Eligibility

Cisco Family Connection is open to children of Cisco full-time or part-time (20+ hrs/wk) employees. The Cisco employee must be the parent, step-parent, grandparent (with legal guardianship) or legal guardian of the child(ren). Children of domestic partners of Cisco employees are also eligible. Children of employees working less than 20 hours, temporary employees or contractors are not eligible.

Children enrolled in CFC remain enrolled from year to year without reapplying provided their parents, grandparents (with legal guardianship) or legal guardians continue to meet the Cisco employee eligibility requirement. Access to back-up care ends upon termination from Cisco. Enrollment in the primary care program ends 30 days after your last day of employment with Cisco.

Siblings will be offered priority enrollment on an alternating basis. Every other enrollment will be drawn from the sibling priority list (if one exists).Children enrolled in CFC remain enrolled from year to year without reapplying provided their parents, grandparents or legal guardians continue to meet the Cisco employee eligibility requirement. Generally, a child(ren) of a Cisco employee may remain in the Cisco Family Connection for up to 30 days from an employee's termination date.

Programs

Core Program - Infants - PreKindergarten
This program serves children from 6 weeks of age through Pre-K-age (approximately 5 years of age or until eligible for entry into kindergarten).

Kindergarten Program
We offer an all day Kindergarten program. Children that will be aged 5 by December 1st, are eligible for this program.

Back-Up Care (Ages 6 weeks - Pre-K)
In addition to the Core program, Cisco Family Connection offers a back-up program which provides care for children when their regular child care program is not available. A maximum of 20 children can be served daily in this program. It will be open to all children of eligible Cisco employees even if they are not enrolled in the Core program. Each family can utilize up to 20 days per year in the back-up program.

FEES:

Visit and/or register for our BackUp program at Backup Site

School'sOUT
The SchoolsOUT! Program is designed for children kindergarten through age 12. The program is open during Winter Break, Spring Break, Summer Months (Mid-June through August) and various other school holidays during the year. We have selected dates that reflect a majority of school districts serving Cisco families.

Visit and/or register for our SchoolsOUT! program at SchoolsOUT!

Days of Operation

The center operates Monday - Friday, year round. The Center is closed on all Cisco holidays.

Hours

*Additional fees of $8.00/hr or portion thereof apply to Core Extended hours.

In the Core program, Cisco employees will contract for the number of hours of care they need to provide full-time care for their children. Typically this represents a 10 hour day.

Part-time care options are available although priority is given to full-time and matching schedules. Part-time schedules (fewer than 5 days/week or fewer hours/day e.g. 2 days/wk, 6 hours/day) are accommodated whenever possible to meet the needs of part-time Cisco employees. Part-time schedules are matched with other part-time schedules (3 days are M/W/F, 2 days are T/TH).

On a given day, if a child remains in the program longer than their contracted hours, additional fee of $8/hour or portion thereof will be charged.
Contracted hours can be changed with a minimum of 30 days notification if space is available.

Philosophy

Excellent childcare replicates many of the aspects of a good and loving home situation, where caring adults nurture children to grow and learn. Our role is to supplement, but not supplant, the primary role of parents in providing care for their children. By establishing and maintaining open and ongoing communication with families, we are able to strengthen the ties that connect the home with our center and enhance the development of the children in our care. When parents entrust their children to us, we are challenged to have a significant and positive influence on their children by providing a program of the highest quality designed to help give children the foundation they need to build self-esteem, to develop school competence, and to reach for higher levels of learning.

School Readiness

"By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." So states the first of the six National Education Goals established by the nation's governors and the President. This significant statement acknowledges the critical importance of early childhood experiences to later success in school. At the Family Center, we agree that learning does not begin at the school door, but in the first five years of life. We are committed to working in partnership with parents to achieve our nation's readiness goals.

Cisco Family Connection also features a large number of special programs such as music, movement, dance, and art. With special rooms in the center designed to accommodate gross motor activities and an art studio where there will be an emphasis on creative expression.

Primary Caregiving

Each child at Cisco Family Connection is assigned a primary caregiver who assumes responsibility for that particular child and for communication with that child's family, especially during parent-teacher conferences.

Primary caregiving strengthens the link between families, children, and teachers. By assigning a primary caregiver to each child, we are encouraging families to establish a relationship with a particular faculty member who will be especially focused on their child's needs and development. As your child's primary caregiver, we are asking that individual to assume primary responsibility, not total responsibility, for your child. All teachers on the team interact with and provide learning experiences for every child in the homebase.

Family Involvment

Cisco Family Connection has an open-door policy. Families are invited and welcome to come any time to watch their child in action, have lunch with their child, nurse their baby, or just drop-in for a quick visit. The more comfortable you are at the center the more comfortable your child will feel.

The center features a Family Resource Library that we hope will provide great benefits to families looking for ideas, resources, or a good book to read. Books are available to check out and can be done so in the North or South Lobbies.

There is a Parent Leadership Team that works together with the directors and center to help create a sense of community and partnership within the center. The Parent Leadership Team is an opportunity for parent involvement in center events, assisting with review of policies/procedures, and helps provide the center leadership team with various perspectives and ways of working together.

Meals

The cooking staff at the center will provide hot meals and nutritious snacks to the children. Children receive two snacks each day and a hot lunch. Children using the Core Extended hours program are offered a light evening snack.

Parents of infants not yet eating table foods will be responsible for providing cereals, baby foods, formulas or expressed breast milk. As tables foods are introduced, the children are offered foods from the kitchen.

All meals are prepared with children's nutritional needs in mind. The cooking staff work to ensure that meals are low in sugar, sodium, fat, etc., reflect the diversity of tastes and cultures served in the program, and are varied. In most cases children's special dietary needs (e.g. food allergies) can be accommodated, as well as requests for vegetarian meals. In some cases, for children with severe allergies, families will be required to provide the foods from home for safety and health reasons. All of these arrangements need to be made with the child(ren)'s primary caregiver and the Center administration. If a family so chooses due to specific dietary concerns, they can provide their own meals, but no reduction in tuition will be made

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CFC Food Policy.

CFC Snack Policy.

Facility Features

Safety and Security
The Center has been designed with many safety and security features. The front entries are locked and will require card-key access. All secondary exit doors are alarmed and Cisco security will monitor perimeter cameras and provide support to the Center. Faculty and families are required to utilize their card-key to gain access to the facility. The center will arrange the provision of card-keys for spouses, family members, or significant others of Cisco employees enrolled in the center as identified by the family.

Child Centered Rooms
All the homebases have been designed to provide large amounts of natural light. The floors are a combination of carpet for comfortable floor work and linoleum where art projects can be done. Lunches are eaten family style around large tables. Sinks, drinking fountains, paper towels, even windows are down at the children's level. These are designed to be child-centered rooms where state-of-the-art learning tools can be put to use.

Each homebase has been designed to meet the specific needs of the children being served. The infant/toddler rooms have specially designed diaper changing areas to provide maximum efficiency and allow continued supervision of other children by the caregivers as well as separate nap rooms for the babies with dimmed lighting. Rooms provide window ramps where they can look out onto the action in the yards. The preschool homebases have special "messy" areas built into them where exciting long-term art projects can be left to dry without being disturbed. The school-age program includes an art/media room, a computer lab/library, and a multi-purpose space complete with comfortable places to hang out with friends and work on special creative projects.

Playground Features
The courtyards (playgrounds) have special features to keep children of all ages moving safely and keeping busy exploring new outside adventures. Outside sinks and drinking fountains are provided for all age groups, as well as a variety of large motor, dramatic play, and art activities.

Video Surveillance Technology
One of the many unique features of this Center is a Cisco product - VSM. Cisco employees are able to log-on from their desk-top to a "window into their child's day". Cameras in each of the homebases allow parents to "drop-in" on their child and watch the many great activities they are enjoying.

Enrichment Programs: Gymsters, Danceworks, Music Place
Gymsters is a mobile physical education, motor development, and fitness program that comes to the children at our center. Children that are enrolled in our Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten program are eligible to sign-up for Gymsters classes. All applications are available in both lobbies. There is an additional fee to be enrolled in Gymsters. Danceworks is a dance enrichment program dedicated to bringing the joy of dance and movement to young children through a combination of creativity, dance technique, and early childhood principles. This program is offered to children 3 and up. Inquire about Danceworks in both lobbies. There is an additional fee for Danceworks.

Music Place allows children to experience a full range of music and instruments in a hands-on relaxed atmosphere. It is available for children 2 and above. Go to either lobby for more information. There is an additional fee for Music Place.

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What in the world is happening in the Infant and Toddler Program?

What’s happening in the Infant Toddler Program??

Summer is over but we are ready to discover the Fall season! We had a great summer with a lot of fun activities from baking bread to playing with play sea life in a water table. Our end of summer luau was great fun for children and families. There were a lot of games, cotton candy, popcorn and cake! Families had great fun mingling with other. The children from infants to toddlers enjoyed buggy rides, exploring the outdoor environments, art and sensory projects, books, singing, and prime times with their caregivers.

Here are some more learning adventures our infants and toddlers will take part in...

• Exploring the Fall season—infants and toddlers are very curious about the world around them! The weather is changing and leaves are starting to fall. Infants and toddlers will be very interested in picking up leaves to touch, crunch in their hands and examine with all their senses.

• Our Imagination Day Parade is approaching fast and homebases are starting to decide what story or song theme they would like to pick for their costumes for this fun event. Children will have a part in decorating their “costumes” and the fun parade will take place on October 27th around the center. Mark your calendars!!

• Sensory projects—infants and toddlers love to explore their senses! They love anything they can feel, hear, see, and taste. We will plan activities to encourage their sensory development. Some activities are playing in “oobleck” which is a mixture of cornstarch and water. After mixing it together, you get an ooey, “goo” that is great fun to touch and explore. Another fun sensory activity is making jello. Children will have so much fun helping their teachers pour, mix and then taste their finished product!

There will be continued trainings throughout the year for all the teachers in the form of Lunch & Learns in order to enhance their knowledge of the children’s development and any related issues.
For more specific information about the Infant/Toddler Program at CFC, enrolled families can talk to your Team Lead/Program Coordinator and prospective families can come in for a tour on Tuesday or Friday mornings at 9:00 or contact Stephanie Cordi (scordi@cisco.com) or x53079 or Rachel Lim (raclim@cisco.com) or x75150, to arrange a personal tour.

What in the world is happening in the Twos and Transition Program?

Fall… What a beautiful time of the year. There are changes all around us during this season. During this time you will also see changes taking place in our little ones.

They will slowly develop in their social skills. Their language skills will blossom and grow with each passing day. There will be changes in their independence, until they insist on dressing themselves everyday. How can we as teachers facilitate these positive changes in your child?

The children’s language skills will be developed through circle times (where children have the opportunity to share with the group what they did over the weekend, as well as learning new songs and finger plays to expand their vocabulary), lunch times (taking about the food being served). During toilet learning; children will have the opportunity to dress themselves – with assistance from the teachers to nurture the independence and self-help skills of the children.

Throughout all the fun and learning, the caregivers will continue to document observations, collecting photos’, and children’s art work for their Portfolio Binders. Our next parent/teacher conference will be in December 2006. It’s exciting to document each child’s progress and presenting it to the parents through “Early Learner”.

There will be continued trainings throughout the year for all the teachers in the form of Lunch & Learns in order to enhance their knowledge of the children’s development and any related issues. Teachers will also have the opportunity to attend conferences in which they will receive new ideas for activities.

For more specific information about the Two’s/Transition Program at CFC, enrolled families can talk to your Team Lead/Program Coordinator and prospective families can come in for a tour on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 or contact Nadene Habboush (nhabbaus@cisco.com) or Y Nguyen (ynnguyen@cisco.com), to arrange a personal tour.

What in the world is happening in the Preschool & Kindergarten Program?

We are looking forward to a fun filled Summer. The children will be exploring many new concepts that will provoke a new sense of wonder , and a life long love for learning. Our team is very excited about our upcoming Summer program!! Below are some of the events that will be offered:

-NASA Aims
-Monterey Bay Aquarium
-Milpitas Police & Fire Department
-Cooking Projects
-And much, much more

We will be illuminating our learning through our documentation boards. The focus for the upcoming months is making learning visible. Team Leads will continue to embrace this concept throughout the Summer months. As you walk through different homebases, you will find many creative and interesting examples of documentation throughout the rooms .We invite you to stop by your child’s homebase to view these imaginative and creative documentation boards.

The preschool team is always enthusiastic about parent partnerships. We encourage you to let your team lead know that you are interesting in reading a story, facilitating a cooking project, or anything that you would like to share. We want to show the children that their homebase is extension of home, so you are welcome at anytime!

Preschool/Pre-k/Kindergarten/School Age Program Coordinators

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