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Are you a licensed daycare/preschool?
Yes, we are licensed by the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene/Bureau of Daycare (herein referred to as the DOH).
My child has food allergies.
ith our vast experience, we have gained much experience with a variety of issues that affect children, including allergies. All you need is a Doctor’s note and we mutually agree what would be best for your precious child.
Does Sunny Skies / Sunny Skies Preschool have a uniform policy?
The answer is long, but we are happy to announce that our board has decided that for the foreseeable future, uniforms would be one of the few amended policies that have become parental choice. We have included a clothing waiver in our new registration packages, as we want to make sure children wear clothes that can get dirty, possibly painted and may get otherwise damaged.
Our founder, Margarycel Nuñez, has been at the forefront of ensuring equality in Early Childhood Education for almost 20 years. In fact, she has worked with government for over a decade to bring what today we have come to know as UPK and 3K. We have always had a tradition of inclusion and the best way to avoid families becoming self conscious about their financial status was to create an environment where everyone looked the same and had exactly the same things. This also helped children focus on more important things such as developing relationships and enjoying their activities without fear of damaging their clothes.
Along with uniforms, Ms. Nuñez also created a birthday party policy, where the celebrations are as organic as possible and give children the opportunity to learn the joy of coming together to build a birthday from scratch; while some of our families had the ability to even hire entertainment and bring fancy decorations, some of our families did not and children don’t understand money, they understand wants, needs and getting. Having all birthdays look exactly the same allows our students to know that everyone loves them exactly the same and that making your birthday cake with your friends is the best thing on earth. We love knowing that our students are happy and not having fancy celebrations for some and not others creates a community of equals where everyone is a valuable member of the classroom community. This year we will give all children 4 choices of gender neutral themes, we KNOW this will be so special for them.
We hope that this helps our families understand the how and why of some of our policies and how we have adapted them to fit the needs our our current families; post-covid, making uniforms mandatory didn’t sit quite well with us, and we are happy to give parental choice on that.
My child does not speak English. Do you admit children who speak a different language?
At Sunny Skies we are very diverse in every sense of the word. Our families and staff all come from varied parts of the world and are very welcoming and patient with those of us who also come from abroad. Within a very short time span children usually immerse fully in the English language as they get a lot of exposure to literature as well as social experiences.
My child is still using diapers, do you accept children who are not fully trained?
We accept children who are still in diapers and when the child is ready to say good bye to them we help with the training.
What is your staff to child ratio?
Our staff to child ratio is 1:8 in the toddler and preschool with a maximum of 15 children.
What are the qualifications of your staff and are they screened?
All of our teachers have either their Masters, Bachelors, and/or Associates degrees in Early Childhood Education. All staff are trained in CPR and First Aid. Every staff member is thoroughly vetted by finger print, background check and a rigorous interview process.
Do you provide meals, and how often do the children eat?
We do provide meals. The children eat at least three times a day, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack. All meals are catered via Regina catering. Food menu are updated on our site monthly.
Do you provide potty training and/or does my child have to be potty trained to start?
We expect your child to be fully toilet trained by the time they start our 3K program. We do however assist with toilet traning if necessary. Toilet training would include taking your child more frequently to the bathroom, guiding them on how to use the toilet.
Do the children nap and how often?
Why does Sunny Skies/Sunny Skies Preschool have a nap time in the schedule?
Answer: while at school, children will engage in new activities that require their bodies and minds to work hard. This makes children tired and therefore needing a small period of rest to reset energy before getting too tired and overwhelmed.
While the period in the schedule is called nap time, some of our children naturally don’t nap anymore and we have accommodations for that. This time of day is so cozy that children happily participate, especially since they get to snuggle with their lovies (stuffed animals we gift them as their personal toy the first day of school). Children intrinsically come equipped with group mentality, when they see the other children napping they will want to do it too, same goes for toileting (the opposite is also true where when most are not napping the rest will follow). At the beginning of the year most children will nap except maybe 2-3 per class, those children can then engage in quiet activities to do with their lovie and allow their bodies and minds to rest at a different scale. As the year progresses and the seasons change, more children start joining the quiet activity group and won’t nap. By the end of the school year maybe less than a handful will still need to actually nap, if any at all.
Having been in the preschool business for so many years has allowed us to gain valuable experience in many areas, including nap adjustments. We want to reassure our parents that none of our activities rigid and without options, we strive to provide our students individual attention, of course, we want to follow the schedule as closely as possible, however some children simply can’t for whatever reason and we are here to support them in finding alternatives.
What type of extracurricular activities do you provide?
In addition to our educational curriculum we also provide music (piano), art (painting, canvasing), Dance (music & movment) and foreign language (Spanish).
What is your sick policy?
If your child exhibits symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, lack of appetite, jaundice, etc. you will be notified immediately and depending on the severity of the symptoms you will be required to pick them up early from school child will be awaiting your arrival at the school office. We understand that you are working parents and do not need to be notified about every cough and hiccup, however, we must maintain a clean and healthy environment for all of our students while they go through the process of building their immune system. Therefore, we have very strict rules regarding children when they are sick.
What if my child gets sick? Can you administer medicine, and how soon can they return to school?
We do have an on-site medical staff member and therefore are able to administer any medication of any kind. All staff at Sunny Skies Preschool are trained in administrating EpiPen or epinephrine injection used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions. If your child is running a fever, the child may not return to school for at least 48 hours after the fever breaks without the aid of a suppressant such as Tylenol or Motrin. We also require that you submit a doctor’s note stating that the child is able to return to school. This is all mandated by the DOH.
What if my child is hurt while at school? Will I be notified?’
Yes, if your child sustains any injury while under our care you will be notified via telephone immediately. In addition to the call you will also be required to sign an incident and injury report which explains how your child sustained their injury, who was supervising at the time and how the injury was treated if treatment was deemed necessary. Signed copies of the report are placed within your child’s file and copies of your child’s report are provided upon request.
May I come by and visit my child at school during the day? May I call to inquire how he/she is doing?
Your visit will create an expectation in your child that he or she is being picked up which will invariably cause an upset when your visit is over. However, you may call as during nap time as often as you like to inquire after your child. Please ask for your child’s teacher who will gladly take your call and update you on how your child is doing.
How late can I drop off my child?
We recommend dropping your child off no later then 9am. This is when the curriculum of the day begins. Early pick up for the occasional doctor’s appointment or early trip departure is allowed. Keep in mind that if you need to bring your child in late for any reason that we do not accept drop-offs later than 12pm.
Is there an early drop-off and/or late pick-up schedule?
Our school hours are from 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday. The 3K & UPK program schedule is from 8:30am till 2:45pm. We offer extend care till closing for additional fee. Once enrolled in our extend after school hours you are automatically also enrolled in early drop off at opening time. If you are running late and not enrolled in our extend care we ask that you notify us in advance so that we can let your child know and make the proper accommodations to have one of our caregivers or teachers attend your child. A late fee will be assest.
How often are you closed?
We follow the DOE school schedule. A school year-round calendar will be given to you.
If my child is not reading and writing all day, what is my child learning?
A LOT. children learn a lot in preschool by virtue of even being around other children! Besides the social aspect that preschools can offer, they learn skills that provide confidence, independence and problem solving skills. All of this is needed in order to learn to learn and will be the common denominator in all learning for as long as the child is alive. Sounds far out doesn’t it? That is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth.
At Sunny Skies we strive to include as many fun, engaging, thought provoking and open ended activities in our day; children make choices on where they want to learn and the teachers encourage children to develop math, science, language, social and interpersonal skills, all while “playing” or being a helper in the class.
See the attached article to gain more insight into what happens organically in our classrooms.
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/what-do-children-learn-preschool-program
