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Child Development Center


CONTACTS

Lena Gavello, Director: 510-437-2740
Melissa Dishen, Assistant Director: 510-437-3901
Melissa Proctor, Front Desk: 510-437-2743

HOURS OF OPERATION

The CDC is open Monday through Friday from 0600 to 1700.  Exceptions are:

PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS

Through the process of maintaining NAEYC accreditation, the Alameda CDC has created a stronger and more committed team of teachers and administrators who work together to continually improve program quality.  We would like parents to be included on our team, and your partnership is encouraged.

Children learn about their world through interpersonal relationships, exposure to diverse experiences and exploration in creative play, and we strive to promote their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development as well as their creativity, independence, and self-esteem in a safe, loving, positive, and nurturing environment.  Every child is respected and accepted for his or her individuality. 

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE – LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

We strongly believe in the value of learning through play.  For young children, meaningful and long-lasting learning requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work.  This is best accomplished through purposeful play.  All of our programs follow the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practices and use The Creative Curriculum® by Teaching Strategies, Inc. to ensure appropriate content and assessments for Infants, Toddlers, Twos and Preschool children

CLASSROOM PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

The CDC offers five full-time programs for children aged six weeks through 5 years of age.   They are as follows: 

Staff to Child Ratios: 

Staff to child ratios are established by the NAEYC as follows:

Infants 1:3 (1:4 when 3+ infants in room)
Pre-Toddlers 1:4
Toddlers One 1:6
Toddler Twos 1:6
Preschool 1:10

CURRICULUM

The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos is a comprehensive curriculum that helps teachers achieve the very best program for children under three.  Through this program we, provide interactions that are nurturing, consistent, and loving, along with experiences that are appropriately challenging so that infants, toddlers, and twos grow and flourish.  The curriculum addresses assessment of each child’s development in four developmental areas: Social/Emotional, Physical, Cognitive, and Language.  Experiences for infants through two years of age range widely as they are child driven.  They include routines and play experiences as follows.

Routines

Play Experiences

The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool fosters social development, physical development; cognitive development and expressive language development. Assessment areas of each child’s development and includes:

ELIGIBILITY

The CDC accepts children without regard to sex, race, culture, religion, or national origin.  Per ALCOAST 239/04, children shall be accepted according to the following priorities, as determined by the status of the parents(s):

  1. Single parents, whether active duty Coast Guard or civilian Coast Guard employees
  2. Coast Guard active duty and civilian employees
  3. DoD active duty members
  4. DoD civilian employees
  5. DHS and other federal employees
  6. DHS contractors
  7. Community members

Children will be admitted to the CDC according to the above criteria, though admissions may at times be restricted because of internal transitions, class sizes, and wait lists.

Children with special needs are eligible for CDC enrollment.  Initially, a Child Health Form (CG-5484A) is completed by the child’s physician and submitted to the CDC.  A Special Needs Resource Team (SNRT) then determines if CDC enrollment is appropriate for the child and how to best meet the child’s needs.  If the SNRT determines a different environment would better suit the child, the CDC and Family Resource Specialist will make a referral.

REGISTRATION AND ORIENTATION

To enroll a child, a parent or guardian must first visit the CDC to discuss the program.  Openings are filled according to priorities established by Congress (see Eligibility) and a registration/wait list fee is required to secure a space.  Parents must complete the CDC’s registration packet before the child attends our program.  The packet includes these forms and materials:

Each parent will have an orientation session before his or her child’s first day at the CDC.  All registration forms must be completed before the orientation is scheduled.  Standard operations, procedures, policies and payment information will be reviewed at that time to ensure parents are comfortable with how the CDC operates and what is required. 

It is helpful for the child to visit the classroom at least once before his/her first day.  We recommend that parents refer to some of the reading material available in the Parent Library, and to ask staff for help with the transition.

If the CDC has reached maximum capacity or a parent wants their child considered for future enrollment, the child may be placed on a waiting list.  A waiting list application and non-refundable $25.00 fee are required for each child.  Children on the waiting list will be admitted based on the Basic Eligibility Priorities shown in the Eligibility section.  Per Coast Guard-wide policy, wait list priority is not given to siblings of children already enrolled at the CDC.  Parents of children on the Wait List must contact the CDC monthly to keep their child on the list; the CDC will not hold a paid slot longer than one month.  When an opening is available, the parent is informed and given one week to accept or decline.  Upon entrance to the CDC, the non-refundable fee is applied to the child’s registration cost.  

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition is based on a sliding fee scale according to total family income (TFI).  TFI is defined as all earned income including wages, salaries, tips, long-term disability allowance received by a family, pay for service in a combat zone, or any monetary payment or compensation, even if not taxable, that was received for providing services.  Basic quarters or the in-kind equivalent and subsistence allowances are included.  Standard BAH charts are used to include the in kind housing allowance.  Geographic cost of living allowance (COLA), variable housing allowance (VHA), alimony and child support, temporary duty allowance, reimbursement for educational purposes, workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits are not included. 

Parents must provide their last two LES and/or pay stubs at the time of registration to verify TFI.  Once annual income is determined, the CDC Sliding Fee Chart is used to determine tuition costs.  If parents do not wish to provide income information, they will be charged tuition from the highest category on the CDC sliding fee scale.  The sliding fee scale is available upon request.

Tuition may be paid monthly or bi-monthly, in advance of the services.  Monthly payments are due on the 1st of each month.  Bi-monthly payments are due on the 1st and 15th of each month.  A late fee of $20.00 will be charged when tuition payment has not been received within two days after the payment due date.

Tuition may be paid with cashiers checks, money orders, personal checks and automatic payroll deductions through Sea West Credit Union.  Payments with cash or credit cards are not accepted.  Receipts for tuition payments received are placed in each child’s notification pocket.

Subject to tuition payment are base closures, training days, and the first full week in August when the CDC is closed for annual training and maintenance.

Tuition credits are not granted for any absences, including sick days, vacation, emergency closing, or staff training.

Parents must provide the CDC with a written, two-week notice prior to withdrawing their child from the CDC.  Failure to give notice will result in a balance due of two weeks tuition.  The MWR collection process will be used to collect delinquent fees owed the CDC.

FOOD PROGRAM

All children enrolled at the CDC will participate without charge in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).  The CDC receives partial reimbursement for all meals served so it is imperative that parents complete all appropriate CACFP forms upon registration and renew them annually.

All children present during food service times will be served.  No child will go longer than three hours without a meal or snack being offered.  Children arriving after mealtimes will not be served. 

Breakfast 0800 to 0830
Lunch 1100 to 1130
Snack 1400 to 1430

Menus are carefully planned to meet USDA standards and provide tasty, nutritious meals and snacks.  They are posted weekly at the CDC for the parents’ information.

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Last Modified 7/11/2012