Tuition & Handbook

ITSY BITSY NURSERY SCHOOL

HANDBOOK

(707)302-8201

www.itsybitsynurseryschool.com

Provider: MadelineGomez

Facility # 283010525

HOURS: Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm

Part time(1-2 days/week)*, under 2 years old rate: $125/day

Part time(1-2 days/week)* over 2 years old rate: $90/day

Full time (3+ days/week) under 2 years old $1495/month

Full time (3+ days/week) over 2 years old $1095/month

*assigned day to be same days of the week each week

ENROLLMENT FEE: a non-refundable Enrollment Fee is due upon enrollment; the fee is $150.00.

TUITION DEPOSIT: To reserve an upcoming space for your child, a deposit of the last months tuition and the enrollment fee must be paid by all families.

For CRC Subsidy plans the last months of co-pay is the deposit. For part time rate the deposit is equivalent to the last four weeks of tuition. Drop in space is secured once a tuition payment is made for the specific day(s).Drop in with CRC subsidy plan is secured with co-pay payment made for specific day(s).

If you decide not to enroll your child after the Enrollment Fee has been paid and you give me 30 days’ notice the deposit of tuition will be refunded. The Enrollment Fee is non-refundable.

SECURING A SPOT: 1. Contact us and setup a time to visit and tour our in-home daycare. Once I have informed you of an opening, and you have already had a visit, it is your responsibility to secure that opening with a Tuition Deposit of the last months tuition. I will continue to look for eligible families until a deposit has been made. A deposit and enrollment fee is the ONLY way to secure a space for your child at Itsy Bitsy Nursery School.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE: ALL FEES SHALL BE PAID IN ADVANCE AND ARE DUE ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH. Payments are made for the whole month. If the month includes daycare holidays, you are still required to pay (refer to Daycare Holidays, below). If your family is part of the CRC’s subsidy program, you will be responsible for paying what the agency cannot pay including holiday and vacation rates.

If your child will be starting before the first of the month your tuition will be prorated for that month and due before your child’s first day in care.

PAYMENT METHOD: Payment shall be accepted in the care connect app, Zelle, check or cash. There will be a $30.00 service charge, beyond the check amount for any returned checks. Cash will be requested in lieu of checks, once a check is returned.

REFUNDS: There are no refunds or adjusted for attendance time (minutes, hours, days) missed by an attending child due to Illness, vacation, natural disaster, pandemic or other. The fees are based on the days you have agreed to send your child, NOT on your child’s actual attendance – payment guarantees that a spot has been reserved for your child.

PROVIDER SICK DAYS: On the very rare days that the Daycare Provider is sick and needs to take a sick day, a refund will not be provided for the daycare closure.

TERMINATION OF CONTRACT: The parent/guardian may terminate this agreement by submitting a written notice 30 calendar days prior to the last day of attendance. If the child does not attend the final 30 days, the parent/guardian is still responsible for paying for the 30-day period. In addition, Itsy Bitsy Nursery School reserves the right to terminate enrollment at any time if it is considered in the best interest of the child, attending children, parent/guardian or Child Provider. Note: payment for 30 days would not apply if Itsy Bitsy Nursery School were to terminate the contract.

CHILD PICK-UP POLICY: Children are required to be picked up promptly at the end of the daycare day (5:00pm). Children who are picked up at 5:00pm or later will be assessed a $1 fee per minute of extended care. You will have no more than 30 minutes after 5:00pm to pick up your child. Continued late pick-ups will result in termination of the contract. Note: if you have a question regarding your child/childcare, please arrive in advance of closing(5:00pm), so that your question may be addressed. Otherwise defer questions to the following day or give me a call/text. Please always feel free to call/text me when you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s care.

LATE-START DROP OFF: Please clear later or earlier than usual start with staff. AS an IN-HOME daycare I operate out of my home, before or after business hours the campus is a home and will be treated as such, please do not arrive before 7:30AM, I will not unlock the door until Business hours have started. If the child is starting school earlier/later than usual, please bring the child fed and ready to join in on the daycare schedule as the meals and routines may be over. Changing drop-off and pickup times without warning staff is NOT permitted as a regular occurrence and will result in termination of contract.

REST/NAP-TIME PICK UP/DROP OFF POLICY: Nap time is approximately 12:30-3pm. Please do not drop off or pick up your children during nap time, as it is very disruptive to the other children’s sleep rhythm. If you must take your child to an afternoon appointment, please pick them up by 12:00pm noon and bring them back after 3:00pm. We foster a culture where sleep is healthy, cozy and peaceful. We read social stories about how sleep makes us feel good and healthy.

AUTHORIZATION: Your child may be taken from daycare only by an authorized parent/guardian listed on the Emergency Form unless you inform me of other arrangements. A phone call to inform is sufficient. Picture ID will be requested for all persons picking up for whom I have not met.

HOLIDAYS: Itsy Bitsy Nursery School will be closed on all Federal Holidays. If your scheduled day falls on a holiday, you are responsible for payment of services that day.

OBSERVED FEDERAL HOLIDAYS:

*If the holiday falls on a Saturday the Friday before will be treated as the holiday, if the holiday falls on a Sunday the Monday will be treated as the holiday.

New Year’s Day (January)

Martin Luther King Day (January)

President’s Day (February)

Memorial Day (May)

Independence Day (July)

Labor Day (September)

Veteran’s Day (November)

Thanksgiving (November)

Day After Thanksgiving (November)

Christmas Eve (December)

Christmas Day (December)

CLOSURES: You will be notified as soon as possible as to the exact weeks of closure. Itsy Bitsy Nursery School may take up to two weeks of closure in addition to the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. School will be closed the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; you are responsible for payment those weeks. Please plan alternative care or vacations to align with these weeks.

EXCLUSION DUE TO ILLNESS: If your child becomes ill while at daycare, I will separate them from the rest of the group and contact you to pick up your child at once. If your child displays any of the conditions outlined in the attached form (EXCLUSION OF CHILD DUE TO ILLNESS), you will be asked to take your child home.

IMMUNIZATION: Children must be fully immunized according to standard vaccine schedule by age before they begin attendance at Itsy Bitsy Nursery School, please send up to date vaccine documentation as your child receives subsequent vaccines to add to their file. UP TO DATE IMMUNIZATION is your child’s “ticket” to attend and is heavily mandated by the state.

CHANGE OF CLOTHES: Please bring 2 changes of seasonally appropriate clothes for your child in a bag marked with their names to be kept at daycare and used as needed. REMEMBER, if your child uses their change of clothes on a given day, those clothes will need to be replace the following daycare day.

PROGRAM:

I am excited to have your child as a part of Itsy Bitsy Nursery School. We believe children deserve respect in a loving and nurturing environment. Our Main goal is to provide a safe, happy and structured environment that encourages positive self-esteem through age-appropriate activities. We consider our daycare as a steppingstone into a child’s future schooling experience.

Itsy Bitsy Nursery School PROGRAM ACTVITIES:

Art
Gardening
Culinary arts
Manipulatives
Storytime
Outside activity
Circle Time (songs, stories, and a focused theme)
Walks
Field trips by foot to parks and cafes

Please note: While we enjoy doing these activities with the children, doing extra activities such as art, field trips, and circle time, depends on the age level and interest level of the Children on a particular day.

MEALS: Breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack are provided. Meals are not posted ahead of time but are balanced and nutritious.

REST/NAP-TIME: Rest/Nap time for children over the age of one will be from 12:30pm/1pm to approximately 2:30pm/3:00pm. Each child will be provided a mat/travel crib (age and development determined). All the children are asked to rest on mat/travel crib. Please do not bring stuffed animals, including stuffed animals attached to pacifiers, as they could pose a choking hazard and are not allowed by licensing. Sleep sacks are not allowed by licensing (footie pajamas one size bigger for over the clothes or sleep sacks with leg and arm sleeves are a good replacement)

Children under the age of 12 months do not have scheduled nap times.

Children who have outgrown naps are encouraged to lay down with everyone at the beginning of nap, then leave the room when the napping children are settled and sleeping, at the same time as the teacher to guarantee consistent supervision.

DISCIPLINE: Itsy Bitsy Nursery School uses positive discipline towards children. We encourage clear communication and patience. We will talk with them and try to redirect them to another activity. If a child is having a hard time, two options are given, 1. Waiting, or 2. playing with a different toy until an occupied toy is available. If on rare occasions one toy is extremely popular, we set a timer and when the timer goes off it is the other child’s turn.

TV TIME: Some days, the children watch about 20 minutes of age-appropriate show which allows me to change diapers and get ready for the next activity.

FIELDTRIPS: We walk to enrichment activities, and to drop off/pick up children from school. Please refer to the FIELD TRIP form for additional information

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

CHOKING HAZARD: Please do not let your child bring toys or items from home to childcare. It could pose as a choking hazard to small children. Especially if it says ‘not intended for children under three” do not bring it. CHECK POCKETS! If something does make its way to daycare, we will put it out of reach for the day.

TRANSPORTING FOOD: Please send meals and snacks in baggies or containers and refrain dropping child off with food in their hands, it forms a choking risk and creates a mess.

DIAPERS/WIPES/ETC: Parents need to provide diapers, special wipes, diaper cream, and sunscreen. We will let you know when we are running low.

SHOW UP READY TO PARTICIPATE: Please dress your child in appropriate daycare clothes. Fancy dress and special outfits are not appropriate for daycare; children should be dressed and ready to participate in the daycare activities. Items that are too nice to get stained or dirty should not be worn to daycare. If a child is brought to school in pajamas, it is assumed that pajamas are their attire for the day, daycare is not responsible for daily dressing of the children in the morning.

SEASONAL CLOTHING: Please dress your child in seasonally appropriate clothing and pack additional seasonal items in accordance with the weather. We like to play outside in the rain or sunshine.

Warm jackets, long pants and sleeves, rain jacket and rainboots in winter
Sun hat, swimsuits, sandals, and short sleeves and pants in summer
Dress child in layers in fall and spring
Remember to update their change of clothes to match the season.

DAYCARE MASCOT:

Murphy the dog, a lovable ball of fluff, who keeps a watchful eye out the front window and win the title of top Velcro dog; he keeps us company all day long.

EXCLUSION OF CHILD DUE TO ILLNESS

When families send sick children to school illness spreads, so consider how you feel about exposing and having your child exposed to illness and have appropriate secondary care available in advance of the illness. However, a child is too sick to attend if they exhibit the following:

Fever (100 degrees or greater)- The child must be fever free for 24hrs before returning to daycare.
Sore throat
Rash
Vomiting-the child must be free of vomiting for 24hrs before returning to daycare.
Diarrhea- runny, watery, or bloody stools. The child must have normal stools for 24hrs before returning to daycare.
Earache
Looks or acts sick
Body rash with fever
Wheezing
Sore throat with fever, swollen glands, or mouth sores with drooling
Eye discharge- thick mucus or pus draining from eyes or pink eye. Children may return to daycare 48hrs after treatment has begun and they are no longer contagious.
Head lice nits(eggs)- the child must ne nit and lice free before returning to daycare.
Severe cough-child gets red or blue in the face, gags, or makes a high-pitch whooping sound during or after coughing.
Contagious infection such as possible bacterial pneumonia, strep throat, chicken pox, conjunctivitis/pink eye, hand-foot-mouth, measles, covid-19, or any other that is diagnosed by a health care provider. The child may return after being treated by a doctor and is no longer contagious.
MOST IMPORTANTLY if child does not feel well enough to participate comfortably in the daycare daily activities.

We will screen the children daily to determine if the children are well or should be taken home. I will call you to pick up your child if they exhibit any of the illnesses listed above. Thank you for your cooperation.

POTTY TRAINING

I will be a willing participant when your child is ready to be potty trained. Therefore, we have a few requirements that I have experienced to be positive for your child and child providers.

I am asking that we start potty training between the ages of 2-2 ½ as they will become too big for my changing table. I would appreciate that they are fully potty trained by the age of 2 ½. Please try to let me know in advance of when you plan to begin. That way I can begin introducing them to the bathroom when the other children are in there, just to let them see what goes on. Also, I simply need to get “geared” up for it.

When you decide it’s the right time, please plan to dedicate as much time as possible practicing at home, before coming to daycare. Try to devote at least a long weekend to the training and possibly choose to do it in the week I am closed between Christmas and New Years, or the two other vacation weeks that the daycare is closed.

Please make sure that your child is dressed in clothing that they will be able to (for the most part) pull down themselves. Of course, I will give them all the help they need.

I believe that once you make the commitment to begin potty training your child, they should be diaper free (except for nap time). It’s normal for your child to have accidents at first. When addressing accidents, just redirect them to the potty, there’s no shame, it’s a learning process. With that said, please bring several changes of clothes, especially in the beginning.

I personally do not believe in “pull-ups”. They help the parents in the very beginning when you are taking the child to the bathroom often. But they act exactly like a diaper by taking the wet feeling away from the skin. Try to stick to pull up and diaper free. Accidents are normal at first and it helps when the child can feel the wetness.

Also, let’s not begin potty training the same week that I have a new student. I will probably be spending a fair amount of time with your child in the bathroom and that may be hard on a new little person. So please let me know in advance of when you plan on bringing your child diaper free. I want the whole experience to be positive for your child.

ITEMS TO SEND TO SCHOOL

Backpack (labeled with name)
Two or more changes of clothes ideally in individual bags (labeled with name)
Water bottle (labeled with name)
Fleece footed sleeper to layer over clothes or sleep sack with arm and leg sleeves(optional)
Child should attend school seasonally appropriate clothing or include the items in their locker (sun hat, jacket, rain boots etc.) (labeled with name)
Sunscreen (labeled with name)
Diapers (~ 3-4 per day of care)
Wipes (labeled with name)
diaper cream (labeled with name)

BY THE FIRST DAY : Please submit your child’s current vaccine record + enrollment fee + deposit of last month’s tuition + Tuition for the first month of care+Licensing forms: LIC9227, LIC9150,LIC700, LIC995A,LIC627. Zelle or check is preferred.

ENROLLMENT CONTRACT

THE FOLLOWING FORMS WILL BE KEPT IN YOUR CHILDS FILE AT DAYCARE

I would like to enroll my child______________________________________________________,

Born (mm/dd/yyyy) ___________________________________________. I have read this ENROLLMENT CONTRACT and agree to the rules that are outlined. I have initialed the Provider Agreements and Madeline Gomez has answered questions I had about it. I agree to pay the rate we agree upon before the start of care. I agree that my child will be signed up for daycare as outlined in the ENROLLMENT FEE, TUITION DEPOSIT, and PAYMENT SCHEDULE sections above.

Regular Set Hours and Days Child will attend: M T W TH F

START DATE:__________________________________ THROUGH _______________________________

_____________AM drop off through _____________PM pick up

Parent/guardians are responsible for payment of the days your child misses (this applies equally to subsidy and private pay families), so please list dates accurately.

Variations in schedule (i.e.: early start on Fridays or expected absences):____________________________________________________________________________

Print and Signature of Parent(s)/ Guardian(s):

___________________________________________________________(print)

___________________________________________________________ (sign)

Date:_______________________

___________________________________________________________(print)

___________________________________________________________ (sign)

Date:_______________________

Email Address(es):___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Signature of Daycare Provider:

____________________________________________________________(sign) Date:________________

ITST BITSY NURSERY SCHOOL PARENT- PROVIDER AGREEMENTS:

All fees shall be paid in advance on the first of the month. ____________(Initial)
There are no refunds for missed days because of vacation, illness, or other. Fees are based on the weeks you have agreed to have your child attend, not their actual attendance. Payment guarantees a space is reserved for your child._______________(Initial)
I allow my child’s photo to be taken at daycare or daycare events with the possibility that the person taking the photo might posted or shared with other parents, social media or other websites____________(initial)
Please pick up your child by 4:55pm so they have time to gather their things and say goodbye. Children Picked up after 5:00pm will be assessed a $1.00 late fee for every minute over 5:00pm. A late fee will be added to the next month’s bill. Continued late pick-ups will result in termination of the contract agreement. ________________(Initial)
If your scheduled week includes a federal holiday, in which daycare is closed, you are still responsible for payment that day. __________________(Initial)
Do not let your child bring small toys or items to daycare. It could become a choking hazard. ___________________ (Initial)
Please do not pick up your child during nap time, 12:30pm-2:30pm. _____________(Initial)
Please bring your child dressed in appropriate daycare attire. ____________(Initial)
Please let me know in advance when you decide that it is the right time to potty train your child. Try to devote several days/a week to potty training before starting to potty train at daycare. ___________________(Initial)
I have read and agree to the potty-training requirements. __________(Initial)
My child may participate in field trips to nearby parks, cafes and nature center. _____________(Initial)

CONSENT AND LIABILITY WAIVER

Participant/Child’s Name:___________________________________ Birth Date: ____________

Parent(s)/Guardian(s) Name(s):____________________________________________________________________________

Home Address:_______________________________________________________________________

Home Phone:_________________________________ Work Phone:_____________________________

Cell Phone:___________________________________

Email:________________________________________________________________________________

I, (parent/guardian)__________________________________________, grant permission for my child (child’s name)__________________________________, to participate in walking to enrichment activities, school pick-up or drop off during business hours. This activity will take place under the guidance and direction of employees and volunteers of Itsy Bitsy Nursery School.

As parent/guardian, I remain responsible for any personal actions taken by the above-named minor participant.

I agree on the behalf of myself, my child named herein, successors and assigns to hold harmless and defend the organizer, its officers, directors and agents, and any other representatives associated with the event, from any and all actions, claims, demands, damages, costs, expenses, and all consequential damage arising from or in connection with my child attending the event or in connection with any illness injury or cost of medical treatment in connection therewith, and I agree to compensate the organizer, its officers, directors and agents or representatives associated with the event for any reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses arising therewith.

Signature:_____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

ROUTINES AND PREFERENCES:

Key Vocabulary and gestures:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nap time routine at home:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Food preferences(bottle feeding times and amounts in ounces per bottle):__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Potty info. & Skin sensitivity(if potty trained do they need reminders):__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Favorite soothing techniques(favorite positions to be held, favorite music, runs warm/cold...) we can accommodate within reason: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________