Smart Start ELC Policies

Priority enrollment for the new school year will be available to returning Smart Start families. Thereafter, Smart Start ELC will offer open enrollment and accept registration materials from those new to Smart Start. The minimum ages to register for our programs are based on the child already being that age or will be prior to August 31st of the enrolling school year: age 3 for Preschool, age 5 for Kindergarten, and age 2.5 for Jump Start and fully toilet-trained for all programs.

Smart Start ELC will follow weather closure/delays as determined by the Longview School District for our Longview campus and by the Toutle Lake School District for our Toutle Campus. In the event of a delay or school closure due to weather, Smart Start will send out an email notification, a Seesaw post, and post the information to its Facebook page. 

• If Longview Schools close for the day due to weather, Smart Start will also close its Longview campus for the day. If Toutle Schools close for the day OR have a three-hour delay due to weather, Smart Start will close its Toutle campus for the day. 

• In the event of a two-hour delay for Toutle Schools, Smart Start’s Toutle classes will run from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM; please send your child with a nut-FREE lunch that does NOT have to be heated. 

• In the event of a two-hour delay for Longview Schools, Smart Start’s Longview morning preschool and kindergarten classes will be cancelled. Smart Start Longview will re-open that afternoon ONLY for its regularly scheduled afternoon classes. 

Make-up hours for any class sessions missed because of a weather closure will be made-up. Necessary make-up dates and times will be disseminated once scheduled.

Smart Start ELC is a private, non-profit early childhood center that can operate because families agree to enroll in a ten-month program and pay tuition. Smart Start ELC is not eligible to receive federal funding sources. There are three choices for fulfilling tuition payments: one-time payment for the full year to be made in August; two equal payments (first in August, second in January); or ten equal monthly payments to be made from August to May for all programs. Please refer to the Tuition Contract for specific details. 

Monthly tuition payments are due to Smart Start ELC by the 20th of each month: please communicate with Smart Start Office Staff if tuition will be paid after this date. Smart Start Early Learning Center can accept payment in the forms of cash, check, cashier’s check, money order, and through your financial institution’s bill-pay service. Please make checks payable to Smart Start ELC. Payment options and locations follow. 

• Longview Location: Payment can be dropped anytime in our onsite locked, black mailbox located outside the church office entrance (extra envelopes are in the white flip box located to the left of the mailbox). 
• Toutle Location: On the house, near the Toutle school entrance, payment can be dropped anytime in the locked, black box. 
•  Mailed to Smart Start ELC, 2746 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview, WA 98632. 
• Bill-pay through your bank or credit union is a process where a check will be directly mailed by your financial institution to Smart Start on the date you desire, generally at no cost to you. This option needs to be set-up with your financial institution, either in person or online.The following information will be requested:

oSmart Start ELC, 2746 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview, WA 98632 

o360-270-1348 

osmartstart-elc-@hotmail.com (if the online entry will not accept the dashes in our email, please either leave email blank or enter our email without the dashes) 

oThe account number will be your child’s name, please.

No matter how you choose to pay tuition, please identify your child’s first and last name along with the payment so that your account is properly credited. 

Fees

• Payments received after the 27th may incur a $15.00 late fee that will be applied to your account. 
• Payment returned for non-sufficient funds will incur a $50.00 fee and applied to your account. 
• Late pick-up from your child’s Smart Start class is $15.00 for each incident and will be applied to your account. 

Overdue Tuition

If tuition is not received by the 7th of the following month, Office Staff will contact parents/guardians to establish an agreeable payment plan. The payment plan will ensure that tuition is made current within the month. If tuition is 60 days overdue and the payment plan not honored, unfortunately, Smart Start will have to temporarily suspend services to your student (no attendance to class or programs) until the overdue balance is paid in full.

Snacks include crackers of various sorts and a fruit or vegetable every day (a daily protein source is added for both kindergarten and STEAP classes). Water will be our daily drink. There is a list of supplies we ask parents to provide by the first day of school, which includes snack crackers. The rest will be provided by us. Birthdays are special days, and we welcome parents to celebrate their child’s birthday on the scheduled star student day with a special treat for the class. However, please remember we cannot have nut products of any kind onsite, and please also check with your child’s classroom teacher for additional known allergies in the classroom before bringing in a treat.

• Please also refer to current Illness Operating Plan (above, on this page, under Welcome Letters & Enrollment Forms heading)
• A child with a 100 degree or higher temperature will need to stay home from school until he/she is free of high temperature for 24 hours.
• A child who has had vomiting and/or diarrhea will need to stay home from school until he/she has not experienced these symptoms for a period of 24 hours.
• If a child has an infection or a contagious illness requiring antibiotic treatment, he/she must be on antibiotics for 24 hours (or longer as determined by prescribing doctor) before returning to school.
• In cases of communicable disease, please contact Nikki Hemberry immediately so that we can notify parents that their children have been exposed and so that we can disinfect our affected classroom(s). We will never disclose by name the ill child.
• Please be aware of unusual rashes your child develops, especially in conjunction with fever or other symptoms. If there is any weeping or discharge from the rash, we need to know that the child is not contagious and has been cleared by a doctor before returning to school.
• A child with headlice and/or nits will need to be kept home from school, please. While we realize that lice has not been shown to spread disease, it is something we want to keep out of our center and, subsequently, help keep out of our families’ homes. A child who has had headlice and/or nits may return to school once his/her head and belongings have been treated and are free of lice/nits for a period of 24 hours.
• Children with minor colds can come to school at your discretion.
• You know your child best. If you are observing excessive coughing, fatigue, or other symptoms that indicate your child may be ill, please consider that information when making the decision if your child should attend school or not.

Smart Start ELC has a no discrimination policy in place. At Smart Start Early Learning Center, enrollment is open to all students and does not discriminate, regardless of sex, culture, learning styles, race, or religion.

In the event of an emergency, these are the steps we will follow:

• If it is a life-threatening emergency, 911 will be called immediately, and a parent will be called as soon as possible thereafter.
• If it is a minor emergency, a parent will be called immediately.
• If a parent cannot be reached, your designated emergency contact person will be called.
• If your emergency contacts cannot be reached, your child’s doctor will be called.
• Parents are responsible for any and all expenses incurred for medical/emergency services.

To ensure safety, we insist that you please walk your child to the designated drop-off spot every day where you and your child will then be met by Smart Start staff. A teacher will sign-in and out your child every day. If someone different from drop-off will be picking your child up, please let our staff know; additionally, any person unknown to Smart Start staff will be required to show photo identification before picking-up your child and that pick-up person must be on your child’s authorized pick-up list (please contact Longview office to update/verify pick-up list). Please only use Smart Start designated entrance/exit doors. The doors will be locked 15 minutes after school starts and will be re-opened at pick-up time. If you need to come to the school while class is in session, please let a staff member know beforehand, and we will arrange to let you in. This protocol is to keep our children as safe as possible from potential walk-ins.

We want you to have knowledge of your child’s experiences at Smart Start ELC. We will keep you informed of what is happening and how you can be involved through:

• Monthly calendars, newsletters, your child’s classroom Seesaw App, and emails
• Pre-K, Preschool, and Jump Start once-a-year designated conference session
• Kindergarten twice-a-year designated conference sessions
• Additional teacher conference(s) upon request for all programs

If you want to be involved in your child’s school experiences, we welcome volunteers in our center. Smart Start ELC will communicate pre-planned opportunities that would have you working directly with children, and a background check form will need to be completed, submitted, and cleared prior to being inside the classrooms. Please allow two-week’s processing time for your background check. If you are unsure whether Smart Start has a cleared background check on file for you, please contact Longview office staff. Additionally, our classrooms and planned activities cannot accommodate siblings; therefore, if applicable, other children who are normally in your care need to have other care arrangements when you have prearranged with the classroom teacher to volunteer. It is of utmost importance to us to provide an environment that facilitates a level of comfort for both children and parents.

Some ways for you to get involved in your child’s school experiences:

• Class Parties, Chair or Helper: Chair and oversee PTO class parties in your child’s class. A helper assists the chair in anything needed for planning, organizing, or gathering supplies. You are also welcome to volunteer in class on party days.Background check mandatory.
• Community Visitors: We will periodically bring in community visitors to share with our children about their jobs. Please let our staff know if you, or someone you know, wants to come in and visit our children on these special days. We do not leave the premises for any field trips, so community visitors are our way of bringing the community to our children.
• Fall & Spring Fundraisers: Be on a committee to plan, organize, execute an area of this event, or volunteer for set-up or clean-up.