1. General
By enrolling your child at Kidz Go Eco, LLC and signing the registration form and enrollment packet you do so in full agreement with the following legally binding Terms and Conditions. Please read them carefully.
When enrolling your child in Kidz Go Eco, LLC you must accurately provide all information requested. Withholding or altering information may affect or limit your child’s, or another child’s ability to participate fully and safely in our program.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion to modify or replace to change these Terms and Conditions at any time, and from time to time. If a revision is material we will try to provide at least 30 days’ notice prior to any new terms taking effect. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion.
2. Registration
Kidz Go Eco has an annual re-registration fee of $150. Registration and two week deposit is due in advance for Preschool and childcare students every year.
Re-Registration
All children must be re-registered each year from November 15 – January 31, which gives families time to re-register and reserve their child’s space for the following year. If parents are re-enrolling all we need updated is a new registration form with your selected days and times you’re re-enrolling your child, and families do NOT need to complete a new enrollment packet.
If a family is NOT re-registering their child by January 31, the family is forfeiting their child’s space for the following calendar year. Each year we will need an updated registration form, updated immunizations, all current custody documents are needed if applicable, and the annual re-registration of $150.00 and 2 week deposit which is non-refundable.
3. Tuition Payments and Financial Agreements
We ask families to sign the registration form with a Financial Agreement. Parents need to give a two week notice if withdrawing. All 2-week deposits and annual registration fees are non- refundable. If your family decides to hold your child’s space during a closure (whether an Emergency or Planned Closure), tuition is still due, or families can withdraw and give a 2 week notice. The two week notice begins on the day of notifying the Director that your family has decided to withdraw your child. Please also refer to the section on Tuition Still Due.
Deposit
At the time of enrollment, a 2-week deposit and an annual registration fee of $150.00 needs to be submitted to reserve your child’s space. All 2-week deposits and annual registration fees are non-refundable.
4. Tuition Still Due
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, there are no reductions or deductions in tuition for child absences, family vacations, school vacations, or Closures (whether Emergency or Planned).
Emergency Closures are described in the section entitled Emergency Closures. Planned Closures are described in the Operational Policy part of this Handbook.
If there is a closure, Kidz Go Eco families can continue to pay for your child’s space to reserve your child’s space, or families can withdraw from the program at any time. We are not able to reserve your child’s space for any future programs if your family withdraws in the middle of a preschool/childcare year. If your family withdraws this means a complete withdrawal from all programs and future programs.
As explained in the Withdrawal section of this Handbook, it is Kidz Go Eco policy that a family must provide a 2 week notice if a family decides to withdraw a child(ren) from Kidz Go Eco. The 2 week notice begins on the date the Director is notified that your child is withdrawing from the program via the submission of an Intent to Withdraw Form. A 2 week notice is still required even if the withdrawal is related to a classroom or program that is or was subject to an Emergency Closure.
Tuition is received on a month to month basis. We’re not accepting tuition paid in full for the year at this time.
5. Fees
We reserve the right to change our fees at any time for any reason, but, whenever possible, we will give you at least two weeks’ advance notice of such change.
Late Tuition Fees
Tuition for preschool and afterschool programs are due on the 1st of every month, and child care tuition is due every Monday. A late fee of $5.00 per day will be assessed to your families account for every day tuition is received late. We will attempt to contact parents regarding late payments.
Late Pickup Fees
Parents that arrive late for any program or past 4:30pm will be charged $2.00 per minute.
Non-Sufficient Fee
Non-sufficient funds will result in a $25.00 service charge fee. Parents are responsible for all additional fees accrued by a non-sufficient check.
Additional School Fees
We occasionally have extra curricular fees that may apply to cover costs of additional
or specialized activities. For instance, we have organizations that support wild and exotic animals that are endangered or threatened in their habitats, farms that take pride in rescuing animals from neglect, cruelty, factory farming, and nonprofits that have a mission on sustainability and environmental stewardship. This is a wonderful part of our environmental education program that allows children to see the importance of coexisting with other species and developing empathy towards vulnerable creatures. We promise to give families ample notice to when we’ll be coordinating these supplemental programs.
Cash, Check, or Credit Card
Every effort will be made to include children with special needs and disabilities within the limits of the Kidz Go Eco programs, resources, and environment. Special needs include children with diagnosed behavioral conditions such as ADHD/ADD and ASD.
We reserve the right to manage enrollments in a way that ensures safety of all children and staff. This may include, but is not limited to, a requirement that children with special needs attend with a one-on-one caregiver, any cost of which will be in addition to the school tuition.
If a child needs Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Behavioral Therapy, or Interpretation for ELL (English Language Learners) any additional services will be out-sourced and any additional costs with be the responsibility of the parents.
9. Welfare and Safety
The well being and safety of all children who attend Kidz Go Eco is of paramount importance to us. We have a duty of care to all children and all reasonable measures will be taken to ensure your child’s safety.
All Kidz Go Eco educators and staff have undergone a criminal background check and have been finger-printed. Staff will be briefed on child protection protocols, their role as mandated reporters, and follow the State fo Maine’s Licensing Manual.
Any volunteer or student intern that is not employed by kidz go eco who is sharing their knowledge as part of the Kidz Go Eco and who has been invited to do so, will not be left alone with any child; a Nature educator will be present at all times. All Volunteers and Interns undergo a criminal background and are fingerprinted.
In the event of illness or injury of your child, we will contact you and anyone your family listed as an “Emergency Contact.” We will contact medical authorities if applicable. All appropriate steps will be taken to ensure the child’s well being. Any medical costs will be your responsibility.
All children should be dressed appropriately for all seasons and weather as per the requirements in our Handbook. Each child should have their own drink bottle with water only and a packed healthy and peanut/nut free lunch.
We regularly review our safety expectations with children and staff at Kidz Go Eco. This includes but is not exclusive to: developmentally appropriate tool use, environmental boundaries, behavior expectations and routines.
Kidz Go Eco will take all reasonable care of your child and their property during their enrollment, but will not be responsible for any injury to the child or loss of or damage to a child’s property. Our nature based, reggio inspired childcare promotes challenge by choice and supports and guides children to take considered and calculated risks.
11. Parents responsibility if child/children enrolled with severe food allergies
If child(ren) is enrolled with severe allergies we ask ALL parents to NOT send your child with nuts/peanuts to school, including the following:
Kidz Go Eco can NOT guarantee that a child will never experience an allergy-related event while at school, nor can we guarantee all foods are free of nuts and peanuts. KGE is emergency medications and a written medical treatment protocol for their student for addressing allergy-related events. KGE will maintain the medication, inhalers, and Epi-Pens, and other information in a medical bag that is accessible to teachers and staff in the event of a life threatening allergic reaction. committed to children’s safety, and therefore has created this policy to reduce the risk that children with allergies will have an allergy-related event. Our goal is to promote a Nut Aware and Peanut Aware school in the event a child enrolled in our program has a life threatening allergy. We appreciate your cooperation with this policy and your help in keeping our children healthy and safe.
13. Pickup Policy/Release of Children
Parents and guardians need to pick up 10 minutes prior to their child’s program ending. KGE is required by law and for the safety of our children that all students that leave our facility are to be with the parents that have custody rights to their child and individuals that have been listed on your child’s “allowed” pickup list. KGE will ask for personal identification on individuals picking up your child to confirm that is the correct individual. KGE reserves the right to not allow a child to leave our facility with an individual that is not properly listed as a safe pick-up person for your child. Your child’s safety is extremely important to us, so we ask parents to cooperate with this policy.
If any staff member suspects the person picking up a child is under the influence or is impaired in any way to drive an operating vehicle, kge reserves the right to not allow the child to leave the facility.
15. Mandated Reporter ( Abuse & Neglect Policy)
Kidz Go Eco Preschool is “required” by the State of Maine Law, if we as teachers have a strong reason to suspect child abuse or neglect, the situation will be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services as well as Child Protective Services without giving parental notification.
16. Self Reporting
Kidz Go Eco is mandated to self report any serious state violations, serious injuries, death of a child, or any serious safety concerns with structure.
17. Photo Policy and Social Media Policy
We reserve the right to take photos/video of activities and children participating in those activities for promotional and publicity purposes. By enrolling a child at Kidz Go Eco, you give your consent for photos to be taken of that child. If you do not want photos of the enrolled child to be taken or used for promotional purposes, you must state this in writing to our Education Director Michelle Goulet at mlg@kidzgoeco.com
18. Parent Communication
At Kidz Go Eco the close relationships we maintain with parents contributes greatly to the success of our preschool program and we make it a priority to communicate with parents on a regular basis. Communication is done mainly through social media and email. We also post important updates and upcoming events by entrance areas or children’s lockers.
• Monthly Newsletter: Every month KGE sends a newsletter out to our families.
• Social Media: Another avenue we use to communicate greatly with our families and
the public. You might find video clips of children playing, pictures of children’s
adventures, inspirational sayings, blog posts, parenting tips.
• School closings are also posted on our Facebook Page and on Channel 13 News.
19. Parent Newsletters
We encourage and highly recommend both parents to sign-up for the monthly newsletter on our website. This helps keep parents informed and families can have a good sense of the culture and communication at KGE. The monthly newsletters have a lot of important information to help families feel connected and parents can sign-up for our newsletters by clicking here.
20. Storm Delays/Closings
Kidz Go Eco understands that parents do not like to travel with their children in severe inclement weather, so in case of severe weather conditions, or possible closings we will alert families by posting our closing on Channel 13 News website. www.wgme.com
21. Withdrawal
Parent(s) must submit an Intent to Withdraw Form to the Director when withdrawing their child(ren) from Kidz Go Eco, no matter the reason for the withdrawal. The Intent to Withdraw Form must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the withdrawal date specified on the Intent to Withdraw Form. The
two week notice period begins on the date the Director receives the Intent to Withdraw Form.
Tuition is due up to the withdrawal date. If a child(ren) is withdrawn without submission of an Intent to Withdraw Form providing Kidz Go Eco with the required two weeks notice, tuition is due for the two weeks subsequent to the child(ren)’s last day of attendance. Furthermore, deposits and registration fees are non-refundable.
Please also refer to the section on Tuition Still Due in our Parent Handbook.
22. Termination
Kidz Go Eco is committed to providing a warm, inviting, nurturing, and supportive environment for children and families. We are committed to working with children and families so that each child’s experience is positive and rewarding. If we have any concerns about a child’s needs or concerns about the actions of the parents, we will meet with the parents to discuss our concerns and establish a plan that will benefit the child, the family, and Kidz Go Eco. Although we will make every effort within our means to support our families in difficult and challenging situations, some circumstances may call for an immediate termination of the agreement and we reserve the right to exercise this option in our sole discretion as determined by the Director. If an immediate termination occurs, tuition will be prorated for that month, and unused amounts will be refunded (deposits and registration fees are non-refundable).
Some circumstances that could call for an immediate termination, but not limited to these reasons are listed below:
23. Limitation of Liability
By enrolling your child at Kidz Go Eco program you understand that there are risks associated with nature based childcare and outdoor activities that cannot always be eliminated. You are able to ask questions of the staff and/or Kidz Go Eco, to gain a better understanding of the activities before your child takes part.
Upon enrollment, you are required to read, sign and provide a copy of our Parent Handbook to Kidz Go Eco in order for your child to participate in our program. The signed Parent Handbook is confirmation that you are aware of and understand the activities that take place at Kidz Go Eco and the risks associated with these activities.
At the beginning of each school year and summer camp sessions a safety lesson is provided to children that is developmentally appropriate. Children will be reminded of the safety rules, safe tool use, expectations and boundaries.
24. Disclaimer
By enrolling your child at Kidz Go Eco, LLC you:
(a) Give consent for your child/ren to participate in our nature based, reggio inspired childcare and activities.
(b) Understand that there are risks associated with your child/ren participating and you accept that, to the extent permitted by law, the program management and staff will not be liable for accidental injuries (and any associated losses) which can occur, especially when children are involved in active play. To minimize the risk of accidents, the program has safety procedures, including rules and boundaries for children’s behavior, and developmentally appropriate activities that will be consistently applied.
(c) Acknowledge that while extensive risk management procedures have been put in place, KGE firmly believes that the benefits associated with some risk taking activity far outweigh the risks and so children will be allowed (after discussion and risk assessment) to climb trees, use appropriate tools, use loose materials like sticks for building, explore areas with shallow water, and play physical games.
(d) Acknowledge that no activity will be compulsory and that your child/ren will need to give their own verbal consent that they wish to take part in our daily activities. We encourage and support children with challenges and we guide them to be part of our KGE community and classroom. If your child is unable to participate in ongoing activities in the classroom then withdrawing may be the best interest of the child.
(e) Acknowledge that Kidz Go Eco reserves the right to cancel or withdraw any child from any activity where the terms and conditions have not been complied with or for safety reasons.
(f) Give consent for your child/ren to take part and enroll in our facility.
As the proverb illustrates, it takes a village to raise a child and for a small independent school it takes the thoughtful efforts and creative resources of the community to educate the village’s children.We are deeply grateful for your willingness to support our nature school, whether monetary, contributions of classroom supplies/equipment/furniture, kind words of encouragement, lifting our educators spirits with a special thank you, or your own unique offering. Your donation makes a difference and with your generosity and thoughtfulness, kidz go eco is a very special place for all the children that attend our school. We want to thank you for all your in kind support!
