Our parent outreach program consists of parents volunteering 30 minutes to 1 hour during our curriculum time to read, assist with a project, perform a science experiment or teach the group something new! We are open to any type of program or project that is age appropriate and fits into our curriculum. We also ask parents to join us for holiday celebrations and other special activities. Please let your child's teacher know if you are interested in donating your time and skills.
Helping Hands partners with the Infant Toddler Alliance & DART programs to provide emotional, physical and behavior support to families with concerns or questions regarding specialized services or screenings. Both programs are welcome into our center for referral or consultation if requested by a parent. These services include behavioral, physical, language & speech needs. If you are concerned about your child's development in any of these areas or have general questions which as a center we can not provide, you will be directed to these organizations. You can contact these agencies at any time for an evaluation or an assessment.. If the center's Director and or teacher feels a child is in need of an agency’s services, a meeting will be requested of the parents of the child to further explain the consultant and referral process. Both organizations contact information has been added to our Community Resources folder which is available for your use at any time.
Open house is held every year in October. Open House is a great time for new families to meet other families of our center. It also gives parents some extra time to speak to their child's teacher one on one informally. Open House is held in the evening and all the teachers attend.
Our annual Halloween parade is held every year in October. The children parade through Essex Plaza's local businesses for treats. Afterwards we have different fun games to play and a special lunch. It's a fun event and families are welcome to participate.
The older preschool group has a real :"Thanksgiving Feast" in November. The children invite one guest to "share a meal" with them at lunchtime as they recreate the original Thanksgiving Feast.
The preschool group performs a Christmas program in December. They perform songs and put on a play. This is an after hours evening performance.
The older preschool group participates in a graduation “ceremony” in May. The children have a graduation processional, perform songs, and share some preschool memories. The graduation celebration ends with a luncheon and families and extended family members are encouraged to attend.
Parent teacher conferences are held twice a year in October/November and May/June to review your child’s progress.
A suggestion box is located in the entryway for parent's convenience and is checked weekly. Parents are also asked to participate in a center evaluation and review survey at the end of the year. The survey is used along with other assessments to improve the facility and program.
We participate in monthly community outreaches including food drives, collections for animal shelters, donating books and toys for specific children’s organizations, etc. We welcome parent suggestions for future donations.
The staff donated their time to host a Parents Night Out to raise money for Meals on Wheels McDonalds. Families were able to bring their children in on a Friday evening to enjoy a night out. All proceeds were donated to benefit Meals on Wheels out of McDonald.
As a center we collected donations from families and staff of items and snacks to create and fill bags for the refugees. The children enjoyed decorating the bags with colorful images and sayings. They then got to partake in filling up the bags to help see the impact they could have in community outreach events.
