Welcome!

At a glance, our child care may look like other centers you have visited, but in reality it’s a refreshingly different place.

Happy Hearts Christian Child Care is a non-denominational program licensed by the State of Minnesota to care for 12 Infants, 14 Toddlers and 30 Preschoolers. We have been providing care to families such as yours here in the western Minneapolis suburbs since 1983!

Our hours are Monday thru Friday from 6:30 am - 6:00 pm.
Parent visitations are welcome any time!

Our goal is to provide a place where parents can feel assured that their child is being nurtured in love and guidance by seeing peace and contentment develop in their child’s little happy heart.

Communication Tools at Happy Hearts

Wondering when the next Teacher's workshop day will be? What days are we closed for the Christmas Holiday? Review our Annual Event Calendar.

Wondering when Show & Tell is? Miss reading the Parent Board? Our Preschool Activity Calendar will help you find out when and what you can do to ensure that your child is ready for the day.

To receive a current Event and/or Preschool Calendars, please request one at HappyHearts@att.net. Thank you.

Enrollment Requirements

As a State of MN licensed program, all children will be required to complete on or before the child's first day: the Enrollment Form, a document showing up to date immunization records and a signed form that has our legal notices that we are required to have on file. You will also need to submit a Health form within 30 days of starting.

Leave of Absence

When a situation where a family would like to retain their spot at the Center, but needs to take a leave of absence due to the birth of a child, family emergency, temporary job loss or where it is anticipated that the child will not be attending for more than 2 weeks time, we will attempt to honor the request with the following guidelines:

*That the Director is notified at least three weeks in advance.
*That the vacation days earned are used first.
*No more than 6 weeks leave per year is given with no tuition payment due. More than 6 weeks would require tuition to be paid for the remaining weeks absent.
*That the re-enrollment fee is paid if it becomes due prior to return start date.

Please discuss with our Director your options and procedures.

Our Rates

We have a daily rate and a Full-time Weekly rate. We also look at how many hours per day your child will be in attendance.

Menu and Meals

Concerning our Toddlers and Preschoolers: All are welcome to participate in our food programs.

Breakfast: A breakfast consisting of cereal, juice and milk is provided daily at 7:30 am for those children present. All children at the Center at breakfast time are offered breakfast.

Lunch: Lunch is catered in and served starting at 11:00 am. Please check with your child's caregiver to find out exactly what time your child has lunch. Menus shall be posted for your review. We shall also send a copy of the menu home at the beginning of each month. Meals include fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and main dishes prepared from recipes of good taste which are nutritious, attractive and inviting.

Should your child be allergic to something on the menu please point it out to the Director or teacher. We take allergies very seriously and will work with you and your physician to ensure a food safe environment. You may want to bring a lunch from home that day.

We have refrigeration available to keep those lunches from home fresh. We do not have a microwave or other source of heating foods from home.

PSA=Preschool Snack Assignment: While the Center will provide a snack for the Toddlers in the afternoon, our Preschool Parents take turns bringing in the snack. On your child’s day he/she will be our “Happy Helper.“ On your lunch menu, below the daily lunch, you can see who has been assigned to bring a snack for that day. If your child is to bring a snack or birthday treat, please bring in a commercially prepared (as required by the Health Dept.), age appropriate healthy snack, for approximately 30 children and 3 staff. Happy Hearts shall provide the juice or milk to accompany your treat. Please, no frozen or "messy" items. Keep in mind "finger foods".

A prayer shall be said or sung before all meals and snacks.

How Do I Enroll?

Contact the Director. We will get you in for a tour of our programs and the facility. We will send home additional details about our Center and answer any questions you may have.

Should you decide that we are indeed the place for your child to be loved, nurtured and cared for, again contact the Director and a start date can be determined.

Payment of the enrollment fee is required to reserve the spot and must be paid prior to starting.

Program Plan

GENERAL Information - Infants/Toddlers/Preschoolers.
Each Department provides many activity "areas" for your child. These areas offer times of structured play with learning and free play with learning. As a non-denominational Christian program we share with the children Bible truths through song, story and behavior all consistent with a child’s cultural background.

The staff rotate the activities and toys on a regular basis. In both the Toddler and Preschool Departments your Teacher has posted a daily schedule. Our caregivers plan exciting activities for your child that are age appropriate including art, music, dramatic play, sciences, sensory exploration, as well as large muscle activities.

The children are supervised at all times.

In our Preschool Program we offer a PRESCHOOL/ PreK program using ABEKA curriculum in both our Preschool and PreK classes, with a wrap-around child care program for those children who need to be at the Center earlier or later than the class. It is our desire to see each child graduate confident in his/her self and very ready for the Kindergarten program ahead. Our Director will give you more details when you come for a tour.

Your child’s intellectual, physical, social and emotional progress will be documented twice a year on a “Progress Report”. This Report will be sent home for your review. Parent/teacher conferences will be offered to discuss these reports. A copy of the Progress Report will be kept in your child’s records as well. If, at any time you would like to meet with the staff please let us know and we will make sure you have this opportunity.

Discipline/Biting

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverb 22:6

At Happy Hearts we believe that discipline offers an opportunity to teach responsible behavior. We practice "preventive discipline" by providing children with challenging and absorbing activities, and by treating them with warmth and realistic rules and expectations. Children who misbehave are gently, but firmly reminded of what is expected of them.

In most cases a simple reminder, explanation or redirection (removal of the problem toy or changing the environment) is all that is needed. Hurting others either physically or verbally is never acceptable behavior and saying "I'm sorry" and "You're forgiven" are a part of the routine. If a situation arises and the teacher has dealt with it, we do not believe the child’s parents should discipline the child again at home. So, should a caregiver report an incident to you, listen to determine what action is required on your part. If in doubt, please ask.

We really see you as our Team leader when it comes to your child.

Biting: Unfortunately, biting of oneself and of others commonly occurs with older infants and toddlers. Each and every one of us has a strong dislike of the act. Here at Happy Hearts the staff work hard to comfort the "victim" as well as preventing the biter from biting. Often we are able to discern the cause of the bite - aggression, frustration, teething, and inappropriate attention getting are easiest to identify. We consider this a behavioral concern not a discipline problem.

As often as possible, and especially if the skin is broken, we make it a priority to let both the parents of the biter and the victim know about the bite. Together we will work on plans of prevention and discipline when appropriate.

We take this very seriously and we encourage you to talk to us about concerns you may have. I would also like to clarify that we typically do not ask parents to remove a child from our program because of biting unless a parent refuses to work with us on the problem.

Health Consultant

We are pleased to report that Happy Hearts contracts with a “health consultant” for health and safety consultation services. During their monthly visits they observe practices and procedures that have an impact on the health and safety of the children. Procedures such as diapering, sanitation, toileting, food prep and handling, etc. are observed. Safety checks and emergency preparedness are assessed. Assistance in growth and development training is also available.

Our Staff

We are pleased to report that we have the BEST staff available to us and are very pleased to introduce them to you. Our teachers meet the standards set by the State of MN as "Teachers" and have completed the post secondary education and experience required for the position.

All staff are trained in:
First Aid
CPR
SIDS
SBS
Maltreatment of Minors Act

A Background study is completed on each caregiver regardless of the number of hours they work.

Safety and Security

Use of a FAMILY CODE: Upon enrollment you will be asked to give a 4 digit code that will be used to identify a caller as an authorized family authority. This code will be used most often when we receive verbal directives over the telephone. Please, do not give this code to anyone. Here at the Center we will keep this code in your child’s enrollment file and we will need to look it up each time you call.

In the event that we notice that the person picking up a child is in any way incapacitated we will make every effort possible to work with that person to arrange for different transportation. If a workable arrangement can not be made, we will notify the police department for assistance.

FIRE: Children will participate in fire drills once a month. When weather warrants we will evacuate outdoors. Evacuation routes are posted in each room.

WINTER STORMS: It is our decision that if the local schools/MnDOT professionals determine that children/adults should not be on the roads due to heavy snow then we will support that system and abide by their direction. Listen for Winter Storm Warnings to be prepared. Should the local school district close (Hopkins) or close early DUE to SNOW then we will also be closed. Should they close due to cold or other reasons we will make a case by case decision on what to do. In most cases, we will be open.

Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

As a christian center, our staff are dedicated to ministering the gospel to our adult friends as well as what we teach to the children. If you have a prayer request, a praise report or have a question about what we share, please contact us below. Our staff will respect your privacy and will insure that only prayer warriors within our Center are knowing of your request.

You can request that your prayer/needs be kept confidential, so no one knows your name. We understand that God knows and that's what matters.