Craven County’s Exceptional Preschool Inclusion Program Handbook Welcome! Our classrooms serve students from the Exceptional Children’s Program, NC Pre-K, and those who pay a fee to attend. NC Pre-K requires our classrooms to be licensed, much like what is required in a daycare setting. Although we are not a daycare, we do receive funding from the state for our classrooms and must follow required guidelines. Examples of requirements that must be followed involve proper sanitizing procedures and meal guidelines. Purpose:To provide children with developmental delays and typically developing children (ages 3-5) the opportunity to grow and learn together in an environment that promotes cooperation and acceptance of individual differences using academically appropriate content in a developmentally appropriate context.
Enrollment Procedures:Enrollment priorities include 4-5 slots reserved for typically developing children from the community. These slots are filled from NC Pre-K children and/or fee for service children. Fee for service slots/tuition slots are $90 a week. Tuition is to be paid in full each week regardless of your child’s attendance. In addition, 8-10 slots are reserved for preschool children with disabilities. This program is designed to serve children ranging in age from three to five years old. Children must be at least three years old on or before August 31st. Prior to all children’s attendance: (NC Pre-K, ECP or Fee for Service) we must receive a copy of the child’s certified birth certificate along with the forms listed below. These forms must be signed and dated if applicable. Yellow enrollment packetMedical/Physical formCopy of child’s immunization record Discipline policy, Summary of NC Child Care Laws and Rules as well as the Parent Handbook formProof of address. Examples: power bill, lease agreement, cable bill*Fee for service families will receive an additional contract to be signed and dated.
How to leave a message regarding your child: In order to contact us via phone, you may call the main office at 252-514-6425. Please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Should you wish to discuss your child’s progress with the teacher, please leave a message indicating so or send a note in your child’s folder/notebook. The teacher will call you to arrange a meeting time. It is difficult for us to conference with parents in the mornings when the children are unpacking and preparing for breakfast, so we will be happy to schedule meetings for after school or during rest time. You may also email us. Email is checked 3 times a day. If you do email the teacher, please make sure that you put your child’s name in the subject line. This will allow us to track any emails sent to the spam folder and will allow us to unblock your email address, if needed. Separation Anxiety: Please note that it is normal for most children to have some sort of anxiety about separating from his/her parent, especially at the beginning of the school year. This anxiety may happen the first day of school or much later and may even continue for several weeks. We understand that this can be very stressful on not only the child, but also the parents. You are receiving a wonderful handout on tips to help deal with this. Best practice is to tell your child, “I will stay until you unpack. Then, I will have to go. I will be back to pick you up. Your teachers have fun things for you to do today.” Go ahead and say your good-byes. It makes it especially difficult if you continue to stay and plead with your child. We will do everything that we can to help both you and your child successfully transition during this time. Hang in there! Toileting & Bathroom: Our classroom has a bathroom available for your child to use. Your child is allowed to go to the bathroom AT ANY TIME (as long as it is empty!). Due to the excitement of all the new toys, materials, and activities, some children who are already potty trained, may have accidents at school because they forget to go or they try to hold it. They may need reminders to stop what they are doing and take a bathroom break. While most 3 & 4 year olds are toilet trained, we do understand that some children may not have totally mastered this skill. We will support both you and your child with this transition. It is your responsibility to send in diapers/pull-ups and wipes for your child. Should your child have a bathroom accident at school, we will send home the soiled clothing in a plastic bag. Please check your child’s book bag each day. Licensing requirements state that adults must be able to supervise children while they are in the bathroom. This means that each child must leave the bathroom door partially open in order to allow an adult to monitor their safety. Hand washing: This is very important in an early childhood classroom to help reduce the spread of germs. Studies have shown that properly washed hands help stop the spread of germs/disease. Children are taught to properly wash their hands at school: (1) when entering the classroom each morning and after coming in from outside play (2) after using the bathroom, (3) before and after mealtimes/snacks, and (4) after sneezing/blowing nose. Please help us to reinforce this routine by following the same procedure at home. Additionally, if you decide to visit the class, we ask that you wash your hands as soon as you enter the classroom. The hand washing procedures are:Moisten hands with warm water and liquid soap.Rub hands together for 10 seconds (sing 1 verse of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”).Rinse hands free of soap under running water.Dry hands with a clean, disposable paper towel. Turn off sink handle with paper towel, if applicable.Turn doorknob (if in a bathroom) with paper towel. Throw paper towel into a hands-free trash container. Our Daily Schedule: You will receive a copy of our daily class schedule. The majority of our day is devoted to free choice time/center time. This allows the children an opportunity to choose which center that they would like to work and play in. Centers include:BlocksDramatic PlaySandWaterDiscoveryMusic ArtReading/BooksPlay doughWritingManipulatives/Puzzles Computers/IPad Materials in these different areas are rotated throughout the year based on class interests and themes. Mealtimes: All meals (breakfast, lunch and snacks) must meet the meal pattern guidelines (See attached). The NC Pre-K program provides free breakfast, lunch and snacks for your child. All children who are not part of the NC Pre-K program and who want to purchase meals from the cafeteria will be required to buy breakfast and lunch. In order to help families with costs, it is recommended that all children complete a free/reduced lunch application. If your child chooses to bring breakfast and lunch, meals must follow the attached guidelines. We eat breakfast in our our class family style. Please ensure that your child is at school each morning by 8:00 so that he/she will arrive at breakfast on time. If you are running late (for example not arriving until 9:00) it would be best to feed your child breakfast before arrival. We encourage all children to try a variety of foods. If your child has food allergies, please let us know.Unless we receive written notice from your child’s doctor, we will not accept any special food requests. The program will accommodate menu item substitutions for food allergies per doctor note and/or for religious preferences. Parents have the opportunity to opt out of our meal program by signing a “Meal Opt Out” form and providing your child with breakfast, lunch and snack. We will post a monthly menu. Please refer to the menu for pricing both breakfast and lunch. Our program alsoprovides a daily snack. Please do not send your child a snack from home. Rest Time: Program requirements include a daily rest time. The children nap each afternoon. Your child will not be required to go to sleep, but he or she will be expected to rest quietly and not disturb others. During this time we will play soft music and each child will be provided with a rest mat. We ask that you send in a towel for your child to put on top of the mat. This towel will be sent home at the end of each week to be washed. Please help us by making sure your child has a clean towel the following Monday. We do not have many spare towels to share. We encourage each child to visit the bathroom before getting settled down on his/her cot. However, once everyone is settled, we will limit the number of times each child can get up to go to the bathroom to 1 time. This is due to some children suffering from the “I can get up and go back and forth to the bathroom if I don’t want to lie down” syndrome! If your child has kidney problems and this is unacceptable, please let your child’s teacher know. Later in the year, we do allow children who do not sleep, the opportunity to have a book to read or a quiet activity to engage in on their mat. Arrivals & Dismissals: Pre-K begins at 8:00. Children are allowed to arrive at 7:45 and no earlier. If you arrive before 7:45, please wait with your child. Do not leave your child unattended. Some children ride the school bus and will arrive earlier, however due to staff/child ratio the staff member is unable to take children before 7:45. If you bring your child to school, please do not drop him/her off as a car rider. Pre-K children are to be walked in and out of school each day and signed in and out each day. Afternoon pick-up begins at 2:30. All children are to be picked up by 2:45 unless they ride a daycare van or an exceptional children’s bus. You will be given 2 Pre-K passes. This will allow you to come to the classroom instead of signing in at the office each afternoon. Please inform anyone designated to pick up your child that they must pick him or her up in the classroom. They will need to sign in at the office if they do not have a Pre-K pass. You will receive a form to fill out asking who is allowed to pick up your child. We will check this list if someone other than you picks up your child. Please have others bring their picture identification. During the year, if you would like to add people to this list, please let us know. Attendance Policy: When your child is absent from school and returns, please send in a note, explaining the reason for the absence and the date(s) it occurred. You will be asked to do this in kindergarten, so this is good practice! If your child is absent due to a highly infectious illness (ex: strep, pink eye, chicken pox, flu or even head lice) please call and let us know. We want to inform other families of contagious illnesses, so they can be on the lookout for any symptoms in their child. Each month, we are required to send the state a record of your child’s attendance. When a child enrolled in the NC Pre-K portion of the program has been absent for more than three consecutive days, the Site-level Administrator must contact the family and determine the child's participation status. The site-level administrator must document attempts to contact the family and any specific decisions regarding the child's continued participation in the program. Regular, consistent attendance is an important factor in pre-k! Supply List: We ask that you provide your child with a few items at the beginning of preschool: A full-size backpack (no rolling wheels or animal shapes)A complete change of clothes to include underwear, socks, pants and a shirt. Please use a permanent marker and write your child’s name on all items before placing them in a Ziploc bag.A towel or small blanket for rest time (this will be sent home at the end of each week to be washed and returned) We will provide you with a two-pocket folder/notebook. It will be sent home daily with any message or notes inside. Please check this folder daily and see that it makes it back to school with your child the following day. Some days the folders are empty, but please continue to check. If you have anything to send us, please place it in the folder, which is checked daily. We will begin a Nightly Reading program once our school routines are established. We will conduct a parent meeting to go over the Nightly Reading process with you. ***Please do not allow your child to bring any kind of toy to school. This causes problems when others want to play with the toys too. For sharing times, we will be learning to appreciate the work and ideas of others, rather than material items that can be bought. If your child has found something interesting in nature, we would be happy to share that. Dress Code:All children should have clean, comfortable, weather appropriate clothing and follow the Craven County School Dress Code. (See Craven County Schools Handbook for this information.) Shoes should be sneakers or closed-toed shoes.
School Calendar: You will receive a copy of Craven County School’s calendar. We follow the same calendar as the other schools, with several exceptions. As you already know, we do not begin the same date as the rest of the system due to home visits. Also, the first Friday of the month, our pre-k classes will not be held . This is due to monthly staff workshops and meetings. We will remind you when school is not in session through newsletters and notes. Medications & Sunscreen: Please do not send any medication to school with your child.If your child has been sick and requires prescription medication during the school day, you can either: 1) come and give your child the medication yourself or 2) have the doctor fill out paperwork that will allow the school nurse to dispense the medication to your child. This includes asthma inhalers. You will need to get the necessary paperwork from the school nurse. This paperwork must be on file with Mrs. Spence in order to be followed. Please note that cough drops are considered a medication under the rules. Please do not send your child to school with cough drops to take during the day.Also, if your child has had a fever of 100 degrees or higher, please wait at least 24 hours after the fever has broken before sending your child back to school. Please do not give your child Tylenol, which brings the fever down, and send him/her to school. While the fever may decrease or be eliminated due to the Tylenol, he or she will still be considered contagious and may pass the germs to others.**If your child needs sunscreen when playing outside, please put long-lasting sunscreen on your child before he or she comes to school. We are unable to apply sunscreen. Should your child fall and get hurt during the school day, we send notes home indicating what happened and ask that you sign and return the note the following day. For accidents that cause injury to the head, eyes, and teeth or those accidents that result in excessive bleeding, the nurse will be asked to evaluate and provide necessary treatment. Birthdays, Celebrations & Field trips: Birthdays: If you would like to send party invitations to class members, we will be happy to pass them out as long as everyone in the class is invited. We don’t want any hurt feelings. While we do not have birthday parties with balloons, presents, and entire families coming to our classroom, we can celebrate with a special snack if you wish to send something in. All food items must be store bought. Please let us know at least 5 days in advance if you would like to send something in for your child’s birthday. Our class will go on field trips throughout the year. You will be sent notices of upcoming trips and we ask that you send back the permission slip as soon as possible. There isn’t a cost for field trips for your child, but some trips require parents paying a small fee if they wish to attend. You are welcome to attend as a chaperon; however you will have to find your own transportation. We can always use extra hands to help on trips. If you do volunteer, we ask that you make other arrangements for brothers and sisters due to safety concerns and for liability reasons.
Developmentally Appropriate Activities: Young children at this age learn best when working on activities of their own choosing, usually activities that are hands-on. Examples of hands-on activities include: practicing letter formation in foam, rolling play dough to form letters (rather than practicing writing letters on lines), counting how many square blocks were used to build a house, experimenting with measurement by seeing how many scoops of sand can fit into a large bucket, learning the letters and sounds of the alphabet by first learning the letters that make up their own name, looking for numbers and identifying them all around us (on school buses, doors, clothes,etc) and experimenting with different colors by mixing paints. You will not find any work sheets or coloring sheets in this class nor any art projects that are mostly teacher made. We will engage in art activities where the child uses their own creativity. Every creation has a process and a story! Your child will be exposed to numbers, letters, and letter sounds. They will have the opportunity to work on letter formation, especially the letters in his/her own name. We will engage in many fine-motor activities that develop the small muscles in our hands which are necessary to form and write letters. We will be sharing ideas and tips for you to try at home to increase fine-motor skills as the year progresses. Our work in the early childhood classroom is hands-on, so most children do not usually have work to bring home each day. However, that doesn’t mean that your child didn’t participate in any learning activities! We do keep some work pieces to hang up in class, but will send other work pieces home. We send home a weekly newsletter to let you know what skills and activities we have been working on during class. Parent-Teacher Conferences & Progress Reports: We will have the opportunity to have two conferences during the school year – one during the fall (usually early December) and one late winter (usually March). During these conferences, we will discuss your child’s progress in several areas and will plan the next steps for your child. You will receive a copy of the progress report to take with you. On the last day of school, your child will bring home any of his or her work that has been in the classroom as well as a final progress report.If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the following individuals beginning with the:Child’s classroom teacherPrincipal/administrator at your child’s schoolPreschool CoordinatorA more detailed policy description can be found at www.craven.k12.nc.us under policy code 1740/4010. For childcare licensing concerns, you may also contact the Intake department at the Division of Child Development and Early Education in Raleigh at 1-800-859-0829. See also the attached Summary of the North Carolina Child Care Laws and Rules.
Class Rules & Behavior Expectations: During the first few weeks of school, we will discuss with the children what rules are. Everyone typically has rules they must follow at home and we talk about those. We talk about why we need rules at school. Together we create a few simple rules to follow in class. Our expectations are appropriate for young children. We teach them that in order to learn we must be ready to listen to everyone, that friends and teachers shouldn’t be hurt, and kindness is very important. These are good life rules! In the beginning of the year, we find it typical that everyone is trying to get used to each other, so some disagreements may arise. During these times, we model appropriate behavior and talk about what could have been said or done rather than the action that happened. We will send home the class rules that were created along with a plan in case an inappropriate behavior continues. If a behavior problem continues, it may be necessary for us to conference in order to decide what we can do to extinguish that behavior. In order for this to work, it takes help from everyone, to include the student, family, and teachers. We thank you in advance for supporting us with this. We ask that if you have a concern about your child or our classroom, please speak to your child’s teacher first in order to arrange a time to discuss the matter. Please do not discuss your child’s situation in front of other parents, teachers, or students. This can cause gossip and may cause hurt feelings. We promise you the same respect. Thank you for your understanding.
Discipline and Behavior Management: As a licensed preschool, we are required to follow child care requirements related to discipline. Attached, you will find a copy of the Summary of the North Carolina Child Care Laws and Rules. We are interested in promoting self-control and appropriate social behavior in children. Teachers and staff set behavior limits for children based on positive guidance. We use positive methods to encourage development of these behaviors. Positive guidance helps children learn what is and is not acceptable and helps them to make their own decisions. We redirect children towards desired activities and focus on teaching and learning rather than punishing. Verbal abuse, yelling, any type of physical abuse, threats, degrading comments, restriction of a child’s movement, isolation of a child, withholding food, or forcing a nap is forbidden and will not be tolerated. Teachers and staff have been trained to follow SEFEL (Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning)practices. SEFEL is a program to promote the social emotional development and school readiness of young children and helps a child learn to develop self-control using evidence based research. Additional information is available on the ;hSEFEL website at http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/ Please sign the attached form verifying that you received a handbook and understand the discipline policy
Lastly, we want to say how excited we are to have your child in our program!!! We look forward to a great year!