Safety

The center's policies, rules, and regulations focus on creating a safe and rewarding environment for your child. Below are some of the many steps to promote the safety and protection of your children while they are in our care.

• Classrooms are accessible via keypads with personalized codes.
• The center designates classroom space for each child's belongings.
• Disinfected toys and play areas.
• Child-sized sinks for washing hands.
• The administrative staff makes frequent classroom observations.
• All areas of the campus are viewable via a security camera system.
• Pre-employment screening of staff members.
• Certified teachers in CPR/First Aid.
• Routine fire, shelter-in-place, and lock-down drills to familiarize and re-enforce proper evacuation routes and practices.

Using our knowledge of child development, we derived a discipline policy that allows each child to find and develop their self-discipline skills. As teachers and staff, we offer children choices to empower them to gain self-control. We use positive behavior management techniques such as positive phrasing and “I” statements to develop positive self-discipline. We also utilize a positive discipline technique called “redirection” to guide children toward appropriate behavior. The use of physical punishment and harsh language is strictly prohibited.

As children learn appropriate skills to handle disagreements, aggressive behaviors may occur. The staff at the center makes every effort to prevent these aggressive actions by actively supervising the children to suppress problems before they occur.

The center provides a nutritious lunch daily with snacks in the morning and afternoon. Meals are prepared on-site in the center's kitchen and comply with the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care Standards. These standards support serving more vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy.

We provide parents and staff with a monthly menu at the beginning of each month. Mealtime is part of the learning process. Therefore children are encouraged to display proper table etiquette. Students are encouraged to taste all the food served but do not have to eat any particular item. 

Before enrolling, parents must declare all medically determined special diets and food allergies for their child. We are a nut-free school. All of the center's food is nut free, not prepared with or near nut oil, and not processed on equipment exposed to peanuts or tree nuts.

Tuition is charged weekly in advance with no deductions for absences, holidays, teacher workdays, and days the school is closed for inclement weather. Tuition is due by the end of business Friday for the upcoming week. Payment methods accepted include credit cards, debit cards, checks, and cash. Accounts with multiple children are eligible for a discount on the lowest-priced tuition for their children.

The center accepts North Carolina Child Care Subsidy vouchers that assist eligible families with the cost of child care. A voucher agreement must be completed and approved by all parties before enrollment. Parents are responsible for their parent fee as determined by the state, plus the difference between the center's private pay tuition rate and the state's subsidy market rate. 

The relationship between parents and the center‘s staff is vital to the success of a child’s experience. A partnership started from the first day of enrollment with a foundation built on communication and mutual trust is critical. At Whittmore Learning Academy, we promote positive family involvement in the center with a parent-teacher approach that emphasizes the needs of every child so that our students can obtain a successful early childhood education. One component of this partnership is for parents to be familiar with and follow all the center’s policies and procedures. 

We welcome feedback. Frequent communication is the best way to address concerns in real-time and find solutions that benefit everyone involved.