In the event of bad weather, we will take our cue from the public school. When the public school closes the entire school system because of weather, the preschool will also close. If the school starts one hour late the preschool will start at 9:15. If the public school starts two hours late, the preschool morning session will be canceled.  If the school buses are not running, there will be no school. Parents are advised to decide for themselves if they want to send their child to school during questionable weather. All announcements about school closings or late starts will be made at 7 o’clock on “KMSD” (1510 AM). Also, you can check for public school closings and late starts on Keloland Closeline. Even though preschool is not listed there, we follow what the Milbank Public School does.

Your child should be kept at home if he/she shows signs of the following:

• Eyes, ears, or throat inflamed or having discharge

• Signs of a fresh cold, such as running nose or temperature

• Skin rash or eruption

• General appearance of listlessness, irritability, flush, or pallor

• Head lice

If your child becomes ill, please let us know. This is especially important in the case of a communicable disease, such as influenza.

As stated on page 14 of the preschool handbook, "Parents are requested to respect the arrival and dismissal hours as closely as possible...Exceptions may be made, if we have advance notification that a child will be early or late for a legitimate reason. Students should arrive no more than 10 minutes before the start of school." If you are more than 15 minutes late for pick up, you will be charged accordingly. Staff often have other commitments that they need to leave promptly after dismissal.

If your child will be riding the community bus, contact Leone Poel at the bus service (605-432-4866) between 7:30-11:00 a.m. to arrange pick-up. The cost per ride within city limits is $1.00 or outside of city limits is $2.00. The bus service would appreciate at least 2 weeks payment at a time. Payments may be made at the bus garage (between the courthouse and library) from 7:30-11:00 a.m. or you can mail a check to the following address (be sure to include your child's name):

Milbank Community Transit

PO Box 406

Milbank, SD 57252

If you would like to help out in the classroom, or have a high school age child who needs community service hours or a child in confirmation that needs servant hours, let us know. The following things can be done to help the preschool:

• Help in the classroom

• Take items home to cut or trace

• Cut out/count labels (campbell's/our family)

• Help care for someone else's young children so they can help in the classroom

• Enter information on the computer

• Drive for field trips

• Be our "reporter" and take photos/articles to the newspaper of activities/events the preschoolers are involved in

• Older siblings (5th grade and older) can help in the classroom on days that they have off of school for in-service and we have class (check preschool calendar)

The children will take turns bringing snacks for the class. Your child should also be listed on the calendar on or near their birthday on which they can bring a special treat. A monthly calendar will be sent home showing their day to bring snack. When picking out snacks, try to think healthy! Some suggestions, might be fruit, cheese, crackers, meat, individual packets of fruit or applesauce, cereal, graham crackers, muffins, peanut butter sandwiches, etc.

We constantly talk with the children about making good choices. There are certain things we will remind your child of such as walking (not running) in the classroom and using their inside voice. If he/she continues to not listen, they will receive a yellow ticket and if they are acting definant, then a red ticket. We often redirect the children when we see that something is about to happen, and use praise for good behavior. At the end of the day, we will reward your child with a green ticket for making good choices throughout the day. We ask that when your child brings home these tickets that you will take a few minutes to visit with them about it at home and encourage them.

The community has donated money and food to this great program. You do not have to verify income to be eligible for the program. Each week your child will be given a bag of food to help get through the weekend. There are snacks, fresh fruit, some canned items, and usually an instant cup of soup. Please notify the preschool if you would like to be enrolled.