Policies

Sick Child Policy
School Closing Policy
Outdoor Policy
CMSAA Parent Handbook 2024-25

Sick Child Policy

We love to see your children every day, but if they are sick, please keep them home.
The Michigan Department of Health has set guidelines that we must follow:

• Each week, we must report all cases of contagious diseases.
• We cannot accept a child for care if s/he has recently vomited, or has a fever, diarrhea, or profuse nasal discharge. All are signs of infection and are contagious symptoms.
• Children sent home with a fever may not return for 24 hours.
• We will not administer Tylenol or aspirin to treat a fever. This only masks the symptoms of illness and contagion.

Each day we disinfect tables and play surfaces several times. We always have the children wash their hands before eating and after toileting, and teach them how to avoid spreading germs. Our staff and volunteers must stay home when they are ill as well.

School Closing Policy

Parents will be notified of scheduled school closings through the school calendar and in various school communications. Just as you create a plan for child care on scheduled closings, it is equally important for families to create a plan for child care for emergency closings.

In case of an emergency closing due to inclement weather conditions, power failure or other circumstances, you will need to go to the following sources any time after 6:00 AM:

• Your local television stations that provide a list school closing and delays such as Channel 4, 7 and 2.
• This web site (cmsaa.org) will have a popup announcement on the home page listing the delay or closing information.
• The school Facebook page – Christian Montessori School of Ann Arbor.
• Your email account. We will release an all school email announcing an emergency
  closing, school delay, and/or early dismissal.

Delaying the Start of School

Due to the variety of regions and distances our staff travel to work, we may determine that it is necessary to allow them more time to travel safely and thus delay the start time of school. Typically the delay will be one hour and will be posted on all the above listed sources. If we do delay the start of school, please be aware that you may not drop your child off before the delayed start time.

Safety must come first so we trust parents to use their discretion and judgment of road safety in their own particular region. Please do not bring your child to school if you feel it might be unsafe to drive in your particular area. Do notify the office of the reason you are not coming to school and know that we will be completely understanding of the decision to keep your child home that day.

Similarly, we will not mark “tardy arrival” on the attendance sheets for families who arrive late to school during unusually inclement weather and related bad road conditions. Allow yourself a little extra time to park your car in the parking spaces and to sign them into school should you arrive after car line ends.

Early Dismissal

Early dismissal can happen to an unexpected power outage, heavy snow storm during the school day, etc. Please be sure we have your current work, day time and cell phone numbers so that you can be reached by the school in the event that there is an unexpected early dismissal. We will leave messages at each number and will continue calling the numbers and emergency contacts in the order you listed them on the Child Information Record.

Outdoor Policy

At CMSAA, we embrace the fact that we reside in Michigan and are offered various seasonal opportunities for outdoor play and exploration. We want our students to appreciate the seasonal weather changes our state presents, too. Outdoor time is a time each day where each child is afforded fresh air, opportunities to move about with larger movements (and voices) within established playground ground rules. Outdoor time is wonderfully positive experience for children! Our state license requires outdoor time unless weather conditions prohibit outdoor time, and as such, it is scheduled for each program. CMSAA school staff will use reasonable discretion in deciding if weather conditions prohibit outdoor play.

Any child well enough to attend school is well enough to go outdoors. Germs make people sick, not air, and the warm indoor environment harbors far more of the organisms that cause illness than the colder outdoors. If a child is to be kept indoors for medical reasons, the school must be provided with a current signed, dated letter from his or her doctor outlining the conditions of the restriction. Children meeting this requirement, will be provided a space within our offices to sit and look at a book.

We expect children to come to school every day with all articles of clothing appropriate for outdoor play. This includes appropriate footwear. If needed, we can borrow from the lost and found, but this does not encourage the children to learn responsibility for their belongings. We don’t take children out in the rain (without full rain attire), and similar judgment is exercised when the weather is extremely hot. In cold weather, toddlers and 3-6 classes do not go out when temperature combined with wind (wind chill) is lower than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Elementary students stay in when temperatures are below zero. We use the National Weather Service Heat Index Chart to guide decisions about outdoor play in hot weather.

Remember that the same staff members that you trust to provide care to your child each school day, are the same people outdoors with your child. They experience the weather firsthand and keep the welfare of each child first and foremost are in their mind.

CMSAA Parent Handbook 2024-25