South Howard Street South Williamsport, pa 17702 570-326-9171 ext 209

Messiah Lutheran Preschool


Parent Handbook

2016-17
324 South Howard Street

South Williamsport, PA 17702
(570-326-9171 ext 209




Messiah Lutheran Preschool

Parent Handbook

2016-17
Table of Contents
1 Enrollment, Tuition

2 Arrival and Departure, Communication

3 Emergency Cancellations, Parking

4 Clothing, Illness

6 Bringing Toys from Home, Snacks

7 Distribution of Materials, Snack Suggestions

8 Discipline Policy

9 Daily Schedule and Field Trips, Notes

The purpose of Messiah Lutheran Preschool is to encourage the social, educational and spiritual development of young children. Its main goals are to help children grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically in a caring climate of understanding.

Messiah Lutheran Preschool

324 South Howard Street

South Williamsport, PA 17702
[phone] ext. 209

[e-mail]

www.messiahsouth.org/messiah-preschool

www.facebook.com/MessiahLutheranPreschool

The purpose of the Messiah Lutheran Church Preschool is to encourage the educational and social development of young children. The primary goals are to help each child grow physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and intellectually in a climate of understanding. It is not the intention of the school to infringe upon the realm of regular public kindergarten, nor is it a pressured learning situation.

ENROLLMENT
The school aims for an enrollment of no more than 18 or 20 students per class. New students must be three years old by September 1 and toilet-trained. Students are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Requests for specific teachers will not be considered.
TUITION
Tuition for the five-day program is $180 per month. For the three-day program, it is $110 per month. The $25 registration fee is non-refundable unless we are unable to place your child. There is a one-time “special activity fee” of $40 to cover the costs of field trips, student t-shirts, and special visitors. Each monthly payment is due by the first Thursday of the month in order for your child to remain in school. No payment is made in June.
Tuition checks should be made payable to Messiah Lutheran Preschool, 324 S. Howard Street, South Williamsport, PA 17702. Please give payments to the school coordinator, who is located in the preschool office. You may also mail tuition payments to the church office.
If you have any questions regarding tuition, please contact the school’s coordinator. There will be no adjustments made for absence due to illness, extended out-of-town visits, early withdrawal, etc. Parents must notify the coordinator or teacher one week in advance if they are planning to withdraw their child from the school.
A limited amount of financial aid may be available. Contact the coordinator for an application before August 1.
Visitors of pre-school age will be admitted only with the approval of the teacher. A charge of $10 per session will be assessed for a child attending on a visitor basis. A

24-hour notice is required of those making requests to bring visitors.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE

Please bring your child to the door of his/her classroom each day. You may use the front or rear entrance to the building.

All sessions begin at 9 a.m. Children may be brought to the classroom between 8:50 – 9 a.m.
Parents must pick up their children at the classroom door. A bell indicating the close of the school day and the time for parents to enter the hallway will ring at 11:30 a.m. Parents are invited into the building to wait in either the front (Southern Avenue) or rear (Bald Eagle Alley) stairways. To avoid distracting the children, please do not enter the hallways until the bell rings or the teacher opens the classroom door.
If a parent is late picking up his/her child (11:35 a.m., or later), a late fee of $5 per fifteen minutes may be assessed.


COMMUNICATION
Newsletters will be sent home at the beginning of each month. They will inform you of field trips and special events. They will inform you of field trips and special events. They will also

describe the kinds of activities the children will be doing in school that month.

We want the preschool to be a comfortable, happy place where your child grows and learns. At times, you may have questions, concerns, or suggestions you want to discuss with your child’s teacher. Please do so by scheduling time with her before or after class.


EMERGENCY CANCELLATIONS

The preschool will follow the snow emergency decisions of the South Williamsport Area School District. If the district’s schools have any delay, we will not meet. If the district announces an early dismissal, we will dismiss at the regular time. If the district cancels, we are cancelled. Check your radio or TV for information. The first two snow days will not be made up. After that, we will use make-up days built into the calendar. You can sign up to receive delay and closing alerts via text message or email by visiting http://wnep.com/weather/school-closing-alerts-signup and selecting “S. Williamsport Area” in Lycoming County. We will also email you if we have your current address.

PARKING

Parking is available in the large church parking lot along Howard Street or in the half circle on Southern Avenue. If you park in the circle, please be courteous to others by promptly returning to your car so other parents can leave after getting their children. Use the large lot especially if you have made arrangements for a teacher conference or other activity. DO NOT park in the church parking lot in the Bald Eagle Avenue Alley. These parking spaces are strictly for church employees and handicapped citizens.

If someone other than a parent will pick up your child, please inform the teacher or call the church office.

CLOTHING
Because your child will often be working with art materials such as glue and paint, and because he/she will be playing outside, he/she should not wear good clothing to school. Smocks are available at school and will be worn when possible. You may send a smock from home. This, as well as all outer clothing such as sweaters, coats, and boots, should be clearly marked with your child’s name.
Clothing that is easy for children to put on and take off encourages independence and makes them feel good about themselves. It also greatly helps the teachers at dismissal time. Please work with your child at home by allowing him/her to perform this skill without your help.
It is imperative for all students to be appropriately dressed for outdoor play to keep them safe and warm. All students should have at least a winter coat during the colder months, and absolutely no flip flops may be worn during warmer months.
Please be sure your child has a backpack to carry things back and forth from school. It should be large enough to hold full-size sheets of paper. Do not send backpacks with wheels; they do not fit into our “cubbies.”

ILLNESS

We want to limit the spread of illness among the children to the greatest extent possible. Please help by following these recommendations:

1. Children must be toilet-trained prior to admission to school. An occasional accident may occur, but parents may be called if accidents become frequent. This may be the first time your child uses the toilet without a familiar adult close by. Gently speak with him/her about using toilet paper, flushing, and hand washing.
2. You should keep your child home if any of the following symptoms are present: sore throat, fever of 99.2 or higher, nausea or vomiting, skin rash or sores, inflamed or swollen eyes, diarrhea, coughing, or headache. Please inform us if your child contracts a communicable disease.
3. We expect that most medications can be given at home, before or after school hours. However, if your child needs to take medication of any kind during school hours, a Student Medication Form must be completed. All medication must be delivered in its original container to the preschool coordinator to be kept locked in the preschool office during hours. Medication will be administered by preschool staff only, and each administration will be documented appropriately in the Medication Administration Log.
4. If a student is found to have head lice, the coordinator must be notified immediately and the student may not attend Preschool until the student has been treated and is no longer contagious. The parent will be given a list of procedures that must be followed before the student may return to Preschool. After the procedures are completed, the parent may bring the student back to Preschool, and the coordinator will check the student’s head for active lice or unhatched nits (eggs). If none are found, the student may attend class; otherwise the student must return home with the parent for continued treatment. As soon as possible after the coordinator has been made aware of a lice case in the Preschool, all students’ heads will be checked by Preschool staff. If anything appearing to be lice or unhatched nits is found, the student will be removed from the classroom and the parent phoned immediately to take the student home. Student coats and hats will be followed for a minimum of two weeks. All parents will receive a written note the same day informing them of the possibility of lice, the action taken, and the results. Head checks will be repeated on the first day of each school week for a minimum of 3 weeks.

BRINGING TOYS FROM HOME

We encourage children to bring from home items that stimulate learning – insects, leaves, seeds, shells, etc. Please speak with the teacher if you would like to bring a pet.

Your child may want to bring toys from home. Please discourage this except for scheduled show-and-tell days. The children are taught to share the preschool toys and face a dilemma when a toy is brought from home; they want to share because we emphasize that it is good to share, but it’s difficult to let a much-loved toy become community property for the session. In addition, some toys cannot withstand use by the group. Do not send war or weapon-like toys; they encourage aggressive play at preschool.

SNACKS
You, as parents, will share in the school program by contributing a snack and drink for the class according to a schedule the teacher will send home with your child. The school provides napkins and cups.

The drink should be cold when brought to the school. A gallon of milk or fruit drink (apple juice or natural juice blends rather than artificially sweetened drinks) will be sufficient.

A snack that is nutritious and easy for the child to handle is preferred. Don’t be afraid to try something different. Children may try new foods when they see their friends enjoying them. A list of snack suggestions follows this section. Check your child’s class list for an exact number of children to be served.
When it is your child’s snack day, you may wish to prepare the snack at school within the class. Fresh fruit salad, popcorn, or English muffin pizzas are fun. Cooking facilities are available. If you plan to do this, please let the teacher know several days in advance so she can plan enough time.
If your child’s birthday occurs during the school year, you will be assigned a snack day as close as possible to his/her birthday. You may want to be here or provide a special snack such as ice cream or cookies. Please be conscientious by providing snacks that are easy to serve and clean up.
DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS
Any materials such as party invitations, valentines, cards (including thank-you cards), etc. are not to be distributed at school unless they are distributed to the entire class. All materials must be approved with your child’s teacher prior to distribution. This policy helps to avoid hurt feelings and confusion among classmates. The preschool cannot give out any student information (names, addresses, etc.), but if you provide the materials in blank envelopes, your child's teacher will be happy to distribute them to all students.

SNACK SUGGESTIONS
Jelly sandwiches, cut in quarters or halves

Cheese chunks

Cheese and crackers

Graham crackers with jam

Muffins

Cut up or peeled oranges

Bananas

Apples (washed and cut)

Seedless grapes (washed)

Celery sticks (washed and cut, plain or with cream cheese)

Carrot sticks (washed and cut)

Raisins

Cereal mixture or granola

Oatmeal or vanilla cookies

Pretzels

Rice Krispies bars

Important Note: Due to severe allergies, please do not bring any snack containing any type of nut or peanut butter.

DISCIPLINE POLICY
The primary type of discipline at our school is self-discipline. Discipline is defined as communicating limits on behavior to help a child develop positive social interaction, concepts of acceptable behavior, understanding of limits, built-in controls of behavior, and healthy self-image appropriate to the child’s age. In reaching this goal, our teachers will use positive reinforcement techniques.
In the event the child needs more guidance, our teachers use the “time-out” method as a tool for discipline. If “time-outs” do not achieve the goal of effective self-discipline, the following steps may be taken:

1. 
   A teacher/parent consultation is arranged to make the parents aware of the classroom situations and to try to find alternative methods that may work in the classroom and at home.
   
2. 
   The preschool coordinator is contacted to help with further discipline and may remove the child from the classroom temporarily.
   
3. 
   At the teacher’s request, a conference will be arranged for the parents, teacher, and Pastor. The Pastor may decide to refer the child to another children’s program that may better suit his/her needs.* If the child continues to be disruptive, the parents will be asked to remove the child each day he/she exhibits the same behavior.
   
4. 
   The child is referred to the Preschool Committee for further review of the situation and a final decision on whether the child should remain in the school.
   

*If a child exhibits violent behavior directed toward a person or property, our discipline policy will begin at step 3. The child will not be permitted to return to the classroom until a conference is held.
DAILY SCHEDULE AND FIELD TRIPS
The daily schedule will include various instructional activities, as well as songs, stories, and arts and crafts. The coordinator presents Bible stories on a bi-weekly basis, and the pastor assists with major religious holidays. Field trips are scheduled approximately once a month, and special activities are held on the major holidays.
Without exception, all students must ride with school transportation to and from all field trips. This eliminates confusion which could lead to compromises in our students’ safety.
NOTES
Please report immediately any changes in address, phone number, or emergency information to the preschool coordinator or to the church office.
If monthly newsletters or additional information is needed by more than one parent, please make arrangements with your child’s teacher.