Frequently asked questions
What are the hours of Service and Holidays?
Rainbow Academy is open Monday through Friday from 6:30am to 6:30pm. We are closed for the following holidays:
New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King Day
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Day after Thanksgiving
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Day After Christmas
What are the tuition, fees, Late Payments?
Payments, Fees, Late Payments and Refunds
Registration/enrollment fee and tuition payments are due in advance. Subsequent tuition payments are due weekly, every Monday. Effective October 1, 2018 a $30.00 weekly late fee charge will be added to all unpaid balances. Tuition is due every Monday. If tuition is not paid by 11:59 pm Monday, a $30.00 late fee will be added weekly every Tuesday at 12:00 am, to all unpaid balances.
For families active in the Child Care Assistance program and have a monthly co-pay: Monthly payments are due the first Monday of the month. If the daycare is closed the first Monday of the month, then co-payment is due the first subsequent day the daycare is open. A $30.00 late fee will be added to all unpaid balances not paid by 11:59pm the first business day of the month.
Registration/Enrollment fees are due annually based on the anniversary of enrollment date. Rates are evaluated yearly and may be raised every year September 1st. Two weeks’ notice will be given to families for rate changes.
Rainbow Academy closes at 6:30pm. Children picked up after closing are considered late and will incur a late fee of $1.00 per minute. Late fees must be paid upon arrival the following morning.
Full weekly tuition payments are charged when your child is present or not. You are paying to reserve a space whether your child is here or not. This includes holidays and vacations. If your child is absent without notice for two continuous weeks, then your child will be discharged from the daycare and additional charges will incur. (Please see Discharge and Withdrawal)
When your child has been in attendance, continuously for one full enrollment year and their tuition and fees are paid up to date, your child will receive one free week of tuition (during a subsequent week).
It is important to keep your child’s tuition and fees paid up to date. If your child’s tuition is two weeks in arrears, you will be asked to remove your child until the outstanding balance(s) is paid in full.
You will incur an additional tuition charge (per child, per week) for school aged children in attendance at Rainbow Academy, during no school days. Your school aged child will incur the same Summer rates, currently, $150.00 weekly, during no school days. All payments for school aged children attending field trips, must be paid in advance, prior to the day of the field trip.
End of the year receipts will be available by January 31st. If you your child is withdrawn from Rainbow Academy and you have an outstanding balance, Rainbow Academy reserves the right to withhold your end-of-year receipt until the balance is paid in full. All outstanding balances owed 30 days after your child is discharged, your account will be turned over to a collection agency.
Rainbow Academy will charge a $25 return check fee, per check, for returned checks.
Refund will be returned 30 days from the date of request, provided all outstanding balances are paid.
What is Classroom and Curriculum?
Classroom and Curriculum
Children are divided into classrooms according to age and ability to perform in such class. These rooms are divided as follows: infants, toddlers (age 18-35 months), pre-k (age three, four and five), and after-schoolers (age six though twelve). Occasionally, exceptions are made due to advanced or delayed development (depends on availability in each class).
Teachers are qualified to develop standard classroom curriculum designed to encourage and inspire learning through creativity, imagination, reading with cognitive expectations. Children are involved in hands-on experiences, real-life adventures and assisted discovery as they explore concepts through play.
Waht is policy for Illness/Sick Child?
Illness/Sick Child
If your child is ill they cannot attend class. If your child has fever in excess of 101 degrees, vomiting, diarrhea, green nasal discharge or pink eye, these are symptoms that prevent us from allowing children to attend. We will require a doctor’s note or child must be fever and symptom free for 24 hours, following a missed day due to illness, without medication in order for them to return. If your child becomes ill while in our care, we will phone and request for you to arrange for them to be picked up as soon as possible. Ill children will remain in the office area until they are picked up. We know it is hard to leave your job, however it is a health and safety policy requirement of Rainbow Academy.
Are the staff trained/Certified?
Health and Safety
All staff are trained/certified in first aid and CPR. All staff are required to complete (update) first aid and CPR certification training skills every two years. Teachers and staff are required to attend various instruction based classes including: child development, inside/outside safety, SIDS, shaken baby, brain development, health and nutrition, setting up classrooms, observing children, redirection, accident prevention, age appropriate curriculum, supervision and bettering themselves as well as each other.
What are the Guidance and Discipline?
Guidance and Discipline
At Rainbow Academy, we feel it is essential that the children are greeted upon arrival and sent home at the end of the day on a happy note. In dealing in a learning environment, we hope to help the children to learn from their mistakes and as different as each individual is, we will have problems arise. We believe in communicating with parents when a problem arise, so that we can work together as a team to promote growth and assist in preventing reoccurrences. We ask that parents support and work with the teachers so that the child’s progress is consistent and positive.
Our policy for discipline is first to redirect, followed by time out and occasionally a call to parent for support. Teachers are not permitted to hit, spank, yell or embarrass the children as this promotes low self-esteem. We do inform the child of his/her misconduct so that they can learn from it and improve. Parents are not permitted to spank or yell at the children in the building or on the grounds of Rainbow Academy. Parents are informed of misconduct at the end of the day when a child is picked up. Please support your child’s teacher and encourage your child(ren) to make better choices.
Do you provide free meals to children?
Our Free Meals has NO PORK, WE DO NOT SERVE PORK
We are on a food program through Child Care Services and will need their form to be completed on a yearly basis. We provide free Halal/Kosher breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and PM snack daily. Menus are posted in the office and in the kitchen. It is a rotating menu and any substitution will be made with something on the menu. Breakfast is served until 8:30am. Lunch begins at 11am. Snack is served after nap time and after school pickup. Dinner is served at 3:15 – 4:15pm for after schoolers. For all other children, dinner is served 5pm – 6:15pm. P.M. Snack is served at 5:15pm – 5:30pm. If your child has an allergy to any item on the menu, we will need a doctor’s note and/or written statement.
Do you provide transportation from/to schools?
Transportation, Bus Rules and Reminders
We provide transportation to and from school, to and from field trips only. We do not provide transportation to and from home.
We depart for school drop off at 7:00 in order to get the children to schools on time. If the bus has left when you get here, you will need to take your children to school. The children are informed of all rules for the bus and are expected to follow them at all times. Children are required to wear seat belts (one per child), remain under control and calm. Leave all items in backpacks. Use inside voices and help keep the bus clean. Allow the driver to help them in and out of the van by holding their hand. Do what they are asked to do. No fighting or roughhousing…etc.
If your children are scheduled to be picked up and for some reason will not be on the bus, PLEASE inform the office before 2:30pm so that we can inform the driver. When we don’t know that your child is not there, we get delayed in picking up the remaining children. The driver cannot proceed to the next until we know where your child is.
The buses are maintained on an ongoing basis. Tags, plates and inspections are current and up to date. Drivers must have a current valid driver’s license and a good driving record; they must be at least 25 years of age. Drivers carry cell phones, but can only use them in case of an emergency. They must pull over before using a cell phone. First aid kits are on each bus at all times. We require written consent to transport the children to and from school, to and from field trips.
Do you charge fees to take children to Field Trips?
Field Trips
Field trips are and extra cost and the fees will be posted prior to the event. Fees must be paid in advance for the children to attend. Tee shirts with our information displayed on them are to be used for field trips and are sold for children at $8.00 each. Children must follow classroom and field trip rules to be able to attend. If a field trip is paid in advance and your child misses it, your fee payment is nonrefundable. We do not take children ages 5 through 12 years to the public swimming pools where there are no life guards on duty. Children ages 15 months through 5 years will enjoy sprinkler play located on the property of Rainbow Academy.
Each field trip will require a separate permission form and must be signed (and returned) prior to the trip. If the permission form is return signed and your child does not have the appropriate tee shirt, your child will not be allowed to attend the field trip. No exceptions. That child will remain a Rainbow Academy.
What are the policy Pictures/Photographs and Video Taping?
Pictures/Photographs and Video Taping
We have picture studios come two to four times a year to take professional portraits of your child. Information will be posted in advance and you are never obligated to purchase any of the pictures. We do this for convenience to our parents.
Rainbow Academy participates in videotaping, advertisement for the center, public relations and family enrichment. This may include local new organizations or the press, approved by and accompanied by the director of the center. The snapshots which may include your child(ren) may be published and/or sold to other parents to cover the expenses involved.
Parents/guardians must sign a PERMISSION TO PHOOGRAPH CHILD form giving authorization for the center to photograph and/or video tape your child(ren) for these purposes.
What is the Parents’ Responsibilities, Influence and Family Participatio?
What is the Parents’ Responsibilities, Influence and Family Participation
Children must be signed in and out by the custodial parent/guardian or adult person approved by the parent(s). only those persons approved by the child’s parent(s) may take a child from Rainbow Academy. If those persons are not known to current staff, identification will be required. Please understand that due to liability issues, staff of Rainbow Academy are not permitted to take children home from our center.
In order not to confuse school toys with a child’s personal property, we ask that children not bring playthings from home. Rainbow Academy staff cannot be responsible for lost or broken personal toys. Two exceptions to this are, a stuffed animal for use during naptime by full-day preschool children and for Show & Tell purposes. You will be notified by your child’s teacher if and when the class will have Show & Tell. There are several ways you can help us maintain the best possible teaching atmosphere for your child:
• Communicate any concerns regarding our program or your child immediately to staff
• Pick up and read the notices and newsletters from the office or your child’s teacher
• Pick up your child’s papers/projects daily. Their work is very important to them and provides another means of communication between parent and child and helps the parent share in the child’s day.
• Please be aware of the scheduled meal times of breakfast, served until 8:30am. Lunch begins at 11am. Snack is served after nap time and after school pickup. Dinner is served at 3:30 – 4:00pm for after schoolers. For all other children, dinner is served 5:30 – 6:00pm. Make sure your child arrives on time to be included in those meals, you intend for them to be fed. It is very difficult to try and feed a child later than the scheduled meal time and causes a disruption in the classroom schedule, which affects all of the children in the classroom.
• Please do not allow your child to bring gum or candy to the classroom. We STRONGLY encourage you to allow your child to eat what we are serving that day, unless, of course, food allergies are a concern. In that case, we ask that you bring a note from your physician. Any good brought from home will only be served at the same time that the other children are eating and MUST be taken home at the end of the day, this is only in case of food allergies, otherwise we prefer not to have outside foods brought into the school.
• Periodically check on your child’s supply of extra clothing, please take home soiled clothing promptly.
• The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services do not allow smoking on the premises, either indoors or outdoors.
Please understand young children are present in our building. Some adult language is not appropriate for young children. Rainbow Academy prohibits swearing or cursing on our property. Threatening staff, children or other parents will not be tolerated per Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Rainbow Academy has the right to terminate care in the event of disruptive behavior from a parent or guardian. In the event of incidents between children, Privacy Laws prevent us from revealing what child/children involved or pointing out a specific child. Parents are not allowed to address, pick up, handle or redirect another child, it is the teacher’s responsibility. Rainbow Academy must adhere to rules on discipline and guidance as outlined in the Texas Minimum Standards for Child Care Centers. All adults, including parents, must follow these rules while on our property.
What is I deceided to Discharge and Withdrawal?
Discharge and Withdrawal
We require a fourteen (14) day written notice must be received in the office, prior to the day of discharge/withdrawal of a child from Rainbow Academy. If your child is discharged/withdrawn from Rainbow Academy, without a required advanced 14 day written notice, you will incur a charge equal to half tuition rate for the 14 days.
What is the policy for children suspension/expulsion?
Suspension/Expulsion
When your child(ren) displays repeated behavioral actions which puts children, staff or teachers in immediate danger, Rainbow Academy must protect the safety and wellbeing of all in the facility. Excessive behavioral actions which put children, staff or teachers in immediate danger may result in immediate suspension and/or expulsion from Rainbow Academy. In the event, parent(s)/guardian will be notified immediately.
