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Little Feathers Preschool

The Little Feathers Preschool is open to the public. Priority is given to enrolled Tribal Members. Children 2 years of age may be in diapers, those 3 and older must be fully potty trained.

Parents must complete a registration packet at the center. All forms must be filled out for each child and returned before beginning the program. Enrollment in the program is offered on a space available basis as determined by the teaching ratio. Upon registration, a meeting between the parents and staff may be arranged to tour the facility, discuss program and policy standards, and share information about the enrolled student.

Before active participation, each child must have on file: signed parental consent, health history with any special medical or dietary requirements listed, current immunization, tuberculin, birth certificate, and a signed receipt of Personal and Parental Rights Statement in the Parent Handbook.

The curriculum used in the Little Feathers Preschool is Houghton Mifflin. This curriculum is a hands-on program that is aligned with key preschool learning goals. It provides the children with the skills they need to succeed in school.

Operation

The Little Feathers Preschool Program is year round.

Hours

Hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Part-time students are picked up before 1:00 p.m.
Full-time students are picked up any time before 5:00 p.m.

Holidays and Observances

Little Feathers Preschool follows the tribe’s work calendar for holidays and observances:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Presidents’ Day
  • Independence Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Graduation Day
  • Labor Day
  • American Indian Day (3rd Friday in September)
  • Veteran’s Day
  • Thanksgiving & Day After
  • Christmas & Day After

Tuition is due on the first (1st) of each month

• A *$200.00 payment is due for part-time and a *$400 payment for full-time students who are potty trained

• A *$250.00 payment is due for part-time and a *$500 payment for full-time students who are not potty trained

• Payment received after the 5th of the month will incur a *$10.00 late charge and your child will NOT be able to attend Little Feathers until paid in full.

• Fees are based on enrollment and not attendance. To maintain enrollment in the school, monthly fees must be paid. If your child is not attending due to illness or vacation, etc., payment is still due on the 1st of the month to ensure your child’s position in the classroom.

Acceptable forms of payment are: cash, check, money order and Per Capita deduction. A fee of *$25.00 will be assessed for any check returned. If more than two checks are returned, another form of payment will be required. The preschool reserves the right to terminate services due to insufficient funds.

A two-week written notice of withdrawal from the program is required and payment is due for those two weeks. Withdrawal from the preschool without notice assumes financial responsibility for those two weeks attending. No refunds or prorated amounts will be given for leaving the program before the end of the last month.

*REFUNDS WILL NOT BE GIVEN AT ANY TIME*

SUPPLIES AND DRESS

All children must have an extra pair of clothes in their backpack or in their cubby at all times. Children in diapers need two extra pair of clothing in their backpack or in their cubby at all times. Children should be dressed appropriately for the weather and in clothing suitable to play in. Suitable attire includes shoes with straps and shorts under skirts or dresses for girls.

Please remember that children will be engaged in activities that include, paint, glue, glitter, etc. Every effort will be made to protect your child’s clothing, but accidents do happen, so please dress your child in play clothes.

LUNCH

Students must bring a sack lunch from home daily. Please provide them with a healthy lunch, limiting the amount of sweets and unhealthy foods. No soda is permitted. For safety reasons, we do not heat lunches in the microwave nor will any items be refrigerated. If a student does not have a lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich will be provided. Example of an easy healthy lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapes, carrots, yogurt, Goldfish crackers and a juice box.

NAP TIME

Full-time students need to have a blanket and little pillow in their cubby.

FOOD ALLERGIES

Please make sure to notify your son or daughter’s teacher of any food allergies they may have.

TOYS FROM HOME

Please do not send toys from home with your child. Toys brought from home are a disruption to the program and could get lost.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBERS

If your phone number, address, and/or emergency contact information changes please notify your child’s teacher and the program coordinator immediately. Also, keep in mind that the individuals listed on your child’s sign-out sheet are authorized to pick up your son or daughter, unless we are notified otherwise. IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU KEEP THIS INFORMATION CURRENT.

DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP OF STUDENTS

The school opens at 7:30 a.m. Part-time students are to be picked up before 1:00 p.m. Full-time students are to be picked up any time before 5:30 p.m. Children need to be picked up on time. If you are going to be late picking up your child, please call the front office to let us know. YOU WILL BE ASSESSED ONE DOLLAR ($1.00) FOR EACH MINUTE LATE.

Once you enter the school to pick up your child, they are your responsibility. Please make sure your child does not wander off if speaking to another parent or a teacher. Your child should be closely monitored in the parking lot of our facility as the cars pose a danger to them if they have wandered away from you.

SIGN IN AND SIGN OUT OF CHILDREN

Only individuals listed on your child’s sign in and sign out sheet will be authorized to pick your child up from the Little Feathers Program. For liability reasons individuals that are on your authorization list or that will be picking up your child from Little Feathers must be 18 years old or older.

If someone other than one of the authorized individuals on your child’s list needs to pick your child up, please call the program. Unlisted individuals will be allowed to pick your child up only if we have verbal consent authorizing an individual to pick your child up, that day only.

WHEN YOUR CHILD IS ILL

Please keep your child or children home if he/she has a fresh cold (an active runny nose or green nasal discharge) or a fever. Student may return when they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of medicine. It is the responsibility of the Little Feathers Program to maintain a healthy environment for all children.

Health checks will be performed daily on each child. Staff will look for the following symptoms of illness:

Tired, watery or glassy eyes
Thick mucus from eyes or nose, especially green or orange
Low energy, fatigue or listlessness
Lack of appetite or stomach upset
Red cheeks, itchy scalp, or rashes

It is the responsibility of the parent, caretaker, or guardian to keep a child home when there are signs of illness. If a child becomes ill at preschool, the child will be removed from the group and his/her parent/guardian will be contacted. Immediate arrangements must be made by the parent/guardian to have their sick child picked up from school.

Example: If your child is sent home at noon with a fever they cannot return the next day and they have to be free of the fever for 24 hours before they can return.

All working parents should make sure they have a back-up sitter for when their child is sick.

VIRUSES AND DISEASES

It is the responsibility of the parents to report any childhood diseases and/or contagious viruses to the school immediately. If not reported, your child will be removed from the program.

MEDICAL RELEASE NOTES

Doctor’s notes are not satisfactory to our program. Only a medical release from a pediatrician will be accepted for any illness, i.e. allergies, virus, runny nose, etc.

MEDICATION

NO MEDICATION will be administered by the program unless a signed “release of liability” is given.

HEAD LICE

Regular routine head checks will be done on each child in the Little Feathers Program. If live head lice or nits are found in your child’s hair, you will be called and your child will be sent home from the program. Your child may not return to the program, until they have been thoroughly treated.

POLICY FOR CHANGING CHILDREN

Children not potty trained must have 5 diaper in their cubby everyday. Children 3 years old must be fully potty trained. We understand that young children are still developing bathroom habits and they do have accidents periodically. We try to keep accidents at a minimum by taking all children to the bathroom at regularly scheduled intervals. If a child has an accident at school, the child is immediately taken to a bathroom. The child is handed a baby wipe and encouraged to wipe the wet area. Dry clothes are handed to the child to dress him/herself. From the point the clothes are removed to the point the child is dressed, two adults are always present. If a child has a bowel movement accident, the child is immediately taken to the bathroom. If a child is uncomfortable with our staff assistance, parents may be called to ask if they would like to come to the school to change their child or if they would like a staff member to clean the child. Two adults will be present while the child’s soiled clothes are removed and the child is cleaned. Fresh clothes are handed to the child to dress him/herself. All soiled clothes are sent home to be washed. If a child has diarrhea, the parent will be called immediately to pick up and clean their child.

FIELD TRIPS

Parents/Guardians are encouraged to attend field trips with their child/children. If parents/guardians work during Little Feather’s operating hours and are unable to attend the field trip, the child may still attend.

INSURANCE/LIABILITY

Children at the school must be covered by their own health insurance. The school is not liable for any injuries that occur at school.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Little Feather’s Preschool holds regularly scheduled fire and earthquake drills. It is crucial to the safety of the children that they learn proper emergency evacuation procedures. In our effort to simulate emergency conditions during fire and earthquake drills, children are required to exit the building, as they are. Emergency plans are posted in each classroom.

In the unlikely event that Little Feather’s Preschool has an intruder/volatile person; we will follow our preparedness plan and contact the local police department.

In the unlikely event that the center is ever severely damaged or declared unsafe, the staff will evacuate all children to a designated emergency shelter to wait the arrival of a parent or guardian. Most likely, the school will be evacuated to Vivian Banks Charter School field. Should such an emergency occur, the administration of Little Feather’s Preschool will notify each child’s parents.

STUDENT CONFIDENTIALITY

All issues involving a child of the Little Feather’s Preschool Program will only be discussed with the parent/parents or legal guardian/guardians of the child.

CUSTODY ISSUES REGARDING LITTLE FEATHERS STUDENTS

The Little Feathers Program cannot deny parent’s information regarding their child or deny them from picking their child up, unless there is court documentation on file stating one or both parents are not allowed to pick up the child or receive information regarding the child or children.

DISRUPTIVE AND AGGRESSIVE, BEHAVIOR PLAN POLICY

For the purpose of this Disruptive and Aggressive Behavior Plan Policy, aggressive, and disruptive behavior is, but not limited to: hitting, pushing, biting, throwing of classroom objects, pinching, spitting, or any behavior that is continually a disruption to the other children and interferes with instructional time.

The following sequence of events will take place following excessive or severity of any of the actions named above:

1. Teacher and teacher’s assistance will document each event. This documentation will include the following information: time of event, which child or children were involved in the incident, what occurred during the incident, how the teachers handled the situation.

2. A parent teacher conference will be arranged with the teacher or teachers involved, the program coordinator, and the parent or guardian of the child who is initiating the disruptive, or aggressive behavior. During this parent teacher conference, a Behavior Plan will be established and include the following: both the teacher’s and the parents or guardian of the child will discuss the different forms of discipline that occur in the child’s day, between the classroom environment and home environment. Teacher’s and parents can decide what the best plan or strategy will be to break the child of the aggressive and or disruptive behavior.

If once the plan is in effect and the child improves then both teachers and parents will continue using the selected strategy or strategies. If the child continues to repeat the same behaviors and does not show any improvement, there will be another parent teacher conference held to discuss what has been effective in the current Behavior Plan and what has not been so effective. A revised plan will be put into effect.

3. If a second plan is required, parents, primary caregivers or guardian of the child and the child will be referred to the Indian Health Council Tradition of Caring Program.

4. The final course of action will be removal of the child from the Little Feathers Program for the safety of the child, other children in the program and the staff.

MANDATED CHILD ABUSE / NEGLECT REPORTING

The Little Feathers Preschool Staff are legally mandated child abuse reporters. This is required by California State Law.

Mandated Reporting Law (California PC 11166) Child abuse must be reported when one who is a legally mandated reporter, has knowledge or observes a child in his or her professional capacity, or within the scope of his or her employment, whom he or she knows or reasonably suspects, has been the victim of child abuse.

Article 2.5 of the Penal Code provides that it is a crime for certain professionals who have a working relationship with children not to report suspected abuse to the proper authorities.