Community Day Nursery

“A draft of form 990 is reviewed by executive director then distributed to, and reviewed by the board of trustees prior to the form being filed. The form 990 is discussed with a question and answer period prior to the final board approval. Upon approval, the form 990 is submitted to the internal revenue service.”

“The organization requires annual conflicts of interest statements from all board members. These statements are reviewed by the president and executive director of the organization. All board members are required to disclose any conflicts of interest.”

“Compensation for the organization's executive director is determined by the new jersey department of education contract. Other salaries are determined by the executive director and treasurer and are based on similar agencies and programs. There are no other top management, officers, or key employees compensated within the organization.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statments are always available to the public at the organization's office or by request.”

“(continued from from 990, page 1) offering a high quality full day preschool education to the children of east orange, new jersey. Community day nursery has been serving children and their families since 1897. We believe high-quality early childhood education ensures children to be ready for kindergarten and beyond. We are accredited by the national association for the education of young children which means we meet the high standards set to ensure children will be safe, healthy, and learning each day. Our certified teachers have degrees and are well trained in early childhood. They build caring relationships with each child, and plan activities that are fun and challenging. Ongoing assessment ensures children continue to learn and develop.”

“(continued from form 990, page 2 line 1) it is our goal to strengthen a cooperative partnership with families through a variety of parenting services and group activities.”

“(continued from form 990, page 2 line 4a) this year community day nursery (cdn) celebrated our 120th year of providing early education and child care services for this community. The economic climate continues to challenge our commitment to high-quality services. The severely restricted state funding from the new jersey department of human services (njdhs) continues to significantly reduce our operating funds. The regulations, originally adopted in 2011 by the njdhs, had been revised in 2014 and seriously restrict access to childcare subsidies for our families who need childcare before and after school (from 7:00am until 8:30am and from 3:00pm until 6:00pm). We have seen this "wrap-around subsidy" for the childcare portion of our day/year go from 100% participation for all 120 families during the first seven years of the public preschool program to our current enrollment of 24 children qualifying for the month of december 2017. The current system that determines eligibility does so for a period that can range from two weeks to several months. Also, the subsidy can be stopped without any notice in the event that a parent is not working or in school for the required number of hours. This continues to make accurately estimating revenue for the budget impossible. Also, the model for childcare services throughout the state provides payment to childcare facilities for four hours per day (both before and aftercare) no matter how much time the families actually need their child to be in care. Some of our children are here before school from 7:00am until school starts at 8:30 and after school from 3:00pm until we close at 6:00pm. In order to be responsive to our families, we have offered a "menu" of childcare services, so a family that needs childcare before school doesn't have to pay for the after school portion of the program and vice versa. The number of parents who are paying for wrap-around care and those who have qualified for subsidies is in a constant state of flux. At the end of december we had 24. Next month we may have more or fewer who will qualify for state aid, but based on our demographic, probably not more than 20% at any given time. When the state of new jersey department of education originally estimated the affect the change in regulations would have, they estimated our wrap-around population would be at 50%. We continue to see a large number of childcare centers closing around the state due to these reductions in funding. This 2017-2018 school year we have been able to reach full enrollment at 120 children. From january through june we had 110 children attending the school. We lost approximately $37,000 in funding from the public school program because the contract only allows us to have eight slots empty currently 53 three-year old and 67 four-year old east orange residents attend school here from 8:30am until 3:00pm. The majority of our children, 72 are of african american descent. Ten are african, 21 are hispanic, seven are caribbean three are guyanese, one british, three asian and one caucasian. There are 61 girls and 57 boys. Of the children enrolled, 97% are from families that qualify for free or reduced meals through the fda child and adult care food program. We currently have four bilingual spanish/english classrooms and one haitian creole/english class (out of eight classes) as the latino population in east orange has been growing. Because of the number of spanish-speaking staff we employ, including a family activity coordinator, parents feel welcomed and cared for when they enter our building. The sisters, brothers and cousins of children that attended cdn continue to request our center when enrolling. In three classrooms the lead teacher is bilingual with an english-speaking assistant and in the fourth class the teacher assistant is bilingual/spanish with an english-speaking lead teacher. We also have an additional teacher assistant and an administrative assistant on staff who are bilingual haitian creole”

“Program for parents: our family workers continue to host monthly parent meetings using the parenting now! Curriculum purchased in march 2003. Some topics are: family values, discipline tools, stress and communicating with your child. We are continuing our literacy enhancement program made possible through grants provided by first book, a nonprofit organization that connects book publishers and community organizations to provide access to new books for children in need. Much research regarding the racial and ethnic school readiness gaps indicate that quality parental linguistic interaction in the home is crucial to readiness at school entry and further academic success. One of the indicators of success in school readiness used by many researchers is the number of the books in the home. We want our families to have high-quality early childhood literature available for their children. Each year during january we send home martin's big words by doreen rappaport. It is a beautifully illustrated and elegantly told story of the rev dr martin luther king jr appropriate for young children. On back to school night, held september 20th this year, 62 parents came to their child's classroom to meet with the teaching team & learn how to support the early learning experience. Each family went home with a book, all by myself by mercer mayer, to help build their child's home library. Parents learned about the tools of the mind curriculum as well as how they can support their child's learning at home. Also, this december we sent home the preschool children's classic mouse paint by ellen stoll walsh. This new edition is printed in both english and spanish. We have continued our collaboration with the east orange public library to make it easy for parents to get library cards for their children. They fill out the paperwork with us and we get the cards & hand them out along with book lists suggesting excellent early childhood literature. On october 28, 2016 we hosted our 10th annual family dinner. We had 72 family members (including the siblings & grandparents) in attendance. Each family contributed a dish (or whatever they could manage, sometimes a loaf of bread or a bag of pretzels) & we provided fun craft activities for the children. After dinner, the board of trustees judged the dishes & awarded small prizes. We have found this time together builds relationships between the school & our families in an informal, non-judgmental setting. Our parents' participation in the parent teacher conferences varied by class with an overall participation rate of 63%. However, two of our bilingual spanish classes had over 80% participation buildings and grounds: through a generous grant from turrell fund we were able to replace the carpeting in the lobby & install new stair treads from the lobby to the second floor. This year we also replaced two classrooms' plexiglas floor to ceiling windows with energy efficient, double paned, tempered glass. The difference in both classroom temperatures & upgraded appearance were realized immediately. For more information about the school, please visit our website at: www.cdneo.org”

“Direct expenses of special events reported on part i line 9b -1,883.”

“The organization has a committee that is responsible for overseeing the audit of the financial statements and the selection of the independent accountant that audited the financial statements. This process has not changed from the prior year.”