The Program will begin on the first day of school and will close on the last day of school.

OCA begins at 3:15 all children are accounted for. If your child is going to miss a day of OCA, please inform us by 2:45pm via email or text at [email protected] 202-329-6693 and/or [email protected], 202-570-3717 or by letter. NO child will be allowed to leave OCA with an unauthorized person without written permission from his/her parent/guardian. If your child will be out on regular days because of special classes, sports practices, etc., give the Director their schedule. In case of play dates make those arrangements in advance.

Enter and exit the building via the FRONT MAIN ENTRANCE ONLY. This helps keep all of our children safe.

OCA will close at 6:00pm at both campuses. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR CHILD BE PICKED UP PRIOR TO THESE TIMES. All children must be picked up from OCA on or by 6:00:00pm . Any pick up after 6:00:01 will incur a late fee of $1.00 per minute, per child to cover the cost of the additional time of the counselors. Failure to pay the late fee by the following day will result in suspension from use of the program for the balance of the school year or until late fees are paid in full. This means that the child will not be allowed to participate in OCA the following day if the fee from the prior day has not been paid. Chronic late families may be suspended from the use of the program. If late fees have not been paid by the time of re-enrollment for the following school year, the child will not be eligible to re- apply for the program.

Curbside pick up at ADAMS ONLY between 3:30-5:15pm. You may email [email protected] and/or text 202-570-3717 + 202-280-8718. Please give us a 15 minutes heads up as kids are busy playing, in activities or working on homework. Sidewalk pickup is between the hours of 3:30-5:15pm for families that could not find parking, the elderly, infirmed or if you have an injury. When we provide a sidewalk pick up we are pulling a staff member away from the children. PLEASE PRACTICE PATIENCE. DCPS will give us a time when we have to board buses to head to the designated drop off location, which is to be determined. At roughly 5:30 everyone at the Adams campus will board the buses, no one will remain on site.

There is NO CURBSIDE PICK UP at OYSTER CAMPUS (2801 Calvert). Please come to the door and place your order.

Tuition is due on the 1st day but no later than the 10th day of each month beginning in September, June tuition is the full fee. Payment received later than the 10th day will incur a late fee of $25.00. Please make checks payable to OCA. You may give payment to the director, a group leader or place it in the box on the OCA office door (room 102). We do not accept cash. There is a $50.00 charge for returned checks.

Spaces are not held if tuition is not paid. If tuition is not paid, you give up your space and we reserve the right to fill that space with a wait listed student. You may re-enroll once all outstanding fees are paid in full, depending on space availability.

Withdrawing from the program -30 days written notice is required prior to the date of withdrawal. When you give less than 30 days’ notice of the date of withdrawal , you are responsible to pay the full month’s tuition. Once you’ve withdrawn, if you are going re-enroll, you will be placed at the end of the wait list and you are responsible to pay registration fees.

OCA reserves the right to suspend and/or expel a child/student from the program. OCA reserves the right to terminate the contract at any time.

Phone calls and messages for your children should be directed to OCA (even if they have their own cell phones/smart watches, those devices will be off and or put away during aftercare hours). Except in cases of emergency, children will not be permitted to receive phone calls. You can be sure that we will pass along your message. This especially applies to pick-up arrangements; be sure to contact OCA and we will relay the message to your child. This reduces confusion.

Electronic Devices (phones, smart watches with phone capabilities, games, mp3's, tablets, etc...) should be kept at home or off and away. When one of these devices is out or in use we will ask for it to be put away immediately. If it is not, we will hold on to it and will return it only to a parent/guardian. In the case of a second infraction the device will be kept in the OCA office and returned to a parent/guardian at the end of the day.

Homework policy: Each child in grades 1-7, will work on homework at OCA. Bilingual staff members are available in each room if assistance is needed. The child must show the counselor his/her completed homework before leaving to play. The child, is responsible for homework’s content and completion.

Field trip days: OCA opens on Professional Development Days and Record Keeping Days, we generally open from 9am to 6pm. Our staff take great care to ensure your children are well cared for and are having fun. The field trip buses are filled to capacity with children and OCA staff (there is no room for parents/guardians on the bus). Priority is given to full time participants. When a field trip is filled OCA generates a field trip wait list; priority is given to full time families, then to part- time families that registered for that list. Field trips are not open to non-aftercare students. There are limited seats on the trips and you must register for each event in order to participate. You will receive an email with the link to register for the field trip about a month to 2 weeks prior to the field trip date. Permission slips received without payment by the due date will not be processed, spaces will not be held. No one remains on campus on field trip days. Refunds/credit will not be given. If you are not attending a field trip let your group leader or the Director know. If you are not registered for an oca field trip, you are responsible for arranging your childcare.

OCA reserves the right to revoke field trip participation for any reason. We require 100% cooperation when off campus. OCA field trip dates - (all Fridays) $75 per child:

October 20, November 3, January 26, February 16, March 15, April 5

OCA closes when DC public schools close or when DCPS cancels afternoon activities for weather related reasons and on the following dates (parent-teacher conference days, Election day, holidays, winter and spring breaks and weather-related closures): September 4, October 9, 19, November 10, 22, 23, 24, December 22-29, January 1, 2, 15, February 19, March 14, April 15-19, May 27

Discipline: The goal of discipline at OCA is to help children build their own self-control. Discipline techniques will be used in a way to maintain or enhance children’s self-esteem. We also follow DCPS policies.

Toys- Keep ALL toys at home (stuffed animals, card games like Pokémon, Bey Blades, etc.) We have toys, games, blocks, a variety of materials for kids to play with.

Extra Clothes- please send in a bag of extra clothes for your child if in pre-k and kinder. This may be kept in their cubby at school. If your child has outgrown some pants or dresses in sizes 4-7 please donate those to oca.

OCA Parents’ Commitment: Attendance at a minimum of two OCA meetings per year is required of ALL families, fundraising if necessary.

Birthdays - If it is your child’s birthday, feel free to bring cake or cupcakes. We love to celebrate! Simply let us know at least a day in advance.

Donations- Feel free to be generous and send along outgrown Lego sets, blocks, balls, complete game sets, buttons, corks.

SLIDING TUITION SCALE - In order to determine your monthly tuition rate, we will need to verify family income. For families that earn 150k or less bring in a copy of last year's federal income taxes and your last 2 most recent pay stubs; otherwise you will be required to pay full tuition. Two households in the case of joint custody/guardianship of a child will require documents from both parents/guardians. We must have verified your income before you can begin the program.

If you enrolled for auto debit/ACH be sure to turn in your banking documents (voided check and ACH form) upon registration. These documents should be turned in to Silvia Segovia. You may email her directly at [email protected]. Be sure to encrypt your file and send her the password. Your ACH cannot be activated until we have your documents.

If you need a receipt for child care, for flex spending accounts or have questions related to finances please direct those to Silvia Segovia. We ask that you give Silvia 2 week’s notice to prepare any receipts.

By enrolling your child you agree to all the terms and policies of this program.

Emails and texts are best.