About us
OUR COMMITMENT
Marietta Academy is designed to fully serve the needs of children and their parents in the area of preschool and childcare accommodations. The Marietta Academy philosophy is a blend of the findings of researchers, teachers, and child development specialists.
Our clients can count on us to:
1. Provide a calm environment that stresses happiness and caring and allows children to feel safe, secure, and well taken care of.
2. Understand that children are boundless in their energy, curiosity, and enthusiasm and should be treated as a natural resource.
Provide opportunity
3. Provide an opportunity for children to learn and communicate about their world and the things around them.
4. Provide teachers, activities, and routines that nurture the self-esteem, self-reliance, and dignity of each child.
Recognize & Serve
5. Recognize and serve the needs and feelings of parents in the area of their children.
6. Look for new ideas and changes so that we are constantly improving and are diligent in our effort to be the best that we can be.
Learning Center
We have established our curriculum around the following basic principles:
1. Children learn and develop at their own rate and in their own style.
2. Creativity and the freedom to explore, experiment, and problem solve will enhance a child's cognitive development.
3. Children learn best when they are viewed as individuals and treated with respect, acceptance, and caring.
4. Learning is enhanced when children are actively involved and are encouraged to make decisions.
5. Play is an important part of learning in early childhood.
6. Self-confidence directly relates to the ability to learn.
7. A mistake is one of the essential catalysts to learning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What information do I issue to parents?
A. Institutions and facilities should issue the IES form, reduced income guidelines with the privacy and non-discrimination statement, appropriate household letter, and the Sharing Information with Medicaid/SCHIP letter to parents/guardians of children/adults participating in the CACFP.
Q. Can centers/day care homes require parents/guardians to complete the IES form as part of the enrollment package?
A. Centers/day care homes can request that parents/guardians complete the form as part of the enrollment process, but centers should not require parents/guardians to complete the form nor should they have policies/practices in place that negatively impacts the prospective/current participant’s enrollment if the parent declines or fails to complete or submit the form. This action would be in violation of the Program.
Q. Why is it necessary to issue the Sharing Information with Medicaid/SCHIP letter to parents?
A. Parents/guardians that do not wish to have their information shared with either Medicaid or SCHIP must complete the form and return to facility. Otherwise and when requested by Bright from the Start or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), parent/guardian information will be shared with Medicaid/SCHIP.
Q. Is it necessary to have three official’s signatures on the new IES form-especially when the center is an independent center with only one staff person managing the CACFP?
A. No. Only one signature is required for Independent centers with only one staff person responsible for managing the CACFP. However, institutions with more than one person managing the CACFP, and center and administrative sponsors are required to have a minimum of two signatures: determining official and confirming official. 05/2018
Q. What is the purpose of having a determining and confirming official signature?
A. The confirming official will review the form and ensure accuracy and completeness. IES forms are considered current and valid until the last day of the month in which the form was dated on year earlier. The date to be used to make this determination is the date in which the sponsor or institution official signs the IES form to certify eligibility of the participant.
Q. How long is the IES form considered current and valid?
A. IES forms are considered current and valid until the last day of the month in which the form was dated one year previously. The date used to make this determination is the date in which the sponsor/ independent center official or parent/guardian signs the IES form. CACFP institutions and SFSP sponsors must decide which date they will use as the effective date and apply this date to all income eligibility forms submitted on behalf of all participants. CACFP institutions and SFSP sponsors are required to complete the Income Eligibility - Effective Date Option Form. In addition, institutions must indicate the options chosen in Section VIII. Recordkeeping (Item #2) of their Management Plan.
This means that sponsor and independent center officials should not request parent/guardians to complete IES forms at a specific frequency (e.g. start of each school year, every June, etc.). Request made by the sponsor or independent center official for IES form completion should be based solely on the expiration date of the IES forms.
Q. Do I send a report to Bright from the Start listing parent/guardians that want their information shared with Medicaid/SCHIP?
A. No. When instructed by USDA, Bright from the Start will request and collect data from institutions.
Q. Can this form be used for children in childcare facilities and adults in adult daycare facilities?
A. Yes.
Q. Can siblings be listed on one form?
A. Yes. Siblings from the same household can be listed on one form as long as there is space available.
Q. When do I verify parent/guardian income?
A. At the request of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Bright from the Start, or any of its agents.
Q. Where can I get copies of the IES form and supporting documents?
A. Access Bright from the Start’s webpage at http://www.decal.ga.gov/BftS/FormList.aspx?cat=CACFP
Q. Can I still participate in the CACFP if parents do not complete the IES form or do not return the form to my center?
A. Yes. However, children that do not have IES forms on file must be placed in the “paid” category on the roster, which will effect monthly reimbursement. Centers that are using the IES form to capture annual enrollment information will be required to use an alternate enrollment form that captures at a minimum the name of the child, normal hours and days of care and meals the child usually receives while in attendance. 05/2018
Q. What if the form is completed by the parent but is not signed and dated by the sponsor or independent official. Is the form valid?
A. The form would neither be current nor valid for free or reduced price meals since the signature and date of the sponsor or independent official is the certification of the eligibility of the participant.
Q. Are households required to report changes in circumstances?
A. No, Public Law 108-265 modified the requirements related to reporting changes in income during the period of eligibility covered by the application. Households are not required to report changes in circumstances, such as increase in income, a decrease in household size, or when the household is no longer certified eligible for benefits through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Q. Are temporary approvals (45 days) still required when no income is reported?
A. No. Temporary approvals previously provided for short term assistance, such as when a household experienced a temporary income reduction or when no income was reported have been eliminated, are no longer required. Now, year-long eligibility includes households that report no income on their IES forms.
Q. Can parents list some but not all of the household income received?
A. No, the IES form requests all the household income including the frequency. By signing the IES form the parent/guardian certifies that all the information on the form is true and that all income is reported and that they understand that the center or day care home will receive Federal funds based on the information listed by the parent/guardian.
Q. Do children participating in Head Start or Early Head Start need to complete additional income eligibility forms to qualify for free meals?
A. Children enrolled in federal and state-funded Head Start or Early Head Start Programs are categorically eligible to receive free meal benefits without further application or eligibility determination. Categorical eligibility means Meal Benefit Forms are not required.
Eligibility determinations for the CNPs are made on an annual basis. As long as the child is enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start at the time the annual eligibility determination is made, all reimbursable meals served to that child may be claimed at the free rate.
Institutions, sponsors, and school food authorities may establish eligibility of all Head Start enrollees through documentation provided by the Head Start program. Forms of acceptable documentation include:
o Approved Head Start application
o Statement of Head Start enrollment
o List of participants from a Head Start official
Q. If a child who is eligible for Head Start benefits also attends a child care center or day care home, is the child automatically eligible for free CACFP meals at the child care facility without further application or eligibility determination?
A. Yes. All CACFP reimbursable meals served to children enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start may be claimed at the free rate by child care centers or at Tier I rates in day care homes in which they are enrolled. Documentation of acceptable Head Start eligibility must be maintained.
Q. Are the siblings or other children who are members of a Head Start child’s household also automatically eligible for free meals without further application?
A. Only children enrolled in Head Start are categorically eligible. Categorical eligibility based on Head Start enrollment does not extend to all children in the same household.
Q. Can a day care home document its eligibility for Tier I reimbursement based on the provider’s own child’s enrollment in a Head Start program?
A. The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-134) extended categorical eligibility only to children enrolled in Head Start; therefore, a child’s Head Start enrollment does not extend to the provider.
Q. Are children who are enrolled in Head Start, but who are members of households that are above the Head Start income eligibility requirements, still eligible for CACFP meals at the free rate?
A. Yes. All reimbursable meals served to children enrolled in Head Start may be claimed at the free rate. Head Start serves primarily children from families with household incomes at or below the federal poverty level. However, a small proportion of children in families with household incomes above the poverty level may also be served.
Public Law 110-134 amended sections 9(b)(12)(A)(iii) and 17(c)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make any child enrolled in Head Start categorically eligible for free meals without further application or eligibility determination.
Q. Are children enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs eligible for free meals?
A. Children participating in state-funded prekindergarten programs are not automatically eligible for free meals. In California, the income eligibility requirements for state-funded preschools are less stringent than the requirements for the Head Start Program. Therefore, determinations of eligibility for free meals for participants must be made on an individual basis.
Section 107 of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (Act) amended section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make runaway, homeless and migrant children categorically eligible for free meal benefits under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and is effective July 1, 2004.
Q. What is the definition of homeless?
A. The term “homeless children” has the meaning given to “homeless children and youths” in section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)).
“Homeless children” means:
- Individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and
- Includes -
- Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;
- Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
- Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
- Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described in a-c above.
Q. What is the definition of migrant?
A. Migrant family means, for purposes of CACFP eligibility, a family with children under the age of compulsory school attendance who changed their residence by moving from one geographic location to another, either intrastate or interstate, within the preceding two years for the purpose of engaging in agricultural work and whose family income comes primarily from this activity.
Q. What is the definition of runaway youth?
A. The term "runaway", used with respect to a youth, means an individual who is less than 18 years of age and who absents himself or herself from home or a place of legal residence without the permission of a parent or legal guardian. https://definitions.uslegal.com/r/runaway-youth
Q. What is the definition of Foster care?
A. Foster care means 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the state agency has placement and care responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child-care institutions, and pre-adoptive homes. A child is in foster care in accordance with this definition regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the state or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is federal matching of any payments that are made.