Sprout Early Care & preschool offers quality daycare and preschool programs for children from 6 weeks to 10 years of age in Kalamazoo and Otsego. This page contains answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we get about our early childcare and preschool programs. If you cannot find the information you need on this page, please feel free to Contact Us, and someone will answer your question as soon as possible.
We have a quiet rest time during the middle of the day, but your child is not required to sleep. If a child appears to need rest, we will not keep him or her from sleeping. If your child doesn’t require rest, he or she can participate in quiet activities that will not disturb other children who do need rest.
In order to maintain safety, security, and classroom harmony, we do not allow children to bring toys or books from home, and Sprout Early Care & Preschool will not be held responsible if anything brought from home is lost or damaged. We do allow children to bring a small toy like a stuffed animal or soft toy as comfort, but these must be small enough to fit inside your child’s nap bag.
You are welcome to visit and get involved in the classroom. First, you need to contact your Program Director or Assistant Program Director to arrange the time and date you want to visit. The Program Director may also need to run a background check from the Department of Human Services before you can volunteer.
After your child has been enrolled for 90 days, they will earn Credit Days, which can be used for days in which your child cannot attend due to illness or a family vacation. These Credit Days are equivalent to the number of days per week your child attends. These days can be used one at a time or together, as long as your account is paid in full and up to date.
You may not use these days when the school is closed (like holidays or employee development days) or during your two-week withdrawal notice, and they cannot be rolled-over and accumulated from year to year. For more information about how Credit Days work or how many you have available, please contact your Program Director.
We have summer programs that are designed for kids who have attended one of our development kindergarten programs or higher for at least a full year. Please ask your Program Director for more information about summer programs.
All children are provided with water, while children under 2 year of age receive whole vitamin-D fortified milk, and older children will receive 2% milk. We also provide 100% fruit juices, but limit this to 4 to 6 ounces per serving. We do not serve and drinks which have been sweetened with sugar.
Yes, you can bring special food for your child as long as the food is nut free. Please contact the Program Director or Assistant Director to discuss the details about the special food you wish to bring from home.
We at Sprout Early Care & Preschool have no legal authority to withhold a child from a legal parent. If you are going through a separation or divorce in which there is a legally binding order (like a custody order or parenting time plan), we must have a copy of these orders on file to ensure your child’s safety.
Staff at Sprout Early Care & Preschool will only release your children to you or the people you have listed on your child’s emergency care. We require all people we do not recognize to show a picture ID to pick up children. We strictly enforce this policy to ensure the safety of every child in our care. Please talk to your Program Director if you should need to add someone to your child’s emergency card.
We require that a deposit be paid at the time of enrollment. This is a non-refundable fee that will be applied to your child’s last week of tuition after you have submitted a two-week notice to disenroll in writing to your Program Director. Once notice is given, the deposit will be applied to the balance remaining for your child’s tuition. In the event that your child Is removed immediately or without two weeks’ notice to the Program Director, the deposit will not be refunded.
Unfortunately, we at Sprout do not offer “Babysitting Lists.” Sprout Early Care & Preschool will not be held responsible for any conduct of service provided by a staff member outside of business hours and off our premises. If any staff member is employed outside of Sprout, the Program Director must be informed by the parent and the employee immediately, and both the employee and parent will be required to sign an additional waiver. We do offer occasional Parent Night Out functions, which we will inform you about ahead of time.
Your Contract for Services will indicate the hours and days in which our center has adequate staffing to care for your child. You will need to check with your Program Director for availability in order to change a day. The tuition rate will be adjusted to four days of attendance if you add a day to your child’s schedule, and fees will be paid with your weekly bill. Please understand that there will be times in which we are unable to honor change requests due to staffing and adult to child ratios.
If you should need to schedule your child for an additional day during a specific week, please check availability with your Program Director. If the day you want is available, you will pay the extra fees with your monthly rate. Also, we cannot schedule an unscheduled day to replace a scheduled day your child may have missed due to illness or other reasons.
We can only allow NON-FOOD treats due to the possibility of a classmate having a food allergy. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. Some good non-food alternatives include:
We also ask that you please check the factory labels to ensure any toys or trinkets are appropriate, especially for kids under 3 years of age.
Any applicable tuition rate adjustments will be made upon your child’s transition to the next program.
All children develop at different rates, which we will take into consideration. While we do have age guidelines for each program, the decision to transition your child to the next program will be made with your approval. There may be other factors that may influence this decision, including but not limited to your child’s comfort level with the program and state licensing requirements.
