Introduction
Thank you for choosing the FortDiscovery School-age program for your child. We would like to welcome yourfamily into our “Fort Discovery Family”. The Fort OsageSchool District opened the Before andAfter School Childcare Program in 1984 at Elm Grove School. The school district now operates five “Fort Discovery” before and afterschool programs at the elementary level.
This parent manual has been preparedfor you so you know what to expect from our programs and what Fort Discoverywill expect from you. As always,constant communication between the center and the parents will be apriority. If you have any questions orconcerns, please contact us.
Philosophy
It is the goal of this program toprovide working parents with the confidence that their student is in a safe andnurturing environment. The program willprovide activities that support the ever-changing social, emotional, andphysical needs of the student. Activities will include homework time, tutoring, service learning projects,cooperative sports, creative arts, computer utilization and special interestactivities.
Program Operation
Fort Discoverycenters are open Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. until the start of theschool day and from the end of the school day until 6:00 p.m.
Our programs are open on earlydismissal days, as well as all other days that school is dismissed forparent/teacher conferences/staff development and snow days
On days when there is inclementweather, please listen to your local radio or television station. If the district cancels school at or around6:00 a.m. when the centers have already opened, your child will need to bring breakfastand a sack lunch since the cafeteria will not operate on those days.
Fort Discovery reserves the right to close in cases ofsevere or icy weather, especially when the weather service is advising allpeople to stay at home, as we do not want to risk the safety of our staff, orthe families in our programs. Pleaselisten to your local station for this closing. Be sure you sign up on theschool website to receive text messages for Fort Discovery information.
Enrollment
To enroll your child in the FortDiscovery program you will need to contact the Director of Child Care Servicesat 650-7449 or complete the online enrollment form. Your child will be accepted into the programwhen all forms have been completed and the enrollment fee has been paid.
It is the parent’s responsibility to inform their children’steacher that he/she will be attending our program after school. This ensures communication between ourprogram and the teacher in order to be sure your child is properly released atthe end of the day.
Fees:
EnrollmentFee: $40.00per year/$20.00 –additional child
Fulltime Before & After School: $55.00per week for 1st child
$50.00per week for 2nd child
Fulltime Before OR After School Only: $45.00per week for 1st child
$40.00per week for 2nd child
Part-time(Less than 5 days per week) $15.00per day/per child/Before & After
$10.00per day/per child/Before OR After
Additionalfee for Full Days: $10.00per day/per child
*Pricesremain the same during the SUMMER SCHOOL session!
Payment Policies
A non-refundable enrollmentfee is due at the time of enrollment. This enrollment fee is valid for one school year. Parents must re-enroll for each new schoolyear.
Payments must be made in the form of check, moneyorder or credit card (MasterCard and Visa) online. Cash will NOT be accepted at thecenters! Please make checks payableto “Fort Discovery”. Payments for FortDiscovery fees can be made online at www.mealpay.comusing the “Fees and Activities” tab.
You are responsible for the fullweekly fee whether or not your child is absent unless you are claiming avacation week. Early Release Days areincluded in the weekly fee. A $10.00 fee will be applied per child for thosewho attend on “No School Days” (Snow days, professional development days andholiday breaks).
The Fort Discoveryprogram is self-supporting with 100% of the funding from weekly tuitionfees. Therefore, the facility relies onprompt payments from parents in order to operate the program. Payment of your weekly childcare fee is dueat the beginning of each week. A $5.00late fee will be assessed each week if payment has not been received before Fridayof each week. Any account that becomes 2weeks delinquent will be sent a notice and you will be expected to pay in fullor contact your Site Coordinator immediately to make payment arrangements tobring the account current. If no attemptis made to contact the Site Coordinator or if the payment arrangement is nothonored, childcare services will be terminated immediately. All delinquent accounts will be turned overto our Central Office for collection.
Early Drop off/Late pick-up policy
Parentswho leave their children at the center before 6:00 a.m. and pick their childrenup after 6:00 p.m. will be charged $1.00 per minute for each minute that thechild is at the center early or late. The center’s clock will be used for the correct time. After 6:00 p.m. we will begin calling parentphone numbers to try to reach you. Ifneither parent can be reached, we will call the emergency contacts on thechild’s enrollment form to come pick up the child. If no one on the child’s enrollment form canbe reached and the child is left at the center for one hour past closing time,we will contact Family Services or the local police department. Excessive early arrival and/or late pick-upwill result in termination of services.
Returned checks
In the event of a returned check,you will be notified and will need to provide a replacement payment in the formof a money order immediately in order to retain your childcare services. In the event that another check is returned,(a total of two) you will be asked to pay in the form of money orders only forall future payments.
Vacation
Each child is allowed 2 weeksvacation (absent time) every year (January through December) at no charge, aslong as the director is given 1-week notice prior to the vacation. Vacationdays must be taken as a whole week and not as individual days.
Absent/Withdrawing
If your child will not be attending Fort Discoverydue to illness, appointments, vacation or other reasons, please notify the SiteCoordinator as soon as possible. Ifyour child leaves early from school or has other plans in the afternoon, pleasecontact the center and let us know. Absences without prior notification result in unnecessary time spentlooking for the missing child. If you are withdrawing your child from theprogram, please notify the Site Coordinator so we can remove him/her from ourrecords.
Check In/Release of Students from Fort Discovery
All students are required to checkin with the staff within 5 minutes of school dismissal. If a student needs to stay with a teacher tomake up work or participate in some other after school activity, they mustfirst check in and let our staff know where they will be. Students will only be released to theirparents, legal guardian or authorized person. Each day that your student participates in the program, the parent/legalguardian or authorized person must signhim/her out of the program. FortDiscovery children (K-6th grade) must be signed in each and every day. Please note that any person picking yourchild up will be asked to show ID. Ifyou have any type of legal custody issues concerning your child, a copy of yourcourt ordered papers must be on file at the facility in order to protect yourstudent.
Nochild will be released to a parent/guardian who appears to be impaired by drugsand/or alcohol.
Illness/Emergency
Your student will not be acceptedinto the facility if he/she is ill. Parents will be contacted and required topick the student up if he/she is sick. This includes temperatures of 100 degrees or more, vomiting, diarrheaand head lice. Any child sent home fromschool and/or Fort Discovery Programs for head lice must first be checked bythe school nurse before returning to the center! If your student is injured at the facilityyou will be notified. In the event of aserious injury your student will be transported to the nearest hospital and youwill be called. You are responsible forall treatment expenses incurred. The Fort Osage School District does not carry insurance on yourchildren while they participate in our programs, however, medical insurance canbe purchased through the school district.
Medication
- Medicinesshall be given to a student only with the dated, written permission of theparent or legal guardian.
- Prescriptionmedicine must be in the original container and labeled with the student’s name,instructions, and physician’s name.
- Allnon-prescription medicine must be labeled with the student’s name. All non-prescription medicine, includingaspirin or aspirin substitutes, will be given to the student only with a datedpermission slip signed by the parent/legal guardian which states the period oftime form which the medicine may be given.
- Allmedication is to be handed from the parent to staff and from staff to parent.Please do not send medication with your child or put it in your’s child’sbackpack.
- Ifmedication is to be given during Fort Discovery time – we must have our own separatecontainer to keep at Fort Discovery – we do nothave access to the health rooms after school hours.
NO MEDICATION WILL BE GIVEN IF THEABOVE REGULATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN FOLLOWED.
Meals and Snacks
Your child may purchase hotbreakfast through the school district or they may bring cereal or otherbreakfast foods to the center. Eachcenter eats breakfast at different times due to cafeteria staffpreference. Please check with your SiteCoordinator for the times at your child’s center. All centers provide milk to those childrenwho bring cereal/breakfast from home. Ifyour child will be eating cereal or any other breakfast food from home, he/shewill need to bring it on a daily basis. We do not have space for storage.
A nutritious snack will be served atall centers after school is dismissed. On days when there is no school due to vacation/breaks or inclementweather your child will need to bring a sack lunch.
Transportation
Parentsare responsible for transporting their children to and from the Fort Discoverycenter each day. The Fort Osage SchoolDistrict’s transportation department will handle all other transportation.
Personal Belongings
Children enrolled in our program will need to store all oftheir personal belongings in a bag/backpack and hang it in the spaceprovided. Children will not be allowedto return to other parts of the building once the school day is over unlessthey are with a staff member or parent. Children may not bring toys from home. Fort Discovery is not responsible for any item that is lost, stolen orbroken. Please be sure that your child’sname is on anything that they bring to the center including coats, backpacksand lunchboxes!
Parental Involvement
Fort Discoverywill be open to constant parental involvement through evaluation, criticism,suggestions, etc. The staff encouragescommunication between the center and the parents. Parents are always welcome to participate incenter activities once they have completed the school district background checkform and have been approved as a volunteer. If you have a special talent, hobby or something of interest to share,please let us know!
CombinedCenters on No School Days
Depending on the expected attendance numbers,all Fort Discovery Centerswill usually combine at our BLUE HILLS location on all No School Days.
*You will be notifiedin advance of the “NO SCHOOL DAY” if there is a change in the center that yourchild should attend.
5thand 6th grade students
5th and 6th graders mayattend Fort Discovery at their “home” elementary school for both before andafter school care. Service will also beprovided for 5th and 6th graders on all No School days. Thesestudents will be taken to and from their Fort Discovery center and Fire PrairieMiddle School by the Fort Osage transportation department. Rising 5th and 6thgraders may attend Fort Discovery during the Summer School session. 5th and 6th graders arehoused at our Indian Trails location only during Summer Academy. Once students have completed 6thgrade they are no longer eligible to attend Fort Discovery.
Discipline
Everyonein our program has the right to be treated fairly, to be safe, to hear and beheard, to learn and discover new interests and to be themselves. Our rules and regulations are in place forthe safety of all participants. Therefore, your child will be expected to follow these rules as well asany other rules and regulations of the Fort Osage R-1 School District and thosespecific to each Fort Osage Elementary/Middle School:
1. AllFort Discovery participants will be required to check into the program uponschool dismissal.
2. Noverbal, written or symbolic language/gestures will be allowed that aredemeaning, disrespectful, profane or obscene.
3. No harassment and/or bullying of anykind.
4. No actions or attempted actionsthat would cause, or that present a risk of causing, physical ormental/emotional harm or injury to another child or to staff. This prohibition includes, but is not limitedto, such examples as fighting, slapping, hitting, spitting, disrespectfulspeech or conduct, assaults, weapon possession, theft, stealing and othermisconduct or misbehavior toward other persons or property.
5. Novandalism of, or infliction of damage upon, Fort Discovery property andequipment, Fort Osage School District property and equipment and other studentproperty or equipment.
The Fort Osage R-1 School District’sFort Discovery Program will, in most instances and as a general rule, use thefollowing discipline practices:
REDIRECTION: Focusing children onto a different activitybefore a conflict arises.
“SAFE SPOT”:
- Child will be asked to go to the “safespot” away from others.
- Child may be asked to complete a “THINKSHEET.”
- Child will be taken out of thesituation until he/she is calm and is ready to discuss the incident.
CONFLICT MEDIATION: An adult led discussion related to solvingconflicts between children or groups of children.
PARENT NOTIFICATION:Parents will be contacted and informed that their child had problems today andthe steps were taken to help solve the conflict and that we appreciate theirsupport in this matter.
Notwithstanding the practices describedabove, parents should note that the immediate suspension or expulsion ofa child from the program may result when, in the judgment of the Director/SiteCoordinator, the circumstances are particularly egregious, when the child hasdemonstrated history of misconduct, or when the law otherwise provides for suchaction. Thus, the administrators of theprogram are empowered to take the following steps:
Minimum Consequences - Student/Director conference, restitution,1-5 days in Fort Discovery suspension.
Maximum Consequences - 1-10 days removal from the program(suspension) to permanent expulsion from the programs.
*DAYSALL FORT DISCOVERY LOCATIONS ARE CLOSED
LaborDay Monday, September 3, 2012
Thanksgiving break Thursday & Friday, November 22 & 23,2012
*WinterBreak December 24, 2012 thruJanuary 2, 2013
*EARLYDISMISSAL DAYS--ALLFORT DISCOVERY LOCATIONS ARE OPEN
Thursday & Friday, October 24 &25, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Friday, January 18, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013 -*tentative last day of school
*ALL DAY SCHOOL CLOSINGS—ALL FORTDISCOVERY LOCATIONS ARE OPEN
Friday, August 31, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, January 21, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013 thru Friday,March 29, 2013 -*Spring Break
*YOU MUST SIGN YOUR CHILD UP IN ADVANCE TOATTEND OUR PROGRAMS ON THESE DAYS! WEHAVE TO KNOW AN EXACT COUNT IN ORDER TO SCHEDULE OUR STAFF FOR THESEDAYS!!
We must be given 24 hours notice of cancellation if you aresigned up to attend or you will be charged for these days regardless of whetheror not your child attends. Thank you foryour cooperation with this matter.