The Cottages Reopening
After Hurricane Irma
Hello everyone! I hope this email finds you well. I am happy to announce that The Cottages power has been restored!!! Yaaaay! We have checked all air conditioning units, refrigerators/freezers, lights, phones, and the fire panel and everything is in working order. I have been in contact with our licensing representative and the ELC and we have been given the green light to resume care on Monday. We are so grateful that the school did not suffer any major damage and we are able to continue caring for your precious children. We have all missed them so much!!!
Judy and I want to extend our sincerest gratitude to you all for the support, concern and well wishes we have received from so many of you. We truly appreciate it! We feel so blessed to have such caring and compassionate families in our program.
I apologize to anyone who has sent an email and did not get a response. I just regained email access yesterday and am trying to catch up on them while also taking care of what needed to happen to reopen. Some of the emails I received had similar questions so I will answer them in this group email.
Smore - If you are not receiving emails from Smore, please check your spam folder. We have included all families on the distribution list. If you do not find them there, please let me know. We use Smore to send out the monthly newsletters as well as other informative flyers throughout the year so we want to ensure you are receiving them to remain informed of the happenings at The Cottages.
Shutterfly - If you do not have access to our private Shutterfly site, please email me to be added. We use Shutterfly to post photos and videos and you can also access things such as the calendar and parent handbook on this site.
VPK - The state allows children to be absent for 5 days due to an emergency closing. These days are payable IF the child returns on the first day of reopening and they do not have to be made up. While we appreciate this, we feel it is in the best interest of our students that they get the most out of the instructional days therefore we have decided to extend our academic year through Friday, June 1st. Graduation will also be moved to Friday, June 1st at 5pm and this will be reflected on the updated academic year calendar.
Tuition Payment Policy - The tuition payment policy can be found on page 23 in the parent handbook which you can access on our Shutterfly site. I am inserting the policy below for your convenience, however please understand that we are only adding this information to this email based on a few inquiries not as a harsh reminder of the policy in place.
TUITION PAYMENT POLICY
Please note the following items as they pertain to our late tuition payment fee schedule.
• Tuition for children attending the full time program must be received by close of
business on Mondays for the week (no exceptions).
• Tuition received on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday will be assessed a $25 late
payment fee (no exceptions).
• Tuition received on Friday for the current week will be assessed an additional $15
late payment fee (no exceptions).
• After 2 weeks on non-payment, care for the enrolled child(ren) will be terminated
(no exceptions).
• Tuition for children attending the part time program (M,W,F or T,TH) must be
received by the 1st of each month.
• All returned checks will result in a $35 fee. If a second check is returned, future
payments will need to be made with cash or a money order.
Billing statements are not sent out weekly/monthly unless the account is in arrears.
A family with 2 or more children in our program will receive a 10% discount on the
oldest child’s tuition.
Please note: There are no vacation credits available. There are no refunds for days
missed, as operating expenses do not change when a child is absent. This includes, but
is not limited to vacations, sick days, holiday closings, emergency closings, and other
school closings.
So the big question I think some of you may have been wondering is "Do I still have to pay tuition since the school was closed due to Hurricane Irma?" Well the short answer to that is yes. However, Judy and I have discussed the impact that Hurricane Irma has had on all of us. We understand that it has caused a burden for so many. We also understand that some of you may have missed work and had to use up PTO. We know it has not been an easy week for any of us and we can't help but feel compassionate for everyone. With that said, we will be giving back days throughout the school year that we were previously scheduled to be closed for care. Those dates are as follows:
• Monday, October 16th - Professional Day
• Wednesday, November 22nd - Thanksgiving Break
• Friday, December 22nd - Christmas Eve/Winter Break closing
• Monday, February 19th - Presidents' Day
• Friday, March 30th - Mini Spring Break
I will be making the changes to our academic calendar and will email everyone a copy of the revised calendar this week.
If your family has suffered financially due to Hurricane Irma and you need to work out a payment plan, please see myself or Judy and we will be happy to work with you. We understand that Hurricane Irma has affected some more than others and we are willing to help you find the appropriate resources if necessary. We have listed some resources below for your reference.
Disaster Relief Resources - Times of crisis certainly put us through emotional, physical, and financial strain. We wanted to share some resources with you for disaster assistance. You will find information for personal and business assistance as well as other resources. Additionally, if you would like to make a donation to help others in need, you can do so through some of the organizations listed below. Please spread the word and share these with your friends, family, and neighbors.
- FEMA - www.disasterassistance.gov or 1-800-621-3362
- RED Cross - www.redcross.org
- Salvation Army - www.salvationarmyflorida.org/sarasota
- Community Foundation of Sarasota County - www.cfsarasota.org
- GR Foundation (Guaranteed Rate) - have allocated funds for Florida families that have been directly impacted by Irma. You can contact Brad Benson by phone at 941-313-8145 or via email @brad.benson@rate.com.
- Jewish Family and Children's Services - www.jfcs-cares.org
- Florida Division of Consumer Services - www.fldfs.com/division/consumers/hurricaneirma.htm
- Gulf Coast Disaster Fund at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation - www.gulfcoastcf.org
- National Employment Law Project for disaster unemployment services - http://www.nelp.org/publication/how-workers-access-dua-after-hurricane-irma/
- Economic Development Corporation Sarasota County - www.edcsarasotacounty.com
- US Small Business Administration - https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/hurricane-irma
In addition to the families, Judy and I also feel compassion to our beloved teachers at The Cottages. We know how devastating it would be for so many of our staff to lose a weeks pay. Especially one that was not planned for. All of our staff will receive their normal pay during the time of our emergency closing.
In closing, I just want to say that through all of the craziness that Hurricane Irma brought with her, she also brought the gift of gratitude. I'm sure I'm not the only one who took so much for granted pre-Irma. Things like drinking water, running water, electricity (to run what seems like EVERYTHING), gas, working traffic lights, and a hot meal. Not to mention our homes, our friends & family and support system. We truly have so much to be grateful for in this beautiful space that we call life. I know that I speak for all of the staff at The Cottages when I say that we are so grateful to all of you for your support and for allowing us the very special privilege to care for your amazing children. We love each and every one of them and cannot wait to give them a big welcome back hug on Monday morning!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday!
Happiness,
Michelle Ireland
Owner/Director
The Cottages at Michaels Learning Center, Inc.
Email: michelle@thecottagespreschool.com
Website: www.thecottagespreschool.com
Location: 602 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, FL, United States
Phone: 941-377-9700