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Roncalli Sonshine Patch Parent Handbook Summer of 2008 Welcome to the Roncalli Sonshine Patch Summer Program. We are blessed to begin another year and we are excited that you are joining us. Sonshine is not spelled wrong – it stands for Jesus, God’s Son, and we hope to “shine” with His love in our program! Our Purpose is to provide a safe, caring environment with activities that promote each child’s social, physical, emotional, and spiritual growth. We want to make available a place rich with sensory and concrete learning experiences that stimulate exploring and experimenting. Our major emphasis will be on building positive self-esteem and a program to benefit the child, parents, and the Aberdeen Catholic School System. VISION STATEMENTInstilling Catholic values and promoting academic excellence by nurturing the mind, body and soul. MISSON STATEMENT As a ministry of St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart Parishes, we have been commissioned to nurture a solid Catholic faith foundation. - By accepting, living and sharing the message of Christ, we will develop a sense of personal responsibility to God and his creation. - By cultivating the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical well-being of all members of the Roncalli school community. STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND BELIEF STATEMENTS Under the guidance and directions of the Office of Catholic Education of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, and through the patronage of Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s Catholic Parishes of Aberdeen, South Dakota, the ABERDEEN CATHOLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM (ACSS) has adopted the following statements of philosophy and objectives as a guide for serving the needs of each child. WE BELIEVE that: - All children are made in the image of God. - We are created to know, love, and serve God in this world and to be with him in the next. - We will inspire all students to develop their full potential to be prepared for the success in a changing global community. - Our bodies and minds are a gift from God, and we will encourage students to make healthy and holy choices. - We will share the responsibility of spiritual growth on our journey to holiness. - We will commission students to live as Jesus did. REQUIREMENTSOur enrollment is open to any child, age 4 through 6th grade. With an application form and an up-to-date immunization form any child may be admitted. There will be no discrimination in regard to sex, race, color, creed or political belief. FEESWe charge a daily rate for each family. The ACSS School Board has adopted the following rates for the 2008 summer. Roncalli Families Full Time: $25 per day (4.5 hours per day or more)
Part Time: $13.50 per day (4.5 hours per day or less) Non-Roncalli Families
Full Time: $25 per day
Part Time: $15.75 per day
(4.5 hours per day or
less) Participation in the Sonshine Patch Summer Program will be arranged based upon a weekly schedule submitted, for each child. From this schedule staffing patterns will be arranged to supervise children being served in accordance with licensing regulations of the Department of Social Services/Child Protection. You will contract for the days you sign your child up for. Tuition will be prepaid and will be due on the 1st of June, July, and August. Vacation days: Each family will be allowed as many vacation days as the child is signed up to attend in one week’s time. Ex. Sally is scheduled to attend 3 days per week. Sally will receive 3 vacation days for the summer. The request for these days must be made in writing before the summer program begins or by the 20th of the month preceding the month your child would be gone. If children are not in attendance for scheduled time parents must pay for this time as staff has been hired. The schedule cannot change without written request to the Sonshine Patch Director. IF NOT PAID AT THIS TIME A $3 DOLLAR A DAY LATE FEE WILL BE APPLIED TO YOUR BILL. Two weeks notice is required if your child is withdrawn from the program. HOURSOur center will be open 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Sonshine Patch will open for the summer on May 27th and close on August 15th. We will be closed on July 4th. PICKING UP/DROPPING OFFThe Main Entrance door will be the Sonshine Patch’s door. Please remember to sign your child in and out at the sign-in desk. At the desk there will be updated reports, weekly summer schedules, snack calendars, and any important information you may need to know. Please keep us informed as to any changes. We hope that you will be on time in both picking up and bringing. If there is a reason for lateness, please call. STAFFLaurie Strom is the site coordinator and assistant director for the summer program. This is her fourth year coordinating the summer program. She graduated from Northern State University with an Elementary Education degree and a music and language arts minor. Miss Gretchen Pauly graduated from NSU with an Elementary Education major and has completed some early childhood classes. She had worked for four years at the YMCA and is beginning her second year at the Sonshine Patch. By state law, we will hire an aide for each 10 children, as well as utilizing college students and maybe some volunteer help. All are required to have CPR training and twenty hours of staff development each year. SNACKSSnacks will be served twice daily at 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Parents will be asked to take turns sharing snacks and a monthly list will be sent home. This is mainly to let your child feel important and to help them learn about new foods. We will supply the juice and milk for the daily snacks. Please refer to the snack idea list on the back of the snack calendar for acceptable food items. We strive to provide healthy snacks for the children and ask for your assistance with this! We will try to plan around your child’s birthday. This is such a special day that cookies or cupcakes are fine. Please NO gum or candy (except maybe special days or occasions). If your child has any food allergies, please mark this on the registration form and we will substitute during snack time. We will also need a doctor’s note indicating your child’s allergies to give to the lunch staff so they can substitute foods for lunch. If your child needs a special diet, please be prepared to supply it. We are unsure of all the ingredients in the snacks brought from home so please send extra snacks to keep at school for your child on those days. LUNCH We do provide a nutritious meal most days through the child and adult care food program. We are required to follow the dietary guidelines set forth by the state. There will be a lunch fee for every lunch your child is served. Your child does have the option of bringing in his/her own lunch. Please be sure that this lunch meets at least 1/3 of the required dietary guidelines set forth by the state. MEDICAL POLICYIf your child seems ill at home – please do not bring him/her. Also, if signs of illness (fever, pain, etc.) develop during the day, your child will be separated from others and you will be contacted to take them home. We want to keep a healthy group so this is best for all. Also if your child contacts and infectious disease we must notify parents and the State Health Department, so let us know. Medicine and drugs must be kept under the director/site coordinator’s care, away from children. We can only administer carefully labeled medicines with a doctor or parent’s written permission. Also, children’s immunization records must remain current. PARENT INVOLVEMENTWe hope you know that you are welcome to stop in or visit anytime. We want your suggestions and support. Any time you need to talk about our program, check on your child’s involvement, or have questions answered, our director will be available to visit with you. DISCIPLINEOur emphasis will be on positive reinforcement of correct behavior. We will set clear-cut limits and promote respect for the rights of others. If needed, a behavior report will be sent home explaining the child’s behavior. After three behavior reports are sent home there will need to be a parent/teacher conference concerning the child’s behavior. The Roncalli Sonshine Patch does reserve the right to dismiss a child. We want your child to have a positive experience, and if for some reason we cannot professionally give this, we will use this right. We will not allow degrading punishment such as: spanking, hitting, pinching, shaking, verbal abuse, or threats. Our center prohibits peers from administering any discipline. Any form of child abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported to the proper authorities in this manner: 1. Immediate reporting to law enforcement or Social Services. 2. Staff member involved in CA/N incident will be immediately evaluated on employability. When hired, all staff reads and signs a statement defining child abuse and neglect (CA/N) and what to do in reporting responsibilities and procedures. EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLANWe share the same plan as the school in tornado or fire evacuation. Our routes are posted at the door and we will have several drills each year. SCHEDULEThe students will be divided into two rooms based on their grade next year in school. Here is our daily schedule (though it will be quite flexible):
Field TripsWe hope this helps answer many of your questions. Know that we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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