General Policies (ver en Español)

  1. Orientation Conference: Parents/Guardians seeking Head Start or child care services, must make an appointment with the Family Services Coordinator to process paperwork and to learn more about how our program works before their child may attend The Children’s Learning Center.
  2. Hours and Closure Information: Our Center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. In most cases, the Head Start program follows the 509-J school district closure procedures. There will be no Head Start or bus service when public schools are closed due to poor weather conditions. Check the Prineville radio station KRCO 1242 AM or TV Station Z21-KZTV. The ChildCare Center remains open if at all possible.
  3. Sign-in Procedure: Parents must properly clock their child into and out of the Center on the time cards provided. Each child must arrive under the supervision of the parent or authorized person, and be properly clocked in and escorted to their classroom before the Center will assume the responsibility for that child. Likewise, once the parent or authorized person’s supervision has clocked out the child, the parent becomes responsible for that child. ONLY those persons listed on the Emergency Card, as having the parent’s permission to pick up the child will be allowed to remove him/her from The Children’s Learning Center. No one under the age of 16 years of age shall be authorized to pick up a child unless the person is the parent. Please notify the Center if one of the persons listed will be picking up your child on any particular day. Parents are responsible for advising those who may bring or pick up the child or the clock in procedures. Bus children become the Center’s responsibility upon boarding The Children’s Learning Center bus.
  4. Late pick-up at the end of the day: We understand that things do occasionally happen resulting in legitimate late pick-up. While we are sympathetic to these situations, parental lateness creates problems for children and staff. It is extremely important to arrange your day so that you, your partner or an authorized person can pickup your child prior to closing time. Any parent who has not arrived by the closing time will be assessed a late fee. Late fees will be assessed at the rate of $5.00 EVERY fifteen minutes after 5:00 p.m. for each child remaining in care. This fee is due and payable immediately at the front office. Tardiness may result in the discontinuance of childcare services at the discretion of the Director. The first late incident in an academic year will not result in late fees but will be recorded and a warning given.

    Head Start & Preschool Parents: To serve parent’s who are tightly scheduled, we allow a ten-minute grace period. Anyone who does not pick up their child within this grace period will be considered late. If your child is not picked up within this period, the child will be placed in ChildCare. The parent will then be charged the current hourly rate of 2.50 with 1 hour being the minimum charge. The childcare charges will be due and payable immediately when the child is picked up. If the bus driver has to return a child to the Center because no adult is home, the child is also placed in our ChildCare and the same policy stated above will apply.
  5. Billing Procedures: Child care fees are due when you drop off your child’s slot sheet. Preschool tuition is due on the 1st of each month unless arrangements are made with the administrative assistant. Failure to make payment on time may result in termination of services. Should any unforeseen financial situations arise making it impossible to make your payment on time, a short-term payment agreement may be negotiable before the payment is due. A payment agreement may be arranged with the Director or the Administrative Assistant ONLY. Any charges that are past due by 30 days or more without making payment arrangements may have services terminated without notice and will be charged a finance charge of 1.5%.

    A $25.00 service charge will be applied to all non-negotiable checks returned to the Center. A $12.00 annual registration fee is due in September of each Calendar year. This fee will go directly to the purchase of materials, supplies and accident insurance. For new enrollees after March 1st, the enrollment fee will be $6.00. Fees: $2.50 per hour for the first child and $2.25 for each additional child.
  6. Food Service Program: Nutritious USDA approved meals are served daily, along with an afternoon snack. Only food prepared in our kitchen may be served to the children.
  7. Field Trips: Field trips involving transportation away from the Center are planned during the year. Transportation will be by Center Vehicles equipped with seat belts. Parents will be notified in advance of the particular plans for each trip. Parental permission will be requested prior to each field trip.
  8. Outdoor Play: The Children’s Learning Center believes that it is important for children to participate in outdoor activities. Keeping children inside does not allow for release of excess energy or large muscle development. Our policy is children who are well enough to be at school are also well enough to go outside. Please, do not request that your child stay indoors if he/she is well enough to be at the Center. Please, consider the weather when dressing your child.
  9. Clothing: Classrooms often use messy materials such as paints, glue, mud, etc. While we do have smocks, they will not totally cover clothing. Please make sure your child is dressed in play clothes. We cannot be responsible for damaged or stained clothing. We often find clothing that goes unclaimed so PLEASE LABEL ALL OF YOUR CHILD’S BELONGINGS TO ENSURE THEY ARE RETURNED TO YOU.
  10. Visits and Observations: The Center has an open door policy and parents are welcome to visit the Center and observe their children at any time. All parents and friends must check in at the front office and obtain a visitor’s pass and, wear it while they stay at the Center, this is for your child’s protection. We encourage parents to have lunch in the classroom with their child. The kitchen staff appreciates 2 days advance notice in order to assure adequate amounts of food.
  11. Immunizations: Each child must have supplied the Center with a complete immunization record prior to admission. Each child must have the required injections of diphtheria/tetanus (DTP), polio, measles-mumps-rubella, hemophilia and influenza (HIB), hepatitis B, and Varicella (if the child has not had chicken pox). If your child has been out of the United States in the past six months, they will need to obtain a TB skin test and results should be brought back to the Center.
  12. Toilet Training: Children must be toilet-trained to attend The Children’s Learning Center childcare and preschool program. This means they must be able to use the toilet while they are here, with little or no assistance.
  13. Transportation: Transportation is provided for Head Start children only, subject to availability. Enrollment in Head Start does not guarantee a bus slot.
  14. Transfer of Records: TCLC is required by law to provide the records of Head Start children to public schools upon their request. TCLC provides a transfer of essential information to the public schools of those children who are transitioning to Kindergarten, at the end of the school year.
  15. Confidentiality: Everything a parent shares with TCLC is in strict confidence. We cannot share any information without your’e written permission. However, our records may be subpoenaed by a legal court order.

TCLC is required by law to report any known or suspected child abuse or neglect.