Parents:

Children’s Choice is dedicated to facilitating the positive development of children by developing and maintaining school-age care programs that are a model of quality care – programs where children play, learn, grow, and make friends – programs where children are nurtured and develop life skills. Children’s Choice will use these programs as a source of training and technical assistance for the larger community of school-age care practitioners.

We are happy to welcome you and your child into our Children's Choice family. As program participants, you and your children are now a vital part of this working model. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to call us at (505)296-2880.

 

Hours of Operation:
The SAC program will operate Monday - Friday from 7am until school begins and from school dismissal until 6pm during regular school days. Children's Choice will be closed on the following days: January 1, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas and Christmas Eve (when these days fall on a weekend, we will observe the holiday on the same day as the federal government). Vacation Break Programs will be offered during the winter, spring and summer vacations. The Children's Choice program is available on conference weeks, teacher in-service days, Martin Luther King Day, and Presidents Day.

Snow Days: Children's Choice will follow the decision and schedule of APS on snow days. When school is delayed or canceled because of snow, Children's Choice school-age care is not available.

 

Safety:
Children's Choice is committed to safety. We are licensed by the State of New Mexico and comply with the regulations governing facilities providing care to children, which are intended to establish minimum standards in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of children. Our activity space, supplies and equipment are high quality, maintained in good repair and inspected by the licensing authority. Parents as well as school faculty are involved in observing and documenting the fact that we meet our own standards of quality which exceed the minimum licensing regulations. For example, licensing regulations require a child-staff ratio of 15:1, but Children's Choice provides a ratio of 10:1, so for a site with 45 children we provide five staff when licensing regulations requires only three. We know that child-staff ratios are the number one predictor of quality and safety in a child care program.

SAC Program Registration: Contact Children's Choice at (505) 296-2880 for a program registration packet for your child. Safety starts here! Please take the time to fill out both sides of the registration form completely and notify us immediately of any changes.

Staff Certifications: Children's Choice staff receive 24 clock hours of training per year. Every staff person is trained in infant, child and adult CPR, First Aid and Safety through the American Red Cross even though the licensing regulations only require that one person at the site have this certification.

 

Goals:
It is the goal of the Children's Choice school-age care program to give each child an opportunity to...

1. Develop physical, intellectual, and social skills.
2. Develop a sense and understanding of positive values.
3. Develop self-confidence, self-respect and self-reliance.
4. Develop good decision-making, leadership and social competency skills.
5. Develop positive family and peer relationships.
6. Develop interpersonal and cultural competencies.
7. Develop interest, respect and understanding of our natural world.
8. Develop sportsmanship, teamwork and a sense of fair play.
9. Develop a commitment to learning.
10. HAVE A WHOLE LOTTA FUN!

 

Ways to Get Involved:

Parent Involvement Committee (PIC): Parents meet on an as needed basis to discuss the policies and practices of the SAC Program and to plan special events.

ARQ Team: Conducts program observations, collects and tallies staff, child and parent evaluations. Builds an action plan for improvement. This is a self study process that is part of the pilot accreditation standards for the National Afterschool Association.

Fund Raising: There will be a couple of fund-raisers to raise money for Children's Choice scholarships or to purchase special equipment, supplies, scavenging prizes, etc.

Programming: Are you interested in doing an arts & crafts project, teaching any type of game or project, hosting a field-trip to your place of work, going on a field-trip to help-out, etc.?

Scavenging: Are you willing to save some throw away items for our projects such as toilet paper rolls, milk cartons, magazines, etc.? Are you willing to ask businesses to donate items for raffles, prizes, etc.

Please indicate on your child's registration form which one of these or any other way you would like to be involved!

Philosophy Statement:
Growth, Development, and Learning: We are school-age care professionals who understand and appreciate elementary childhood as a dynamic period of growth and development. We champion the interaction of school-age children with their peers and adults alike in a safe environment. We recognize, value, and promote the unique opportunities children encounter in school-age care.

Childhood is characterized by many early stages of intellectual, emotional, physical, and social growth. We enhance classroom learning by providing children with opportunities to practice skills they have learned in the classroom and apply them in real-life situations that have personal meaning. We offer safe activities and environments staffed by caring, authoritative, competent adults and are a result of collaborative efforts between families, schools and the larger community.

A unique opportunity lies in our flexibility to focus on the entire breadth of developmental needs of children. In this way, we are uniquely positioned to facilitate the positive development of a wide variety of competencies

Role of the Caregiver: The purpose of our program is to be not only a safe and fun place for children to, but also a place for growth, nurturance, and development of life skills. The role of the adult working in this program is to be a facilitator of the positive development of children through healthy interactions. We work to establish and encourage realistic boundaries and high expectations for children. High expectations provide children with the appropriate challenges and feedback necessary for brain enrichment. We plan for interactions with fun, caring, authoritative and mature adults, who are experts in child development. We plan for interactions between children of different ages who model responsible behavior and share a sense of community.

Environment: The school-age care environment sends important cues to children about the way they should behave and feel, so we provide an environment that encourages desirable behavior. We first provide an environment, which meets the basic biological needs of children such as safety, nutrition and water. Then we create a variety of areas where children can involve themselves in diverse ways: art, construction (fine motor skills), quiet conversation, food, science, strategy games, dramatic play, and outdoor play. We provide novelty and enrich the environment through new colors, posters, child’s art, and music. The program environment is a warm, nurturing and encouraging climate, a place where children are challenged in a non-threatening way.

 

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Ashcrafts' Afterschool Program School: Staff Training and Consulting on Facebook

Need help paying for child care?  Click here to download the child care assistance application.