Our Philosophy  |   Role of Parent   |   Parent Handbook    |   Vaccination Policy    |   Weather Policy

About Us

KidCo Early Education and Learning Centers, LLC, acquired the KidCo, Inc., centers in March of 2002. Mike North, CEO of KidCo Early Ed., has been operating New Horizons Child Development Centers in the Edmond/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, area since 1986.

Mike North began operations with a single center licensed for 45 children and has expanded to 5 centers serving over 800 children and their families in the OKC metro area. Mike is a Certified Public Accountant with a degree in Accounting and Economics.

Priscilla Alley, the executive director for both New Horizons and KidCo, has a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and more than twenty years in the child care business. She has been employed by New Horizons for 14 years.

Our Philosophy

    At KidCo, we strive to meet the needs of the whole child.  Our curriculum centers around stimulating the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical growth of each child.  We believe children learn primarily through active exploration and interaction with the environment.  Therefore, we provide hands-on experience which allow children to touch, see, smell, and experiment.  We provide children with blocks of time in which they are allowed to freely explore their planned environment with the guidance of their teacher.  We believe children are individuals who develop at their own pace while following the same pattern of development.  With this in mind, we provide children with different levels of activity so that each child is challenged.

    We strive to facilitate the development of trust, autonomy, and initiative in each child.  We foster the development of trust by being responsive to children's needs and providing daily scheduling with consistent staff.  We promote autonomy by structuring each room to facilitate activities that encourage free exploration and free choice.  We facilitate the development of initiative by encouraging children to become responsible for tasks they are developmentally ready to handle.  We believe that through developmentally appropriate practices and positive experiences, children will attain success.

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Role of Parent

    Parents are an integral part of our program and we encourage their participation in every aspect of our program.  They may be asked to serve as resource persons or as child advocates.  During the course of the school year, they are always encouraged to come into the classroom and share their knowledge about their favorite subjects, books, etc.

    Parents are also expected to share information about their child.  If a teacher is to meet the needs of the child, they must know about any unusual events in a child's life.  The only way for teachers to gain this information is for the parent to share it with them.

    Also, since parents know their own child better than anyone else, they may notice changes in behavior before the caregiver does.  If parents are concerned about the child's progress in the program, it is their responsibility to discuss those concerns with the teacher.

    Finally, in order to help us better serve the needs of the children, parents are encouraged to actively participate in parent groups, seminars, and other family or parent functions.  Each parent, as well as each child, is important as an individual to the quality, integrity, and effectiveness of all KidCo programs.

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Parent Handbook

    KidCo has compiled a handbook for you, the parent.  It contains all of our rules, policies, procedures, programs, and much more helpful information.

    The KidCo Parent Handbook is saved in an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.  If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, click the icon below to download it for free.

Click here to view the handbook now!

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Vaccination Policy

    KidCo Early Education and Learning Centers has a strict policy on vaccinations.  Please review the policy and the schedule to keep your child up-to-date.

    This chart provides an overview of vaccinations and immunizations required for children participating in day care programs in the State of Arkansas.  Consult your family physician for complete details.  Remember, children will not be allowed to stay in any KidCo Early Education & Learning Center unless required immunizations and associated records are up to date!

For additional detail contact:
Little Rock/County Health Department: 501.661.2243
KidCo Corporate Offices: 1.866.844.9992

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Weather Policy

    The policy of KidCo is that all of our centers remain open 5 days a week.  However, there have been, and will probably be again, occasions when extreme weather conditions preclude safe operations and travel on local roadways poses a threat to parents, children, and the KidCo staff.

    KidCo has well-defined procedures for severe weather, tornado, disaster, and /or fire evacuation.  Fire drills are performed regularly.  Should an emergency requiring evacuation of the Center occur, parents will be notified immediately.

    If it is necessary to close the Center due to severe weather, it will be announced on KSSN, B98.5 radio stations, and all three network TV stations (channels 4, 7 & 11) designated by the Center Director.  Tuition must still be paid for that day even if the Center is closed.

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