MEDFIELD CHILDREN’S CENTER ON SOUTH STREET
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1.
How long has the Center been in business? Since
1982.
2. Does the Center have any certifications or accreditations? We are certified by the Department of Early Education and Care (formerly OCCS).
3. What are your hours? 7:30 am-6:00 pm with our educational program occurring at 9:00 am – 11:30 am.
4.
What is your holiday
schedule?
We take off all major holidays, and are closed for
two weeks during the summer, the last week of July
and the first week of August. We
are also closed when the ENTIRE Medfield school system is closed due to
inclement weather.
5.
How flexible are pickup and drop-off times? When
you enter the Center, you chose both drop-off (9:00am at the latest) and
pick-up (6:00pm
at the latest) times. With
advanced notice, we generally are able to accommodate requests, as long as
enough staffing is available.
6.
What are your fees, and when does billing occur? Please refer to your application packet as it
varies depending on the program your child is enrolled in.
7.
Is there a late pick-up fee?
$2.00/minute after 6:00.
If you are continually late before then, you will be charged at the hourly
rate.
8.
Do you encourage visits from parents? Parents
may visit MCC as often as they would like.
9.
What do you
expect from me as a parent?
We expect open communication between MCC and our
families. We feel as though we all
work
together to provide the best experience possible for the children.
10. What are the staff’s credentials and training? Each classroom teacher is certified by the Department of Early Education and Care (formerly OCCS) as a preschool teacher. Also, we are all certified yearly in CPR and every 3 years in First Aid. We do monthly readings and attend monthly meetings on pertinent topics in Early Childhood Education.
11.
What
is staff turnover like? We
have staff that has been here as long as 20 years!
The average stay this year is over 8 years. This includes two new staff members who are just starting out with us this year.
We are very proud
that
our turnover rate is unusually low.
12.
How
do you screen staff? The
Director does an initial interview with the candidate, then a working interview.
The interviewee spends the
morning with a group of children, observed by the Director and other
staff members. It is important for us to get a good teacher, and also a
good co-worker. References
are carefully checked also.
13.
How
are the children grouped? The
children are placed into groups by age, using August 31st as the cut-off
date because that is Medfield’s cut-off
date for Kindergarten.
14.
What
is the teacher-child ratio? Toddlers:
1 to 4, 2.9 years and older: 1 to 10. We
have a non-teaching Director onsite Monday through Friday and a teacher's assistant on
Monday through Friday. All float as needed.
15.
What
is your educational philosophy? We
operate a “traditional” preschool in that we celebrate all birthdays, holidays and special events (i.e.
Fire Prevention Week). We do a nice
mix of teacher directed and child directed activities.
16.
How
do you discipline a child? We
redirect a child 2 times and if the
child is still upset or not able to settle down, he or she is asked to sit in a
chair for a few minutes of time out.
If the child after this is still unable to join the group, he or she may
be asked to go to the Director’s office so
as not to distract the rest of the children in the class.
17.
How
do you comfort a child? We
give lots of hugs and kisses. We
sit them in our laps and gently talk to the child who is upset.
18.
What will my child be doing on any given day? All
children attend our educational program from 9:00-11:30.
During this time the child will do an
art project based on the theme of the week.
Our daily schedule
is flexibly structured to include Circle Time, Free
Play Time, Cleanup Time, Story
Time, Snack Time and Outdoor Play Time (weather permitting).
19. What about extra curricular activities? We do not go on any riding field trips. We may walk to the Medfield Public Library with prior permission. We do have outside people come to our Center. Our PreK attends a presentation from the Audubon society once a month for a nature presentation. Our Nursery classes benefit from having Miss Elaine Kessler come once a month to do a Music and Movement Program. Also, a company called ComputerTots comes in one day a week to do a computer class with those children who sign up to attend for a nominal fee. In addition, Miss Lorraine, a dental hygienist from Walpole, has been educating the children on oral hygiene for over 10 years. For special events such as Fire Prevention week, we may bring in a Fire Fighter or Smokey the Bear to educate the children on fire safety. Parents with special vocations are always welcome to share their knowledge.
20. What
role, if any does television have at the Center?
On Friday afternoons, during Rest Time, the
children are permitted to bring in a VHS or DVD movie (G) from home to
watch. This will occur from
12:30-2:30.
21. Do
staff members wash their hands after diapering and feeding? Yes,
we have an entire diapering procedure (posted) that we very carefully follow
each time.
22. Do
you have sign-in and sign-out sheets? Yes, we have our daily attendance book
that the teachers keep. The parents
are not required to sign in or out.
23. Are
the doors secure so that strangers cannot just walk in?
Due to the fact that we are in a church, we cannot lock all the
doors because parishioners need access
to the church office. The only way to enter the building is from the maroon doors on route 109. You may exit from any of the doors on our building. Our
teachers are very diligent in watching at all times who comes in and out of the
building.
24. What
is your sick policy? We do
not allow sick children to attend school.
In the
Parent
Handbook, there is a fairly extensive “exclusion” policy that we strictly adhere to.
25. Do
you have a safe enclosed outside play area?
Yes, we have a wonderful fenced-in outside play
area. If at all possible, we
station one teacher at the gate when children are playing in the
yard.
26. How often are toys cleaned and replaced? There is no set schedule. This is done on an as-needed basis. If a toy has been in a child’s mouth, it is cleaned. If a class has a few children with "pink-eye" (for example) all the toys will be cleaned.
27. Do
you provide lunch? The
children bring in their own lunches. We
neither heat nor refrigerate lunches. We
ask that you do not send in candy, and do
send in spoons, forks, or straws as needed.
28. Do
you provide snack? We
provide morning and afternoon snacks. It
could be crackers or microwave popcorn to give some examples.
Our snack schedule is posted. We
also provide 100% juice or water, whichever your child prefers.
29. Where do the children rest? The Nursery children rest in sleeping bags in their classroom from 12:30 pm-2:30 pm. The Pre-K children and Kindergarteners rest for 1 hour on towels in the big hall from about 12:30 pm-1:30 pm.
30. Are you peanut-free? No, our school is not but we offer peanut-free tables. Those children who may be allergic to any type of food are asked to provide their own daily snacks.