Author: Dom Harris

🎄A month of joy, blessings, and Holiday Cheer!✨

As we wrap up the year, I just want to remind you all how blessed we are to work with each other everyday. Thank you for being a team that shows love, patience, and dedication! 💕

>> 🩺 Illness Policy: Fever of 100.4, three diarrheas, OR one vomit ⇾ Child MUST be sent home 24- hours symptom free without Tylenol or Motrin!

>> 🧽Winter Deep-Clean Tasks: As we are coming up on break, please make sure your rooms are getting thoroughly cleaned!

• Toy Sanitizing and Rotating Soft toys in laundry (swings, bouncers)
• Shelf & Crib wipe down
• Deep clean and disinfect trash cans
• Deep clean highchairs and tables
• Clean Windows

>> Handwashing Policy 🤚🏼🧼: As we head into flu season, please be extra mindful of handwashing routines with the babies- and yourselves! Parents MUST wash their infants hands at morning drop-off!!

>> Weather Guidelines for Outdoor Play 🌨️ : Once it starts snowing, we may not be able to go outside as much, so take advantage of the nice weather while we still have it!

• Make sure infants are dressed appropriately! (long sleeves, jackets, pants, socks, shoes, hats, etc.)

>> Just a few friendly reminders:

• 📱Brightwheel Photos and Captions: Please aim for 2-3 photos per child daily! Add a short learning caption (doesn’t need to be long, just meaningful!)
• 📝 Don’t fall behind on Portfolios: Remember to start completing anecdotal observations and developmental checklists for Spring Conferences!

It’s November! 🍂 Welcome to month five of LRB being open and thriving!✨

There’s so much to be grateful for this holiday season. The Barn is beyond blessed to have the incredible team of women that we do – I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.❤️ This year has brought a lot of change – good days and hard days alike – but through it all, each of you continues to handle every challenge with grace. Thank you!

>> ⏰ Quick Reminder: We’ve noticed that staff have been returning from lunch breaks late. Please be mindful about staying as close to your scheduled time as possible. If you anticipate being late, just send a quick message in the admin group chat to keep things running smoothly. Thanks

>> Please make sure we are keeping up with daily and weekly cleaning checklist – Making sure that diapers are stocked, soap dispensers, disinfectant, soapy water are filled.

>> Handwashing Policy 🤚🏼🧼: As we head into flu season, please be extra mindful of handwashing routines with the babies- and yourselves! Make sure hands are washed:

• At drop-off
• Before and after meals
• After outside play
• After wiping noses
• Before and after diaper changes
• After sensory play

>> Parents MUST wash their infants hands at morning drop-off!!

>> Weather Guidelines for Outdoor Play 🍂 : Fresh air is great for the babies, but comfort and safety come first! Please consider these guidelines when planning outdoor play for the infants:

• If the temperature is between 40s and 50s, please consult admin before going outside!
• 50s and above, you can take your kiddos outside! (During the snowy months, this may vary)
• Please make sure infants are dressed appropriately! (long sleeves, jackets, pants, socks, shoes, hats, etc.)

>> Just a few friendly reminders:

• Please make sure to rinse your dishes before you put them in the dirty dishes bin – makes washing dishes much easier! REMINDER: no food should be discarded in ANY sink. Please discard all food in a trash can prior to rinsing them.
• Don’t forget to use the soapy water bucket at the end of the day!
• Please sweep and mop behind trashcans, diaper genies, and step stools!

>> Happy October Ladies! 🍂 Leaves are changing, and so are the little lives you touch everyday! Thank you for making every season brighter at LRB. As always, I am amazed at the work you all do each day. ✨

>> Don’t forget that October 13th is a Teacher Prep/Planning Day! This is a mandatory work day for all staff from 10am-6pm! The day will include a staff meeting, a team bonding activity, deep cleaning, and planning/prep!

>> Call outs have been much better! Keep up the good work! 🎉

>> Please make sure we are keeping up with daily and weekly cleaning checklist – This includes sweeping the entire classroom, wiping down sinks with disinfectant, cleaning classroom doors and handles, and disinfecting trash cans and diaper genies every night!

>> Handwashing Policy 🤚🏼🧼: As we head into flu season, please be extra mindful of handwashing routines with the babies- and yourselves! Make sure hands are washed:

• At drop-off
• Before and after meals
• After outside play
• After wiping noses
• Before and after diaper changes
• After sensory play

>> Fall Attire Reminder 🍂 : As the weather starts to cool down, please make sure you dress appropriately for outside play! We will still be taking the babies out for short periods of time!

>> Parent Teacher Conferences are THIS MONTH! Please make sure that you are actively working on student Portfolios so they are finished and ready the week before conferences!! You do not want to get behind on them. They will be hosted from October 2oth – October 31st.

>> Just as a friendly reminder: Semi-monthly payroll begins this month! Moving forward, we will get paid on the 5th and 20th of every month. If these days fall on a weekend or bank holiday, Ashley will make sure to run payroll early and get you paid the working day prior.

>> Happy September! ⭐ The kick-off of the new school year has been awesome! Thank you for all your hard work and efforts this last month. We’ve had lots of change happening, but we are moving towards bigger and better things!

>> Upcoming Extracurriculars at LRB!

Don’t forget to thank Ms. Rosalie and Ms. Maisey for doing such an incredible job with extracurriculars this past month! It’s going take some time learning how to insert extracurriculars into our routines, but they are so worth it!!

• The Librarian is coming to LRB on September 8th to read fun stories to the babies! 📖🥳
• From now, Ms. Maisey will be coming in to host Silly Scientists every other week! This month she’ll be here on the 3rd and the 17th! 🧪
• Get your instruments ready! Altitunes Music is coming to LRB on Sept. 11th! They will come to LRB on the 2nd Thursday of every month🎶

>> Teacher Goals have been going very well! I truly appreciate how intentional all of you have been in your classrooms to make sure the babies are getting the learning experience they deserve! Please don’t forget about them and continue to seek guidance from me (Dom) and your co-teachers. If there is something that you really want to focus on, let me know so I can add it to the Teacher Goals List! Here’s a few upcoming goals to think about:

• Implementing a morning circle routine everyday
• Weekly Activity Trackers
• Sensory Play
• Completing weekly cleaning during nap time

>> Call outs have been much better! Keep up the good work! 🎉

>> Clocking in – Please don’t clock in any earlier than 5 minutes before your shift is supposed to start unless asked otherwise by admin.

>> Lunch break clock outs – Please try to keep on schedule as best as possible and take the ENTIRE hour for your lunch break. Too many of you have been clocking in too early

>> Don’t forget about your weekly cleaning checklist – Scott was able to spray around the building to keep ants away, but we need to be doing our due diligence to keep the classrooms clean! This includes sweeping and mopping after EVERY mealtime

>> Just a friendly reminder: Make sure to keep classroom supplies stocked – gloves, wipes, paper towels, disinfectant, soapy water, soap dispensers

>> Please let Dom know if ANY supplies are running low! 

>> Mark your Calendars! Supply Lists are due the 15th of every month and Developmental Checklists/Observations are due on the 26th of every month. Please make sure that you are actively working on student Portfolios on your free time. We do not want to get behind on these!

>> Thank you all for coming to the campfire! It was so nice to see all of you! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did and it was much needed ❤️

>> Payroll update: As a way to create better flow in our business, we will be switching our payroll schedule from biweekly to semimonthly. This change will occur in October, so please take a look forward and budget accordingly. Beginning in October, you will be paid on the 5th and 20th of every month. If these days fall on a weekend or bank holiday Ashley will make sure to run payroll early and get you paid the working day prior. Please let me know if you have any questions, below I have laid out what the next month of payment will look like to help you better prepare.

• You will be paid like usual on September 12th for hours worked 8/25 – 9/7 & on September 26th for hours worked 9/8 -9/21
• On October 5th you will be paid for hours worked 9/22- 9/30
• On October 20th you will be paid for hours worked 10/1-10/15
• Moving forward from there the pay periods will be set up like this:
  • For hours worked on the 1st-15th of each month, you will be paid out on the 20th of each month
  • For hours worked on the 16th-last day of the month, you will be paid out on the 5th of each month
• We will also be switching our payroll company from Gusto to ADP so please be on the lookout for any items we may need to make this a smooth transition

>> Happy August ladies! It is officially our second month being open and you have all been ROCKSTARS! ⭐ I know the last couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic and we’ve had to do a lot of adjusting, but I appreciate you all being so flexible. I am so thankful for each and everyone of you and could not hold down the fort without you! THANK YOU! 🎉🎉

>> Exciting News, Extracurriculars are coming to LRB!

• The Librarian is coming to LRB on August 11th to read fun stories to the babies! 📖🥳
• Ms. Maisey will be coming in to host Silly Scientists with our kiddos on August 20th! 🧪

>> We will begin implementing Teacher Goals every week to make our daily activities more intentional. This will help us gradually create more structure in the classroom and create a solid foundation for LRB in the future! *I will be checking Brightwheel daily to make sure these are getting done* Here’s a short list of goals to start thinking about:

• Curriculum and engaging captions
• Weekly Sensory Play Ideas
• Art projects
• Posting pictures (individual and group pics)
• More Outdoor play!

>> There have been way too many call outs this month. It has been rare lately that all of our staff show up and stay their whole shift. We understand that life happens and sickness happens, but if you can, please attempt to come to your shift and we can figure out a way to get you out early.

>> If you are running late or calling in, it is your responsibility to check who the opening Admin is and to call them and then ALSO text in admin group chat!!

>> Mark your Calendars! Supply Lists are due the 15th of every month and Developmental Checklists/Observations are due on the 26th of every month. Please make sure that you are actively working on student Portfolios on your free time. We do not want to get behind on these!

>> Please let Dom know if ANY supplies are running low! 

>> Don’t forget about your weekly cleaning checklist – I will be checking them at the end of the day!

>> Make sure we are getting the babies outside! Cuddly Calves: 1-3 times a week | Piglets: Once a day

 >> Make sure that bottles, cribs, cubbies, clear bins, snacks/sippy cups are labeled with kiddos first and last name

>> Please abide by the LRB parking signs! We should not be parking in front of our neighbors. Thank you 🙂

>> The 2025-2026 School Year Employee Handbook has been updated. Please make sure to read over the new handbook and once complete, see Dom to sign off that you acknowledge the changes! To make it easier since I know the handbook is quite long, I have broke out the specific changes that were made below. Please let us know if you have any questions!

• Section 1.5 | Classroom & Ratios – We are officially relicensed to have 8 children in both classrooms compared to our original 7!
• Section 3.1 | Required Trainings – All staff are now required to be trained on how to use a fire extinguisher and must have 1 credit hour in child development.
  • Please watch this short video on how to use an extinguisher and tell Dom the acronym used to remember the proper steps of using and extinguisher.
• Section 5.2.3 | Paid Holidays and School Breaks –
  • Our summer break will now be scheduled annually for the week prior to Jeffco public schools. These dates will be released annually and are now posted on the Employee Calendar.
  • Staff will now be paid 50% of their salary for our 2 week closures (summer and winter break). In full transparency, I can no longer afford to pay out full salaries without significant impacts on the business. Please make sure to plan accordingly for these week breaks! However, as a benefit to longevity with the company, once you hit 3 years with us you will recieve 100% of your salary for these weeks off.
  • We have also added 2 teacher planning days into our school closure list. These will be days where children are not attending but staff are required to be in person for training, deep cleaning, classroom and curriculum prep and planning, etc. For the 2025-2026 school year these dates are October 13th and February 16th.