– We are proud to serve a home cooked, balanced and nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks to every child in our center. We do not insist a child eat all of their food, however, we do encourage them to at least try everything that is served.

– The parents are responsible for providing enough healthy snacks and beverages for the class twice a month. You can opt to bring both snacks at the beginning of the month or you can space them out if they are perishable. Snacks

– Please try to send a snack that is non-sweet and that the children can eat independently. Some examples are: bananas, raisins, carrot sticks, cheese and
crackers and granola bars. Please do not send peanuts or tree nuts, popcorn, whole grapes, or other snacks that might cause choking. When providing juice for the classrooms please purchase a juice that is low in sugar and is fruit juice or flavored water. We discourage beverages like Kool-aid.

– We check every child for soiled diapers on an hourly basis. If the diaper is soiled, the child will be changed in the designated changing area.

– Diapers and wipes should be supplied by parents, with the package labeled with their child’s name. If the child requires diaper cream due to a rash you need to
provide it.

– While the child is learning to potty train we ask that you still provide pull ups for during nap time if needed.

– Children entering the 3’s, 4’s or Pre-K programs should be potty trained. We understand that children do have accidents. However, it becomes problematic
when older children consistently have accidents since our classrooms are not equipped for diaper changing.

Children cannot become self-disciplined unless adults model for and teach them right from wrong. At ECDC, children will be taught the expectations for positive behavior and encouraged to live and act accordingly. Disruptive Behavior which distracts from the full
benefit of the program will result in dismissal from the school. The following behaviors are, but not limited to, considered disruptive:

-Requiring constant attention for a negative behavior from the staff; not cooperating with center expectations.

-Inflicting physical or emotional harm on other children, adults or self. To include, hitting, spitting, kicking, etc.

-Child’s constant use of foul language or aggressive behavior.

-Disrespecting people and materials provided in the program.

-Verbally threatening other students and/or staff

-Using verbal or physical activity that diverts attention away from the group of
children

A very important part of the preschool experience is helping children learn positive and appropriate social skills. The teachers will focus on the positive behaviors of the children and reinforce those behaviors as often as possible.

Our discipline policy will consist of the following strategies:

-Encouraging children to “use their words” instead of reacting with negative behaviors.

-Facilitating children in their attempts to settle their own disputes.

-Redirecting behavior when this seems potentially effective.

-Giving time in the “Safe Place” to allow for self-regulation through the use of relaxation techniques, this is a center where children can go to change their inner state from upset to composed in order to optimize learning.

-Counseling children individually about their behaviors using positive words.

-Making parents aware of disciplinary concerns.

If the behaviors persist to a state considered chronic or extreme, a conference with the family to find the best solution for the student may be needed. It may be necessary for the child to be sent home for a time (to be determined) or removed from the preschool program altogether. Parents should note that information about other children cannot be disclosed in your child’s accident/incident reports. This is in keeping with our confidentiality practice. Corporal punishment is not used at ECDC. This includes
negative verbal words, physical contact, restraining a child etc. 

If the negative behavior continues, we will contact you for a meeting but the issue will not be discussed in front of your child or other children. In those instances when a behavior is very disruptive or harmful to the child or other children, the Director will remove that
child from the situation and contact you immediately. The child could be asked to go home for a “cool-down” day. If intervention can be made and will warrant success, the child can remain enrolled.

Our Board of Directors will review all incident papers on a monthly basis. If they notice there is a pattern with a certain child, this could cause dismal or a positive intervention.

Biting and hitting are common problems and are developmentally appropriate for children in the infant through 2 years old. Children in these classrooms should expect your child may be bit, or will bite another child. Staff understands this is an upsetting occurrence when you are on both sides of the situation. Our staff works diligently to identify these issues and redirect the child before they happen, but that is not always the case.

Because we need to protect all of the children, we need a policy in place to deal with this situation.

-If a child bites or hits another child, we will notify each set of parents.

-If a child bites or hits on a continuous basis, we will monitor the behavior to attempt to figure out why it is happening and redirect that child when we see an occurrence.

-If your child bites and breaks the skin of another child 3 times within 1 week or more than once within a day, they will be required to have a cool down day.

-After they return, they will have to go two weeks without another occurrence. After they pass the two weeks, their rotation will start over.

Again, this is a normal behavior and is not a reflection on bad parenting but it does need to be dealt with accordingly. We will not dismiss a child for biting but if the situation cannot be controlled, the Director has the right to dismiss the child from our program.