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Admission Procedure
Tree House Hollow Community School and Play Garden accepts applications
throughout the year. To be
considered for the Fall of the year, applications must be received by
March 31st. Applications may be emailed, snail mailed or
personally brought to the school.
After carefully considering each application for
the purpose of balancing age, gender, siblings, children of those who
work at Apple Blossom, needs of the families and children, a group of
children is selected.
Within two weeks of receiving your letter of
acceptance, a $100.00 non-refundable registration fee is required.
School Hours
9:00am-1:00pm
Monday through Friday, 4 or 5 day option
Before and after care is available for $6.00
per hour.
Before care is 8-9 am.
After care is 1- 5 pm
You may pick your child up anytime after 3:00. This allows the children
to nap undisturbed.
The school year runs from the
Tuesday after Labor Day through the month of June. A week break follows
and a 6 week summer program will begin provided enough families are
interested.
Summer
Program is Optional.
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Tuition
$550 per month for 5 days per week
$450 per month for 4 days per week
Scholarships are available.
This is considered your base pay. Your base pay is the same each
month regardless of the number of days actually in attendance.
Tuition is calculated by dividing the number of days in school by ten
months.
This amount is due by the 5th of each month.
A $15 late fee will be charged unless a prior arrangement is made.
Any extra hours can be paid at the end of the
month at the rate of $6.00 per hour. (See Before and After Hours.)
Please leave the tuition check or cash in the
tuition box on the cubbies.
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Registration/Deposit
A non-refundable $100 deposit/registration fee is required to hold a
space for your child.
An additional $450 for June's tuition is
required. A thirty day notice must be given when leaving in order
to apply the last month's deposit.
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Leaving and Picking Up Children
All Children must be accompanied by an adult when entering and leaving
the school.
Arriving on time in the morning is
important, not only for your child's happiness but also for the
well being of the entire group. A child who comes in late misses
activities, instructions, and a smooth, unhurried start of the day.
Please be respectful of your child's
special time away from home. Take your leave as quickly as
it is comfortable for your child and visit with your friends outside or
in the kitchen.
Only authorized people may pick up your child
from Tree House Hollow. Authorization may be given in writing or
orally.
 Children must be signed in and out each
day. The sign in book lives on top of the cubbies.
Please come and go through the gate. And
please be sure to lock the gate, even if you think you will just
be a minute. Little children move quickly.
Please be prompt when collecting your
children. There is a $10 late fee for each ten minutes you are
late. Please do not call me if you are late. Call someone
who will come and pick up your child.
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Parent/Teacher Communication
Each month a newsletter appears in your child's cubby with the bill for
that month attached. Look on the parent bulletin board for other sign up sheets, notices of special activities or
other news of interest.
Also check the gate and outside bulletin board
for notices.
Near the cubbies is a community bulletin
board for events. Please feel free to add to that board.
Parent meetings are held when needed. Back
to school night is in September. Conferences are held November and
April. But please feel free to call anytime with questions or
concerns. A conference can be scheduled anytime.
We also have a small library of parenting
resources. Please use these books and remember to sign the card
and leave it in the box provided.
Parent Education Classes are offered once or
twice a year. We read the book, Positive Discipline
by Jane
Nelsen. (Click
here to read about or purchase this book.) This is a great way to get to know other families.
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Clothes for Children
So the children feel free to participate in all of our activities,
comfortable clothes that can get dirty are encouraged. 
Please have
an extra set of clothes here. Label each with your child's
name. A set includes: socks, shoes or boots, underwear, shirt,
pants or shorts or skirt.
It’s
fun to walk in the rain, so be sure to provide boots and rain gear on
rainy days.
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Holidays
We will follow the Twin Hills Union Public School calendar (click
here for current calendar) with these exceptions:
School starts the day after Labor Day. Tree House Hollow continues
through the month of June. Summer program available after July 4
if there is enough interest.
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Health Regulations
If your child is ill or will not be attending our program, please call
and let us know by 9:00 am. Please do not send your child to
school if she/he had any of the following symptoms in the last 24 hours:
vomiting, diarrhea, fever (without Tylenol,) heavy green nasal
discharge. Colds are ok as long as your child has energy.
You will be called if any of these symptoms are observed. Children
will be checked upon entering to ensure no one is coming to school too
ill to have a fun day.
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Birthdays
A birthday celebration at school can be fun. If you want to bring
muffins (no gooey frostings or candy, please,) we will supply the
candles and crown.
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Field Trips
We usually take one field trip per month, sometimes two. Each
family needs to volunteer for a trip twice a year. We really
appreciate the support.
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Family Get-Togethers
Labor Day Monday - we clean up the school for the new year from
9:00am-12:00pm. I provide lunch and it is a great chance to meet
each other.
December Holiday Party - The children may sing songs or act out a simple
drama.
May Party - Sometimes it is a May Day celebration or a Mother's Day
gathering or a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. It's always a Multicultural
Pot Luck. There are other times when you may be invited to share lunch
with us. Have
another idea? We’re open to including others.
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Sharing
Sometimes the children need to bring transitional objects from
home. That's fine. But I discourage any commercial
toys. A book, doll, truck, etc. can help make the transitions from
home to school easier. Children have the choice of sharing these
with other children or not. But if the toy is shared by one, it
must be shared by all of the children. Otherwise the item may be
stored in the cubby.
Your child will have a special sharing day each
week. It helps to reinforce what we are doing if this item relates
to the season or the theme. I encourage children to bring in
something from nature, something that they made, a favorite book, tape
or story about a family outing.
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Lunches
Each child brings a nutritious lunch. Please be sure it contains a
drink. I strongly suggest a thermos which can be easily opened (a
flip spout works well) with water or milk. Box juices are not a
good idea. Children often waste them and the packaging is not
ecological. For this reason, I encourage you to put yogurt in
Tupperware that can be closed up again. Our lunches are a great
way for the children to learn the concept: Recycle, Reuse, Reduce.
We may go for a walk or a field trip so the
lunches must be self-contained (drink, spoon, fork, and napkin.)
Teaching the children about good nutrition is part of our job.
Please no junk food, candy, squirty yogurts or Lunchables.
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Foods
The fruits and vegetables served here are usually organic, as are the
juices. We have bottled water for the children in the bathroom to
get whenever they are thirsty. Providing your child with a water
bottle is a great idea so they can acquire the habit of drinking lots of
water.
We try hard to accommodate any special
diets. If your child cannot eat wheat or sugar or whatever, we do
ask that you provide a suitable snack once a month so that we can have
reserve items in the freezer in case of a birthday celebration.
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Television, Videos
At Tree House Hollow, we believe children this age are just too young to
view images in most videos. We strongly suggest you get rid of
your TV (just kidding) or at the very least use videos with
discretion. Children this young cannot yet differentiate fantasy
from reality. Watching shows over and over gives them a
"script" to act out so they are using their imaginations less
and less. Watching TV or videos is a passive activity of which we
have yet to discover all of the side effects. Ask me about my
Disney bias. I could go on and on but you get the picture.
We really want you to try hard to curb the TV/Video/Computer habit.
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Emergency Information
In
case of an emergency where it is necessary to evacuate the school, we
will relocate at Apple Blossom School. The phone number there is
707-823-1041.
We have earthquake drills once a month.
An earthquake kit must be provided for each
child.
Earthquake kits include:
**A picture of your family
**A non-salty snack
**A D cell battery
**A special toy/blanket/comfort item
All of this must fit inside a baggie. We will eat the snack at the
end of the year and celebrate not having an earthquake.
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 Before and After Hours
For an additional $6.00 per hour your child may come from 8am to
9am and from 1pm to 4:50pm. So that I may be finished by
5pm, please come a few minutes early so that you can gather your child's
things and have a chance to check in about the day.
Day care hours are paid by the quarter
hour. If you arrive at 3:10, please write down 3:15 when you sign
out. My billing system is on the honor system. At the end of
the month, I will add up all of the hours in the sign out book and
present you with a bill.
I can only provide childcare in the afternoons
if there are four children willing to stay. If the number goes
below that, I will give you two weeks notice so that you may make other
arrangements.
You may collect your child any time after
3pm. This gives us a chance to take a walk, go to the park, and/or
take a nap. We will be home by 3pm. You will be billed until
3pm. A snack is served at 3:15.
Afternoon and morning childcare can be used on a
drop-in basis provided there is space. I can take six children in
the afternoons. For this reason, it is important to let me know if
your child will not be attending. If we know ahead of time that
there is a space then another family may use it. Sign-up is on the
door.
If your child stays late, she/he must have a
sleeping bag/blanket in its own case. This is to prevent the
spread of lice or other germs. Please take your child's bedding
home periodically to launder. Thanks!
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