Parent Handbook

Tuition Payments

Tuition is paid monthly and is due the first of each month. Payments can be made in the tuition drop envelope on the Parents Information Board (main hallway), to Michelle in the office or by mail. Please make your check payable to The Children’s Garden Preschool.  Our mailing address is:

The Children’s Garden Preschool
486 Park Avenue, SE
Atlanta, Georgia 30312

PLEASE NOTE: A late fee of $10 will be applied to tuition received after the 5th of each month. No cancellation of fees will be made except in the case of a long-term illness of the child. Also, parents must advise TCGP, in writing, one month prior to dropping from the program or be obligated to pay the next month’s tuition.
Arrival/Departure

Our day begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 1:30p.m. Teachers are ready to accept children into classrooms at 9:25am.  It is very important that children arrive ON TIME and be picked up promptly.

Classes:

• Owls Class morning drop-off is on the Play Garden at 9:25.  Afternoon pick-up is in the classroom at 1:35pm.
• Robins Class morning drop-off is in the classroom at 9:30.  Afternoon pick-up is on the Play Garden at 1:30pm.
• Cardinals and Sparrows Classes have morning drop-off in their classrooms at 9:30am with pick-up inside at 1:30pm.

A late pick up charge ($10) will be billed to your account if you arrive after 1:30pm.  Please call 404.624.8591 or your child’s teacher directly (mobile number), if you are running late any time.

Children must be brought into their classrooms directly.  Please be sure to have brief contact with your child’s teachers to confirm he/she has been received into the classroom by one of their teachers.  Street parking is available on Park Avenue or Sydney Street for morning drop off or afternoon pick up.

Health & Safety

We request that your children be well when you bring them to preschool. We would appreciate your calling us when your child must stay home due to illness.  Please call the preschool office 404.624.8591 or notify your child’s teacher directly at home or via mobile.

PARENTS, you may NOT bring your child to school when he/she:

• Has a fever (children should be fever-free for at least 24 hours, before returning to preschool).
• Is in the first three (3) days of a cold.
• Has nasal or eye discharge (white or any shade of green).
• Has a rash or hives.
• Has had a loose bowel movement within the last 24 hours.
• Has been awake for a long period of time during the night
• Has vomited within the last 24 hours.

First-aid will be administered for all minor injuries and parents will be notified. Our teachers are CPR-certified and have basic knowledge of first-aid.  Teachers carry their own cell phones or use TCGP walkie-talkies for safety and direct means of contact.

Please notify the preschool of cases of measles, mumps, chicken pox, pin worms, head lice, strep, any easily contagious virus or any other communicable disease.  We’ll send home warning notes when appropriate.

Separation

We expect and understand that young children may have a hard time separating from their parents (and vice-versa!). We will help make this transition as easy as possible for both child and parent. We suggest that parents say a short, friendly goodbye to help children make an easier separation. If you have any concerns about separation, please feel free to discuss them with us at anytime.

Parent Involvement

TCGP has an open-door policy and invites parents to observe classes.  Contact the assistant director, Michelle Blackmon, to schedule a classroom visit or to observe in a classroom.  If you’d like to help out by participating in TCGP workdays, class projects, field trips (as chaperones) or other aspects of our program, please see your child’s teachers or the preschool director.

We welcome parents to help out in the classroom by substituting when one of our teachers is unable to come to preschool.  If you’d like to learn more about being on our “Sub List”, please contact the assistant director.  Substitute teachers are compensated with a daily tuition credit equal to one day’s tuition.

TCGP Buildings and Grounds Committee organizes our wonderful community workdays.  If you are interested in assisting with the committee, please let us know.

We hold a variety of parent/teacher and family functions each year and we invite everyone to attend. Look for individual notices throughout the year and refer to monthly classroom communications sent by your child’s teachers. And please check the notices posted on the Preschool Parents Information Board or communications through your child’s classroom.

Contact with Teachers

At both morning drop off and afternoon pick up you will see both of your child’s teachers.   We realize this is the best opportunity to ask how things are going or talk about the day.  We welcome those opportunities.  Please share news and events in your child’s life with his/her teacher.  We strongly suggest parents keep teachers updated about changes in development throughout the year (IE: move from training potty to potty seat at home, move from finger foods to use of spoon, etc) or other events likely to affect your child (IE: relatives visiting, travel, restless sleep, recovering from illness, etc).

If you’d like a more extended opportunity to discuss your child’s development in our program, please let us know.  Teachers can speak with you by phone, outside preschool hours.  Also, annual parent/teacher conferences are offered as an option to all families.  We set aside time each year (Feb-March) to arrange for pre-scheduled meetings.  Classroom teachers set their own schedules for these optional meetings.

Clothing

Please dress your child in play clothes in which he/she can feel free to get dirty as we regularly engage in wet and messy activities. Backless or slick-soled shoes are better left at home.  Closed shoes or sandals are fine.  All children will spend part of each day outside–it is a good idea to bring along a sweater or jacket on all but the hottest days. Also, please dress your child in clothes that are easy for her/him to manage.

Remember to label all clothing with your child’s name.

Each child will have a personal cubby space for her/his items. Please bring a change of clothes and underwear (diapers or pull-ups & wipes for younger children) for your child to keep in this cubby. All personal items should be marked with your child’s name.

Food

A nutritious snack is served each day, around mid-morning. Teachers may ask you to send in a small serving of fruit for a class-made fruit salad; others may ask you to sign up to bring group snacks, rotating on a weekly basis. Your child’s teachers will talk more about snack time on orientation night or through classroom communications.

Children should bring lunch with them each day.  We encourage healthy, nutritious lunches and plenty of water! Please label all containers and lunchboxes.

Younger children will receive support and assistance in their eating.  Please discuss your child’s individual needs with class teachers, so they may be aware of how to best support your child in her/his development.

Parents may be asked to provide a special snack (IE: home made muffins) to honor your child’s birthday celebration.  Please discuss this with your child’s teacher in advance.  Teachers will ask that you limit the birthday snack to one type of item—all the same.  No party favors or balloons, please.

**Due to the prevalence of peanut allergies, DO NOT bring birthday treats for your child’s class containing ANY peanuts, peanut products (peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oils, etc).  AVOIDANCE of bakery-made or pre-packaged baked items and certain mixes may be necessary**

What to Bring

Children should bring their lunch (including a drink) on a daily basis.  If lunch items require eating utensils, please provide for your child (IE: spoon for yogurt, fork for pasta).  Please label reusable lunch items. By the first day of the year send a seasonally-appropriate change of clothes in a zip-lock bag–all items labeled.

Children are encouraged to bring flowers, nature collections, and articles pertinent to the season or upon teacher’s request.  Check with your child’s teacher and monthly class communications about any special items requested.

Wish lists for each classroom will be posted and periodically updated.  Your child’s teachers may have specific requests.  Regular classroom supply items may be requested too for activities such as baking (flour, oil, jam, yeast, etc).  Classroom teachers will provide details regarding what needs exist in each classroom. **Toys and candy should not come to school.  Please leave these items at home**

What Your Child Will Bring Home

Around the beginning of each month, your child may come home with a class calendar or note.  This varies from class to class. Some teachers prefer to send out class emails or newsletters with monthly or seasonal details. Please take time to look over these communications to note any special events or dates to remember.  Also, you’ll find communications from teachers regarding seasonal themes in the classroom, requests for special items from home and more.   Occasionally, special notes or announcements may be sent home via your child’s lunchbox or be found in placed in his/her cubby.

Role of the Parent

We believe in a harmonious relationship between home life and our school community. When each is in sync with the other, the child’s whole development may flourish. Teachers revere creating a home-life within our school community. The cooperative relationship between school and home that teaches healthy, respectful and compassionate ways of relating and problem solving benefits the whole child.

Just as children engage in purposeful work, play and creative experiences at home with their families, the preschool environment encourages the young child to “live through learning”. Parents and teachers serve a child’s needs best when we provide consistent, nurturing, affirmative environments that echo one another. The plural school/home model helps to foster a particularly strong confidence in the child’s social and emotional development. This lays the groundwork for children to flourish in many other situations.

Therefore, teachers ask parents to join us in:

• Modeling affirmative language, voice and temperament
• Establishing clear, developmentally appropriate expectations
• Having a clear understanding of how to allow children’s capabilities
• Communicating regularly (daily morning/afternoon contact, participating in parent classroom meetings and mid-year parent & teacher conferences, keeping up-to-date on classroom happenings through class newsletters and emails)
• Honoring the rhythms of the classroom
• Remaining active in whole school community activities which help build strong connections between home and school (TCGP fall, winter and spring celebrations, participating in preschool community workdays, assisting teachers with supply needs or special classroom activities, chaperoning on class field trips, helping with fund-raising or occasional volunteer opportunities)

Whole School Community

Community and communication are two important words derived from the same root. In fact, they are so intimately related that one cannot exist without the other. Although our primary goal is to nurture and educate our children, a very important companion goal is the fostering of our school community and the support and exchange of positive ideals for living our lives. We believe that a community is a group of individuals who choose to work together to further common goals. Recognizing and providing opportunities for clear communication are central to creating a strong community.

• Preschool community workdays – families and staff work together to beautify and improve the preschool space and the play garden
• Preschool newsletter – a whole school communication resource, information sharing, articles of interest and updates on events taking place
• Preschool resource sharing – lending library for parents and teachers
  Preschool store – providing a means to purchase excellent supplies for the home environment from a selection of sources teachers use and recommend to our families
• Whole school events – families join staff for special celebrations, festivals and activities building connection and community (Fall Lantern Walk, Spring Festival, Winter Sing-A-Long, etc).
• Volunteer Opportunities are boundless for all members of our community

Green School Commitment

As good stewards of mother Earth, the TCGP community embraces and practices green school approaches to living.  Children and staff use personal cloth towels & napkins (laundered each week), natural soap for hand washing; also, we recycle plastic, paper and metal and work very hard to be as paperless with school communications as we can be; the school uses only natural, non toxic, environmentally responsible cleaning products and cloth rags for cleaning.  We ask that our families be as conscientious as possible too, by packing lunches in lunchboxes with reusable containers (as often as you are able).

A supply fee of $15 per child is collected at the start of each year to cover the cost of cloth towels, napkins, natural soap, classroom cleaning products, child art/craft aprons and “Kleenex” tissues.  TCGP buys these items in bulk, which in and of itself, reduces waste.  Also, families find this convenient so that purchasing these items for the classroom is not their responsibility.

Discipline & Limit Setting

TCGP’s approach to discipline and conflict resolution is grounded in a respect for children, the development of self-esteem and the building of problem-solving skills. Using affirming guidance and positive direction, we help children understand the limits of appropriate behavior in a group or classroom setting. Interventions are focused on helping children understand the consequences of their behavior, reminding them of acceptable alternatives (walk instead of run) and redirection. The goal is to help children build self-control and develop autonomy. As facilitators, we will guide children in recognizing each other’s needs and point of view and in coming up with acceptable, workable ideas to solve the problem. Another goal is to help children develop the skills to be successful social negotiators and to rely on non-violent means of resolving their conflicts. It is important to give children an opportunity to problem-solve on their own. By jumping in too soon with the solution, adults teach children to rely more on adult authority than their own resourcefulness in solving problems.

Preschool Calendar and Inclement Weather Closings

TCGP will operate generally following the traditional school year calendar.  Each year, we commence the preschool program on the first Tuesday following Labor Day and end the year a week before Memorial Day weekend.  Refer to the annual calendar for more details (attached).   The preschool follows the City of Atlanta Schools inclement weather closings.  Tune in to local television or radio stations for announcements.  Call 404.624.8591 with questions about inclement weather preschool closings.