Health Policies

Office for Childcare Services requires us to have a record of your child's annual physical exam, updated immunizations and lead screening prior to admission. Please keep your child at home when she/he is sick. Follow the Health Guidelines for specific illness. Please keep your child home until she/he is free of symptoms for 24 hours. Your child should not return to school until she/he is well enough to play outside and able to function normally within the group.

Please notify us by phone on those days when your child absent. We, in turn, will notify you by phone if your child becomes ill during school hours so you can come pick her/him up. It is important that we all follow these guidelines to keep any sickness to a minimum.

Health Guidelines

We all recognize that sickness is an inevitable part of life, especially for young children who are often entering a group setting for the first time. However, we also recognize that illness can be kept to a minimum by following certain guidelines of cleanliness and exclusion. With a partnership of effort between parents and staff, we will try to minimize illness in our children.

For our part, we at the Concord Children's Center will follow strict hand washing and cleanliness/sanitation procedures, and we will do our best to notify you as soon as possible if your child becomes ill here at school. A notice about the presence of contagious illness (other than colds) will be posted in each classroom where children have been potentially exposed. For your part, we ask you as parents to follow the guidelines included here, to communicate any health-related information to us and to be prepared to miss some time at work to be with your sick child or to find a backup arrangement for child care for those days when you must be at work.

The decision to call a parent mid-day and ask that they pick up a child, is made by the Program Director based on information and recommendations made by the child's teacher. Generally, suspicion of a contagious condition or a combination of physical and behavioral symptoms are our reasons for calling after taking into consideration the special needs of your child and the needs of the whole group of children.

Please notice that in some instances the guidelines differ with the age of the child - this reflects developmental differences as well as the different needs of children and staff-child ratios. Also, in some instances our guidelines may differ from those given by your pediatrician. We will follow our guidelines, established in conjunction with our health consultant, for the sake of consistency. As always, your input concerning these guidelines is welcome. For more detailed information about CCC's Health Guidelines please refer to the Parent Handbook.

Referral Service

To assist families who would benefit from services that are not offered by the Center, we maintain a current list of potential referral resources. A request for additional services may be generated by parents; or, a teacher may determine that a recommendation to additional educational, medical, social or mental health services would be helpful. The determination of this need is based on the teacher's observation of the child and a review of the child's record. The teacher/director then meet with the child's parents, discuss their concerns and provide a written statement including the reasons for recommending a referral, a brief summary of the observations and accusations that the Center has made to help the child and a list of possible referrals. The teacher/director will offer assistance to the family in making the referral, or with written parental consent, make the referral. If a referral is made, the teacher /director will follow up with the service provider with parental permission, for consultation and assistance in meeting the child's needs at Concord Children's Center.