Students who are enrolled in ACCESS Early Childhood, along with their families, must abide by the policies and procedures outlined below. If you have questions about any of these items, please contact the Director of Early Childhood.
Classrooms at each age-level are part of ACCESS Early Childhood Program and have an aligned curriculum. Schedules and literacy themes are shared allowing for teaming between classrooms in each age group. Great consideration is taken in regards to placing children in these classes. A student’s language age, rate of learning, and verbal ability are just a few factors considered by the team in recommending placement each year.
Early Intervention Day Treatment (EIDT) is a medical-based model that is accessed through the Medicaid or TEFRA programs. To be eligible, a child must qualify for services through an annual developmental evaluation and receive at least one therapy or nursing service.
Students who typically do not receive therapeutic services pay a tuition rate. Parents are charged a flat monthly tuition fee regardless of a student’s attendance. Payments are due via bank draft by date selected at the time of enrollment (either the 1st or 15th of each month). By enrolling in ACCESS Early Childhood Program, parents are committing to a full year’s tuition. If parents choose to discharge their student from ACCESS Early Childhood Program, they will be responsible for paying the remaining tuition for that academic year or until the slot can be filled by another student.
Developmental checklists, benchmark skills, and classroom skills will be presented to parents during parent-teacher conferences. This information is for all students (with and without special needs). Parent-teacher conferences will be held twice a year for children in EC1 through K-Transition. In addition, all students in the PreK-4 classrooms will receive phonological testing. This information will be addressed during transition conferences prior to a child’s Kindergarten-eligible year.
ACCESS Early Childhood and Academy require that students receive all of their therapy services from ACCESS. Our multi-disciplinary therapy teams led by the Director of Clinical Operations are an important aspect of the ACCESS educational setting. Speech, physical, occupational, and mental health therapists are assigned to classrooms so teachers and students have a consistent service from professionals who are very familiar with students and with classroom goals and activities. Teachers and therapists work together to develop an atmosphere that promotes the highest level of learning for each student. Therapists are available to assist the classroom teacher in programming as an aspect of the ACCESS team approach. Teachers and therapists meet regularly to discuss classroom and student-based issues, develop plans and share information.
Therapy is delivered using several models: pull-out individual therapy sessions as well as individual therapy sessions that are integrated into classroom activities. The delivery or combination of therapy models is individualized for each student and is continually observed and modified when needed. ACCESS speech therapists are specially-trained so specific phonological skills may be addressed in therapy or used as reinforcement activities. Speech therapists use the ACCESS philosophy of “pre-teach, teach, and review.” This model helps students generalize skills and gain maximum success in the classroom.
ACCESS Early Childhood Program is in session 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Monday – Friday. Regular attendance is crucial and enforced.
During regular school days, students may arrive as early as 7:15 a.m. Morning care is offered from 7:15-8:00 a.m. at no additional cost.
Any ACCESS Early Childhood Program student may arrive as early as 7:15 a.m. for school. Students may stay as late as 5:30 p.m. if they are enrolled in extended care, which is available 3:00-5:30 p.m. This service is reserved for our working families only. Students must be enrolled in the extended care program to participate.
There is a drop-in policy for extended care in order to assist families in case of an emergency or a situation where parents need childcare on a given day. Parents must contact the front office for approval of drop-in services. Approval is based on staff availability to ensure proper staff-to-student ratios. The drop–in fee upon approval is $30.00 per day. Students must be signed out of extended care with the staff member in charge. Parents must go to the assigned aftercare room or playground and pick up their students. Students will not be lifted over the fence. The administrative office may not call students to the front lobby for extended care pick up. Students who stay for extended care must be picked up by 5:30 p.m.. Parents will be billed $2 per minute for each extra minute if their child is picked up after 5:30 p.m. There are no exceptions to this policy. If a parent is continually late, extended care privileges will be withdrawn.
Some students receive therapy after the regular school day hours. Parents must pick up students who receive these services, but who are not enrolled in the extended care program, in the lobby waiting area at the designated time for therapy.
Students who are leaving at 3:00 p.m. will wait for their ride in the car rider line. Please remember that the car rider line is not the place for conversations; if you need to talk to someone, please be considerate of other drivers’ schedules by parking and coming inside. Any student who is still in the car rider line at 3:15 p.m. is considered an extended care drop-in; subsequently, parents will be charged the $30 drop-in fee.
Car rider is a very busy time at our facility, and the parking lot can be hectic. Please help us maintain a safe environment for our families and employees by following our car line rules:
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MORNING CAR RIDER MAP.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE AFTERNOON CAR RIDER MAP.
If parents arrive late in the morning, parents must park in a legitimate parking space and walk your child into the front lobby to check them into school. Likewise, parents must do the same if they arrive after car rider has finished to pick up their child. DO NOT PARK IN THE FIRE LINE TO BRING YOUR CHILD INTO THE BUILDING OR CHECK THEM OUT. This blocks traffic and any emergency vehicles that may have the need to access our buildings.
All classes will eat lunch in their classrooms. Lunches may be brought from home; however, they cannot be refrigerated or heated at school. Arrangements have been made with the staff, in extenuating circumstances, due to dietary concerns. Please make sure your child’s lunch is nutritional and well balanced. We are required to meet health guidelines, so please make sure your child’s lunch from home is nutritional and well-balanced.
ACCESS Early Childhood and ACCESS Academy is excited to offer school lunch ordering options through Bella's Kitchen and Wellness. Students, parents, and employees may order lunches in advance for your convenience - a la carte, by the week, or by the month. To setup your child's account:
If you have any issues or questions while ordering, please email info@bellaskitchenandwellness.com or call/text 501-951-0864. More detailed information about the lunch ordering process for ACCESS Early Childhood may be found at the following link: Bella's Kitchen and Wellness School Lunch Guidelines
Students may not wear flip-flops, crocs, or any other types of shoes (bulky or strappy) that make it difficult for them to walk, run, and play around campus and participate in class or therapy activities. Closed-toed shoes are preferred. Tennis shoes are the best choice.
School begins at 8:00 a.m. ACCESS requires students to be at school, in their assigned place and ready to start the day at 8:00 a.m. Therefore, students must arrive prior to 8:00 am so they are ready to being instruction at the appropriate time.
The school day ends at 3:00 p.m. ACCESS requires students to be picked up in a timely manner at the completion of the school day.
When a student is tardy, he or she must be checked into school at the front desk by a parent or guardian. Students are very distracted by late arrivals, ACCESS cannot allow constant interruptions to classrooms by late students. If the pattern of tardy school arrival continues, the Early Childhood Program Director will request a parent meeting. A habitual inability to adhere to the tardy policy may place a student’s enrollment in jeopardy.
Please do not habitually pick your student up early. Exceptions are appointments and special circumstances. No early dismissals will be allowed after 2:45 pm.
Consistent attendance is essential for both academic achievement and therapeutic progress. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with our attendance policy, which outlines expectations regarding tardiness and absences. This attendance policy is per semester, not cumulative for the year. Students are expected to attend 80% of program days.
Following an excused absence or tardy, a student must bring written documentation to the front desk upon his/her return to school. All documentation for excused absences must be submitted within five (5) days of returning to school. Excused absences and tardies are those where the student was absent or tardy was due to one of the following reasons:
Please note that Early Childhood programs classes begin promptly at 8:00 AM and children who are not in class at 8:00 will be considered tardy. School is over at 3:00 PM and children who leave prior to 3:00 will be considered an early checkout. No early checkouts are allowed after 2:45 PM. Please reserve all early checkouts for the excused reasons listed above. Class instruction and therapy continues right up until 3:00pm. Disruption to the class schedule, even at the end of the day, negatively effects all kids in the class and can keep therapy clients from receiving the full therapy needed each week.
Parents/Guardians are responsible for reporting student absences promptly to the school office with a valid reason. This can be communicated by calling the front desk at 501-217-8600 or by emailing info@accessgroupinc.org.
Requests for excused absences must be accompanied by appropriate documentation (e.g., doctor's note, court summons).
ACCESS staff will monitor attendance regularly (including early checkouts) and communicate with parents/guardians through email notifications, phone calls, and scheduled meetings.
Attendance records are reviewed at least monthly to identify trends and provide necessary support to students.
Aftercare hours are available after school from classroom dismissal to 5:30 p.m. Families must sign-up for this program before school starts in August.
Aftercare Hours and Rates
EIDT (Therapy) Children:
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM No Charge (but must sign-up for aftercare)
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM $225 per month
5:30 PM - Pickup $2.00 per minute until pick up
Non EIDT Children:
3:00 PM - 5:30 PM $225 per month
5:30 PM - Pickup $2.00 per minute until pick up
Drop-in Fees:
$30.00 per day.
If a child is not signed up for Aftercare and and is not picked up in the car rider line, families will be charged the drop-in fee.
Important Notes:
For the safety of all students and staff, please do not hold the lobby door open for other adults who are not part of your household or authorized pickup group. It is important that the door closes securely behind each visitor. All visitors must be individually admitted by our front desk receptionist. Thank you for your cooperation in following this important safety procedure.
Each day, when a parent/guardian or another approved person on a child’s pickup list arrives to pick up a child from aftercare, the parent/guarduian will need to do FOUR things to ensure the correct protocols are being followed:
The aftercare protocol is important for a variety of reasons. Not only does it provide the additional security of knowing when a child has been picked up, but we will now know who picked up the child. It is also the means in which we determine any late fees that will be charged if a child is left at aftercare beyond their designated timeframe. All late fees will be automatically charged monthly to your FACTS Financial account. If a parent/guardian is unsure of a child’s designated pickup time for aftercare, please ask the front desk or the child’s teacher.
For drop-in aftercare children:
Parens/guardians will need to follow the same check out procedures as other aftercare children. All drop-in aftercare stays must be approved by the Early Childhood team ahead of time. If this service is needed,
please contact the child’s teacher or contact the front desk to determine availability for that day.
If at any time a parent has cause for concern of feels an issue needs to be discussed regarding their child's experience at ACCESS Early Childhood, parents should follow our Grievance Policy by contacting the appropriate person as follows:
In case of inclement weather, parents of ACCESS students should listen to local broadcastings for school closings, late arrival or early dismissal. The broadcasting will be listed as ACCESS. ACCESS will also post this information on ParentSquare, as well as the ACCESS Facebook and Instagram pages. When ACCESS is closed for inclement weather, all ACCESS programs and services for a designated campus are canceled.
No student is to attend school if:
A student must be free from fever for a 24-hour period of time (without the use of Tylenol or Ibuprofen) or on an antibiotic for 24 hours in order to return to the program. A student should be free of diarrhea and/or vomiting for a complete day before returning to school.
If your student gets sick at school the administrative office will:
If a student is in need of oral medication during school hours, the ACCESS school nurse will administer the medication with written permission from parents and with a doctor’s orders. All medication must be in the original bottle. If a prescription, the bottle must have the student’s name, date, dosage and doctor’s name on the label. If the medication is to be given daily, a bottle will be kept at school in a locked medication box. When empty, the bottle will be sent home for parents to refill.
All parents must complete and sign a medication form. A medication log containing these forms is kept in a central location to document medication administration. ACCESS staff members are unable to accept prescriptions to administer medication “as needed,” with the exception of an Epi-Pen, glucose, diastat and updraft albuterol. Medications must be turned in at the front desk or to a school nurse. ACCESS staff members are not allowed to accept medications in the car rider line at drop off or pick up.
All information regarding medication is confidential. Medication is kept in a locked box with the individual medication reports. Parents may not have access to this area; staff members assist parents by placing students’ medications in the appropriate place and documenting activity in the log. Parents may ask to see student medical reports or to receive copies of their reports at any time.
If there is a medication change for your student, and it involves being part of a controlled medical study, you must contact Monika Garner-Smith, Director of Early Childhood.
In case of a serious medical emergency, the administrative office will contact 911 first, and then parents. We will have a copy of the medical release form and the daily medication log ready when emergency medical personnel arrive.
Parents must have their student’s immunization records up to date before they are enrolled in school. A copy will be kept in the child’s file. As your child receives additional immunizations throughout the year, please notify the school nurse.
Incident/injury reports are completed regardless of severity levels.
Staff members are responsible for completing reports and having parents sign them for the following situations:
The form is completed on the day of the incident or injury. ACCESS teachers and coordinators initial the report, a copy is filed and a copy is given to parents.
ACCESS is committed to providing a safe school climate that is conducive to learning. For the success of our programs, we must strive for acceptable and appropriate student behavior. We provide social skills and behavior training to help students understand their obligations to others and the role of rules at school, as well as other settings.
Each classroom uses positive, age-appropriate behavior strategies, de-escalation techniques, and functional behavior modification. Time out may be used for students two years and up for one minute per age. Redirection will be used for children under the age of two. If the strategies used are not effective, teachers will schedule a parent meeting to discuss an individual behavior management plan. ACCESS does not allow physical and/or verbal abuse of staff, students, or families. An individual behavior management plan will be written and monitored by the education therapy team and be approved the parent or guardian.
A student can be discharged from ACCESS for any of the following reasons:
Transition services begin the spring prior to a student’s kindergarten eligibility year, meaning that they will turn five-years-old by the State Department cut-off date of August 1. A meeting will be held with you to discuss the results of assessments, discuss current progress and team recommendations for the following school year. The resident school district is required to be a part of the transition process even if your child will not be attending public school kindergarten. In February, your child’s due process paperwork will be forwarded to your child’s school district. Starting in April, transition conferences will be scheduled at ACCESS with a representative of the district, parents and the child’s team. If the recommendation is to attend ACCESS Academy, then a referral will be made to the Academy Director, Cheri Stevenson.
ACCESS Early Childhood Program requires each parent to be an active participant in his/her child’s education. Attendance is required for all due process meetings, transition meetings, parent-teacher conferences and any behavior meetings.
Parents are encouraged to give staff constructive feedback at any time and to discuss any problems with teachers and therapists. Communication is best when started with the teacher or therapist. Program coordinators and the director are always happy to speak with you when issues are not resolved or are serious in nature. Team meetings may be requested by a parent at any time.
Parents are responsible for reading classroom newsletters and signing up for email and/or text alerts. Please make every effort to meet the requested deadlines for events, field trips, and any other required forms. Posts made in ParentSquare include helpful information about upcoming school activities. General program and organization information may also be found at AccessGroupInc.org, and on ACCESS's social media pages including Facebook and Instagram (@accessgroupinc).
Therapists are asked to contact parents two times each month about therapy issues and progress. Please check your email or ParentSquare account regularly to stay abreast of therapy information. Parents may also use this system to address concerns, ask questions, etc.
In order for ACCESS to have field trips, parent participation is necessary. The law regulating car seat usage requires any child age 6 or younger or 60 pounds or less to be in a car seat. For parents not attending the field trip, the student will be placed with a staff driver. Students may not ride with another parent without specific permission.
Parents who agree to help with a field trip should plan to concentrate on their student and his or her classmates during that time to ensure their safety. Siblings can be a distraction for the parent, teacher and the rest of the class. It is for this reason siblings are not permitted to attend ACCESS field trips.
Each student must have a signed permission form from a parent before leaving the building. If a parent declines the field trip for his or her student, the student must remain at home.
During enrollment, we require all families to sign a release form allowing ACCESS to photograph and videotape students involved in school activities on and off campus. We use this media for classroom activities and projects, teaching demonstration, marketing and other media-related activities. If you wish to change the status of your child's Photo or Video Release during the school year, you may do so at the front desk. We also ask that you notify your child's teacher of any changes.
Teachers are not available to take phone calls during class time. The administrative office gladly connects parents to teacher voicemail, or you can contact that teacher directly through ParentSquare. Teachers may return calls and emails or direct massages during a break time or in the afternoon. If you have an emergency, the administrative staff will assist you in whatever way they can and, when necessary, will go get the teacher. Therapists may not receive phone calls during therapy sessions. Please feel free to leave a message with the individual at the front desk or directly to your child's educator or therapist through ParentSquare.
ACCESS is dedicated to maintaining privacy of students' information as protected by law, including the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In efforts to do so, ACCESS strictly prohibits students and/or parents/guardians from audio or video recording of any school meetings or activities without all parties expressed written consent.
In conducting business, ACCESS creates student/client records regarding the treatment and services provided. By federal and state law, ACCESS must follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that are in effect. The ACCESS policy on student/client confidentiality includes the following:
Proper authorization to release information from a student/client’s records shall be received as a written document containing all of the following information:
All records are stored in a secure area and protected from the use of unauthorized individuals.
An ACCESS employee cannot release information that did not originate within our organization. (Some information from outside sources may be released to our Medicaid quality assurance company Q-Source in the event of anaudit.)
Proper authorization to release information from a student’s records shall be identified as a written document containing all the following information:
The following list details ACCESS’ student/client rights. These student/client rights are written comprehensively for all ACCESS programming, therefore, not all may be applicable in all programming situations.
Any ACCESS employee is considered a mandated reporter of any suspected child mistreatment. Staff members who have reasonable cause to suspect a student/client is being abused or neglected shall immediately report this to the Child Maltreatment Hotline: 1- 800-482-5964. This number is also posted in the campus entrance hallway. A written report to the local Department of Human Services office follows a call to the hotline and is kept in a confidential file accessed by the associated program’s Director. These reports are not placed in a student’s/client's personal file.
The Department of Human Services requests you be notified that your student/client may be subject to interviews at any time by childcare licensing or the Department of Children and Family Services, special investigations and law enforcement for investigative purposes and/or for determining compliance with licensing regulations. Student/Clientinterviews do not require parental notice or consent.
All parents/guardians must acknowledge upon their child's enrollment that they have been informed of the Mandated Reporting License Notification, according to the Department of Human Services request.
ACCESS staff members and students follow monthly tornado and fire emergency drills. These emergency plans of action stay posted in the school building. The documentation of these drills is kept in a file in the administration office. Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and emergency backup lighting are checked on a regular basis.
In the unlikely event of a disaster such as notification by emergency services personnel of a hazardous spill requiring relocation, brush fires, or other danger threatening the safety of the students and staff of the ACCESS facility, all occupants will relocate as a group to the pre-designated relocation site unless otherwise directed by emergency services personnel. The relocation site for ACCESS Early Childhood is ACCESS Academy and Young Adult Campus located at 1500 N. Mississippi St. in Little Rock. Parents will be notified immediately through our communication system. Upon arriving safely at our emergency location, we will begin to phone all parents. Signs will also be posted on the door of the ACCESS Stella Boyle Smith Early Childhood Campus Building.
ACCESS greatly welcomes parent help with raising money, receiving in-kind donations from individuals and corporations, and raising awareness of our programs and services. With multiple special events, niche fundraisers, annual giving campaign activities, media buys and numerous media pitches throughout the year, however, there is a need to coordinate all fundraising and media relations efforts through the ACCESS staff. Ultimately, the ACCESS Executive Director or Director of Development must approve all fundraising activities, solicitation of gifts, and media outreach.
The parent fundraising process is as follows:
It doesn’t get any easier than getting corporations to donate to ACCESS by purchasing products you already need! The following programs benefit ACCESS and you!
Before approaching a media organization about advertising or new stories and before using the ACCESS name and related logos, parents should consult the Director of Marketing and Communications.
All approved visitors and parents must sign in at the front desk when on campus during school hours. Visitors must state where they are going and the specific reason for the visit and will also need to sign out when leaving the building.
Students arriving on time before 8:00 am will automatically be checked in by the ACCESS morning car rider team. Anyone arriving after 8:00 am will need to sign in at the front desk and take their child to their classroom.
All students leaving the building will need to be signed out at the front desk when being picked up during aftercare hours or at anytime during the day. Students leaving in the afternoon car rider line will be checked out by the ACCESS team.
Last Updated January 14, 2026
