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.
The 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 with a developmental evaluation and 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 on a “report card.” This report card is for all students (with and without special needs) and will be addressed during parent-teacher conferences. 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.
The ACCESS model was developed by the founders so that each student has every opportunity to realize his or her full academic and therapeutic potential. To provide educational and therapy services with the quality and intensity required to ensure maximum progress, all programming variables must be controlled. Therefore, ACCESS Early Childhood and Academy require that students receive all of their therapy services from ACCESS.
Our multi-disciplinary therapy teams directed by Melissa Thomas, Director of Clinical Operations, are an important aspect of the ACCESS educational setting. It is one of the unique components of ACCESS and has greatly contributed to the overall success of the education program. Speech, physical and occupational 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 trained in the DuBard Association Method® so specific phonological skills can 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 7:15-8 a.m. at no additional cost.
Any ACCESS Early Childhood Program student may arrive as early as 7:30 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 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 school day. 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. The ACCESS administrative office is open from 8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. each day.
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 in their classroom. 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.
Students may not wear flip-flops, crocs, or any other types of shoes (bulky or strappy) that make it difficult for them to walk around campus and participate in school activities. Students must have a pair of “closed toed shoes” each day to participate in physical fitness programs and other school activities. Tennis shoes are the best choice.
Students may not wear shirts that have inappropriate characters or messages on them. It is not appropriate for undergarments to show or for students to wear extremely tight clothing. Students’ shorts need to be an appropriate length, offering complete coverage while students stand, walk and sit. Shorts worn underneath skirts and dresses are recommended.
School attendance is obviously vital to student progress. ACCESS staff members have gone to great measures to ensure we are available to perform therapy and classroom activities that are necessary for maximum progress. Therefore, it is very important that the administrative office is notified about a student’s absence because of the level of 10 11 individualized teaching/learning that is done on a daily basis. Absenteeism greatly affects therapy schedules as well. Finally, ACCESS is required to track and report school absences as part of mandatory compliance with state truancy laws.
Knowing and following these attendance guidelines benefits your student and makes scheduling and insurance reporting easier for the ACCESS staff:
ACCESS students are required to attend a minimum of 90 percent of school days and therapy sessions. When a student falls below the expected minimum attendance, the office will contact parents. Snow days or staff cancellations will not be included in the 90 percent attendance policy. The situation will be discussed and options chosen to correct the attendance problem. Special circumstances regarding severe illnesses and hospitalizations are taken under consideration. We do expect parents to take family vacations, however make sure to check our school calendar. We have special events and programs that you will not want to miss. Teacher work week is a great time to take a vacation.
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, Early Childhood Program Director, Monika Garner-Smith, will request a 12 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.
Any student leaving early must checkout at the front desk. A parent must come in the building and check the student out. For safety reasons, ACCESS cannot send an unsupervised student to the parking lot at any time.
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:
Inclement Weather Policy
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 page; and @accessgroupinc on Twitter and Instagram. When ACCESS is closed for inclement weather, all ACCESS programs and services 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 13 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.
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. Social skills and discipline are taught and directed to develop skills necessary for students to:
Each classroom has a behavior management program based on positive behavior strategies. This program will be explained during parent orientation. Time out may be used for students two years and up for 1 minute per age. Redirection will be used for children under the age of two. If the classroom behavior management system is 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. This information can also be found at AccessGroupInc.org, and, when general enough for the community at large, on the ACCESS Facebook page and @accessgroupinc on X and Instagram.
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 needed. The law regulating car seat usage requires any child age 6 or younger or 60 pounds or less to be in a car seat.
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.
The ACCESS bus and/or van may be used for field trips. Depending on availableseating for students, parents may or may not be able to ride on the bus if they are attending the field trip. 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.
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.
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.
Confidential student files are kept in the administrative office in a locked file cabinet.
ACCESS is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your child’s individual health information as protected by law, including the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In conducting business, we create records regarding your student and the treatment and services we provide to him or her. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies your student. We also are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices that we maintain at ACCESS concerning your student’s protected health information (PHI). By federal and state law, we must follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that we have in effect at the time.
Confidentiality of all information found in a students’ record shall be protected.
All information in the records is classified as confidential.
No information from the student’s record/file is to be released except as that permitted by regulation or unless proper authorization to do so is received from a parent.
It is preferred that all requests be made in writing. Information from the recordscan be released via telephone if proper procedure isfollowed.
There will be no charge for copies of records sent to otheragencies.
Clinical interns may use records only if there is written authorization signed bya parent.
It is acknowledged that parents have a right to review the contents ofstudent records. ACCESS reserves the right to schedule a time for such a request.
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:
When parents are divorced, ACCESS requires that a custody statement be on file in the administrative office specifying whether or not the school may release a student or release that student’s information to the non-custodial parent. No student will be released to a person other than the custodial parent or legal guardian or designee of the legal guardian.
To accommodate busy staff schedules, student conferences are limited to one per set of parents or guardians. In other words, only one conference meeting per appropriate meeting period is scheduled per student, even when parents are divorced or separated.
All parents must complete a student access sheet for authorization of designees who are permitted to pick up their students. ACCESS refers to this document if anyone other than a parent comes to pick up a student. Designees must be prepared to show picture identification (i.e. a driver’s license or state ID).
Any ACCESS employee is considered a mandated reporter of any suspected child mistreatment. Staff members who have reasonable cause to suspect a child 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 Early Childhood Director Monika GarnerSmith. These reports are not placed in a student’s personal file.
The Department of Human Services requests you be notified that your child 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.
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, ACCESS Executive Director, Tammy Simmons, M.S., CCC-SLP, or ACCESS Director of Development, Kellie Wilhite, 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 Krysten Levin, Marketing and special events manager, Krysten.levin@accessgroupinc.org or 501-217-8600.
All 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 between 7:30- 8:00, will not have to check in. Anyone arriving after 8:15 will need to sign in at the front desk and wait for a staff member to come and get your child. Parents or designee may have to wait a few minutes until staff can be freed up to come and get the student. We are giving a very generous grace period of 15 minutes. This policy is in place to prevent the constant interruptions in classrooms due to late arrivals and tardies.
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.
