About Us Hope Nursery School and Child Care Center is designed to provide quality care along with a comprehensive education. Our staff plans a developmentally appropriate curriculum that meets the needs of each child. Our lessons plans encompass the early content learning standards devised by the Ohio Department of Education. Several centers of activity are set up, including dramatic play, music, library, blocks, manipulatives, and outdoor play. The teachers at Hope Child Care recognize that children learn at their own pace. The process, not the product, is emphasized in order to foster a sense of accomplishment and pride. CENTER SCHEDULE Hope Nursery School and Child Care Center is open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm each day, Monday through Friday. Hope is closed on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day (and the day after), and Christmas. With the exception of the day after Thanksgiving, all of these are paid holidays. If the holiday falls on a Saturday, Hope will be closed on Friday, If the holiday is on a Sunday, Hope will observe the holiday on Monday. We offer a preschool full day program (6:00 am-6:00 pm), a preschool half day program (9-11:30), a full day kindergarten program when your child is not at school, and a before and/or after elementary school program. Hope also offers full day care for school-age children when Anthony Wayne is closed or cancelled. STAFF/CHILD RATIOS Hope Nursery School and Child Care Center observes the following staff/child ratios. Toddlers 2 1/2-3 years 1:8 Preschool 3 years 1:12 Preschool 4 and 5 years 1:14 School-Age K-6th grade 1:18 Our preschool classes are divided according to age. We have one classroom for ages 2 1/2 to early 3's, two classrooms for ages 3 to early 4's, and three classrooms for ages 4 to 5 years old (pre-kindergarten). We also have one classroom for kindergarten children. We have one classroom for 1st and 2nd grade children, and one classroom for 3rd-6th grade children. Our facility also has two gyms and two fenced in playgrounds. FEES AND ENROLLMENT POLICY Hope Child Care Center has a non-refundable enrollment fee of $30.00 per child up to a maximum of $45.00 per family. There is also an activity fee of $15.00 per child. This fee covers all of our field trips and special activities. A current fee schedule will be provided when you visit the center. There is a 20% discount for each additional child in the same family. The discount is on the lesser fee and is rounded to the nearest dollar. Children may be enrolled within 48 hours after all of the required paperwork is returned, assuming there is room in the proper classroom. Tuition is due each Friday for the following week. If your account is more than two weeks overdue, a 10% late fee will be added to your balance. If tuition accumulates unpaid for more than two weeks, your child is in danger of being disenrolled from the center. We do not give tuition refunds for days on which your child is absent. If your child is absent for an entire week, we will bill a "hold spot" fee. This fee is one-half of the weekly tuition fee to secure your child's spot. You are granted three "hold spot" weeks per fiscal year. Our fiscal year runs September through August. The center closes at 6:00 pm. There will be a $20.00 late fee assessed for every half hour, or portion thereof, that a child is here. ILLNESS POLICY It is our belief that children need loving, individual attention, and quiet when they are ill. Please use good judgment in evaluating your child's health and keep him/her home when he/she is ill. If a child becomes ill while at school, parents will be contacted. The child will wait in the office until a parent (or someone designated by the parent) picks him/her up. Children will be readmitted when the symptoms have ceased or when authorized by a doctor. If your child is exposed to a communicable disease while at school, we will inform you as soon as we are aware of the situation. If your child has been exposed to any contagious disease outside the center, please let the office staff know as soon as possible. Notices will be posted at the sign-in table and outside of the office door. A communicable disease chart is posted in the hallway near the kindergarten room. If your child needs medicine while attending school, there is a permission to administer medication form available in the office. Medicines must be in the original container, and if prescription medicine, have your child's name on the bottle. Requirements for age and weight must be observed. We will not administer any medication containing aspirin or codeine. FIELD TRIPS Hope Nursery School and Child Care Center considers field trips an integral part of our educational curriculum. There is a $15.00 activity fee charged yearly to cover the field trip expenses. Field trips will be taken periodically to nearby places such as parks, libraries, the fire station, etc. The child care bus will provide transportation. All children under age four and/or under forty pounds must be in a lap belt compatible car seat. Notification of field trips will be published in the monthly newsletter and on this web site. Permission slips will be on the sign-in table. Each child will need a signed permission slip before they can attend any field trip. "Our daughter has thrived under the loving quality care at Hope. Every day she tells us about something new she has learned." -Kendra Kec SNACKS AND LUNCHES Hope Child Care provides a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack and a well-balanced lunch, which includes the basic food groups and one-third of each day's nutritional needs. Snacks are served at approximately 9:45 am and 2:45 pm. Lunch is served at 11:45 for the preschool and kindergarten children. The morning only preschool children may stay for lunch for an additional fee. Weekly menus are posted outside room 1.