Call us at 860-580-5353 or 203-872-7686 Contact Us Careers What Makes Us Different About Us Locations Programs Parents Corner Blog Frequently Asked Questions How can I learn more about your schools, including your tuition rates? Just click the Contact Us link at the top of any page, fill out the form, and click “Submit.” We’ll get back to you within one business day. I’m ready to enroll. What should I do? After your tour, you will recieve an email with a link to complete our secure online enrollment process. Do you accept Care4Kids? Yes. How many children are in a class? In our infant and toddler rooms, we generally have a teacher with an assistant teacher and between five and eight children. Our preschool classes will also generally have a lead and an assistant teacher (although frequently we have two teachers who co-lead) and between 10 and 20 children. Can I visit my child during the day? Absolutely, yes, you may visit your child at any time. What is your policy regarding disciplining children? The goal of discipline is to help children to develop self-control; therefore, it is necessary for children to understand rules, the reasons for them, and the consequences of their own actions. Preventing problems is essential to good discipline. The following techniques are used to establish discipline at Educational Playcare: Distracting children from potential problems Reminding children of the rules Helping children to solve problems and to make choices Allowing children to take time away from the group to regain control Ignoring inappropriate behavior Noticing and reinforcing appropriate behavior Helping children to articulate their feelings Helping children to understand the consequences of their actions We do not use abusive, neglectful, corporal, humiliating or frightening punishment under any circumstances. Children are not physically restrained in any manner, unless it is necessary to protect the health and safety of the child or others. We may remove a child from a situation and redirect them to more appropriate behavior; however, we do not practice "time out" as we believe isolation of a child is inappropriate and harsh at any time. Do you celebrate holidays? Educational Playcare does not celebrate, discuss or otherwise acknowledge any holidays that are religious in nature. The following is a list of holidays that we generally do celebrate or acknowledge: New Year's Day Martin Luther King Day Valentine's Day Presidents' Day St. Patrick's Day First Day of Spring May Day Summer Solstice 4th of July First Day of Fall Halloween Thanksgiving Winter Solstice What days are the centers closed? New Year's Day Good Friday Memorial Day 4th of July Labor Day Columbus Day Thanksgiving Day and the day after Christmas Day Additional closing may occur depending upon which days of the week that Christmas and New Year's fall. In addition, our center in West Hartford on Fennway is closed on certain Jewish holidays. Please view our Calendar to see specific dates the center is closed. What is your policy regarding illness? Unfortunately, we cannot provide services to children with any of the following symptoms: temperature of 101 or higher, conjunctivitis (pink-eye), strep throat, head lice, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes of unknown origin, or the presence of a contagious disease. A child will be sent home if any of the above symptoms are seen during the day. It is expected that if a child leaves Educational Playcare after 12:00 noon, he/she will remain home the full next day to assure complete recovery. Our primary concern has to be the wellness of the other children in our care and our staff. Do you close for inclement weather? In consideration of the needs of our working families, we take great efforts to remain open under almost all situations. Until the recent storm in February 2017, we'd only closed two times since we opened in 1986. In addition, during the October 2011 storm, even though two of our locations were without power for a week, we were able to provide services for everybody in our two locations that didn't lose power. Many of our parents took advantage of this and were very grateful. Are you licensed? Yes, we are licensed by the State of Connecticut as well as local health and fire regulators. Are you accredited? Yes. We highly value NAEYC accreditation. All of our centers are either accredited or in the process of becoming accredited. Learn more about our NAEYC Accreditation. We highly value NAEYC accreditation. To see which of our schools are accredited, please visit NAEYC Accredited Program Search. Will you administer medication? The staff and nurse at EPC are not authorized to administer medication to the children. By medication we mean both prescribed medication and over the counter drugs such as Tylenol, cough syrup, cough drops, antacids, etc. If a child requires medication such as antibiotics, the parent should inform the physician of the center's policy. He or she may be able to prescribe a medication that can be given twice a day. If a midday dosage is necessary, a parent may come to the center to administer it. At all times every school is staffed with persons trained in the administration of EPI pens and will do so if one has been provided by the parents of the child in the event of an emergency. Likewise, we will administer Benadryl as long as it is part of an emergency plan. Finally, we will administer inhalers and nebulizers with physician authorization. What is your policy with regards to naps? Babies and young toddlers nap each day according to their own schedules. Older toddlers and preschoolers take naps during the early afternoon. Do you go outside every day? Yes, unless there is precipitation or it is bitter cold. Is there a parent/teacher conference opportunity? Formal conferences are held twice a year. A written notice indicating the exact dates and times will be sent home when the conferences are approaching. The conferences are a time when teachers can discuss your child's developmental progress with you at length. Parents are always welcome to request a conference at any time during the year if they feel it is warranted. Do you allow part time schedules? Yes, depending upon availability, we offer half-day schedules that start from our opening time (varies between centers from 6:30-7:00 AM) to 12:30pm, and lunch is included. This schedule is available for three or five days per week. In addition, we also offer two and three full day options, which provides care from open to close on your schedule days. What is the security procedure to prevent strangers from entering the center? All of our locations employ advanced security features including individualized key-code entry for each family or facial recognition program in order to enter our buildings. Both of these security features can be deactivated upon withdraw. What kind of background checks do you do on your staff? We perform background checks in three ways. All new staff are required to submit fingerprints to the State of CT for a criminal background check. In addition we perform our own check of criminal and motor vehicle records. Finally, we require and check references. What are the staff qualifications? Almost all of our preschool and many of our toddler/infant teachers hold four-year degrees in Early Childhood Education (ECE) or a related field or have a Head Teacher Certification from the State of Connecticut. Of those that do not, many are actively engaged in ECE classes through our tuition reimbursement program. All of our staff participate in continuing education and are certified in First Aid & CPR. How many years have the staff been in the centers? Do you have much turnover? We believe that our turnover is significantly below the industry average. We attempt to provide our staff with the highest pay levels and benefits that can be found in the private sector. Almost all of our Lead Teachers have been with us for more than three years, and most have been with us for much, much longer than that! Will you toilet train children? We generally begin toilet training children while they are in the Flamingo Group (older toddlers). The teacher and the child's parents will decide when the child is ready to be toilet trained. When the child shows an interest and is not afraid to sit on the toilet, we invite the child to use the toilet. When a child begins the process of toilet training we require that the child stays in his/her diaper and uses the bathroom during the scheduled diapering time. When the child starts to have success on the toilet, we will encourage parents to put their child in training pants at home. Once the child begins having success at home, we invite the child to wear training pants to school. What is your vacation policy? Unfortunately, we do not credit time taken for vacations. What are my payment options? We encourage all of our families to enroll in our direct withdrawal program for easy, convenient, and automatic payments. We also accept major credit cards. Looking for more information or ready to schedule a tour? CLICK HERE! © EDUCATIONAL PLAYCARE, LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.