Handbook Highlights

Answers for the top 7 asked questions by our parents have been taken from our Handbook and summarized below:

Early Steps Learning Center is open year round,  Monday through Friday, from 6:30 am -6:30 pm at the Chardon Road location and from 6am – 6pm at the Richmond Road Location, with the exception of following Holidays for which the Center will be closed:

  • Martin Luther King Jr (Teacher In-Service Training Day)
  • Good Friday (Teacher In-Service Training Day)
  • Memorial Day
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Christmas Day and Day After
  • Thanksgiving and Day After
  • New Year’s Day

Early Dismissal:

  • Christmas Eve
  • Pre-kindergarten graduation

Please note: If the Holiday falls on a weekend, it may be observed on either the proceeding Friday or the Monday following.

Our sick policy:

For the protection of all children, your child must be kept at home if she/he shows any one of the following symptoms:

  • A temperature of over 100 degrees
  • Diarrhea or vomiting
  • Evidence of lice, scabies, or other parasitic infestation
  • Any type of spots or rashes, until diagnosed by a physician with a note to ensure non-communicable
  • Sore or discharging eyes or ears, profuse nasal discharges
  • Severe coughing, causing the child to be red or blue in the face/ whooping sound
  • Difficult or rapid breathing, swallowing or sore throat
  • Yellowish skin or eyes
  • Unusually dark urine or gray/white stool
  • Stiff Neck

Please do not bring or send your child to our program if she/he  has any of the above symptoms. If she/he develops any signs of the above, we will isolate your child in a room designed for illness (within sight/hearing of staff person) and call you to ask you to come within one (1) hour to take him/her home. If your child has been exposed to or diagnosed with a contagious disease, such as but not limited to whooping cough, German/regular measles, mumps, chicken pox, diphtheria, pinworms or scarlet fever, keep him/her home and report his/her condition to the Center immediately.

Parent/teacher conferences are regularly scheduled in November and July.  Every parent must participate in at least one individual parent-teacher conference during the year. Even more importantly we encourage parents to take advantage of the opportunities for daily contact with the director and teachers.  Visit Communications Commitment for a list of ways that we communicate with our parents.  We welcome your contribution of ideas to enable us to maintain a high quality program.

ESLC will meet your child’s nutritional needs by providing a well-balanced breakfast, lunch and mid-afternoon snack. Meals will consist of  the four basic food groups and will be served with Vitamin C-fortified juice or milk. Our menus are approved by Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and posted in the main entrance. A sample menu can also be found below.  Any substitution food served shall be from the same basic food group and will be recorded on the posted menu. 

Early Steps Learning Center Sample Menu

Reminder of the list of foods not allowed in our Center, as they present a risk of choking:

  • Grapes with skin
  • Popcorn
  • Raw Vegetables
  • Hard Candy
  • Seeds
  • Nuts
  • Lollipops
  • Cough Drops

Early Steps would like for you to celebrate your child’s birthday at the Center.  Be sure to check with the Center management for information on how the Center celebrates birthdays and for specific local health regulations governing what foods may be brought to the Center.

Field trips will be scheduled occasionally.  Children must be at least 40 pounds and older than 4 years of age to go on a field trip including a neighborhood walk. Children must meet applicable state law requirements for transportation of a child without a car seat to go on any field trip excursions.

In advance of each trip, you will be notified of the details and your written permission will be required for each trip.  Health records and emergency transportation authorization will be available and appropriate staff/child ratios will be enforced.  Staff will conduct a 12- step headcount throughout the course of the Field Trip to account for children at all times.

We welcome our parents to participate in field trips, class parties, picture day, Father’s reading club, morning breakfast parties, ice-cream socials, holiday parties and more. If you have a desire to share your talent and knowledge, we would love to hear about it!  We also invite parents to join our PTO.  Contact us by online form , call us at 440-944-2223, or talk to our staff.