NOW! TOP TOTS is open for toddler, pre-school, and pre-kindergarten aged students
YES! TOP TOTS is a licensed group care provider by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care
YES! We have openings in our Toddler and Pre-School/Pre-K programs and are enrolling now.
TOP TOTS does not subscribe to any one educational philosophy. We feel the best approach is to combine beneficial elements of multiple philosophies such as the self-directed nature Montessori style learning, the active nature of play-based learning, the guidance and structure that is typical of traditional classroom learning, and the strong teacher-parent partnerships that were advocated by Reggio Emilia.
As part of our hybrid approach, our Center will have separate learning and development areas for Toddlers (15 months to 2.9 years) and Pre-School/Pre-Kindergarten (2.9 to 5 years). Unfortunately, we will not be enrolling Infants as originally planned.
Our Center will be open year-round, Monday to Friday. We will open our doors for check-in at 7:30 am, and pick-up after a full day will be at 5:30 pm.
We will be providing tours for prospective families as soon as construction on our 1560 Beacon Street location is completed. In the meantime, we will be providing updates and photos on our website as we make progress.
Absolutely. TOP TOTS has an open-door policy for parents, guardians, and approved visitors to come to our Center and see your children anytime during the day. In fact, we encourage it!
The majority of our daily communication – updates, photos, videos, direct calls/messages with teachers, and special notices (such as school closings due to weather) – will be accomplished through our Brightwheel smartphone app. You can download a copy of the Brightwheel app to your iPhone or Android phone, or use the desktop version. And of course, you can just call our Center!
For the time being, TOP TOTS will not provide full meals during the day. Parents will be expected to bring a meal to the Center with their children each day. TOP TOTS will provide nutritious snacks and drinks twice during a full day, which is described in detail in our Parent Handbook.
Unfortunately not. For the safety of our students who may have allergies, TOP TOTS maintains a strict peanut and nut-free environment in our Center.
Parents are expected to bring an adequate supply of diapers, wipes, and necessary ointment to the Center. Our diapering policy can be found in the TOP TOTS Parent Handbook.
We will continue to monitor (and adhere to) the latest guidance, recommendations, and mitigation protocols established by the CDC, Brookline Department of Public Health, and EEC to ensure that the risk to your sons and daughters is minimized to the greatest extent possible. Accordingly, we will:
- Require our staff to be fully vaccinated and boosted
- Monitor our students and staff for signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and ask suspected individuals to either go or stay home. Temperature screening will not be performed due to the high likelihood of false results, but we will be vigilant.
- Check our staff with rapid antigen testing as appropriate
- Limit essential visitors who are unvaccinated to the greatest extent possible (if not possible, they must wear a mask)
- Utilize ventilation to the greatest extent possible
- Maintain discrete classroom areas and groups, with appropriate grouping and distancing within
- Maintain vigilant cleaning and sanitizing practices in the Center
- Closely track epidemiologic data and Brookline community risk
If required and necessary, TOP TOTS staff will administer medication to your child if it is prescribed by a physician, and only if the appropriate Medication Consent and Individual Health Care Plan are completed in full (including dosage, time, and frequency of administration), and returned back to TOP TOTS with parent and physician signature (appropriate forms are available within the TOP TOTS Parent Portal).
Relax, we’ve all been there! Depending on your child’s age you might consider the following for starters. We also have plenty of great information for you in our Parent Handbook.
Age Group | Items to Bring |
Infants | · Bottles/sippy cups · Breast milk/formula and/or baby food (appropriately prepared) · Pacifiers · Bibs · Fitted sheet · Diapers and wipes, skin ointment and protectant · Extra clothing · Medication (if required) |
Toddlers | · Bottles/sippy cups · Breast milk/formula (appropriately prepared, if required) · Lunch · Blanket for nap · Preferred sleeping/safety object (if needed) · Diapers or pull-ups and wipes, skin ointment and protectant · Extra clothing · Medication (if required) |
Pre-School Pre-Kindergarten | · Lunch · Blanket for nap · Preferred sleeping/safety object (if needed) · Diapers or pull-ups and wipes (if not potty trained) · Extra clothing · Toys for Show-and-Tell Fridays · Medication (if required) |
