We would like to welcome you to Kingdom Kids, Connect Church’s Weekday Education Program. We are excited that you have chosen us to provide safe and inspiring early care and education for your child. Every child is special to us. A child develops mentally, physically, spiritually, socially and emotionally. We are committed to providing biblically based, age-appropriate experiences to allow each child to develop at their own level of ability while feeling successful.

The Kingdom Kids’ curriculum is biblically based. We follow the research-based High Scope approach that focuses on children learning by exploring the world around them through hands on activities. We focus on language arts, social studies, math, science, creative art, music and movement, and dramatic play all while incorporating Christian values and biblical stories in all areas. Our teachers plan weekly lessons that will strengthen all educational concepts.

Our curriculum identifies goals in all areas of development:

● Social: to help children feel comfortable in school, trust their new environment, make friends, and feel they are a part of the group.

● Emotional: to help children experience pride and self-confidence, develop independence and self-control, and have a positive attitude toward life.

● Cognitive: to help children become confident learners by helping them acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and use words to describe their ideas, observations, and feelings.

● Physical: to help children increase their large and small muscle skills and feel confident about what their bodies can do.

● Spiritual: to model for children Christian values and to introduce the concepts of God’s love for them.

The facility is open Monday-Friday 6:30 am-5:30 pm.

The following holidays will be observed by the closing of the Weekday Program:

New Year’s Day

Martin Luther King’s Day

Good Friday

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Veteran’s Day

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Friday

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

December 31st

An additional day will be added for staff training. All parents will be notified of the date at least 30 days in advance.

In addition, we will close an extra day for Christmas break and an extra day for New Year’s Break. These dates will be determined by when the holiday falls. Our tuition rates are computed on a weekly basis. A full week’s tuition will be charged every week of the year, even when we are closed.

Summer Camp (Pre-K – 5th Grade) tuition is charged for a full 8 weeks. No discounts for partial weeks that care is available to school age children. For example, the week right after school lets out or the week right before school starts back.

It is our policy to always follow the Guntersville City School system in their decisions for inclement weather closings. We make every effort to be open on all weekdays of the year, except holidays noted in the schedule section of the Parent Handbook. We realize that parents need to work and that reliable day care is very important. However, there are times when it is not safe or feasible to operate the facility, such as acts of nature. In those circumstances, for the safety of staff and you and your child, we will be forced to close the facility. When this is the case during operating hours, your child’s teacher or the Director will notify you.

Any child left at the daycare after 5:30 pm, will be assessed a $15 charge. The late fee schedule is as follows: 

5:31 - 5:45pm $15

5:46 - 6:00pm $30

6:01 - 6:15pm $45

6:16 - 6:30pm $60

We will contact all emergency numbers listed on the child’s file. If at 6:30pm no one has been located, DHR will be contacted.  Repeated tardiness in picking up child/children could result in dismissal from the program. 

All tuition is due on Monday. All tuition is collected by auto draft. You may choose to have the tuition drafted on Monday of every week or the first Monday of each month. If payment is declined, Wednesday your child’s account will be charged a $20.00 late fee. If payment is not received by Friday, your child cannot return to school until payment is received.

Due to the size of the program, please understand that the Director will need a two-week notice if you are planning on taking your child out of Kingdom Kids. This would give us time to fill your child’s space. Please notify the Director in writing when giving your two-week notice.

Kingdom Kids can also terminate children and families for the following reasons:

● The family of the child being ministered to being so divisive that effective communication is not able to occur.

● If at any point and time the philosophy of Kingdom Kids and your philosophy as a parent do not concur.

A $140 registration fee/deposit is due prior to your child’s attendance at Kingdom Kids. An annual re-registration of $140 is due each year in May to hold your child’s spot for the following fall. This fee assists with ongoing costs of insurance, supplies, equipment and other programming expenses.

The Director maintains a waiting list of families that are seeking enrollment at Kingdom Kids. If your child is placed on the waiting list and we have an opening and you are not able to have your child attend at that time, to continue having your child’s name on the waiting list, you will be required to pay FULL tuition each week until your child attends Kingdom Kids. Because we are a small facility, we are not able to “hold” a spot for more than one week.

As a parent, you are welcome to visit your child’s classroom at any time. Please notify the staff that you are interested in observing or helping in the classroom. Staff will continue with the regular daily activities and will be available for discussion at another time.

Parents MUST sign their children in and out of the school each day using the ProCare app. WHEN DROPPING YOUR CHILD OFF OR PICKING UP DAILY, YOU MUST SHOW THE STAFF MEMBER YOU HAND YOUR CHILD OFF TO/OR THAT YOU PICKUP FROM THAT YOU HAVE SIGNED THE CHILD IN ON YOUR DEVICE. If your child is picked up for after school care by the Kingdom Kids bus, we will sign them in on the app but you will need to sign them out. This is a safety procedure for our school to ensure that all children are accounted for at all times. If a family member or authorized person drops your child off or picks them up that does not have app access, please make sure they know to tell the staff member in charge that they need to sign the clipboard sign-in/sign-out sheet and that staff will need to sign the child in/out in the app on their behalf. 

Children are NOT allowed to be picked up from field trips or activities away from the school without special permission from the Director. 

We ask that all children be in the school by 9:30 am. This will give an accurate count for meals. It also allows all the children to participate in most of the activities and curriculum.

If your child will be out for the week for vacation or out due to an illness, the full amount of the weekly tuition is still due regardless.

Please include on the pre-admission form all names and telephone numbers of anyone that is allowed to pick up your child. Please know that safety is the utmost importance, each person that is picking up your child will be asked to show identification. If an additional person needs to be added to your child’s pickup list, the parent must add the person’s name in writing. As part of the enrollment process, you will be given a Contact List form to complete. This form includes all contact information for your family and includes Emergency Contacts and Pick Up Contacts. A copy of every child’s Contact List will be on file in the child’s classroom.

Good healthy habits are important for everyone’s well-being and safety. Staff is required to conduct a simple but important daily health screening upon each child’s arrival.

Children with a fever of over 100.4°F or with vomiting, diarrhea, a rash, or any symptoms of a contagious disease will not be allowed to be admitted or stay in the school. Parents are responsible for arranging for the child to leave the center once staff has notified them of the child’s condition (it is expected that someone will arrive within 45 minutes of notification). This will minimize the risk to other children and staff. Failure to pick up a sick child in a timely manner could jeopardize continued enrollment at Kingdom Kids. If a child leaves the school due to an illness, they may not return to the school for at least 24 hours from their time of departure. Please be considerate of the other families we serve here at Kingdom Kids. We realize that parents need to be at work. However, when your child is or has been sick it is very important that they are FULLY recovered prior to their return to the daycare. The Director has the right to require that a physician certify recovery.

This school has a “No Nit” policy. Which means that if a child has been sent home due to head lice, the child will not be permitted to return to school until ALL nits are removed. This will help in keeping the school Lice Free. Also, when the child returns to school, parents are to see the director or assistant before entering the classroom.

The program exercises reasonable care and judgment in all matters related to safety. In all emergencies, the program has permission to take such reasonable measures as are (in the judgment of the teacher or director) necessary for the welfare and safety of the child until a parent can be reached. All children must have an updated immunization record/BLUE CARD on file in order for them to be admitted to our program. Remember, if your child does not feel well, he/she will probably not have a good time at school. Use your best judgment. If your child becomes ill during the day, he/she will be isolated from the group and you will be called to pick up him/her immediately. In the event of exposure to a contagious disease within the group, you will be given written notice. Only the director or another designated person will be administering medication. All medication will be stored in a locked container. All parents must fill out the proper forms before any medication is administered. Please see the teachers or the director to obtain the proper forms.

It is our philosophy that the best form of discipline for children is positive reinforcement. If a child continues to misbehave after several attempts by the teacher to redirect the child to appropriate behavior, we will allow the child to take some time in the classroom’s “Calm Down” space. This is not “Time Out,” but simply a time for the child to take a break from his/her present situation and be given a moment to reflect upon his/her behavior. If the disruptive behavior continues, children are removed from the classroom, and/or parents will be notified and a parent/ teacher/director meeting will be scheduled.

The children Kingdom Kids go outside every day, weather permitting. The children’s play area is an enclosed, locked, and gated area that contains age appropriate playground equipment. If you do not want your child to play outside due to health reasons, please keep your child at home. If a child is well enough to come to daycare, they are well enough to play outside. Dress your child appropriately to enjoy God’s beautiful world.

Parents are asked to dress children in clothes that allow for their complete participation in all activities. This means that they may get dirty with dirt, sand, paint, food, etc., while engaging in the learning process. A complete change of seasonal-appropriate clothing, labeled with the child’s name, must be kept on hand at the school at all times. Parents of infants and toddlers are asked to bring two complete changes of clothes. In the event your child has an accident and extra clothes have not been provided, you will be contacted to bring clothing or pick-up the child immediately.

Children are served balanced and nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack daily. There is no charge for meals. Monthly menus are posted for your review. Menu exceptions will only be made for documented religious or medical reasons. If a special diet is required, parents may be asked to supply the necessary food. Children arriving late or leaving early may not be served regularly scheduled meals. Breakfast is served at approximately 8:00am - children arriving after 8:45am will need to either eat before they come, bring their breakfast or will be served a ready made breakfast of a cereal bar/cereal/yogurt and fruit. Lunch is served at approximately 11:00am. Snack is served after rest time.

Each pre-school child will be provided with a nap/rest time daily. We encourage your child to rest during that period. Blankets and nap mats may be brought from home, but must be laundered weekly. The teachers will send home the bedding on Fridays or the last day the child attends school. The school will provide crib sheets for infants.

We encourage you to celebrate birthdays and holidays with your child. If you would like to celebrate an occasion with your child’s class, please discuss the times and events with the Director.

Connect Church and Kingdom Kids is a drug/smoke-free facility. Drugs/Smoking is not permitted on our school campus including outdoors.

Children 4 years old and older will occasionally take field trips. Parents will be provided with information regarding the trips. Parents are encouraged to use this information to enrich their child’s experience. Trips are taken in school vehicles. Written permission to participate in field trips must be obtained before your child can participate in the activity. We invite you to participate in all field trips. Occasionally, a small fee may be charged for a field trip.

Kingdom Kids will be transporting from local Guntersville Elementary schools. Any child that is transported in the Connect Church van will abide by all safely procedures:

● Children will be picked up and dropped off in a designated area. 

● Children waiting for the van must remain in the designated area until arriving at that location.

● All children must be in a seat and buckled in a seat belt.

● Children are expected to act in an orderly manner.

● Continued disruptive behavior by any child on the van may result in termination of transportation and/or childcare services.

● Parents must notify the Connect Weekday Program two hours in advance if their child will not ride the van on that scheduled day.