Preschool Guidelines

Huntington Schools PRESCHOOL

Paths to Quality Level 3

Parent Booklet

 2019 - 2020

  Flint Springs Elementary School         Lincoln Elementary School    

          1360 E Tipton Street                               2037 E Taylor Street

          Huntington, IN 46750                            Huntington, IN 46750

        

         Principal: Mrs. Aimee Lunsford           Principal: Mr. Brady McClure

(260) 356-7612                                        (260) 356-2914  

(260) 356-2228 FAX                                (260) 356-2234 FAX

 

Preschool Coordinator: Laura Lahr



 



S-  Secure environment to develop social skills

A- Active in academics

F-  Family friendly

E-  Engaging and equipping minds, hearts and lives

 

A program of Huntington County Community School Corporation


 

WELCOME TO HUNTINGTON COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION PRESCHOOL

 

Huntington County Community School Corporation welcomes you to our preschool program at Flint Springs and Lincoln Elementary.  It is our mission that our preschool classrooms will be a place where your child will have a safe, friendly environment in which to develop literacy, academic readiness, social/emotional, and physical skills needed to succeed in future educational and life settings.

   

Huntington Schools Preschool Mission Statement

 

     S-   Secure environment to develop social skills

A-  Active in academics

F-   Family friendly

E-   Engaging and equipping minds, hearts and lives

 

Lifelong Guidelines

 

The preschool, along with Huntington County Community School Corporation, utilizes and reinforces these lifelong guidelines that are important virtues in life both within and beyond the school years.


  • Be Truthful
  • Be Trustworthy
  • Be An Active Listener
  • Do not use Put Downs
  • Do Your Personal Best

 

Life Skills

 

HCCSC also teaches all of these Life Skills that are important skills necessary for succeeding in life.  Preschool will focus on the four double starred (**) skills.

 

  • Integrity:  To act according to a sense of what’s right and wrong
  • Initiative:  To do something of one’s own free will, because it needs to be done
  • Flexibility:  To be willing to alter plans when necessary
  • Perseverance:  To keep at it
  • Organization:  To plan, arrange, and implement in an orderly way
  • Sense of Humor:  To laugh and be playful without harming others
  • **Effort:  To do your best
  • Common Sense:  To use good judgment
  • Problem-Solving:  To create solutions in difficult situations and everyday problems 
  • Responsibility:  To respond when appropriate, to be accountable for your actions 
  • **Patience:  To wait calmly for someone or something
  • Friendships:  To make and keep a friend through mutual trust and caring
  • Curiosity:  A desire to investigate and seek understanding of one’s world
  • **Cooperation:  To work together toward a common goal or purpose
  • **Caring:  To feel and show concern of others
  • Courage:  To act according to one’s beliefs
  • Pride:  To receive satisfaction from doing your personal best
  • Resourcefulness:  To use your common sense to solve situations

PARENT/STUDENT GENERAL INFORMATION 

School Calendar

Huntington Schools Preschool operates on the same calendar as Huntington County Community School Corporation.  Reminders of special events and vacation days will be highlighted in weekly newsletters.

Daily Schedule

 Huntington Schools Preschool has two daily sessions. 

Morning classes and Afternoon classes

 

Flint Springs:  AM – 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM       PM – 12:45 PM – 3:15 PM

 

Lincoln:  AM – 8:45 AM – 11:15 AM              PM – 1:15 PM – 3:45 PM

 

Our preschool students will attend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  

 

Our daily schedule incorporates the High Scope model and includes the following instructional blocks:

Greeting Time - A time to go over our day and introduce anything new

Planning Time - A way to focus on executive functioning skills and reasoning

Work Time - Where students learn through play and teachers watch for the authentic use of skills being taught

Clean Up Time - Students learn responsibility and how to take care of their own messes

Recall Time - A review time for students to reflect and use communication/language skills

Snack Time - A time to practice sharing, independent skills for serving and to incorporate language skills

Large Group Time - Songs are taught, stories are read, finger plays are memorized and acted out and new concepts are introduced


Small Group Time - Academic skills are taught and practiced and assessed

Outdoor Time - High scope model says, “There is no inappropriate weather, only inappropriate clothing.”  This time focuses on exploration and the world around us. We will go outside even if just for a few minutes on snowy and rainy days.  Be sure students have the appropriate clothing. When the temperature is too cold, we will stay indoors and do gross motor activities.

 

Two-Hour Delay Schedule 

Flint Springs morning classes will start at 11:00 AM and dismiss at 12:30 PM and afternoon classes will start at 1:45 and dismiss at 3:15 PM. 


Lincoln morning classes will start at 10:45 AM and dismiss at 12:15 PM and afternoon classes will start at 2:15 PM and dismiss at 3:45 PM. 


Closings 

When HCCSC closes due to inclement weather, the preschool classes will also be closed.

All information regarding school delays or cancellations will be available via the following:  (Please do not call your school. Phone lines will need to be kept open.)

 

Corporation Website ~ www.hccsc.k12.in.us

 

TV Stations ~ Channel 15, Channel 21 Alive, Channel 33

Radio Stations ~ WOWO (AM 1190), WAJI (FM 95.1), WBCL (FM 90.3), and WBTU (FM 93.3)

 

Power School Messenger - These are texts and phone calls that will come directly to you.  It is important that your phone number be kept up to date for these to go through.

 

Phone and Voicemail 

When calling Flint Springs Elementary to reach an HCCSC Preschool employee, there will be many occasions when the teachers will not be able to answer the phone.  You are more than welcome to leave a voicemail or dial “0” to speak to someone in the main office. If we are already on the phone, the voicemail will answer your call.  We check our voicemail numerous times throughout the day and try very hard to respond as soon as we have a free moment. It is our goal to return calls within a 24-hour period.

Birthdays 

In honor of your child’s birthday, you may send in a special treat.  The treats must be store bought.  Non-edible treats are also nice.  Some parents donate a toy or book to the child’s classroom in honor of the child’s birthday.  Please communicate with your child’s teacher to coordinate birthday treats as these will often be given in place of daily snack time.


Daily Snack 

We will be providing preschoolers with a snack each day and will provide these snacks through our food service department.  Snack fees are a part of your preschool tuition. Each day students will be offered two snack choices, one grain item and one fruit or vegetable item.  Our students will be having water with their snack daily. The snack is small and not meant to replace a meal so please remember that your child should eat breakfast or lunch before coming to school.  Please make sure Info Snap is up to date with any allergies your child has due to daily snack time.

 Cupcakes, cookies, pudding, and donuts may be sent for birthday treats only.


School Pictures

An opportunity for your child to have a school picture taken during the fall and the spring is available.  Additional information will be sent home when the dates approach.


Student Tuition and Fees (per child) 

Preschool tuition is $150.00 per month, per child. Children receiving special education services attend free of charge. Each family will be given a personal tuition agreement at registration.

 

Fee agreements are to be signed and returned to school upon registration. Payments begin in September and end in May. Payment is due on the 10th of each month.

If tuition is paid by the semester, payments are due by September 10th and January 10th of each school year.

 

Payment envelopes will be sent home each month in the communication folder.

Payment is made to Huntington Schools Preschool and tracked by the school secretary. In the case that a tuition payment is missed, the secretary will send home a reminder with students or make a parent phone call.  Families with outstanding balances will be contacted to bring their accounts to good standing. Failure to bring accounts to good standing can result in dismissal of students from our program and possible referral to collections. 


  

Parent Provided Supplies 

Each child should bring the following supplies to Huntington Schools Preschool:

 

  1. A package of diapers/pull ups and wipes (If your child is not potty trained)
  2. A change of clothes in a gallon size Ziploc bag LABELED with your child’s name (pants, shirt, underwear and socks)
  3. Regular sized (not small) book bag large enough to fit a notebook and a folder inside
  4. Notebook for communication between home and school
  5. A 2-pocket folder
  6. One box 8 ct. Crayola large WASHABLE markers (boys only)
  7. One box 8 ct. Crayola large WASHABLE crayons (girls only)
  8. 2 ct. My First Ticonderoga pencils
  9. 1 bottle Elmer’s washable liquid school glue
  10. 2 Elmer’s Glue Sticks
  11. One box gallon storage bags (boys only)
  12. One box quart storage bags (girls only)
  13. One box of Kleenex (girls only)
  14. One 19 oz. bottle of dish soap (boys only)

Clothing

Our preschool children participate in a variety of “hands-on” activities, many of which are messy.  We urge you to dress your child in comfortable, WASHABLE clothing. Outdoor play is included in our schedule.  NO FLIP FLOPS PLEASE! The High Scope model encourages a daily dose of Vitamin D, so we will go out even when the temperature is chilly.  The High Scope motto is, “There is no inappropriate weather, only inappropriate clothing.” Please make sure your child has adequate clothing for cold temps including hats, gloves, scarves, boots and warm coats.  We encourage you to write your child’s name on all outerwear.


Please send in a spare change of clothing in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag labeled with your child’s name to keep at school.  Please include socks, underwear, pants and a shirt. Soiled clothing will be sent home in a plastic bag. A fresh set of clothing will need to be sent in to school the next day.

 

ATTENDANCE AND MEDICAL INFORMATION 

Attendance and Tardies

Good attendance is essential to future school and life success.  Attendance is the responsibility of the parent or guardian. The HCCSC Elementary Handbook specifically states the following about attendance; “The school corporation considers the development of good attendance habits as a vital and desirable undertaking for two essential reasons.  First, it is difficult for young people to learn if they are not in class: the teaching – learning process builds upon itself. Secondly, research shows that educational achievement is directly related to attendance. “If your child will be absent please call the school secretary to inform us of this.  If your child will be absent and we transport them to school, you will need to call transportation (358-2217) as well as your school.”  

The state law allows each student 10 absences per school year (excluding exempt days) that the parent can manage.  We will follow this practice in 2019-2020.  Exempt absences include; “doctor or dental appointments verified by a physician or dentist”.  See pages 7 and 8 in the Elementary Handbook for the entire attendance policy.

 

Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) ~ If a student misses more than 3 days in a month without a parent or guardian contacting the preschool, a case conference may be convened to consider whether or not HCCSC Preschool is the best placement for a student.

 

A Note from Mrs. Eppard or Mrs. Berry, Clinic Assistants

When your child is home sick with a contagious disease such as:  strep throat, bronchitis, pink eye, etc., please call to inform the preschool staff immediately.   The staff can then take precautions to prevent the spread of the disease and will be aware of the symptoms to watch for in other children.


Anytime your child has any of the following please do not send them to school.

1. Temperature above 100 degrees;

2. Vomiting or diarrhea;

3. Extreme sore throat (difficult to swallow) and/or extreme headache;

4. Excessive coughing

These are all signs of acute illness and can be passed on to other children or adults.  Please keep your child home until he or she is fever free for 24 hours AFTER they no longer show symptoms.  They should be able to keep food and liquids down for 24 hours without throwing up or having diarrhea.

 

Children with skin conditions such as impetigo, scabies and ringworm cannot come to school until treatment is completed.  Please notify the preschool staff immediately so they can watch for symptoms in other children. If your child has an undiagnosed rash, please do not send them to school until the rash is gone or you have a doctor’s note stating the cause of the rash and that your child is not contagious.

 

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping your child’s teachers informed about your child’s health. By working together, we can keep your children healthy.  Healthy children can be good learners and develop to their full potential!


Entrance Requirements/Health Responsibilities 

The following information is required for each student:

·       Emergency Information Form

·       Copy of Birth Certificate (the official county Birth Certificate)

·       Copy of Immunization Records

·       Health History

These forms must be on file when your child starts school.  Children without the proper documents, will not be allowed to begin preschool classes per Indiana Law.


Immunizations

Indiana state law requires the following immunizations as minimum requirements for preschool children three to five years of age.

·   Four (4) DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis)

·   Three (3) Polio (Inactivated Polio)

·   One (1) MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella)

·   Three (3) Hep B (Hepatitis B)

·   One (1) Varicella (Chicken Pox)

Medication 

The permission for medication form must be provided for each medication a child takes at school. This form is to be maintained at the school by the clinic assistant.  Medication must be delivered to the school by the parent.  No medication should be sent to the school with the child.

 

PRESCHOOL PROGRAMMING 

General Education Eligibility

Children must be 3 or 4 years old by September 1st to coincide with the public school birthdate requirements.

Special Education Eligibility 

Children, beginning at age 3 until school age (age 5 by September 1st), with an eligibility can receive services at Huntington Schools Preschool or at their homeschool.


High Scope Model 

Huntington Schools Preschool follows the High Scope Model of instruction.  This model is based on five components of learning including; Active Learning, Adult-Child Interaction, Daily Routine, Learning Environment and Assessment.  Active Learning is at the root of this model. Students are tested through the use of our preschool screening assessment which is in alignment with Indiana Department of Education’s Preschool Foundation Standards.
 

TRANSPORTATION 

Field Trips/Parties/Special Events

Field trips may be planned throughout the year, although more often than not, outside learning opportunities are brought to the school for our pre-k kids.  Any dates of anticipated outings or learning guests will be promoted via your child’s classroom newsletter. Parents participating in a trip or guest experience must have a completed volunteer release form on file.  These can take a few weeks to complete so individuals must plan accordingly.

 

Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

Drop-off  - Please follow our curb club procedures (see separate Curb Club page).

 

If you will be arriving late, please enter door #1 with your preschooler and sign them in.  PLEASE do not drop your child off without accompanying them into the building.

 

Early Drop-off -  No early drop-offs PLEASE as we do not have adequate adult supervision for preschoolers who are dropped off early.

 

Pick-up - Again, please follow our curb club procedures (see separate Curb Club page).  If you need to pick your child up early, please inform us beforehand if possible.  Enter door number #1 and check in with our school secretary.

 

Seat Belts – At dismissal, teachers will load students following the Indiana Car Seat Laws:  A child less than eight (8) years of age must be properly fastened and restrained in an approved child restraint seat.  Children must be properly fastened and restrained by a child passenger restraint system or safety belt and preferred seating is in the back seat of the vehicle away from air bags.  If these Indiana laws are not followed, a parent may be asked to pull around to load a child themselves.

 

EMERGENCY INSTRUCTIONS 

Fire - A plan is posted in each room in case of fire and regular practices are conducted.  Preschool staff and additional office staff assist in directing the children to a safe place outside the building.

 

Tornado – When the tornado drill is signaled, students will move from the room quickly, quietly and in single file to an assigned area.  In this assigned area, students will face the wall in a kneeling position with their arms covering their heads. Everyone is to stay away from the window and doors.

 

Lockdown and Intruder – The students will practice lockdown and intruder procedures at various times of the year.



PARENT/TEACHER INTERACTIONS 

Adult Volunteers

Parents are always welcome to come and visit our classrooms.  In accordance with our Paths to Quality certification, we welcome parents to come in to visit our classrooms.  Please speak with your child’s teacher if you would like to come in to visit or volunteer.

 

All parent volunteers (whether just visiting or to work in the classroom) must have a completed limited criminal history report on file in our office.  This volunteer release form can be obtained in our school office. There is one included in all preschool registration packets as well.


Communication

Home/School Connection Folders

One of the most important tools for success in school is communication between home and school.  Your child will be bringing home a notebook and a folder in their backpack that he/she will be responsible for EVERYDAY.  It is an organized way for us to communicate with each other on a daily basis. Please use the notebooks to write any notes back and forth to the preschool staff.  The folder will have any important papers to send home. One side will be labeled ‘Leave at Home’ and the other side will be labeled ‘Return to School’. If you have papers or notes, they should be sent to school in the notebook or folder.  Please look through both the notebook and folder each day your child comes home from school. Encourage responsibility and organization so the notebook and folder make it home and back to school every day. Make it a daily routine. This is a wonderful time to look at your child’s work and talk about his/her day. 


Student Performance

In order to track the progress of the students in Huntington Schools Preschool, the children will be participating in the following testing procedures:


·       Preschool Screening Assessment

·       MyIGDIs (early literacy screening tool)

·       ISTAR-KR checklist (for Identified Students only)

                    

The curriculum is based on the Indiana Foundations for Young Children from Birth to Age 5.  Curriculum goals and objectives align with the Foundation’s standards in English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Emotional, Physical Development, Personal Care, Science, Social Studies and Fine Arts.  The Foundations are not a comprehensive list of skills that a particular child must exhibit; rather, they serve as a guide for educators to use in assisting young learners gain knowledge and skills in the early years that will prepare them for success in school. Your child’s progress with these standards will be relayed to you through quarterly KDI reports. KDI stands for Key Development Indicators and align with the Foundations Standards as indicated through the Indiana Department of Education.

 

Progress monitoring is ongoing and you will receive updates during parent-teacher conferences.  Also, for our identified students, a computer program called ISTAR-KR will be used to monitor your child’s progress.  This assessment is completed upon entrance to the program, during their birthday month, and when exiting the program. The ISTAR-KR assessment rating instrument demonstrates a strong early childhood system for Indiana early childhood education programs to prepare young children for kindergarten.  


Conferences 


Preschool students will take part in parent teacher conferences in October following the same early release schedule as the public school students.  Schedules will be sent home to parents in September to schedule these sit down conferences. At any time that a parent or teacher has concerns to discuss, phone calls or additional conferences will be scheduled.

 

How Parents Can Help


As parents, you have been responsible for the early teaching of your child.  Although he or she is now ready to attend preschool, you will still be the most important teacher in your child’s life.  Here are some ways you can help your child be successful at school.

  • Establish good attendance habits.
  • Attend individual and group conferences as often as you can.
  • Read and answer all notes from the school.  Often these will be in your child’s notebook.
  • Give help to your preschooler by:
    • Promoting good health and safety habits
    • Provide nutritious meals
    • Assure they get 9-11 hours of sleep each night
    • Encourage your child for things well done or new tasks attempted
    • Talk about everyday experiences with your child in simple conversation
    • Plan family activities
    • Watch children’s TV shows with your child and limit TV and device use
    • Limit adult shows on TV
    • Provide materials for cutting, coloring and building
    • Teach your child to help with his/her toileting needs, dressing themselves and begin the process of putting toys away
    • Attend and participate in parent meetings
    • Volunteer in your child’s classroom


Huntington School’s Preschool

Special Needs Policy


Huntington School’s Preschool is a program of the Huntington County Community School Corporation and our Special Services Department.  As such, at least 50 percent of our preschool students attending have had an Early Childhood Evaluation performed and qualify for Special Services under Article VII and Special Services Law.  Consequently, we serve children ages 3 through 5 who have been identified with one or more of the following eligibility areas; Autism Spectrum Disorder, Blind or Low Vision, Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Developmental Delay, Language Speech Impairment, Other Health Impaired, Orthopedic Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury.  Our other preschoolers attending our program are typically developing peers.


All student’s physical, social and emotional needs are addressed and provided for in our program.  All of our identified special needs students also have an Individualized Education Plan that is followed by each student’s teacher and any additional support staff.


Indiana law now requires early childhood education programs that are eligible to accept Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers to have a suspension and expulsion policy.  Although the Huntington Schools Preschool program does not accept CCDF vouchers, we fall under this requirement. Our Suspension and Expulsion Policy is below.

Huntington School’s Preschool

Suspension and Expulsion Policy


1.     Our teachers provide a purposeful engaging environment that represents and supports cultural diversity and the different stages of child development by creating lesson plans that incorporate culturally diverse toys, books, and posted artwork in each classroom.

2.     Our classroom environments encourage each student’s sense of self, assists with self-regulation, provides supports for learning conflict resolution and relationship building.  We do all of these by displaying and teaching students the names of feelings and emotions and by encouraging them to use the words for their feelings and emotions and by using kind hands.

3.     We support positive interactions with others in group settings by teaching and using the Zones of Regulation.

4.     Our preschool program has a team of experienced staff members including our building Principal, Early Childhood Coordinator, Speech Language Pathologist, Speech Language Assistants, Licensed Teachers, and paraprofessionals who work as a team to consistently provide, teach and model positive interventions ensuring the social/emotional and behavioral development of our student’s needs are being met at their individual developmental levels.  Additionally we have coaches from Child Care Resource and Referral for our Paths to Quality Accreditation to call upon as needed.

5.     The process for engaging in prompt family collaboration regarding a student’s behavior will occur after a student’s behavior has continued or become excessive and either the student’s safety or the safety of others is a concern.  This collaboration includes the sharing of solutions that have worked at home or in other settings.

6.     Other ways we support our preschool families is by communicating support services and agencies via our Classroom Newsletters and Facebook pages.  This information can include but is not limited to;

A.     Support to address challenging behaviors

B.     Early Childhood mental health consultations

C.    First Steps interventions

D.    Preschool Special Education

7.     All staff complete professional development pertaining to implicit bias and being able to distinguish between what are concerning behaviors and what are developmentally appropriate behaviors.

8.     Prior to a student’s behaviors becoming so challenging that a suspension or expulsion might be considered, the preschool staff will formally meet to create a Functional Behavior Assessment and a Behavior Intervention Plan.  The Behavior Intervention Plan will be implemented and revisited regularly and modifications will be made until behaviors improve to the degree that a formal plan is no longer needed.

9.     Although positive behavioral supports are used on a daily basis, exclusionary processes may be used in order to keep all children safe.


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