Family policies

We ask your written permission before we share any photo of your child, on this site, in newsletters or on social media, and you can change your answer at any time. We never put a child's name with a photo, and the photos on this site are examples until we replace them with our own.

Please keep your child home with a fever, vomiting or diarrhea, and until they have been well for a full day. A child who is too tired or sniffly to enjoy a morning outside is better off at home, and we will tell you if we think so at drop-off. Call us and we will tell you what to watch for and when to return.

A teacher opens the gate for every arrival and hands each child back at it. We release a child only to an adult on your written list, and we ask for ID from anyone we haven't met. Tell us ahead if someone new will come, and we will confirm it with you.

We close at 5:30 pm, and the last group is outside until the gate is closed. If you will be late, call and tell us. We talk with a family about it when it happens more than once.

Babies sleep on their backs, each in their own cot, with nothing in the cot. They sleep when they need to, on their own schedule, in the nap room. Older children rest on cots in the quiet room, and a child who doesn't sleep looks at a book.

Breakfast, lunch and snack are cooked in our kitchen, and the week's menu is posted at the door. Tell us about any allergy at the tour, and we ask again, in private, once you enroll. Families who bring food for a baby label every bottle and container.

Dress for the weather in layers, with boots, rain gear and a hat, and send two sets of spare clothes, labeled. We keep a shelf of loaners for a forgotten item.

We are open all year, closing for Thanksgiving week and the week between Christmas and New Year's, and on the other days posted at the start of the year. Rain does not close us. A day of ice, a power outage or a wildfire smoke alert might, and we tell you by text and email by 6:30 am. On a smoky day when we are open, every group stays indoors.

We ask for a month's written notice before a child leaves, so that the place can be offered to the next family on the waitlist. Tell the director, and we will go through the last weeks with you.