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recognize
the special characteristics that each child possesses. Their
interests and goals shall be observed and activities shall be
created to enhance their abilities.
It
is also the philosophy of Pleasant Park Child Development Center
to create a loving environment for each child. We realize that
the first years are the most critical years to help develop a
child’s self-esteem and security. Our primary mission is
to provide a rich, warm and supportive environment in which the
child may develop socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually.
Hours
of Operation
Pleasant
Park Child Development Center is open Monday through Friday, 6:30
a.m. through 6:00 p.m. The following holidays will be observed
each year.
- New Year’s Day
- President’s Day
- Good Friday (Staff Professional Development Day)
- Memorial Day
- Fourth of July
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day (Staff Professional Development Day)
- Thanksgiving and the following Friday
- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
If
one of the above holidays falls on Saturday, Pleasant Park Child
Development Center will be closed the preceding Friday. If the
holiday falls on a Sunday, Pleasant Park Child Development Center
will be closed the following Monday.
Staff
Development Days
According to DCFS regulations, each staff member is required to
attain 15 hours of continuing education hours per year. In order
to reach that requirement , Pleasant Park will be closed on Good
Friday and Columbus Day each year. On those days, Pleasant Park
will provide workshop opportunities for each staff member.
Vacation
Once
your child has attended Pleasant Park Child Development Center
for six months, your child is eligible for one week of vacation
per year. There will be no charge for the week that your child
is on vacation. Vacation days must be used in five consecutive
days and must be used within the year or they will be forfeited.
The child may not be in attendance during the week. Please notify
the director two weeks before your vacation.
Finances
A non-refundable registration fee of $25 will be assessed
upon the enrollment or your child to our child development center.
Payments
are due by 6:00 p.m. of each Tuesday or the first day of the
week
your child attends. There will be a $10 fee for late
payments and a $25 fee for returned checks. If an account goes
unpaid for two weeks, that following Monday the parent will be
asked to pay for that week’s care and all subsequent weeks
care in cash or certified check until the account is current. If
payment is not made, the child/children can be expelled.
There is also a $25 charge for parents arriving after the 6:00
p.m. closing. At 6:15 p.m., parents will be billed another $25
for every additional 15 minutes their child is in the center.
Pleasant Park Child Development Center does provide a discount
to parents with more than one child at the center. We offer a $10
discount per week for the second child and all subsequent children
enrolled at the same time for full time children.
Parents
will be responsible for payments regardless of their child’s
attendance, closing of P.P.C.D.C due to holidays, or electrical
breakdown. Part –time students can not exchange days when
their regular schedule includes a holiday.
Contracts
cannot be broken or changed without two weeks written notice
from parent. Contracts are renewed annually.
Late Pick-Up
There is also a $25 charge for parents arriving after the 6:00p.m.
closing. At 6:15 p.m., parents will be billed another $25 and
continue to get billed an additional $25 for every 15 minutes
past closing time. Our license expires at 6:00p.m., therefore
if children remain in the center past 6:00p.m., DCFS and the
Chatham Police Department may be called to pick up any children.
Fee Agreement
Parents
will be responsible for payments regardless of their child’s
attendance. When Pleasant Park is closed due to a holiday, or closes
for any emergency, which prevents us from normal business operations
such as, but not limited to; loss of electricity, breakdown of
the heating or cooling system, or inclement weather, parents are
still responsible for the entire payment. This includes both part
time and full time students. Pleasant Park Child Development Center
will close when Ball/Chatham schools close because of severe weather.
Please check News Channel 20 for possible closings.
Part Time Students
A
part time student is considered any child that is enrolled 3
or less days
per week. This is only offered if available. If your
child is part time, you must pick the days that you need care and
they must remain the same every week. If you have a rotating schedule,
then you must pay for a full time spot to secure your child’s
spot every day. Part-time students cannot exchange days when their
regular schedule includes a holiday or cancellation day.
Security
Because Pleasant Park Child Development Center considers the safety
of the children a top priority, a security system has been
installed in all of the doors. The main entrance shall have
a keypad entrance that the parents must enter a code in order
to enter the building. Once the parent and child have entered
the building, they will then sign in the child using the computer
at the front desk.
Then they will sign in the child manually at his/her room.
Alternate
Pick-up
Again, because we are so concerned about the safety of the children,
Pleasant Park Child Development Center requires that the parents
must notify the office if someone other than a parent is going
to be picking up or delivering the child.
The person will then be asked to show their identification once
they arrive to pick up the child.
Health
Another main goal of Pleasant Park Child Development
Center is to keep the children as healthy as possible. In order
to do this, DCFS requires that each child have a physical within
six months prior to admission. This medical evaluation is valid
for two years but immunizations must be kept up to date.
When a child shows symptoms of being ill, such as vomiting, chronic
diarrhea, and/or fever of 100 degrees or higher, the parents shall
be called to take the child home. If a child is sent home with
a fever or conjunctivitis (pink eye), he/she may not return until
they are symptom free for 24 hours. Any child that returns before
the 24 hours will be sent home.
In addition, any time an illness prevents a child from participating
comfortably in activities or requires more care than the teacher
can provide without compromising the health and safety of the other
children, the ill child will be sent home.
Medications
In
order to insure the safety of the children, the following steps
must be taken in order for the staff to administer medicine to your
child.
- Tell the caregiver that your child has medicine to take on that day.
- Fill out a medicine slip with the name of the child, name of the medicine, amount, time needed to be given, parent signature and date.
- Inform the teacher if the medicine needs to be refrigerated.
- Please make sure that all non-prescription medicines are labeled with the child's name. Also, we can only administer prescription medicine according to the label and it must be prescribed to that child (he/she cannot share medicines with siblings).
Clothing
Please
make sure that your child has an extra set of clothing in their
bin at all times that is season-appropriate and clearly
labeled. Also please remember that the children are here to play
and should wear “play clothes”.
Sandals may be worn with socks only! This is done to prevent any
injury that might occur.
Toys
Although
we realize how much children like to bring toys from home, we strongly
discourage bringing anything except for “Show-N-Tell”.
Pleasant Park Child Development Center cannot be responsible for
lost or broken toys. Guns, swords, or any violent toys or play
are NEVER allowed.
Meals
and Snacks
Pleasant Park will provide a hot lunch everyday, as well as a morning snack and
afternoon snack. We do ask that the children be fed breakfast before arriving
at the center, as snack will not be served until 8:30 a.m. Pleasant Park will
have a certified food sanitation manager on site at all times that food is being
prepared and served. The facilities used for preparing food at Pleasant Park
has been inspected and approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
All children must be served the same meals with the exception of any children
with allergies. All children with allergies must have a physicians note on file
with allergies listed.
Outside
food is not allowed in this center, unless it is a special occasion.
Any food that is brought into this center, must be store bought
and pre-packaged and therefore, cooked in a kitchen that is approved
through the Illinois Department of Public Health. No homemade
snacks are allowed in the center.
Discipline
At Pleasant
Park Child Development Center, our goal is to prevent as many discipline
problems as possible. There are many
ways to keep children’s interests high and frustration level
low, which create positive behaviors.
Playing, learning, friendships, and respect for others are all
behaviors given positive attention while inappropriate behavior
is redirected or dealt with in accordance with the incident.
Physical punishment
is NEVER used at our center. However, when it does become necessary
to manage or control the child’s
behavior, and he/she is over 24 months old, time out shall be used.
The child will sit for a short time (1 –2 minutes) until
he/she is able to talk about what happened. The teacher shall then
discuss why the child needed to sit and how next time the child
might handle the situation differently.
If a child continues to be unmanageable, the parents may be asked
to remove the child from the center temporarily or permanently.
Biting and Other Aggressive Behaviors
When
a child is biting or behaving in a physically aggressive manner
toward
other children or the staff, the Director is to be
notified immediately. The child’s parents are to be notified
the same day of the behavior and how it was handled.
It is our policy to use a variety of techniques to discourage
biting or aggressive behavior depending on the age and developmental
stage of the child. They include but are not limited to:
- Redirection
- Giving more opportunities for oral stimulation (for biting)
- Teaching the child how to calm him or herself
- Separation from the group, logging each incident to look for stimuli,
helping the child communicate their needs/wants
- Shadowing the child
- Logging each aggressive or biting incident. The log should include
the name of each child involved, the time of day, how it was handled,
and the cause of the behavior.
If the child persists in the aggressive behavior or biting (one
or more times a week) the following are steps that may be taken:
- A
parent/teacher/Director meeting to discuss the problem
and possible solutions
- The parent may be required to shadow his or her child
- The parent may be required to remove his or her child from the
facility for a pre-determined amount of time (i.e. the remainder
of the day, week, etc.)
- The parent may be required to find permanent and alternative care
for his or her child
Curriculum
In accordance with our philosophy, the staff at Pleasant
Park Child Development Center believes in treating each child as
an individual. After assessing the needs and interests of each
child, the teacher, along with the support staff and Director,
will help create fun and exciting activities to enhance learning.
Learning centers shall be used to help create a sense of choice
and exploration for the children. Several areas, such as the
block area, kitchen or housekeeping area, writing area, computers,
and creative choice area (coloring, cutting, etc.) are just
a few examples of centers that are created to help the children
grow and learn.
There is also specific routines that are followed each day
to help create a sense of security and predictability for the
children. An example of that would be calendar time each day.
The children enjoy the repetition of counting the days of the
week and months of the year.
Through all activities at our center, there are several universal
objectives;
- To help create security and self-confidence in each child.
- To explore learning and make it as fun and exciting for every child.
- To create the ability to problem solve.
- To develop fine motor and gross motor skills.
- To create an environment where affectionate relationships with peers and teachers are created.
- To allow children to make choices and experience the consequences of personal decisions.
- Encourage children to make good health and safety choices.
- To help children distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
- Develop a concern for the rights and well being of others.
- Develop an appreciation that everyone has his/her own unique characteristics that makes each person different.
Open
Door Policy
Pleasant Park is open to children of all faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. As
such, no formal religious observance or instruction shall be provided.
Pleasant
Park also has an open door policy for parents, who are welcome
into our center at any time during the day to observe or visit
in their child’s classroom. Parents are also encouraged
to communicate with teachers and administration any requests
or concerns that they may have.
Privacy
Statement
All children and family information obtained by the center is confidential
and will not be released to anyone outside of the center without prior written
consent.
We
strive to create a safe and healthy environment for all children
and we appreciate your contribution to continue to make Pleasant
Park an outstanding center.
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