About Us

General Information

Hours

Briarwood Children's House will be open from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday year round. We ask that your child is not in attendance longer than a ten hour day.

Child’s Absence: If your child will be absent on a regularly scheduled day of attendance, please report your child’s absence to the BCH staff by calling first thing in the morning.

Holidays

Holiday closings are paid tuition days. A full week's tuition is due for these weeks. If a daycare holiday falls on a weekend, the holiday will be observed on the day before or the day after the actual holiday.

Briarwood will recognize and close for the following 7 Federal holidays:

  • New Year's Eve
  • New Year's Day
  • Memorial day
  • July 4th
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day & the day after
  • Christmas Week

At Briarwood Preschool we value each child and in doing so are committed to being the highest quality trained, loving and nurturing professionals for our children. Briarwood childcare teachers are given the opportunities for professional growth and development 4 times a year. Teacher In-Service days provide training in the areas of daycare curriculum and child development. 30 hours of on-going professional training per year is required by the state of Maine.

School calendar School closure dates

Illness Policy

DHHS Disease Surveillance regulations requires all Briarwood daycare staff to observe children daily for obvious signs of illness (fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes etc.) and in the event, we must follow our health care consultant approved health care policy.

While we understand the needs of the parents, we must protect our children and preschool staff from contagion. For the protection of all children and daycare staff, your child should be kept home and will be sent home if he/she displays any of the symptoms listed below. If your child displays any of the following symptoms Briarwood daycare and preschool will make a phone call home and your child will need to be picked up within one hour of the time called.

  • TEMPERATURE: any child with an elevated temperate of 101 degrees or higher is excluded from group care until there is no presence of a fever for 24 hours without the aid of a fever reducing medication.
  • VOMITTING: child is excluded until there is no presence of fever and no vomiting for 24 hours, and until symptoms have ceased. Child will be sent home after one episode of vomiting associated with a fever, and two episodes of vomiting without a fever.
  • DIARRHEA: child is excluded if he/she has three or more loose or watery bowel movements within one hour, and until symptoms have ceased.
  • RASH: child is excluded with any type of rash or questionable bumps, and/or red spots not associated with diapering, heat or allergic reaction, with or without fever or itching.
  • CONJUNCTIVITIS (PINK EYE): extremely contagious. Child will be excluded until he/she has been on medicine for 24 hours with no discharge. Child will be sent home if presenting any of the following symptoms associated with pink eye: redness in or around eye, swelling on or around eye, pain or itching of eye, green/yellow discharge from eye.
  • HAND FOOT & MOUTH: Child is excluded until all blisters have opened and dried, with no open sores in mouth and no presence of fever. Child will be sent home with any of the following symptoms: fever, sores in or around mouth, rash on hands or feet, sore throat.
  • FIFTH DISEASE: child is excluded until no fever is present and he/she can comfortably participate in the program.
  • IMPETIGO: child is excluded until all blisters have formed scabs, no presence of fever, and he/she can comfortably participate in the program. Child will be sent home with any small red blisters or bumps beginning on the stomach or back that could be contagious.
  • RSV: Child is excluded until he/she can comfortably participate in all activities and does not require a level of care that would jeopardize the health and safety of others in the classroom.
  • STREPH THROAT/ SCARLET FEVER: Child is excluded until he/she has been on antibiotics for 24 hours, and had no fever for 24 hours without the aid of a fever reducing medication.
  • HEAD LICE: Child is excluded until he/she has been treated with lice-specific medication shampoo, rinse or lotion, and is free of nits. He/she must be checked daily for 10 days for evidence of new infection. Child will be sent home with any live lice, or nits in hair.
  • RINGWORM: Child is excluded until treatment from pediatrician has begun, and the infected area begins to shrink. Contagious, and spreadable. Child will be sent home with any possible symptoms of ringworm: red scaly rash, dry skin like patch, that may itch or burn.
  • THRUSH: Child is excluded until he/she has begun and been on an antibiotic for at least 24 hours
  • OTHER:
    • 1. Difficult or rapid breathing
    • 2. Severe coughing, causing child to become red or blue in the face, or making a whooping sound.
    • 3. cold symptoms including heavy nasal secretions that are yellowish green that possibly mean infection.

We can not diagnose, but to keep other children and staff safe and healthy, these are the guide lines we need to follow for possible infections, viruses, etc. going around. In order to minimize your lost time from work, BCH has developed the following health & wellness policy in hopes of lessening the impact illness has on working families. It is imperative to provide a healthy environment for our teachers as well. A teacher’s absence due to illness directly affects everything about your child’s day.