Communication

Communication is very important to us. We strive to maintain an atmosphere where parents and staff feel comfortable communicating with each other. Forums for this include your child/ren’s Daily Report Form(s), daily in-person contact with your child/ren’s teachers, the Director, Associate Director, and Board members, monthly Board meetings, phone and email. We hope you will feel comfortable communicating with us and let us know what we can do to make you feel more comfortable.

For more information, please download our Parent Handbook.

What to Anticipate

Daily Report Form and Materials - When you drop off your child, you’ll sign in and give an estimated pick up time. This helps the teachers plan their day and confirm attendance. At this time, you’ll also complete the top of the Daily Report form, which the teachers will use to outline your child/ren’s meals, activities, and special experiences for the day. You will also have a cubby and/or folder from which to gather materials (Center information, your child’s art projects, photos, etc.) and items each day.

Emergency Contact - One of the forms we ask you to complete when you first arrive is an Emergency Contact form, which includes emergency contact information for you and names of people whom you approve to pick up your child. We will prompt you to update this form on a yearly basis, but ask that you keep this form updated if any information changes in the meantime.

Family Events - Many times a year, children, parents, and staff and their families gather to have fun together. These events include barbeques, going to a local pumpkin patch, Bowl-a-Thons, One of a Kind's birthday each July, and chili/taco feeds/ice cream socials at the Center.

Family Nights at Restaurants - Several times a year, we have a family night at a local restaurant. These are dual-purpose social affairs and fundraisers. OOAK gets a percentage of sales from purchases by OOAK-associated customers. We will post flyers and distribute coupons several days prior to each event.

Fundraisers - We have both year-round and periodic fundraisers for the center.  The proceeds from which help us purchase toys, playground equipment, maintenance supplies, services, etc. Year-round fundraisers include collection of can labels and box tops from Box Tops for Education and Campbell’s products, Scholastic book sales bonuses, GoodShop.com, Target Rewards, and Office Depot Rewards. Periodic fundraisers include Family Nights at Restaurants, Parent’s Night/Days Out, and food sales (typically pies and cookie dough).

Holidays - We involve the kids in a celebration of each holiday by decorating the classrooms, having small parties, and other activities. For example, for Halloween, we encourage the children to dress up in their costumes and have a parade inside the Center. If there are holidays that you would prefer your child not participate in, please let the Directors know.

Immunization Records - Don’t forget to bring us a copy of your child’s newest immunizations after each doctor’s visit (we’re required by the Kansas Department of Health to have current records).

Kindergarten Field Trips - We take the children in the Kindergarten room on field trips (to zoos, museums) from time to time. A new permission slip for each field trip will be sent home for signature by a parent or guardian. Parents are welcome to attend. Sometimes, there may be an additional charge for children to participate in field trips.

Monthly Newsletter - At the beginning of each month, we will email you a newsletter which will include general news from the Center, more specific news from each classroom, the month’s menu, and a calendar of upcoming events.

Neighborhood Walks - We will take the children in the Infant, Toddler, Preschool and Kindergarten classrooms on regular walks (leaving a map of our intended route each time). We keep a signed copy of a walk permission form on file for these purposes. First aid kits and cell phones, as well as each child’s emergency card, are taken on each of these walks.

Photos - A couple of times a year, a professional photographer will come in to take the children’s photos and will offer them for you to purchase. Once a year our daycare will take photos and produce ID cards for those families who want to sign up for and purchase them.

Signing In and Out - For safety reasons and by state law, we require that you sign your child in and out of the center each day.  Each family has their own code to put into the front computer and into the keypad for the door.

Transitioning Children to the Next Classroom - We carefully transition your child/ren to the next classroom at an age and developmentally appropriate time. Transitioning takes at least a week. During each day of transition week, your child will spend additional time in the next classroom (for example, on Monday s/he’ll spend one hour in the next classroom and by Friday, most of the day). For more information about each classroom and when we do transitioning, please see Our Classrooms in the Services section.

Work Days - In order to keep our costs low and keep our center sparkling, several times a year we schedule workdays, during which parents and staff work together to accomplish maintenance tasks and projects (e.g., painting, cleaning, gardening). We’ll announce the dates in the Events Calendar and put a sign-up sheet in your classroom.