Thank you for your interest in the Nest Eagles Aftercare Program for Kindy and Grade 1 students. We are so excited at the possibility of sharing our world full of wonder & discovery with your child. Our nurturing program provides a home away from home atmosphere that allows children to find what they need to feel grounded after the demands of a day at school.
It is primarily for alumni however we have opened up a few spaces for children that will be a great compliment to our existing group.
Enrolment takes into account many factors such as age, date on the waitlist, balancing the needs and personalities of our existing students and need for physical activity. We really appreciate you taking the time to share some honest insights about your child with us.
Our program will run M-F with the ability to select individual days on a monthly basis.
Time of school dismissal: Pick up children at the bench outside of Mrs. Lattimer's classroom at Signal Hill Elementary.
We will head directly back to The Nest to have snack (please pack extra)
Children will then have free exploration and be exposed to all the usual fun activities at The Nest including art, playground, gross motor, provocations, imaginative play and our zen zones.
Our experience from the past is that children are so drained by the time that they get to us that no scheduling is best.
Cleanup at 4:40pm
Pickup time is 4:45pm (at the Nest)
Our aftercare educator will be Jade Sanchez. She holds her ECEA certificate and is an occupational therapist from France (not licensed to practice in Canada) Her gentle and fun nature endears her to all of our students! Jonathan and Carey will be on site until 4pm and Carin on call.
You will only pay for the days that we are offering aftercare for that month. Early Dismissals, pro d days and Statutory holidays will be exempt because the aftercare program is not offered on those days. There might be camps available in case of Early Dismissals and Pro D Days that you can sign up for separately.
Cost is 30$/day - There may be a fee reduction in the future if we get approved for CCFRI but we can not guarantee this.
Class size is limited to 8 children/day.
Children must be able to participate in an 8:1 ratio. Please understand that with only one educator, if we feel that we will not be able to meet your child's needs along with all of the other children's, we will suggest delaying until January or Spring until they have had a little more time to mature and settle into kindergarten. We may also suggest they attend a more physical aftercare program in order to meet their needs.
The next step in the process is to fill in this questionnaire to help us to get to know your child better. We will then either invite you for a school visit, or suggest contacting us again in a few months or a more active program.
If after your school visit, we feel that our program is not the right fit for your child's current needs, we will be compelled to recommend a different environment for your child at this time. We also take into account the existing class dynamics when making our recommendations as we need to ensure that our classes are balanced and provide an environment where all children are heard, seen and valued.
Communication and transparency between home and school is vital. If your child has any suspected or diagnosed exceptional needs including behavioural, physical or cognitive, it is imperative you share that with us. Communication and transparency will serve your child best in our partnership to make sure their needs are met.
We want to make sure we have the staffing and support plan in place prior to joining to ensure we can help them to have a wonderful experience. Finding exceptional staff experienced in providing support or that have special needs training is challenging, and we are dedicated to excellence and building a team of long term, dedicated educators. Because of this, please understand we can only commit to welcoming one child per day who requires additional support. As our team grows, it is our hope to be able to welcome more children who require additional support in our community. We are currently at capacity for providing care for children who require additional support or that would require less than an 8:1 student to teacher ratio.
Please be aware that the first month is a trial period for both family and The Nest to gauge whether the program is the right fit and in the child’s best interest at this point. If your child is not able to listen and participate safely in an 8 child to 1 teacher ratio, unfortunately, we will have to end their enrolment in order to ensure that our educator can properly manage and supervise all children on her own.If you suspect that our program may not be the right fit for your child and you already have childcare in place, we recommend keeping your existing childcare as we know how difficult it can be to find.
Please answer the following questions to help us to get to know your child better. We thank you for sharing about your child with us. We really hope to be able to welcome you to The Nest family soon!
