Parent Handbook

welcome aboard

Beginning Your Adventure: A Comprehensive Introduction to Our School

Welcome to The Anne Brower School!!

We’re excited to have you as part of our community! The Anne Brower School was established in 1978, and ever since that time has been providing a warm and loving environment for young children to learn and grow. Individualized attention, love, and care are stressed by all members of our dedicated staff.

Below you will find The Anne Brower School (TABS) policies and procedures laid out in detail. Please read the Parent Handbook in its entirety. Subsequently, please complete the Acknowledgment Form and return it to the office prior to your child’s first day of school.

To download a copy of the handbook, please click here.

Table of Contents

Starting School

Before your child comes in for their first day please make sure that all of the necessary paperwork is submitted to the office.

This includes:

We will also send you a welcome letter from your child’s teacher and a copy of their daily schedule, which will outline the activities we are offering throughout the day. It is helpful to review this information with your child before they start to aid with the transition process.

Also, all necessary payments need to be made prior to the first day of school.

This includes:

  • all registration fees,
  • material/trip fees, and
  • two tuition installments.

Installments are due on the 1st of each month and can be paid by recurring charges to a card kept on file or by check.

Helping Your Child Transition

When saying goodbye for the first time at school, make it short and sweet, i.e. “Goodbye, have fun!” Give a quick hug and kiss and leave positively. Staying too long may give your child the false idea that you are staying or that there is a reason you haven’t left. Children feed off the energy of their parents. When you are confident they will be confident. Students that are having a hard time separating will be held and reassured that you will come back for them soon. If your child is inconsolable, we will help you and your child through the transition as smoothly as possible.

Program Times

Please remember when your child’s program is scheduled to begin. 

Arrival & Dismissal Information

Early & Late Arrivals / Departures

Should your child be dropped off before or picked up after their program schedule, you will be charged extra time at a rate of $25.

We certainly understand the need for new students to become acclimated and comfortable in their new environment. Should you need to accompany your child into the classroom, parking is in the large parking lot area. Please DO NOT leave your car running even for one minute if you are not in it!

All doors always remain locked.  Should your child arrive at school more than 10 minutes later than their programs start time, you must report to the main office prior to bringing your child to their respective classrooms.  Our Office Manager will have you sign in and call the classroom to alert the educators that the door will need to be opened.

If you are running late, please call the school immediately to notify us. If you cannot arrive at the school prior to our closing time, please arrange for one of your emergency contacts to pick up and inform the school of these arrangements. Make sure that they have with them their photo identification, or we will not be able to release your child to them.

If at any time a student is not picked up by 4:15 pm we cannot contact the parent or guardian or any of your emergency contacts, we will contact local authorities.

Immunizations & Individual Educational Plans (IEP’s)

All students must be fully immunized and have a recent physical on file in order to attend school. If your child is not up to date on their immunizations, a doctor’s note will be required outlining the plan for your child to “catch up.” The physical must be dated within one year of admission to the school.

We will provide you with the necessary medical paperwork upon enrollment. Best practice is to always bring us a copy of immunizations when your child receives them so your child’s file remains up to date.

This is also the case for any child with an IEP. All IEP’s must be on file for your child and current. Having this information is not only necessary for their file but has proven to be a useful tool for all educators.  Our educational team works tirelessly to plan lessons that are not only creative and fun; they look for ways to differentiate these plans to best meet the needs of each and every one of their students.

All Medicals and IEP’s can be faxed to the school directly at (631) 683-5558.

Illnesses & Daily Attendance

Please click here to access our most up-to-date COVID-19 policies and procedures. These policies reflect the current circumstances of the pandemic and the most recent public health recommendations from federal, state, and local health authorities.

Please sign your child in and out daily via our computer system in each classroom. We use this information as an additional security measure to account for all students. All caregivers that commonly pick up will be given an individualized code. Please do not share your code with anyone.

Unwell children do not belong in school. If, within 24 hours your child has had: a fever, diarrhea, vomiting, a green gooey nose, an eye infection, or an unidentified rash, please keep your child home.

Our goal is always to protect your child and all the other children in the school. Daily Health Checks are documented each day on all students to help ensure the health and well-being of all. If your child is on antibiotics or other medications please inform your child’s teacher. Children on antibiotics are often “not themselves.” It helps to know so we can help your child.

Please notify the office any time that your child will not be in school for the day.

If your child becomes ill while in our care, we will contact you immediately to make arrangements to have your child picked up. If we cannot reach the parents or guardians, we will try to contact the emergency contacts that you have on file. Please be sure to keep all emergency information up to date with our office.

In such situations where your child has something highly contagious we will require a doctor’s note in order for your child to return to school. Some examples would include: Strep, Lice (we have a no nit policy), Coxsackie, Fifth’s Disease, Pink Eye, etc. For more information, please see our Sick Policy.

We are unable to offer make-up days if your child misses their scheduled day. Furthermore, we cannot accommodate a fluctuation in your child’s contracted schedule. On occasion, it may be possible to add an additional day in the event that we have a student absent. Your contracted tuition schedule will remain the same and will not be credited for absences.

If you need to add on an additional day, and we have space available, you will be billed an Extra Day Rate.

Family vacation time taken outside of school vacation times will not be credited.

Allergies

The health and safety of all our students is always of prime importance to us. We presently have students enrolled in our program with SEVERE ALLERGIES to many different items.

Peanut butter, nuts, etc. require special consideration not only because of the severity of reaction it causes, but because of the extreme difficulty in controlling exposure to peanut oil. Traces of its sticky, oily consistency can be left undetected in the classroom. The nature of peanut allergies is such that for many affected people, even a trace of oil on the skin, or the slight scent of peanuts can cause a very severe reaction. For this reason, we are asking that you do not send in any food that contains peanut butter, nuts, etc. to school with your child as we will be unable to serve it. Please also see our Safe Food Guidelines.

If your child has an allergy of any type we will need the appropriate paperwork submitted from your doctor. This will include a Medication Consent Form for each medication and a completed Individualized Health Care Plan for a Child with Special Health Care Needs.

We will also ask that all necessary medications are brought in and given to the teacher. Medications need to be in their original box with pharmacy label on it to indicate your child’s name. Please be sure to keep us informed of any changes in your child’s allergies. Please be aware that we are only able to administer Benadryl, EpiPens and Nebulizers. Other medications must be administered by the parent or designated guardian.

Incidents & Boo-Boo’s

From time to time your child may get a “boo-boo” when at school. In such cases a Boo-Boo Report will be written up and presented to you at pick up time. A signature is required on the report. One copy will go to the parent/guardian and the other will be kept on file.

Any time a child is injured above the shoulders or skin is broken we will contact you to notify you. All other boo-boos will be reported to the parent at pick up time.

In emergency situations 911 will be called and you will be notified immediately after. If the primary guardian cannot be contacted we will call all contacts on the emergency contact list. Please be sure to always keep this information up to date.

If your child causes a student in our program to sustain an injury, an Incident Report will be completed and presented to you at pick up time. A signature is required on the report. One copy will go to the parent/guardian and the other will be kept on file. Should your child have three Incidents in any quarter, he or she may be suspended from our program on a short term basis or asked to leave permanently.

We want you to know that we will do everything possible to work with the family of the child (ren) in order to prevent this policy from being enforced. However should the child be at risk of causing serious injury to other children and/or himself or herself, or if a parent physically threatens or intimidates staff members, or if a parent verbal abuses a staff member in front of another enrolled student this can be a cause for immediate suspension or even expulsion.

Parental Actions for a Child’s Expulsion:

Child’s Actions for Expulsion:

Mandated Reporters

As educators, we are classified as Mandated Reporters and are required to report any suspected abuse to Child Protective Services.

A report may be made any time there is suspected child abuse or maltreatment signs with a child in our program. Please note, that we are not making a judgment or an accusation that any type of abuse has taken place. We are giving information to an outside agency that conducts their own investigation and will make their own independent determination.

Types of abuse can include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and/or neglect.

Healthy Meals

Parents are asked to provide a healthy and nutritious meal for their child if they are staying for Lunch Bunch. Ideally, their lunch should consist of a dairy, fruit, vegetable, grain and a protein.

Please be sure to put an ice pack in your child’s lunch box to ensure food does not spoil.

Snacks will also be provided by the parents. Please refer to the snack suggestion list supplied to you in your welcome packet or see our Safe Snacks page.

Be sure to refer to our Healthy Eating pamphlet that was given out with your welcome packet or see our Healthy Eating Tips page. Both have a lot of helpful information!

Screen Time Policy

Screen time is never used for children under age 2.

For children ages 2 to 5 there is no more than 30 minutes of use once per week.

The time spent on screens is educational or movement based and commercial free programming.

As per OCFS, screen time is never used during nap and mealtime.

Teacher Qualifications

Please refer to our team page for teacher information.

What to Wear

Students should wear play clothes to school. Your child will be playing inside and outside, climbing and running.

Ankle length dresses are never appropriate to wear to school. Party shoes and flip flops are not safe on the playground.

Please dress your child comfortably for school.

Though we try to keep our students out of the mud and covered in smocks they may still get dirty. When we are painting clothes may get dirty, we use washable markers and paints, but they cannot be guaranteed to come out of clothing.

What to Bring & What Not to Bring to School

Toddler and Nursery students should bring in a labeled diaper bag, with a box of diapers, large box of wipes and a full change of clothing (including socks). All clothing should be labeled with your child’s name. This bag should be left at school. Please make sure to restock diapers and wipes as needed and change the clothes seasonally.

Please do not bring in toys from home. Children typically have a hard time sharing their special toys from home with their friends in their class. This tends to cause a disruption in the classroom.

If your child is having difficulty separating, a special blanket, family photo or stuffed animal may be suggested. These items will be kept inside your child’s backpack and taken out as needed.

Guns, weapons (of any kind) and action figures are never permitted. A book may be brought in to share with the class.

Please help your child to understand this policy.

Classroom Placement Policy

Our educators and leadership team carefully place each child in a class that best supports their individual needs, ensuring a positive and nurturing environment. The placement process involves thoughtful consideration of several key factors:
  1. Developmental milestones
  2. Personalities
  3. Educator/student compatibility
  4. Future school district placement
  5. Scheduling needs
  6. Friendships
While we strive to accommodate family requests, not all can be fulfilled due to these considerations. Class sizes are also determined by educator-to-child ratios, which vary based on student age groups. If you have specific placement requests—such as being with friends or relatives, teacher preferences, or classroom/building preferences—please submit them via email to the Owner/Executive Director by May 31st for the upcoming school year. This timeline allows us to review and consider all requests carefully before finalizing placements.

Conferences

All students are assessed daily.  However twice yearly a formal assessment of each student is conducted, and a written report is generated to be shared with their parents. Parent Teacher Conferences are held for ALL classes in November and March. Please check the calendar of events for exact dates.

Fire Drills

Each month we will conduct at least one fire drill at the school. These will be unannounced and will help our students to become familiar with our procedures in what to do in the case of a real fire. We additionally do 2 shelter in place drills and 2 lock down drills.

In the event that we need to evacuate the premises, our primary relocation site is: 38 Lawrence Hill Rd. Huntington.

Our secondary evacuation site is: 28 Barrow Court in Huntington.

Weather

Snow Days

The Anne Brower School will be closed if either The Cold Spring Harbor or Huntington School District is closed. If either school district has a delay of one hour or more we will open at 12:15 pm for those students enrolled in our Full School Day or Full Day Program. If either school district closes early, we will follow the same schedule. Please make arrangements to abide by these schedule changes. We will send out a Remind notice to all families for all change of schedules as soon as we make the decision.

Outside Play

We do go outside in cold weather. Please dress your child appropriately, including hat, gloves and warm footwear. In snowy weather please send in boots and snow pants. We do not go outside if the real feel is under 32 degrees.

Please remember to label your child’s belongings. Mittens and mitten clips are helpful.

Remind Etiquette

Remind is a messaging platform that helps educators, students, and parents send quick, simple messages to any device. Please see our Remind page for more information.

Changes/additions to your child’s schedule, reports of absences due to illness, and any other communication should be emailed to [email protected].

In-House Field Trips & Holiday Celebrations

If an event or celebration is scheduled on a day your child DOES NOT normally attend, you may accompany your child to the event or celebration for the duration of the program or festivities. If space is available and you wish to have your child attend school that day, you will be billed for an extra day.

Parking Lot & Building Safety

We ask that you please drive very slowly in the parking lot. All cars should travel at 5 MPH maximum, at all times. Pick up and drop off times are especially busy and it is important to be aware of your surroundings.

Please be aware that there is a stop sign in our parking lot. Please also note that the entrance to the school is located at the east gate and the exit is on the west side of the property.

When parking, only use the designated spots located throughout the lot.

We ask that, as a TABS community member, you be courteous of all families and refrain from pulling in and or stopping behind any parked car. Families that do not comply with these requirements may be asked to leave the program.

Please note: Children should be in car seats and/or boosters in the back seat of your vehicle. Seat belts should not be removed until the vehicle is fully stopped and the ignition is turned off.

Your safety and your child’s safety is our primary concern. NEVER leave your child unattended in the car!

Cars must be turned off in the parking lot with the keys removed from the ignition if you leave your car. Cars may NOT be left in the upper driveway. If you need to come in, please park in the parking lot.

Please keep in mind that tardiness is inconvenient to our staff as well as upsetting to the class and your child. If necessary, make adjustments in your schedule to allow for prompt pickups. You will be charged a late pick up fee of $25.

When entering any of our buildings, please be sure that you close the door behind you and do not keep it open or allow someone to enter you do not know.

OCFS

We pride ourselves in being a school that provides the best educational experience possible. To further better our program, we are licensed through New York State by The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).

They can be reached at 631.240.2560 at any time if you would like to register a compliment or complaint. If you wish to review a copy of the regulations you may do so on their website.

Billing Policies & Procedures

You will be given a current rate sheet prior to enrolling in The Anne Brower School. During that time you will be given a choice of  several payment options from which to choose.

It is preferred that a credit card is left on file for automatic billing purposes. Checks and cash are also acceptable, but they must be submitted by the 1st of each month. Failure to pay on time will result in a late payment fee of $25. Each additional week your payment is late (every seven (7) days) you will be billed an additional $25.

All checks that are returned due to insufficient funds will be billed a $35 returned check fee.

Please also be conscious of when you are dropping your child off and when you are picking them up. We allow a 5-minute grace period for early drop off or a late pick up. Beyond that window you will be billed an additional fee of $25.

Withdrawal

In the event that you choose to withdraw from our program, we ask for 1 month’s written notice. Refunds will not be considered if you choose not to give the required a 30-day notice. All material fees and registration fees are non-refundable.

Biting Policy

Biting is normal and age-appropriate behavior that typically occurs with children that are 18-36 months.

Whenever we have a child that bites in our school we take many factors into account. For example: Is the child teething? Do we need to provide a teether for them throughout the day?

We will monitor the situation closely and make every effort to aide in curtailing this behavior.

Both the parents of the child that bit and the child who got bit will be notified. Strict confidentiality will be maintained in all conversations with both parties. 

If we feel that the biting is becoming “excessive or aggressive” we may ask to have the child removed from school. This can be on a temporary or permanent basis.

Each biting situation is different and will be handled on a case-by-case scenario.

Why Children Bite

Children bite for several reasons – and most of them aren’t intentionally malicious.

How to Stop Biting

Practice prevention so that your child will be less likely to bite in the first place.

Our Educators are trained to handle biting situations to ensure the safety of all their students.

Parent Notification & Documentation

Behavior Management Policy

We are committed to educating all staff on this policy upon employment as needed.  We must also supply copies of this policy to all staff and parents of children enrolled in our program.

The following acceptable child guidance techniques will be used:

Nap/Quiet Time Policy

At our school, we understand how important rest is for growing children, which is why students staying for the entire day will have the opportunity to nap or enjoy quiet time. Comfortable mats will be provided in the classroom for children needing a nap, creating a safe and cozy space to rest.

To keep things simple and organized, we ask that you send your child’s bedding in their backpack each day. For safety and convenience, please avoid bringing pillows or bulky items that won’t fit inside the backpack.

If your child doesn’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, they’ll be gently encouraged to engage in quiet activities. We also recognize that some older children may no longer need a nap—those children will have access to a supervised space for quiet play instead of resting on a mat.

For the safety of all napping children:

  • Staff will visually check on children at least every 15 minutes (more frequently for children under 18 months).
  • Each child will have an assigned napping area on a clean, carpeted surface, free of toys or hidden spaces.
  • A staff member will remain in the classroom at all times, ensuring that children are always in view and never left unattended.

Our goal is to create a calm, secure environment where each child feels comfortable, whether they need rest or prefer quiet play.

Important Contact Information

The Anne Brower Sch0ol

50 Lawrence Hill Road
Huntington, New York
11743

*Please Note: Our school’s fax number should be used for sending information regarding current Medicals and IEP’s.

Name Title (631) 423-4147 Email
Lisa Marie George
Owner & Executive Director
ext. 10
Tracy Murphy
Director
ext. 11
Nathalia Walkuski
Assistant Director
Anita Perez (aka Cookie)
Office Manager
ext. 12
Gabriela Castillo
Curriculum Director

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