid and/or CPR. The director will write an accident report describing the accident, and will give the parent a copy of the report. If needed, the director will telephone the parent. If your child needs medical attention over and beyond first aid, the director will call 911 for an ambulance to transport your child to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. Parents will be notified immediately. GET INVOLVED AT CSACC CSACC has activities throughout the year that need volunteers. You may not be able to attend all activities, but you can donate materials, help prepare for the activities, or just help a few minutes when you come to pick up your child. We will keep you updated through the monthly newsletter and FYI board. Also, we place signs, invitations, and notices on our parent’s table. If you don’t feel like you can volunteer at this time, please participate in our family hours. Your child prepares this special activity just for you. It will only take a few minutes to experience a family hour! Your child is happy to share this occasion with you. Again, let us stress that we are here to serve your family! Let us know how we can improve our programs to meet the ever changing needs of your family! CSACC SITE LOCATIONS Site Mobile Landline CSACC @ Cordova Park (850) 324-9811 (850) 595-6839 [email protected] CSACC @ Blue Angels (850) 324-8357 (850) 457-6356 [email protected] CSACC @ A.K. Suter (850) 324-9813 (850) 595-6813 [email protected] CSACC @ Hellen Caro (850) 324-9814 (850) 492-8283 [email protected] CSACC @ Beulah (850) 206-8357 (850) 941-6187 [email protected] CSACC @ Jim Allen (850) 324-9816 (850) 937-2271 [email protected] CSACC @ R.C. Lipscomb (850) 324-9810 (850) 494-7180 [email protected] CSACC @ Pine Meadow (850) 324-9812 (850) 494-5632 [email protected] CSACC @ Scenic Heights (850) 324-9815 (850) 494-5632 [email protected] CSACC @ Molino Park (850) 417-4751 (850) 587-5265 [email protected] Administrative Office (850) 479-7814 Fax (850) 479-2119 Email [email protected]