Q:   How much attention do you pay to cleanliness? How do you teach the children about hygiene and cleaning up?
A:    At MCC cleanliness is not an option, it is an necessity. Our housekeepers do it nightly, our teachers do it hourly, and our children are taught to clean up after themselves. An intensive hygiene and cleanliness curriculum is part of a teacher's training and ongoing work evaluation.

Q:   How do you train your staff?
A:    Here at the Mansfield Children’s Center we have developed a comprehensive and ongoing training program for all of our staff regardless of degrees or past experience. A mentor is assigned to each teacher. Most of our training, except for Directors’ workshops, is channeled through the mentors so that one voice is heard. This allows mentor and teacher to develop a bond that facilitates communication and problem solving. Each mentor is responsible for training mentees in the planning and execution of:

MCC Mentor Training            MCC Teacher Roles and Responsibilities          MCC Social Skills Curriculum          MCC Math and Language Curriculum          MCC Child Management Skills Curriculum          MCC Arts Curriculum          MCC Gross Motor Curriculum          MCC Parent Teacher Communication

Q:   How do you communicate with parents about their child’s day and their overall progress?
A:    We encourage parents to spend as much time at the center as they can. Parents are welcome to join in or just observe and chat with their child’s teacher or a mentor or a director. The frequency and form of written communication between teachers and parents differs by age group, but daily verbal communication with our teachers is strongly encouraged. If a parent or teacher feels a need to address problems requiring a more thorough examination, a meeting is arranged with the teacher, a director and one or two parents.

Infant Parents receive daily written and oral communications covering their child’s emerging behavior patterns as well as possible learning opportunities their child may be ready for, and possible teaching strategies a parent may want to consider to enhance their child’s development.

Toddler Parents receive a daily verbal report on their child’s day, about emerging patterns of their child’s progress and on possible child learning strategies that help the parent and teacher reinforce each other's efforts. Toddler parents also receive six-month written reports on their child’s progress.

Preschool and Kindergarten parents receive comprehensive written progress reports twice annually. However, the daily parent/teacher conversation remains the central means of communication.

School Age Parents' daily verbal communication is as extensive as the parent wishes. Additionally, your child’s target behavior sheets are available to inform you of your child’s strengths, what behaviors they are presently working on and what the teacher’s responsibility is to help them meet these targets.