Parent Orientation

1. ParentOrientation Early Learning Center Self Guided Everett Community College Throughout this presentation, press Enter to move to the next page

2. Everett Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, the presence of any physical, sensory or mental disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam era veteran in its program and activities, or employment. • The Vice President of Student Services has been designated to handle inquiries regarding student-related non-discrimination policies and can be reached at 2000 Tower Street, Everett, WA 98201, or by phone at (425)388-9589. • The Vice President of Human Resources has been designated to handle employment-related inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and can be reached at 2000 Tower Street, Everett, WA 98201, or by phone at (425)388-9232.

3. Minimum Licensing Requirements • The ELC complies with all Washington State Childcare regulations. The Washington State Department of Early Learning is responsible for setting the minimum standards in Washington. • Additionally, we proudly meet the more rigorous National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation Standards. • We welcome your questions and concerns at all time.

4. Family HandbookYour ELC Resource • Philosophy • Staffing • Program Service • Enrollment • Rates & Payments • The Family Life Class • Personal Items • Arrival & Departure • Daily Schedule & Curriculum • Child Guidance • Volunteering in the Classroom • Common Questions Volunteers Ask • Naps & Nutrition • Family Meal Service • Field trips • Inclement Weather Policy • Health & Safety Standards • Major Emergencies • Minor Emergencies • Policies Regarding Pets & Animals

5. Philosophy & Goals • Familiesare a child’s first , and most important teachers. • Teachers and staff want to partner with you to create a positive experience for you and your child. • We want to provide a supportive, healthy and safe environment in which both adults and children excel. • Our goal is for children to leave our center with confidence. To be able to communicate their needs in an acceptable way, and to develop empathy for others. Through interacting with each other, they learn how their actions effect others and themselves.

6. Staffing • We meet both State and NAEYC staffing standards. • Lead Teaches and Administrative Staff are required to have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree, or an AA working towards a BA. They are also STARS trained. • Assistant Teachers also have early childhood education and are encouraged complete their degree and STARS training . • Everyone participates in on-going staff development or college courses. • Annual/current staff requirements: • BBP: Blood Born Pathogen Training • CPR and First Aid Training • Food Handler’s Permit • TB Test • DSHS Criminal Background Check

7. Program Service • The primary mission of the ELC is to serve EvCC students, faculty and staff. • Community families are enrolled on a space available basis. • The ELC follows the EvCC calendar. • We offer part-time or full time options for student families.

8. Enrollment & Payment • Visit the Early Learning Center, make sure it is the fit you are looking for. Details can be viewed at www.everettcc.edu/elc. • Current families have priority enrollment. Enrollment dates coincide with academic enrollment dates on campus. • Once space is confirmed, pay your registration fee and complete the necessary paperwork. • Attend an ELC Orientation or complete this PowerPoint and watch the video link provided at the end of this presentation. • Monthly payments are made at the Cashiers’ Office in the Jackson center or on-line through the Student Kiosk. • A $25.00 late fee is automatically assessed for late payments. • It is very expensive if you pick up late: $10.00 for the first 10 minutes plus $1.00 thereafter. The second time it goes to $20.00, the third $30.00!

9. Family Life Class Requirement • Research supports the positive impact of family involvement on a child’s development and well-being. • We will offer several parenting workshops each quarter; we encourage you to share your ideas and support. You are invited to become involved in the Parent Advisory Council and have a voice and contribute your thoughts about ELC events. • Your Family Life Syllabus will guide your participation at the ELC. • There are three components: the Lab, the Lecture and the Assignment. • Earn 20 points per academic quarter: • Lab: 5 hour as classroom volunteer – 5 pts • Lecture & Assignment: Parenting Classes, Family Night, Family Project, Personal Conference… - 5 pts each • If you are having scheduling conflicts, speak with the Instructor to make any accommodations.

10. Personal Items • Please bring a bag with a complete change of clothes for your child to be stored in the classroom, and diapers if applicable . • Does your child want a blankie or comfort item for nap time? • Each child will have a cubby for personal effects. • Remember to label everything you bring to the Center for your child. • Your child will be very active here, encourage them to wear play-clothes and close-toed shoes! • Leave personal toys at home, or they may get absorbed into a classroom. • Due to life-threatening allergies, NO FOOD OR DRINK is to be brought into the center without prior consent.

11. Arrival, Departure, Daily Schedule & Curriculum • It is extremely important that you sign your child in and out in the office. This legal document is our most requested article from our Licensor. It is also used to account for your child during a fire drill! • For good hygiene practices, please help your child wash their hands upon entering the classroom. • Daily schedules are posted in each classroom. Familiarize yourself with their tentative schedule so that you are aware of meal times… • Curriculums are displayed on Documentation Panels in the Office. • Our Curriculum is child centered; we focus on social and emotional development while teaching fundamental skills. This often leads to an emergent curriculum.

12. Cultural Relevancy • We don’t directly celebrate holidays such as Christmas and Halloween; we feel that this is an individual family value that is taught at home. • It is not taboo to to talk about religious celebrations, but we will not directly bring them into the classroom. • We do want to share individual heritage and teach children to be curios and accepting of differences. We welcome and encourage family projects that share something about your family: cooking projects, heritage blankets… • We teach children to communicate and celebrate diversity in a positive way.

13. Guidance & Behavior Management • Our program supports the Emotion Coaching techniques of Dr. John Gottman and the Talaris Institute. We teach children to label their emotions. By focusing on social and emotional development, children become confident to take on new challenges. • We advocate the Problem Solving techniques of Eleanor Reynolds so that children develop the skills to solve their own problems. • We are child centered; think of concentric circles - child, family, teachers, administrative and support staff. We are striving to focus on what are best practices for children. • By incorporating Positive Discipline, we focus on teaching children acceptable choices.Licensing requires that we tell you that we do not use, nor promote, corporal punishment. One of our goals is to offer you tools for alternative choices.

14. Special Health & Developmental Needs • Emergency healthcare treatment can be administered with explicit written instructions from the child’s health care provider: epi-pen, inhaler or nebuelizer. • Through ECEAP we offer the services of a Family Support Specialist including regular health screenings for early detection. • We will work with families to find any resources needed for their child’s healthy development. We strive to be an inclusion program and are able to serve most needs. • Licensing requires that we inform you that our teachers are trained in Limited Restraint Techniques. It is only used when absolutely necessary and is always preformed in a therapeutic setting with the intention of helping a child calm their emotions. It involves a teacher holding a child while the child regains self-control.

15. Volunteers & Visitors • We encourage you to be involved in your child’s classroom! You are expected to complete 5 hours as a classroom volunteer per academic quarter. • Teachers will provide guidance and encourage your involvement. • Our Family Handbook provides suggestions and techniques that may be helpful to volunteers. • As part of the EvCC, the ELC is often used as an Observation site for a number of the classes on campus. We encourage this relationship. • Early Childhood Education students often come to the ELC to do their Practicum Teaching. • All volunteers are required, by licensing, to complete a Washington State Background Check and a TB Test.

16. Naps & Nutrition • Children play hard, and rest is part of a well-balanced program. • Each child has their personal sleeping space at the ELC. We launder the sheets regularly, and we ask parents to clean blankies and any needed comfort items. • During the school year, the ELC provides balanced meals as part of the USDA Food Program. We serve breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, and PM Snack. Meals are posted by the kitchen and copies are available in the lobby. • We can accommodate necessary dietary substitutions with a note from the child’s health care provider. • All meals are served family style and we encourage children to learn to serve themselves. • We are a NUT FREE ZONE, and we appreciate your help to accommodate this life-threatening allergy.

17. Inclement Weather Policy • The ELC follows EvCC emergency closures, however, it is important that families and staff carefully judge safety issue for themselves. • Emergency closure information is always posted on the EvCC website, local television stations and radio broadcasts. It is also listed on www.schoolreport.org. • We recommend that everyone sign up for the EvCC emergency text message service: link to the Emergency Management service on the campus security website. This service will provide immediate information by text or email.

18. Health & Safety Standards • Keeping your child safe and healthy is our priority. • It is important that you provide us with up-to-date health and safety records, and a list of who is authorized to pick-up your child. We will require photo id for verification. • Adults and children are expected to wash their hands upon entering a classroom, it is good practices and it dramatically reduces germs. • Give us a call if your child will not be at school; we worry about our friends. • The Snohomish Health Department requires that families be notified of any communicable disease such as measles or meningitis. • The ELC is cleaned nightly by the EvCC janitorial staff. • Toys and equipment are sanitized regularly, any ‘mouthed’ toys are immediately removed and sanitized.

19. When Should Children Stay Home or Be Sent Home • 3 Diarrhea or 1 bloody stool within a 24-hour period • Sore throat • Earache or Headache • Fatigue that prevents participation in regular activities • Vomiting within the past 24 hours • Unidentified rash • Fever of 100 degrees F or higher AND who also have one or more of the above symptoms • Eye discharge or pinkeye. Children can be readmitted after medical diagnosis to rule out bacterial or viral infection or 24 hours on antibiotic treatment • Open or oozing sores, unless properly covered. Children with communicable skin infections such as impetigo and scabies may return 24 hours after starting antibiotic treatment. • Lice or nits. Staff member will check before children can return to classroom. If any nits are found, your child will be sent home.

20. Sending a Child Home • If a child appears ‘not themselves’, teachers will monitor the child and take their temperature, if it is mildly elevated, they will check it again in half an hour. If the temperature remains elevated or continues to rise, you will be called to keep you informed, or to ask you to pick up your child. • If your child needs to be sent home we will follow your “Backup Plan” from the Family Agreement. Generally we will attempt to call you first. • Most students provide us with a cell phone number. Although your phone is silenced during classes, you will know if we call signaling for you to call us. • Next we will attempt to have you reached during class either by a representative from Student Activities or Campus Security. This is standard procedure and is not an indication of a crisis. • If you can not be reached, we will contact the next person listed on your Emergency Contacts from your Emergency Consent Form. • Ill children will rest in the Office until they are picked up.

21. Injury, Abuse, Prevention & Reporting • We take security very seriously and we take every possible step to ensure the safety of everyone at the ELC. • Any incidents and injuries are documented on a Report of Concern. After signing the form, parents keep one copy and turn the other in to the Office where it is recorded in the child’s file. • In the unlikely event of a major injury at the ELC, parents will be called immediately and any necessary steps will be taken. Events will then be reported to Security and to our Licensor. • There are multiple reasons that developing children acquire bruises, if your child took a tumble, talk to your teacher – keep us informed. • We are a mandatory reporting agency and we are required to report any serious concerns to Child Protective Services.

22. Fire Prevention & Safety Procedures • EvCC Security conducts monthly fire drills with the children. While some children may be frightened at first, they quickly and learn the drill. Teachers are very aware of individual children’s reactions and will work accordingly. • In accordance with EvCC, we have a Crisis Response Manual outlining procedures for almost any conceivable, and inconceivable disaster. This is available in each classroom and in the Family Resource Room. • We encourage everyone to carry an ELC card with emergency phone numbers.

23. Pet Policy • We encourage your children to learn about nature and their environment, you will periodically be asked to sign a waiver allowing your child to interact with a specific animal. • Licensing dictates which pets are allowed at the Center and how they will interact with the children, including sanitation procedures. We respectfully ask that you not bring your pet to school. • All rules and restrictions are outlined in our handbook. • Strict sanitation measures will be followed.

24. Important Reminders • Sign your child in and out every day using your full signature. This is our single most requested document from licensing. • Wash your hands and your child’s hands upon entering the classroom. • Children and Adults should not attend when their medical symptoms meet the criteria outlined under “When should I keep my child home.” • No outside food, snacks, drinks, candy, gum, medication or unsafe toys are to be brought into the center in pockets, diaper bags or backpacks. Due to allergies and choking hazards, this is a major safety concern. • Update your Emergency and Health Care Information regularly; please keep your child’s Immunization Records up-to-date. • Remember to use appropriate language and voices while at the ELC. We discourage cell phone use inside the center. • Plan ahead, does your child need diapers, wipes, extra clothes, warm clothes or safe shoes to enjoy a full day of active learning.

25. Thank You for your Support • Communication is essential for a positive learningenvironment for your child. • Written manuals are available for your review. • Check your Mailbox regularly for your Family Life Syllabus and any upcoming events. It is in the Family Resource Room. • Daily Reminders are posted on the whiteboard in the office. • Please watch the Emotion Coaching video available at www.talaris.org/spotlight_emocoaching_steps.htm • If you have questions or comments, we want to hear from you. • When you complete this PowerPoint, please sign an Orientation Checklist, available in the office. This is a licensing requirement!