Frequently Asked Questions

What are your teacher to child ratios?

In the 0-2 age infant center (coming spring 2008) the ratios will be 1 teacher to every 4 infants. In the existing 2-12 age center the ratios are 1 teacher to every 12 children (though we like to keep it at 10:1 more often than not).

How long will it take me to register my children?

Registration is quick and easy. There are two forms that need to be filled out, which take about 5-10 minutes depending on how many children you are signing up.

Do I have to come in to get the paperwork?

You are always welcome to come in to get them or you can download them from this site.

Can I register and visit on the same day?

Of course! Just give yourself an extra 10-15 minutes to get that paperwork done (unless you've printed it out at home) and to get the low down on everything and you're all set!

Does my child need a physician's clearance?

No. All you need is our paperwork. We have already had it approved through the state, and everything we need has a place on the form.

Do you need immunization records?

We are not a contracted child care center (you do not sign a contract about what days and times you are dropping off your child), so it is not required that we keep this on file. Those of you that will be using us for full time will need to bring in immunization records.

Does my child need to be potty trained to attend?

We do not require that the children be potty trained for them to come visit us, but there is an extra fee...

What is the Diapering Fee for?

 To make it easier on us and you parents, we charge the fee and include diapers and wipes; less for you to pack! There has been a bit of confusion about when you get to stop paying the diapering fee. Let me try to clear this up: think of the fee as more of a service charge. See, we have to cover our ratios still when a teacher or aide takes a potty training child to the restroom. Also, as you probably know, accidents happen frequently and training children need to be reminded often. Consequently, this fee remains in effect until your child is FULLY potty trained. Meaning, when your child can get themselves to the bathroom, use it, clean up, pull up pants, and wash hands without help or a reminder, we will no longer charge the fee.

Can I bring my own food in for my child?

Of course! We do offer 3 snacks per day at 10am, 2:30pm, and 7:30pm which are included in your hourly fee. You can buy lunch from 11:30am-12:30pm or dinner from 5:30pm-6:30pm, we have a rotating menu. If you would like to bring food in, there are 2 rules:

#1 We are a Peanut Free environment, so no nut products please.

#2 Nothing that needs to be microwaved please. If we have a large group of children, microwaving each meal could take a very long time. We don't have the staff for that.

What does Peanut Free Environment mean?

Because we have a high volume of children coming in on a daily basis, we have found that quite a few of them have allergies to nuts. Allergies can have a big range as far as the severity of the reaction. Some kids are affected by the smallest contact with the nut, the oil, or any part and others are only affected a little even if they eat one. We decided that the best way to deal with this was not to allow any nut products into the building. For those of you that enjoy a good PB&J sandwich, I'm right there with you, I LOVE peanut butter, but you'll just have to get a little more creative when you send food with your child. Remember, you can buy our lunch or dinner too!

How frequently is the television on?

We have a wonderful TV room filled with big, squishy foof chairs (aka: bean bag chairs) that the kids just love. All of the movies are G rated and most of them are educational (ie: Baby Einstein, Scholastic Books on DVD...). During preschool time, we do sometimes put a Scholastic DVD on if it corresponds to the learning or if it's a book that was read to them earlier in the day, this reinforces the learning process. After that, we keep them mostly for the evenings considering the later hours we keep, but this is at the discretion of the teacher on duty. All bets are off on Saturday...if the kids ask to watch we are usually amenable to that request because they have all had a busy week and deserve a break (again, at the discretion of the teacher).

What is there for my older child to do? Will he/she have fun?

It is hard for us to guarantee that your 6-12 year old will be here with children their age. We never know what kind of mix we will have at any given time. Our teachers try very hard to make sure that everyone has age appropriate things to do and sometimes we even play the opponent at air hockey ourselves! We have very rarely had an older child say that they did not have any fun...they may have been a little concerned at the beginning, but by the end of the visit there is no doubt that this place is fun! We have air hockey, an Xbox, movies and plenty of art materials. We have found that the kids that visit us pretty regularly figure out what they can do and have no problem asking us for certain items. We encourage this familiarity and do our best to accommodate these requests. You would also be surprised at how the older kids enjoy playing with the younger. Some have come with siblings and others have no younger siblings so they like the novelty of being an "big brother/sister". We ask that you come see what we have to offer and give us a chance!