All the info you could want about Little Miracles!
Statement of Non-Discrimination
Little Miracles admits students regardless of race, color, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of the school. Little Miracles reserves the right to select students based on academic performance, religious commitment, and personal qualifications, including a willingness to cooperate with the school and to abide by its policies.
Facility Hours
Little Miracles Learning Center has many different programs that serve the families of the community, offering a half day preschool, full-day Kindergarten, full-time daycare, and extended care program. We take ages starting at 6 weeks to 12 years.
Our facility opens at 7:00 am and closes at 6:00 pm Monday-Friday.
We try to remain open most of the year for those parents that work, but any closed days will be known in advance. If Little Miracles is closed or needs to open late due to inclement weather, you will be notified on the Brightwheel app. All children that attend the half-day preschool or the full- time daycare will participate in our preschool session from 9:00 am – 12:15 pm. Those attending full-day will continue on for lunch at 12:15 when the preschool program is concluded. We ask that all parents be respectful of the facility hours. There is a late fee charged for late pick-ups at the end of the day. The late charge for daycare or extended care pick-up begins at 6:01pm and is $1.00 per minute after that per child. An additional $25 on top of the $1 per minute will be added every 15 minutes after 6:30 pm. Please keep in mind that our staff members have families to get home to and we all appreciate prompt pick-ups.
*Phone calls to notify of late arrival will not exempt a late fee charge. Accounts will be billed accordingly.
For the safety of your child(ren), parents are asked to sign their student out at pick-up each day. This helps us especially during the busiest pick-up times in the afternoon. Thank you!
To prevent unnecessary accidents, parents are asked to accompany their child(ren) from vehicle to facility and facility to vehicle. Do not allow your child the freedom to run or roam the building or parking lot. Little Miracles will not be held liable for accidents, incidents, or injuries that may occur to children who are not under the care of Little Miracles staff. When children are released from the class to parents/guardians, they are no longer under the care of the LM staff.
Daily Schedule
7:00-8:00 Drop Off
8:00-8:45 Free Play
9:00 – PreK and Kindergarten to class
9:00-9:45 Circle Time
9:45-10:00 Wash up/Snack
10:00-12:00 Classes/Crafts/Recess
12:00-12:15 Circle Time
12:15 – PreK ends
12:15-12:45 Lunch
12:45-3:00 Rest Time
3:00 Kindergarten Ends
3:00-3:15 Story Time
3:15-3:30 Snack Time
3:30-4:00 Outdoor Play
4:00-5:00 Free Play
5:00-5:15 Story Time
5:15-6:00 Free Play (indoor/outdoor)
Enrollment Procedures
Parents may pick up child care applications and forms from the facility during regular hours (7:00 am to 6:00 pm). Upon confirmation of enrollment into the program, the $50 registration fee ($100 fee for kindergarten students) and the first month’s tuition will be due. The registration fee and 1st month’s tuition is nonrefundable and will serve as a security deposit to secure a child’s space in our facility.
Parents are required to sign a Parent Handbook agreement stating they have read and agree with all policies and regulations in our handbook. Parents must also submit a current immunization report if not listed in the state database (IRIS) no later than the first day of enrollment. Immunization reports are required as the child receives updates. It is the responsibility of the parent to report to the Director any change of address, telephone numbers (home or work), employment, emergency contact person, and/or medical information.
Re-enrollment fee of $50 is charged when a child is dropped from the program by the parent or facility and re-enrolled at any given time within the same year. Also, a child will be dropped from the program if a child has missed 30 consecutive days with no communication. If parents wish to continue services, and if the slot is still available, the $50 re-enrollment will be requested upon entering the program.
Ensuring Quality Care
*WE ARE A PEANUT FREE FACILITY*
For the safety of all our students, please do not send any form of peanuts (including peanut butter and peanut oil) with your child. This will require parents to check labels to become familiar with where peanuts hide. Any treats that are sent to school for a child’s birthday or other occasion must be prepackaged and not contain any form of peanuts. Please contact the Director with any questions you might have regarding our peanut-free facility!
Items Needed From Home
For 6 weeks to 18 months, parents will need to provide the following:
• Formula and/or breastmilk
• Bottles with the appropriate nipple size (Please make sure your child is feeding comfortably with the bottle and nipple size that you send BEFORE you send them with your child.)
• Baby food that your child enjoys and that is age-appropriate (Please do NOT send any food that you have not already tested with your baby. We will NOT introduce new foods to your baby at the facility.)
• Diapers
• Special wipes (we provide Costco brand wipes)
• Special diaper creams (we have Aquaphor and Desitin)
• Pacifiers
• A sample schedule that your child is accustomed to following (including feeding and sleeping times)
• 2 sets of seasonal changing clothes
• Any other special notes on care specific to your child LM staff will let you know when you are running low on any of the above consumable items.
For 18 months to 5 years of age, parents will need to provide breakfast for children brought in between 7:00 am to 8:30 am. Parents will also need to provide a lunch and extra snacks in lunchbox for 5:00 pm snack time. Staff will provide a 10:00 am and a 3:30 pm snack. If your child has special dietary restrictions, we welcome you to send extra snacks that we can hold for them. We do our best to provide snacks that allow for restrictions, but it is helpful to have extra choices that we know will work for your child.
Parents are also responsible for providing the following items:
• Small blanket for nappers
• Diapers and/or pull ups (staff will let you know when running low)
• Special wipes (we provide Costco brand wipes)
• 2 sets of seasonal changing clothes – (include socks and under clothes)
• Any special notes on care specific to your child
Note: When potty training begins, please dress children in clothes that will help increase independence of this new skill. Clothes to avoid: overalls, onesies, jumpers, and body shirts.
*Personal toys and money should not be brought to the facility!
Snack Fee
To help offset the costs of our snacks throughout the school year, families will be billed for each of our 3 terms (or as many as your child attends) at the start of each trimester. Billing for these terms will be sent in September, February, and June. Full time students will be charged $50 per term and part-time students will be charged $25 per term. (Part-time is defined here as 5 snacks or less per week.)
Special Circumstances
We would appreciate your letting us know of any significant changes in living arrangements or other circumstances in your home. Our knowing will allow us to better assist your child in dealing with these changes. If there is a change in custody, we need court documentation on file so we can adhere to such orders.
Attendance Policy
We understand that children miss days due to vacations or illness, but in order to pay our staff, we do not pro-rate sick days. We also are unable to make up days missed because we want to keep our student-to-teacher numbers at the required daily ratio. We will allow one vacation week a school year as long as the Director is given a two week’s notice. This is reflected as a 25% discount given for the month of the vacation. Only one week vacation per calendar year is allowed (January to December). Other than that, the monthly payment stays the same unless otherwise stated.
Please let us know as soon as possible if your child will be absent for any reason. This helps us keep careful track of each student daily.
** Summer is more flexible as we understand that families travel often during the summer months. Please communicate your vacation plans with the Director during the summer months to see if they can be prorated.
If a child does not come for 30 consecutive days without communication, he/she will be dropped from the program.
If a family decides to withdraw from the program, two weeks’ notice is required. Any parent failing to do so will be charged their normal tuition rate regardless if the child attends the remainder of the scheduled days or decides to leave early. All balances will be sent to collections after 90 days of the last day the child attends the program.
Scheduled Closures
The facility will be closed on the following days at least, and a specific yearly schedule will be printed at the start of each school year:
| New Year’s Day (January) | 1 Day |
| Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January) | 1 Day |
| President’s Day (February) | 1 Day |
| Good Friday | 1 Day |
| Memorial Day (May) | 1 Day |
| Independence Day | 5 Days |
| Labor Day (September) | 1 Day |
| Veteran’s Day (November) | 1 Day |
| Thanksgiving (November) | 2 Days |
| Christmas (December) | 2 or 3 Days (depending on where the dates land) |
| New Year’s Eve (December) | 1 Day |
We follow West Ada’s school calendar during the school year to keep sibling’s schedules the same. Please add our yearly calendar dates (included in your enrollment packet) to your personal calendar as soon as possible.
If the Wes-Ada school district calls a SNOW DAY, you will receive a message via Brightwheel by 6:30am to let you know. We will cancel our school classes, but remain open for our daycare students. (Daycare students are those that stay beyond regular school hours on that particular day). Unfortunately we will not be able to take in non-enrolled daycare siblings on these days.
*Again, we do not pro-rate sick days or closure days. This includes scheduled holidays that we are closed. We also do not have make up days or roll over days. The contracted monthly payment stays the same.
Termination Policy
Care for your child may terminate if the child (or parent) is a threat to themselves or others, if the child (or parent) exhibits dangerous, harassing, or inappropriate behaviors, if tuition payments are routinely late or not being made, or if a child is not adjusting or if their needs cannot be met by the LM staff. These situations are always unfortunate, and we want you to know that we will do whatever possible to work with each situation in a healthy and appropriate manner. Please adhere to all policies outlined in the parent handbook, and we will do what we can to make your child’s experience at Little Miracles successful.
Sick Policy
At Little Miracles, we value the health and safety of our children and staff. If your child is sick, please leave them at home. If a child becomes sick while at school, we will call and ask that you come pick up the child within a one-hour period. Staff will use their best judgement when evaluating children. Little Miracles reserves the right to make the final determination of exclusion due to illness.
If a child has the following:
- a temperature of 100.5º or higher
- diarrhea
- vomiting
- discharge from ears/eyes, or signs of pink eye (including red sclera [whites of their eyes])
- head lice
- unexplainable rash
parents will be contacted immediately. If there is a serious injury and/or medical problem, the parent and/or the first responders may be contacted for assistance.
We understand that there may be underlying conditions for some children, so we will try to be flexible, but it is our goal to keep everyone healthy. If your child does come down with a fever, we ask that they remain home and fever free without fever reducing medication for 24 hours before returning to school. We also ask that children that are vomiting or having diarrhea are home showing zero symptoms for 24 hours before their return. This also includes pink eye. We ask that your child be “gunk free” for 24 hours before returning. We understand that this is difficult for our working parents, but it is also difficult when other students and staff members become sick. Please be respectful of the other children, their families, and the staff by keeping sick children home. Thank you for your help with this!
Since we do not have a nurse on staff, we will not be responsible to administer any medication other than Tylenol, ibuprofen, or Benadryl. We must have a signed and dated Medication Authorization form on file, which is included in your application packet. We will not administer any medication without your knowledge and approval at the time — even with an informed consent on file. You will always be contacted first.
According to Idaho Department of Health and Human Services, we are unable to accept a child with a diagnosed communicable disease (measles, mumps, chickenpox, etc.) or obvious acute illness. Therefore, please do not send your child to the facility when he/she is sick or has signs of a possible contagious disease. If your child has a communicable disease, please keep him/her home until the symptoms have subsided and has a doctor’s release.
*Most staff members are first aid and CPR certified.
Toilet Training
We want to help your child be successful during this transitional time. Communication is key: please discuss your potty-training schedules with your child’s teacher to determine the best course of action at school.
A child is considered completely toilet trained (urination and bowel movements) when he/she no longer wears diapers or pull-ups and is able to:
- anticipate the urge to use the toilet
- communicate the need to their teachers
- control the urge and get to the toilet on time
- pull up and down his/her pants
- use the toilet
- clean themselves and wash their hands
Children must wear pull-ups or protective underpants until they have been consistent at school for 2 weeks (no accidents). This is to ensure health/sanitation in the classroom. After your child is completely potty-trained according to the above guidelines and accident free for 2 weeks, their tuition rate will be reduced to reflect the potty-trained rate.
Child Abuse and Neglect
All adults in the state of Idaho are mandatory child abuse reporters. This includes our staff. Suspected cases of child abuse or neglect will be reported to the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare: 208-334-5437.
Discipline Policy
A peaceful classroom is one where a child feels safe and can trust that their safety is upheld. It also helps children feel responsible and capable of expressing their ideas and promotes mutual respect and interdependence that can develop skills for living and participating in a community.
Discipline is not synonymous with punishment. Effective discipline establishes healthy and safe boundaries and allows children to flourish! We do our best through positive management techniques to prevent negative behavior issues as well as to handle conflict.
We endeavor to use the following preventative and intervention measures:
- Redirection, anticipation of, and elimination of potential problems, positive reinforcement, appropriate alternatives, encouragement, and praise.
- “Time-Outs” when appropriate for misbehavior; child is removed from the group for one minute per year of age.
- Friendly, positive, and courteous language used to navigate a struggle; we refrain from using humiliating, frightening, or harsh language with students.
- Establish clear, consistent rules for children.
If a child continues to cause conflict that threatens their safety or that of another child in the classroom, the child will then be asked to sit out to calm down. This gives them time to regroup so they can rejoin the activities in a positive manner.
If excess threats of safety to either the children or the classroom continue, the following steps will be taken:
- Teacher and Director meet to determine a plan of action.
- Director facilitates a conference with parents and teachers.
- Parent input is taken and a plan of action is determined.
- Plan of action is implemented.
- Plan of action, process, and effectiveness is reviewed frequently.
If the actions taken are deemed to be ineffective, a parent conference will be held to discuss appropriate placement of the child.
Parent Questions or Concerns
We understand that your child’s safety and happiness are of the utmost importance to you and your family. We encourage anyone with any concerns or questions to please contact the Director at any time. Our goal is to partner with the parent to help meet your child’s educational and social goals. Please feel welcome to call or message if you need any further assistance.
Emergency Protocol
If there is an emergency with a child, the following will take place:
- One staff member will be assisting the child
- One staff member will call 911
- One staff member will call parents and/or emergency contacts
If you did not receive a direct call and only a general message, your child was not involved in the emergency.