Early Childhood Policies

Our program accepts children who are 3 or 4 years old as of October 1st of the current school year.

Children that meet the criteria for eligibility guidelines through federal, state, district, and/or Department of Education are accepted and placed.

Our goal is to meet each child where they are. Our teaching staff are highly skilled in creating a school experience that is both developmentally and individually appropriate.

In the case of our full-day program, it is important to note that sometimes after starting the school year, it becomes apparent that children have difficulty benefiting from a full-day setting. For example, even after children are given ample time to learn and adjust to a full day schedule, some cannot rest with other children present or can no longer enjoy and participate in educational activities because of dysregulation that builds over the course of the day. These children may need a shorter day in order to have a positive and successful educational experience. Teaching teams will determine if a half day program is a more appropriate placement and changes may be made to best meet the needs of each child.

Children who ride our bus to and from school are signed in and out of centers by classroom staff. Families and childcare providers transporting children are required to walk children to the classroom before school and meet children at classrooms after school. Please do not leave children in a classroom until a staff member greets your child and takes responsibility for him/her. Licensing requires that an adult sign a child in and out of school each day and only be released to a person at least 18 years of age. 
     
Families must notify the center when an emergency prevents them from picking a child up on time. In the case of an emergency, families are asked to make arrangements for someone else to pick up the child at school. For your child's protection, your child will only be released to those who are either listed on the child’s emergency card and are at least 18 years of age. Teachers will ask the adult for photo identification prior to releasing the child.

If a child is not picked up within 15 minutes of the pick-up time, we will first attempt to contact you as well as emergency contacts listed on the emergency card. If a parent cannot be reached within 30 minutes of the pick-up time, appropriate authorities (Loveland Police or Department of Social Services) may be contacted.

For children who ride a district bus to and from school, parents must designate one primary pickup and one primary drop-off contact, one alternate drop-off contact, and two emergency contacts.  These designated contacts will be adhered to and changes must be submitted as a new or modified request.  If appropriate supervision is not available with the designated drop off contact, the child will be taken to the child’s preschool center and efforts will continue to connect with a designated contact.  If the parent or emergency contacts cannot be reached within 30 minutes, appropriate authorities (Loveland Police or Department of Social Services) may be contacted.

In custody cases involving restraining orders, a copy of the restraining order must be provided to the school and will be kept on file at the child's center.

The Thompson Integrated Early Childhood Program believes in the benefits of regular attendance. Children do best when they are in school each and every day. Children are at their best when following a routine and know what to expect. Relationships with teachers and other children are quicker to form and easier to maintain when children attend every class session.

In addition to benefiting the children, there are other reasons why we require children to attend on a regular basis. Funding for our preschool program is dependent upon the attendance of the children enrolled in the program. We are excited to welcome your child into the Early Childhood program, but if for some reason you are not able to adhere to the attendance policy, please let us know. We have limited space for children in our classrooms; therefore, we maintain a wait list throughout the year.

We understand that children do get sick. The following attendance policies must be followed in order for your child to participate in the Thompson Early Childhood Program:

1. All children are expected to attend regularly.
2. All families are asked to notify the school by 8:30 am each morning of a child’s absence. 
3. If we do not hear from you, a staff member will contact you for any unreported absences. Our Program requires an 85% or better attendance to be in compliance with requirements for funding. 
4. When a child has missed three consecutive days and if reasons are not illness or a normal excused absence, a personal contact will be made by district staff. If there are any resources you need, we are available to assist you with referrals to community agencies.
5. If attendance does not improve, we will look at disenrolling your child from our program. Our first hope is that together we can change the situation but if attendance does not improve, we are required by our funding sources to take this next step.
6. Due to Colorado Department of Human Services Child Care Licensing Regulations, all students are required to have annual health information in our files. This includes a current physical that has been completed in the past 12 months and your child’s immunization record. For children enrolled in our Head Start program, an annual dental exam and hematocrit screening and also a one-time lead screening are required by Head Start/State EPSDT guidelines. You will be notified 30 days prior to the expiration of health information in our files. If current health information is not in your child’s file, they may be excluded from attending class until their health information is current.

Services are only available as long as the family resides in the Thompson School District boundary areas. Moving outside TSD boundaries could result in disenrollment.
 

Outdoor play is an important part of our daily schedule.  Children who are well enough to attend school are considered well enough to participate in outdoor activities.  We will go outside everyday all year long unless the temperature falls above or below safe levels as determined by our Child Care Weather Watch Chart.  Generally, conditions that would keep us from playing outside would include temperature falling below 20 degrees, rain, lightning is present and/or high winds exist.  

At times where we do not have outdoor play due to inclement and excessively hot/cold weather, we will instead have indoor large gross motor activities. In hot weather, children are permitted to play outdoors, but teachers monitor children’s activity levels and are especially aware of the need to provide water, rest and/or a cooling off activity.  

School Closure Line: 970-613-6788

Many of the children enrolled in our classrooms are very independent in their bathroom needs. Children are encouraged to use the bathrooms throughout the day as needed. Teachers monitor healthy bathroom habits such as flushing and hand washing and children are never left unsupervised during toileting.

Many other children are in various stages of toilet training including diaper use. Diaper changing takes place in a manner that meets health and safety guidelines. When toilet accidents that require a change of clothing happen, children are assisted to change into dry clothing. Soiled clothing is placed in a plastic bag to take home. If your child comes home in borrowed clothing, we ask that you wash and return the clothes as soon as possible.

Families are asked to supply diapers and wipes (occasionally diapers may be provided by the program for children enrolled in Head Start if needed). Please discuss a system for supplying a change of clothing, diapers, and wipes with your child's teacher.

All TSD early childhood classrooms integrate active supervision into their daily routines to maintain the safety and well-being of each student. This involves regularly counting students, monitoring all areas of the classroom and playground, observing student behavior, and actively listening.

Classroom Guidelines:

• Each student must be signed in upon arrival
• Classrooms will post the number of students present
• Children will  only be released to authorized adults as noted on the enrollment card
• Adults picking up children must bring identification 
• Children will not be released to anyone under the age of 18
• Each student must be signed out upon departure 

Parents are responsible for transporting preschoolers.

School transportation is limited and is not guaranteed. There is a separate application process for children in Head Start and Special Education Program.

If families do not have private transportation available, Early Childhood staff will work with families to apply for transportation to and from school. The application requires written permission from the parent or legal guardian for transportation services.  Emergency contacts and medical information must be completed prior to application being submitted. Transportation will be determined on an individual and space availability basis.

All school district buses transporting approved children to and from Early Childhood centers will have an aide on board to care for the needs of the children and maintain the safest possible environment.  Our Transportation Department maintains proper staff/child ratios as required by the State of Colorado Licensing regulations.  All children will be restrained in approved child restraint systems while transporting students.

All children will be signed on and off as they board or leave the bus by transportation staff on each trip.  Children will only be released to individuals who have been authorized in writing by parent/guardian.

Buses will provide curb-to-curb transportation and it will be the responsibility of parents and staff to bring the children to the bus at the curb.

Occasionally video or television viewing may be planned as part of a unit of study. All videos or television programs will be previewed by the classroom staff. Only materials that are age appropriate and non-violent will be shown. Children are always offered an option of other activities during viewing time.  Screen time will be limited to no more than 30 minutes per week.

Visitors and Volunteers are required to check-in at the Elementary School. Anyone visiting our classrooms must sign the Visitor Log Book located in the classroom.  

Classroom volunteers must register on the Thompson School District website using the online registration process.  Volunteers receive an Early Childhood name badge to wear in the classroom and to scan their volunteer hours. Volunteers and teachers partner to find convenient times for the volunteer to be in the classroom.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be offered two times a year.  This is an opportunity for teachers and parents to partner and share information about the child’s progress at school and home.  Together, parents and teachers create a learning plan and determine goals for the child’s preschool education experience.

Our centers are subject to inspection by state and city health, fire, and licensing officials.  If you have concerns regarding a violation of a licensing regulation, please contact any Early Childhood member.  If you would like to file a complaint, please contact:

Office of Early Childhood, Division of Early Care and Learning Licensing
1575 Sherman St, Denver, CO  80203
(303) 866-5948

If child abuse is suspected within our program, please contact our local County Child Protective Services Department:

2555 Midpoint Dr. Suite F, Fort Collins, CO 80525

Call 970-498-6990 or Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (1-884-264-5437)