July 2025 Newsletter

 
Dear Jack & Jill Families,

As the warm summer days unfold, we are excited to share the latest center updates and a look ahead at fall 2025 here at Jack & Jill. We are currently preparing for the start of the new school year which kicks off September 2nd! This is also when your child will begin in their new classroom for the 2025-2026 school year.

Fall School Year Placement
For fall placement our preschool program follows the 5 before September 1st rule for children entering kindergarten. Children will be placed in preschool programming for ages 3, 4, and Pre-Kindergarten.

Our Pre-Kindergarten program at both locations is for children set to attend Kindergarten in the fall 2026.

Our 4-year-old preschool classrooms at both locations are called Frogs and Tree Frogs. This program consists of children born September 2021 through August 2022. Our Frog and Tree frog classrooms begin working on Step 2 of our PS curriculum as we prepare them for Pre-K.

The St Anthony program has two additional young preschool classrooms. Blue Fish, which consists of children that are closer to 3 years of age, and Red Fish for children turning 3 years of age between July and October 2025.
 
Toddlers 2 years of age and older, will begin in our transitioning preschool program, the L’ll Fish classroom. We begin the concept of our young preschool programming in this classroom. As we approach January 2026, children in the L’ll Fish classroom will be exposed to the step 1 of our preschool programming.

Our toddler program is split into classrooms with children approaching and having attained 16 months of age to approximately 20 months of age, and the older toddler rooms are children above 20 months of age.
 
Our Blaine infant program has 2 classrooms, one for the younger babies typically less than 9 months of age, and the Big Bear classroom for the older babies.
 
Our St Anthony program has 2 infant suites. Our Bebe suite is for the youngest babies starting our program in September and beyond. Our Baby A suite will be mostly new babies starting our program this fall. If your child is currently in Baby B and started this summer, they will remain in this classroom.
In the coming weeks, you will be receiving an email telling you the classroom your child will be in for the start of the school year, which begins on Tuesday, September 2nd. This letter will also include your child’s teachers and their background.

You may find out more information about our different programs by following the link and selecting your child’s age group.
http://jackandjilledu.com/programs/

Center Hours
Our center is only licensed for children during our hours of operation, which are listed below.
St Anthony Center:  7:00am-6:00pm
Blaine Center:  6:30 am-6:00pm      
We are unable to have children in the building before and after these times.  Please do not drop off your child until opening time and be prepared to pick up your child from their classroom no later than 6:00pm.  While staff may be in the classroom before or after these times, they are preparing their classroom for the day.  Late fees will be charged for pick up after 6:00pm at a rate of $15 for every 15 minutes you are late.

Tuition & Payment via Credit Card

We accept VISA, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. A 3.5% non-cash adjustment will be applied to any card transaction.

If you want to change your card on file, please complete the attached form and return to us. Otherwise, you may call Owen directly with updated card information at 612-455-8955 (ext. 203).
 
Credit Card Form

Tuition, Billing, and Vacation Requests
Invoices are sent via email to the addresses we have within our system.  Please direct all questions regarding billing via email to accountsreceivable@jackandjilledu.com.

Tuition is due the week of attendance prior to your child’s care beginning.  Checks may be dropped in the locked black mailbox in the entry way.  Flex plan forms may be placed in the box or emailed and will be returned to your child’s folder or sent electronically. Thank you!

Each family may use one week of their normal schedule per calendar year as vacation time.  Eligibility is effective after six consistent months of attendance.  We appreciate receiving notice 30 days in advance of your vacation.  You may submit your vacation request via email to: info@jackandjilledu.com or by completing this form.

Phone, Email, and ChildPilot Messaging Communication

Our offices are synced with our phone and email systems at both locations to better serve your needs.  Attendance related messages, such as late start, early pick-up, or absences can be relayed through the ChildPilot messaging feature. To keep Jack & Jill informed of other questions or concerns, please email us at info@jackandjilledu.com. For immediate questions or concerns, please give us a call at 612-455-8955. The phone systems are synchronized between sites to provide better coverage and calls will be transferred to your child’s site as needed.

Friendly Program Reminders
Repetition and consistency allow our children to grow. We want to keep our children safe in during drop off and pick up and throughout the day. Some friendly reminders are as follows:

Children must be with an adult at all times
Please keep your child close at all times while in the building and parking lot. Parents are responsible for their child’s care and safety until they are dropped off directly in the classroom with their teacher. Please do not allow children to run ahead to enter/leave the building, to lockers, or to classrooms as it may put them out of sight and arm’s reach and it increases the chance of accidents.
Doors are teacher touch or teacher work
You may have noticed these little stop signs by the door handles that says Teacher Touch.  We teach the children that doors are a teacher touch or teacher work to help them understand that only teachers and parents open doors. Please do not allow your child, no matter what their age, to open and close doors in the program. This helps to protect from pinched fingers and head bumps.
 
Outside food is not allowed in the building or classrooms
Jack & Jill has a catering contract with our onsite kitchen, Premier Catering who holds a food license with Hennepin and Anoka counties respectively. With a licensed food program, we need to prepare all food on site by our catering company to be served to the children in the program. Substitute food may not be brought in from outside of the program for food service. If your child has a current Allergy plan for substitute milk, it may be brought in unopened, properly dated, and labeled with your child’s first and last name.

We have several children with severe allergies, and we are unable to control their exposure to allergens when outside food is brought into the classroom. Please finish snacks in the car so that drop-offs can run smoothly.