1. PARKING SAFETY and COURTESY - The Speed Limit in the Driveway is 10 Miles Per Hour! Children are fast, so you can’t be!
Our driveway and parking areas are very busy with both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. It is essential that everyone cooperate in keeping our children safe and allowing everyone a reasonable opportunity to park. Please be patient. Remember, your child is learning the important skills of courtesy and positive relationships from you.
Be particularly careful as you enter the driveway. Traffic entering while making a left from the road has a tendency to speed up to cross the left lane and, thus, enters much too fast for safety. Wait until you can make your turn slowly.
Pull into a lined parking space. Please don’t block another car, or park in the driveway area. This creates a particularly dangerous situation for pedestrian traffic, especially children. If a spot is not available, wait the 2-3 minutes it usually takes for one to open up.
During rush hour times, please limit the amount of time spent, in the building/playground for drop-off and pick-up to 10 minutes. We’re happy for you to spend time with your child at the School, but at rush hour it creates a parking problem for everyone.
2. DOOR SECURITY
· In order to protect everyone from unauthorized access, all doors into the facility are locked from the outside at all times. Doors should never be blocked open.
· Parents of children currently enrolled in the School have door access chips and may enter the School at any time. If parents or Staff are not careful, it is possible for strangers to enter the building, such as when someone holds a door for someone else to enter.
· The door must not be held open to allow a person access to the building, unless you are absolutely certain that you know them. If you do not know them, they must be instructed to leave, or be escorted to the Office. A Staff person should be summoned for help, if necessary.
· In the event of an admission of an individual, who subsequently demonstrates threatening behavior, Staff or Parents should use the intercom to all rooms (#330 on the telephone) to notify another adult to call the police and all caregivers to avoid the area, where the threatening individual is located.
The door security system operates with individually programmed data chips which you can carry on your key ring. To help ensure that they are returned when a family no longer requires entrance to the School at the end of their child’s enrollment, a $10.00 security deposit is required for each chip issued. The deposit will be refunded when the chip is returned.
For your child’s safety please help us to implement the following:
- Since each data chip has been; coded specifically for a- particular ‘family, you must immediately report a loss of any chip to the School Office. The system will be updated to eliminate the coded chip from the program and you will be issued another chip.
- When you are opening a door, do not allow access to anyone else at that time. The safety of the children is paramount and much more important than being courteous and allowing someone else to enter with you. We urge everyone td cooperate with this procedure. It only takes seconds to use your own chip for entry.
- Persons without a chip will be required to enter by going to the Office and ringing the doorbell. Appropriate signs are posted at each door to explain this= clearly to all visitors.
- Remember to notify the School if anyone other than the usual Pick-up person will be coming to the School to escort your child home..
- Gates to School playgrounds are locked. For the Preschool and Kindergarten buildings, entrance, to the playground is only possible from the inside of the two adjacent buildings. When picking up your child, you must enter the playground and notify the Teacher of your presence. Children must never be lifted over the outside fence.
3. SIGN-IN/SIGN-OUT PROCEDURE
Adults, who bring the child to, or remove the child from the School, must sign children in and out on the Sign-in/Out Forms in each classroom.
4. SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN AT DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP
Children often get confused about “who is in charge”, when a Family member and Teacher are together. It is important that we defer to your authority, when you are with your child at the School. We will assume that any behavioral reminders will come from you. If you have picked-up your child, we will assume they are with you. Help them learn to respect School rules, such as always staying with an adult and not wandering, or respecting safety and property by not climbing on tables, etc. Consistency in adult expectations, while at School, will be beneficial to your child’s development. To prevent disruptions and unsafe situations, siblings (both younger and older), also need your supervision (and to remain with you) when in a classroom at these times.
5. RELEASING YOUR CHILD TO AN APPROVED ESCORT
· Children may be released only to persons for whom the parent has given written permission for Pick-up on the Emergency Contact/Parental Consent Form. We require the person’s name and address as it appears on their picture ID and all such person’s will be required to state your Four Digit Security Code. If an emergency arises, that requires pick-up by someone other than those persons for whom you have given us written permission, a Director must be contacted for special procedures.
· If a Staff person is not completely familiar with a pick-up person they will:
o require that person to show formal identification such as a driver’s license
o compare the name and address on their driver’s license with that provided by the parent on the appropriate form,
o ask for the child’s security code (supplied by the parent on the Tuition Agreement).
· If any question arises, a Director will be contacted immediately.
Please be sure your approved escorts are familiar with all of our safety and security procedures including those for the parking area.
6. FIELD TRIPS
· Throughout the year, children four (4) years old and older will have the opportunity to participate in a number of field trips. Generally, field trips are scheduled about once per month. An Assistant Director plans the trips with feedback and suggestions from parents and other Staff. Please share your ideas with us.
· Safety-There are a number of considerations and safety precautions that are used to safeguard the children on trips, including:
o Use of commercially-available school buses and licensed drivers
o Sufficient Family chaperones. We will only go if we feel that we have enough adults. We hope that you or a family member will be able to join us.
o Cell phones to call for help, whenever necessary while on the trip,
o First-aid supplies and Emergency Contact information on the trip, and
o A known, reliable school bus company that will provide alternate transportation, if necessary (e.g. if there is a problem with the vehicles during the trip).
7. USE OF CHILD SAFETY SEATS
The American Academy of Pediatrics and NAEYC our accrediting body, require that we must remind you that: for your child’s safety, PA State law requires age-appropriate, and size-appropriate seat restraints always be used when transporting children. Information on child age/weight appropriate seats/restraints is available in the School office.
8. EMERGENCY AND EVACUATION PLANS
Recent history, including both the September 11th tragedy and Hurricane Katrina, dictates that we think about and prepare for events that we hope will never happen.
Because of our concern for the safety and welfare of children attending our School, we review and update our School Emergency plan regularly as new information becomes available.
This is to inform you of some of our emergency procedures. Our Emergency Plan provides for response to all types of emergencies. Depending on the circumstance of the emergency, we will use one of the following protective actions:
o Immediate Evacuation — Students will be evacuated to a safe area on the grounds of the facility in the event of a fire, etc.
o In -Place Sheltering — Sudden occurrences, (e.g.weather- or hazardous-materials-related), may dictate that taking cover inside the building is the best immediate response.
o Evacuation — Total evacuation of the facility may become necessary if there is a danger in the area. In this case, children will be taken to either St. Asaph’s Church across the street, or to an alternate location, as dictated by our county Emergency Management Agency.
o Modified Operation — May include cancellation, postponement or rescheduling of normal activities. These actions are normally taken in case of a winter storm, building problems (such as utility disruptions) or health crises.
The School will attempt to contact parents via our normal classroom “telephone-tree” procedures, as well as via email, in the event of any emergency. We ask that you not call us unless absolutely necessary during the emergency. This will keep the main telephone line free to make emergency calls and relay information.
Every family has completed an Emergency Contact Form designating persons to pick up their child. Please remember to review this document regularly and update it with any changes regarding contact information for either yourselves or your alternate emergency contacts. Please ensure that only those persons you list on the Form attempt to pick up your child, and please ensure that someone is always available to pick up your children within 20 minutes in case of emergency. We should always be able to contact a “live” person in an emergency (rather than voicemail), so please be sure to include all relevant cell numbers, etc.
You are urged not to attempt to make different arrangements during an emergency (e.g. designate a new, alternate pick-up person via telephone). This will only create additional confusion and divert Staff from their assigned emergency duties.
