Elfinwild Church Preschool

Arrival for our morning session begins at 8:45 am.

Dismissal is staggered with the 3 & 4 year olds dismissing at 11:15 am, and the 5 year olds at 11:25 am.

Arrival for our afternoon session begins at 12:30 pm.

Dismissal is staggered with the 3 & 4 year olds dismissing at 3:00 pm, and the 5 year olds at 3:10 pm.

If you are going to be late, please call the preschool office at 412-486-2322, to let us know.

During orientation, you can provide the names of those individuals permitted to pick up your child on the Parent Survey form. We will only release a child to someone listed on this form. However if the need arises, and you know in advance that your child will be picked up by another adult, please let us know in writing, so we can add them to this form. If it is a one-time pick up or an emergency, please call the preschool office with this information.

Identification is required.

No. Pediatricians advise that children will use the toilet when they are ready and that forcing potty training for school, creates unnecessary stress for all involved. If a child is not potty trained, we have found pull-ups to be most effective at school. If necessary, our staff is prepared to change soiled clothing. 

Please do not send your child to school if they have any of the following:

   •     A fever of 100° or higher  (Must be fever free for 24 hours without acetaminophen or ibuprofen.)

   •     Has vomited in the past 24 hours

   •     Has symptoms of conjunctivitis (Pink eye)

   •     Has an unidentified rash  (Please make sure they have been seen by a doctor - many contagious childhood illnesses begin with a fever and/or a rash.)

   •     Has had diarrhea in the past 24 hours

If your child does come to school with any of the above symptoms, or develops them during the school day, a parent or emergency contact will be called to come and pick them up. Illnesses travel quickly through preschools, so please use your best judgment when deciding whether or not to send your child to school.

The staff is not permitted to dispense any type of medication to children under any circumstances. Please do not send any medicine to school with your child.  Also, if your child is in need of medicine of any kind during the school day, it has to be administered by the parent.

Below are the number of children to teachers that we have in each classroom for each age group. There are many times throughout the day however, when the number of adults increases due to support staff or a special area teacher participating in the classroom.

                                      3 year olds            15:2

                                      4 year olds            16:2

                                      5 year olds            16:2

                                      Cooking class         21:3

For the most part, we follow Shaler Area School District and Hampton Township School District’s cancellation policies. If they close, we will also. If they have a 2 hour delay, we may close or we may have a 10 o’clock start. If we have a 10 o’clock start, the morning children arrive at 10:00 am and dismissal is at noon. The afternoon children would arrive at 1:00 pm and dismiss at regular time. There are times, due to the circumstances of a storm, that we do not follow the school districts exactly. If it is necessary to deviate from our regular schedule, the information will be posted on KDKA, WPXI, as an alert on our website (www.elfiwildchurch.org/preschool), and on twitter. You will also receive a call or text (depending on how you chose to be alerted) from your child’s teacher. 

The first tuition payment is due July 1st before school starts. The 2nd payment is due on the first day of school in September. The remaining payments are due on the first of each month. If registration is made after July 1st and before the first day of school, the first payment is due with registration. You are more than welcome to pay the full amount rather than using the payment plan, if you would like.

The best and most effective way is to call the preschool office (412-486-2322). Our office manager can either pass on a message or can let the teacher know you would like to speak with her. Your child’s teacher will get back to you as soon as she can. For matters that are especially not time sensitive, you can email the teacher at the preschool’s email: preschool@elfinwildchurch.org.

Our staff welcomes the opportunity, throughout the year, to discuss the progress of each child, especially if a parent has a question or concern. An informal observation evaluation will be shared with parents in late October. Additionally, following the more formal assessments completed with each child in January and February, two days are set aside in early March specifically for parent-teacher conferences. Teachers will have a sign-up sheet available prior to these dates.

A backpack is not necessary. We have found that the size of our papers and masterpieces usually inhibits them from fitting into a backpack. Also, the children are so excited to share what they have made, they choose to carry their work rather than put it in a bag. We do understand, however, that because older siblings use backpacks, a preschooler might want one, too. If a child brings a backpack, please do not put anything in it that needs to be given to the teacher or office. Please directly hand these to a staff member when dropping off your child.

Bringing things from home is discouraged because of the possibility of it getting lost or broken. The exceptions to this would be if it is needed as a transitional tool (please speak with your child's teacher) or on our special Toy Day. This is a day to bring in a favorite toy to show and talk about with the class.

If a child’s birthday is during the school year, it will be celebrated on the closest school day to their birthday. If a child’s birthday is during the summer they will be given a “Special Day”. This will be the day we celebrate their birthday at school. The celebration at school will include being the line leader, calendar person, Super Scientist  (If its a science day), snack person and teacher’s helper. Each child will decorate a crown, have their picture taken, and blow out the candles on our pretend cake while the class sings to them. Parents can provide a special snack, following our snack guidelines, for the day. Please do not send in invitations to parties or treat bags to be distributed to the children in the class.

Snack time is a very important time of the school day. It brings about an awareness of good nutrition, helps develop good table manners and social skills, as well as provides a great opportunity for socialization with classmates as well as the teachers.

Each child will have many opportunities to bring the snack in during the school year (you will be given a schedule at the beginning of the year by your child's teacher). It is important to make them a part of this ritual. Helping cut up fruit or picking out their favorite cracker at the store is a great way for you to help encourage healthy snack choices in your child.

To drink, water is always served. Milk or juice can be sent in, but is not necessary.

Please refer to the Snack Suggestion form given to you at the beginning of the year with your snack days for a more thorough list of suggestions. Here is a brief list of appropriate healthy snack choices for school.

          Cut-up fresh fruit                              Pretzels

          Dried fruit                                         Crackers

          Vegetables                                        Pudding

          Yogurt                                                Jell-O

          Non-sugar Cereals                            Cheese

          Granola Bars                                     Mini-bagels

          Mini-muffins                                     Vanilla Wafers

“Sweet treats” like cookies, ice cream, & popsicles should be reserved for birthdays

Remember that we maintain a NUT free environment. Please check the labels.

Appropriate behaviors are encouraged through the creation of a positive, nurturing environment where working and growing in community is valued. We find children learn best through modeling and the reinforcement of positive attitudes and behaviors. Our staff is well trained and creative in using redirection strategies.

YES! We love to have parental help! There are several days (Feast days, Foot Painting Day, Reading Adventure Days…) already scheduled where extra hands are needed. Please indicate on the Parent Survey form which of these  you would like to help with and we will let you know when we would need you to come in. There are days in individual classrooms where extra help might be needed as well. Let your child’s teacher know you might be available to volunteer on these days so she can call and schedule these on an individual basis. Also, there are two days, one in the fall and one in the spring, for parents to come in and enjoy time with one another while helping to prepare materials. Look for these dates in the newsletters. If you would like to help, but can’t come in, indicate that on the Parent Survey, and we will gladly send materials for you to prepare at home.