Children's Safe Stay is an approved pick-up and drop-off site for the following schools:

• Anna S. Kuhl Elementary School
• Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School

Please contact Children's Safe Stay at 845-858-4923 or [email protected] to inquire about bussing to and from other schools.

Please note that school-age children who ride the bus to and from the Center are expected to behave appropriately. Parents of children who misbehave will be required to stay with their child in the morning until the bus arrives.

We at Children’s Safe Stay try to provide the highest levels of service to you. To maintain this service, each child will be evaluated daily with a health check. The following to be included: signs of illness, communicable disease, child’s behavior and activity level, skin rashes, signs or symptoms of abuse or maltreatment.

Children's Safe Stay has decided to exclude moderately ill children, parents will be contacted and the child excluded when the following symptoms are present. Children with these symptoms are considered to be moderately ill and may not be in a childcare program that is only for well and mildly ill children. A mildly ill child has symptoms of a minor childhood illness, which does not represent a significant risk of serious infection to other children.

A minor childhood illness is one that is not designated as a communicable disease requiring exclusion by the New York State Department of Health. A mildly ill child can participate in the regular program activities with some minor modifications, such as more rest time. A physician’s note must accompany any child coming back to daycare after being sent home.

The following list, provided by the NYS Department of Health, specifies and explains the exclusion criteria (symptoms) for moderately ill children:

• The illness, or child’s reaction to it, requires more care than staff can provide or compromises the health and safety of other children.
• Signs and symptoms of possible illness such as unusual lethargy, uncontrolled coughing, persistent abdominal pain, irritability, persistent crying, difficulty breathing, wheezing or other unusual signs until a medical evaluation allows inclusion.
• Persistent diarrhea, defined as three or more stools in a 24-hour period, when that pattern represents:
  • An increased number of stools compared to the child’s normal pattern.
  • Increased stool water.
  • Diarrhea accompanied with symptoms of dehydration, such as sunken eyes, dry skin, concentrated urine or small amounts of urine, fewer than six wet diapers in 24 hours, or no urine in four hours; or
  • Diarrhea accompanied by blood in the stool.
• Significant fever as defined below, until evaluated and approved for inclusion by a health professional.
  • Infants six months and younger should be excluded and referred to a health professional when they have:
    • Rectal temperature above 101 degrees Fahrenheit; or
    • Axillary (armpit) temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Children over six months of age should be excluded and referred to a health professional whenever fever is accompanied by a behavior change, stiff neck, a rash, unusual irritability, poor feeding, vomiting or excessive crying. Fever means:
    • Oral temperature above 101 degrees Fahrenheit;
    • Rectal temperature above 102 degrees Fahrenheit; or
    • Axillary (armpit) temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Undiagnosed rash, with the exceptions of diaper rash and rash that is present in only a small area and is not accompanied by any other signs of illness, particularly in the diapered area of a child.
• Conjunctivitis (pink eye) until symptoms have resolved, or until 24 hours after medications have been administered, or approved for inclusion by a health professional, or grouped in a room only with other children with conjunctivitis.
• Untreated infestations, such as scabies or lice.
• Vomiting three or more times in a previous 24-hour period, or any vomiting accompanied by symptoms of dehydration or other signs of illness.
• Contagious stages of chickenpox, until six days after the onset of rash or until all sores have dried and crusted, unless children are grouped in a room only with other children with chickenpox.
• Any of the following illnesses until approved for inclusion by a health professional:
  • Mouth sores with drooling, or Herpetic gingivostomatitis, an infection caused by the Herpes simplex virus. A child with Thrush must be on antibiotics for 48 hours before returning to daycare. A physician's note must accompany the child.
  • Diarrhea due to Shigella, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Giardia, E.coli type 0157:H7, Versinia, Cryptosporidium, until there is one negative stool test obtained at least 48 hours after treatment (if prescribed) is completed; or unless a plan for grouping children has been approved by the local or State Health Department.
  • Head Lice – until treatment has been initiated and readmission has been approved by a physician.
  • Active tuberculosis, until treatment has been initiated and readmission has been approved by the local health unit.
  • Impetigo, until 24 hours after medical treatment has been initiated unless there is only a small patch of impetigo that can be cleaned and covered so no other children can come into contact with the sore.
  • Strep throat, or other streptococcal infections elsewhere in the body until 24 hours after the initial antibiotic treatment.
  • Mumps, until nine days after onset of gland swelling.
  • Rubella (German measles) and measles, until five days after onset of the rash.
  • Hepatitis A viral infection (infectious hepatitis), until one week after onset of illness, and until immunoglobulin has been administered to appropriate children and staff, or as directed by the local health unit.
  • Shingles, if sores cannot be covered by clothing or a dressing or until sores become crusted.
  • Pertussis (whooping cough), until five days of a total course of 14 days of antibiotic treatment has been completed.
  • Diphtheria, until readmission has been approved by the local health unit.
  • Hepatitis B, until readmission has been approved by the local health unit.
  • Meningitis or meningococcal disease, until readmission has been approved by the local health unit.
  • Other illnesses or symptoms of illness as determined by the program and the NYS Health Department.

Discipline provides an opportunity to enable a child to develop self-control. Our guidelines are designed to help each child develop self-control and assume responsibility for his or her actions through clear and consistent rules. Staff is encouraged to use approaches to help children solve problems. These techniques include, but are not limited to, redirecting a child to an alternate activity, rewarding acceptable behavior, encouraging children to talk about their feelings and providing an example for children by speaking and interacting with children in a positive manner.

Any discipline used must relate to the child’s action and be handled without prolonged delay on the part of the staff so that the child is aware of the relationship between his or her actions and the consequence thereof.

There are three factors in helping children behave:

• Setting reasonable, clear rules
• Dealing reasonably with broken rules, and
• Being a good model for the children (acting in ways that you want the children to act.)

There are three very simple rules to use which are easy for the children to understand. These are:

• You may not hurt yourself.
• You may not hurt others (hurt can be emotional as well as physical)
• You may not hurt things (toys, furniture, etc.)

Here are some acceptable basic rules concerning discipline:

• No cruel, harsh, or unusual punishment is allowed.
• Discipline shall not include profanity, negative remarks about a child or his family, or other verbal abuse.
• Discipline shall not be used to humiliate shame or frighten a child.
• Discipline shall not include spanking, hitting, striking, biting or pinching.
• No child shall be confined in an enclosed area, such as a locked room, box or closet.
• Discipline shall not include preventing a child from eating, sleeping, or using the toilet.
• No child shall be allowed to discipline another child.

Refer to Section 418-1.9 Discipline of NYS Daycare Centers Rules & Regulations.
Refer to Kids, Discipline and You: Age Appropriate Strategies for Disciplining Your Child.

The Center participates in the CACFP (Child and Adult Food Program) and we provide all students with breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. A menu is provided each month and is posted in our lobby area. Breakfast is a bread product, fruit, and milk. Lunch consists of a meat, bread product, vegetable, fruit, and milk. Each afternoon snack includes food or drink from two of the above-mentioned groups. Sweets may be included occasionally.

SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS

Special dietary restrictions and treatments must be written and signed by a physician. It is also very important that all known food allergies be reported to all staff and the Directors. CACFP requires that parents complete an enrollment form and income eligibility form annually.

Please keep in mind that we will make every attempt to stay open in inclement weather. If the Center must close due to severe weather, the Center’s message will be updated to inform you of our closing. If we must close early due to severe weather, we will contact you by phone.

Please make sure that we always have updated phone numbers to contact you.

MEDICAL RECORDS

We are required to have annual physicals completed on all children in daycare. Please make sure that you provide us with updated medical forms when needed. Updated medical reports are required for admittance to Children’s Safe Stay, Inc. If you fail to provide us with an updated medical report, your child will be suspended until you give us the updated form.

MEDICATION

To have any medication administered to your child while at daycare, you must complete a medication authorization form and have your physician complete the same. This includes all prescription and non-prescription medications.

Any prescription medication must be clearly labeled and have a recent prescription date on the bottle. Forms must have clear instructions, no “as necessary” will be accepted. See Medical Procedures Form for more information.

Children should leave at home their toys, electronic games, etc. They are not allowed to bring these items into the Center. The Center will not be responsible for any lost or stolen items that should not have been brought into the Center.

Please provide your child(ren) with a plastic shoebox to store a change of clothes. All items should be labeled and be kept in the shoebox in their cubby.

If your child wears diapers, please supply us with diapers and wipes.

• Please make sure that you provide us with a schedule of when your child will be dropped off and picked up. Remember to give us 24 hours notice for any changes to your normal schedule. 
• A parent, legal guardian, or another caregiver will accompany all children coming into or out of the Center. These adults will be required to sign the children in and out of the Center. This policy will be strictly enforced.
• Older siblings are not to bring or pick up children.
• If there are special situations (i.e. – someone else is picking up your child, the child has been feeling ill, the child is being picked up early or late, or child is not going to school), please put this in writing. Since we have different staffing shifts, it is important that we have these items in writing so that we can pass the notes onto the appropriate staff. 

DROP OFF

• If you drop your child off early and would like your child to eat a morning snack you must provide us with their food items. Breakfast is served 9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

PICKING UP

• The Center is open from 5:45 a.m.-6:30 p.m. A child should be picked up promptly at the agreed-upon time. There will be a late fee charged per 15 minutes for every quarter-hour a parent is late in picking up his/her child past the closing time of the center. If there is more than one child in the family, this charge will be applied to each child.
• If the Center is not notified that you will be late in picking up your child(ren) and no one can be reached to pick up your child after closing, the local police department will be notified.
• If someone other than the parent or legal guardian is to pick up a child, the Center should be notified in writing, or if in an emergency, the Director must be notified in advance. The person to whom the child is released must be one of the persons listed on the emergency contact form.
• The Center will not release the child to someone not listed on the contact form. Make sure they bring picture ID, we will request to see it.

Children’s Safe Stay and its entire staff is a mandated reporter of suspected child abuse. While your child’s welfare will ALWAYS come first, we will consult with you, if possible, before taking any action. Please understand that there are few choices involved in such a situation.