After School Child Care

Thank you all for a great first month and a half of partnering together in the after school program. It's been wonderful getting to know your children at each of the schools, and we are looking forward to a great rest of the year.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and have a fabulous rest of the month.

Please note that we will not have after school child care on the days when there is no school. This includes holidays, snow days and Gaylord Community Schools Professional Development days. So on Friday, October 30th and Monday, Nov. 2nd, we will not be having school or our after school child care program. Those are school Professional Development days.

The September bills were emailed to everyone on October 6th, and payments are due in full by today, October 20th or a $10 late fee will be applied to your balance. If your child’s bill is not paid off in full by October 31st, your child will no longer be able to attend our program starting on November 3rd. This will be strictly enforced. For your convenience, we recommend that everyone sign up with MyProcare.com in order to pay online and to connect to our program. Credit card, cash, or check payments can also be made in the Board office from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Please be sure to send your child to the after school program in weather-appropriate clothes, as they do go out every day if it's not raining. They should have a coat, a hat, gloves, and closed shoes at this time of the year.

• Please be sure to let your child's school know if you need to make any changes to their after school schedule. This includes starting them in our program or changing their days of attendance.
• Students remain in their respective buildings (Gaylord Intermediate School, North Ohio Elementary School, South Maple Elementary School and the Early Childhood Center) for the After School Care program.
• The cost is $8 per day for each day that your child attends the program.
• We keep our buildings locked at all times for your child's safety. Parents must enter the front doors of NOE & SME, the Gym doors on the west side of GIS, and the door to the Registrar’s office at the ECC to sign out your child, and we will be checking identification and cross-referencing the emergency cards before releasing the children. Keeping the doors closed/locked is for the children's safety.
• We provide a daily snack and a drink for all children. Our program is a nut free zone. If your child has a gluten or dairy allergy or if they require a special snack, we need you to complete a form in order for GCS Food Services to process this special request. If your child requires an Epi-Pen, we need a copy of the GCS permission form with the Epi-Pen when you bring it to our office.
• The latest pickup time will be at 5:15 p.m. for all of the students. We will charge a $10 late fee for late pickups of your child. Please note that consistently late pick-ups may result in removal from the program.
• If you need to get ahold of our staff after the school offices have closed, please call SME at 989-619-0590, NOE at 989-619-5068, GIS at 989-619-4593, and ECC at 989-370-4046.
  

Children will be expected to follow the “BEE RULES,” which are BE RESPONSIBLE, BE RESPECTFUL, AND BE SAFE. School personnel will organize space and materials to avoid unnecessary confrontations, and they will give children ample opportunities to practice social skills through spontaneous interaction with peers and adults. Staff members will also give children cues about which behaviors to maintain or avoid and which alternative behaviors may be more successful using a variety of positive guidance techniques. If this is not successful and a child should fail to adjust to a group situation, the following steps will occur:

• STEP ONE - A verbal warning will be issued regarding the specific behavior or offense.
• STEP TWO - The child will be removed and sent to a quiet, supervised room for a period of time to regain control. The director or site coordinator will discuss what happened, and what steps to take with the child, so that they may go back to the program.
• STEP THREE - A note will be sent home to the parent/guardian, regarding the nature of the offending behavior.
• STEP FOUR - Parent/Guardian must meet with the Program Director to discuss the offense and come up with possible solutions to prevent any further inappropriate behavior.
• STEP FIVE - The child will be suspended from the program for one day.

Any further unacceptable behavior will result in added suspension days, finally resulting in termination from the program. The actions outlined in the policy are used as a general guideline for student behavior and consequences; however, the administration reserves the right to modify consequences in individual cases where the situation warrants.

Here are a few other important reminders--please let me know if you have any phone or address changes, or if there are any changes to your child's after school schedule. No snacks (because of allergies) or toys from home are allowed to come out of the children's backpacks here in our After School Child Care program, as we don't want any items disappearing or getting lost.

https://files-backend.assets.thrillshare.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/5524/Gcs/c7d1436d-5f01-495c-bd6b-cb3bc3509859/26-27-After-School-Child-Care-Program-Handbook.pdf?disposition=inline

Karla Hawkins

Director of Licensed Programs for Gaylord Community Schools
GCS | 615 S. Elm Ave., Gaylord, MI 49735
P: 989.705.3018 | F: 989.732.6029

hawkinsk@gaylord.k12.mi.us
www.gaylordschools.com