General Info
The Williams County Family YMCA is licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). The center’s license number is 501323.
Our facility currently provides care for 5 to 12 years old, this includes CUBdergarten.
The majority of our programming, unless specified otherwise, offers care options between 6am and 6pm. Please refer to the information provided on the our childcare services section to confirm the hours of care availability.
You can stop by the front desk here at the YMCA at 1 Faber Drive, Bryan, Ohio. You can also register online with the links provided in our programming section: wcymca.org/childcare/#programs.
After registration is complete, it is necessary to retrieve and complete a thorough enrollment packet to ensure your child receives optimal care 🤗 The enrollment packet is available digitally on our website along with the program’s information. It can also be found at the front desk at the YMCA.
Prior to the child’s first day, a tour needs to be planned with the director to go over policies and procedures. We also suggest a visit to the center with your child so that he/she can meet the teachers and see the classroom. Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are required to complete and return their registration packet prior to the child(ren)’s enrollment. All paperwork must be signed and returned before attending the program.
Yes, we’d love for you to come by and see the space we serve our community’s youth within the YMCA! While you may not be able to meet all our childcare staff members due to scheduling constraints, you can schedule a tour with our Youth & Health Living Director, Courtney Schindler.
Program Details
During the summer we go on field trips to places such as Spangler Candy, the movie theater, Imagination Station, Moore pool and more.
The kids enjoy free swim at the Y once a week and other activities like Nerf War and gymnasium time.
STEAM activities are offered daily along with reading circles by the Williams County Public Library. We enjoy trivia time and other games that encourage continuous learning.
*All swimming activities are supervised by certified lifeguards and children are assessed for swimming abilities before participating.
Our program offers time after school for children to complete their homework. Staff will also be available to tutor and aid as needed. The students are encouraged to participate in STEAM activities offered. These activities spark problem solving skills and team collaboration continually improve their education outside of school time.
A morning and afternoon snack is provided daily. It includes two of the four basic food groups. Low fat milk is also provided by the center. Alternative snacks will be provided for children with allergies, but a written slip from a physician must be on file.
On days when your child is here for full day care, lunch must be brought from home. Lunch should not include food that needs to be heated up. We encourage lunch to be brought on delayed days in case of a closure. Parents will be contacted on a closed day to bring in a packed lunch for their child. We do ask that the lunches contain four of the four basic food groups (grain, protein, vegetable, and milk). Copies of the weekly menu are posted in the classroom on the bulletin board. Any changes to the menu will be made in the posted copies.
If your child requires a special diet, a statement signed by a physician is required. It is the parent’s responsibility to provide food for the child, however, we will assist in providing alternatives as feasible.
The current capacity at our facility, as licensed by ODJFS, is 74 individuals, aged 3 years to 12 years old. Ratio must be maintained at all times and is as follows:
1:10 for Kid Zone (6 months – 8 years old)
1:12 for Preschool (3 – 4.5 years old)
1:14 for Preschool (4.5 – 5 years old)
1:18 for School Age (K – 6th Grade)
At this time, only school age programming is offered by the Williams County Family YMCA.
Students are offered outdoor play for a minimum of 30 minutes after school, and 1.5 hours during full days. The students do not go outside if the windchill is under 25 degrees or over 90 degrees. If we are unable to go outside, gross motor movement is still encouraged through gym and playroom time. This gives the students ample time to explore and play.
Screen time is limited within the center. We will watch an appropriate movie on special occasions and play digital group games that center around learning. However, students are not permitted to bring in tablets or phones as we encourage them to take time to focus on building relationships with their peers.
We believe it is important to create an inclusive childcare setting responsive to children with special needs who can be cared for in a group setting. Parents and guardians need to be aware that the childcare center functions as a state licensed program that provides care for children in a group setting.
To fulfill the mission of the YMCA to provide affordable, quality settings for all children, guidelines for children with special needs have been developed to ensure that the needs of all children are met and the safety of all children is maintained.
Please reach out to Courtney, our Youth & Health Living Director, at 419-636-6185 or [email protected] to learn more about the procedure for enrolling a child with special needs.
Please see our parent handbook for more information.
At the YMCA Child Care, our discipline approach aims to help children manage their emotions through positive strategies as a learning process. Our key practices include:
- Providing a safe environment where children can speak with staff confidently.
- Creating a learning environment where there is consistency and a daily routine.
- Clearly stating expectations in a positive light and ensuring they are developmentally appropriate.
- Using calm and teacher guided prompts for problem solving when there are disagreements. This method teaches children how to communicate effectively with their peers.
Using a positive approach is essential in reinforcing a child’s success. Authoritative discipline requires planning, setting clear limits, reasonable expectations, redirection, and logical consequences. Punishments such as humiliating, disrespecting, striking, shaming, use of bribes, false threats, withdrawal of food, or inappropriate contact of any kind will not be used toward a child by any staff member.
For serious or recurring issues, a behavior report is created, and a conference with parents may be required. In extreme cases, dismissal from the program is possible. Re-enrollment is considered after one year, following a meeting with the director.
Parents are expected to maintain respectful communication with our staff. Disrespectful behavior from parents may also result in immediate dismissal from the program.
For more detailed information on our disciplinary methods and policies, please see our parent handbook.
If your child is going to be absent from the center on a given day, please inform the staff in advance, preferably in writing. If your child is sick and will not be attending for the day, please call/email the center to let us know in advance. If your child does not arrive at their usual time after school or does not get off the bus, and we have not received a call/email, we will follow the procedure for a “no show” child and will take the following steps:
- Make a phone call to the parent(s), at work or home.
- If we are unable to contact a parent, we will call other emergency contacts to find out the child’s whereabouts.
- If the parent(s) and emergency contacts are unable to be contacted, we will call the school. If the school is unable to help, we may resort to calling the police.
- In the event of a “no show” child situation, an incident report must be issued, and the Child Care Director must be notified.
For those in the N.O.C.A.C. system, school age children will need to be in attendance at least 10 hours a week during the school year and 25 hours in the summer. N.O.C.A.C. system parent(s)/guardian(s) are also required to also log your child(ren) IN and OUT on the T.A.P. system tablet located in the classroom sign out desk. This is to be done at pickup and drop off every day or the family may lose their childcare benefits and be held personally responsible for reimbursement.
For more information on the attendance policy, please review the parent handbook.
The YMCA only offers transportation to and from school for those attending Bryan City Schools. We are not able to provide transportation from any other schools at this time.
Before the child’s first enrollment date, the parent / guardian needs to contact the transportation department at Bryan City Schools. You’ll need to tell the transportation department two things:
- Have them add the Williams County Family YMCA as a secondary destination.
- Tell the transportation department your child’s start date in the YMCA child care program.
Bryan City Schools Transportation Department:
https://www.bryanschools.net/departments/transportation
That’s a great question! Here is a sample of a full day, school age schedule:
6:00-8:30 am – Arrive / learning centers / breakfast snack is offered
8:30-8:45 am – Bathroom break / clean up
8:45-9:00 am – Morning meeting
9:00-9:30 am – Full group games in the gym or outside (depending on the weather)
9:30-10:00 am – AM snack
10:00-10:45 am – 1st Small group activity
10:45-11:30 am – 2nd Small group activity
11:30-12:00 am – Learning centers
12:00–12:30 pm – Lunch
12:30-1:00 pm – Independent reading time
1:00-2:30 pm – Trip to nearby park
2:30-3:00 pm –Small group activity
3:00-3:30 pm – PM snack
3:30-4:15 pm – Learning centers
4:15-4:30 pm – Bathroom break / clean up
4:30-6:00 pm – Playroom / pick up
Kind of 😉 We allow drop-ins with our School Delay & School Closure program which offers childcare on days when there is weather related school delays, cancellations, or school closures (snow days, teacher in service day, etc).
We do recommend that you enroll your child in our School Delay & School Closure program proactively because it affects the center’s ability to maintain our child:staff ratio.
Other than that, we do not currently accept children on a drop-in basis.
Our School Delay & Closure Program provides students from CUBdergarten to age 12 with care on days when you need it most! Fog day? Teacher in service day? Snow day? 2 or 3-hour delay? We’ve got you covered. Outdoor and indoor play area, stem activities, crafts, games, Nerf gun zone, and more! Full day care for closure is 6am-6pm. Register in our childcare programming section!
Communication & Updates
We encourage parents and guardians to be involved with our center. At the end of each day, our teachers will let you know how your child’s day was and what activities they participated in. We currently use Bright Wheel to communicate with parents.
Monthly newsletters may be sent out giving information about themes, activities, and any special events. We also recommend following the YMCA on social media to keep up to date with various childcare offerings and other YMCA programming 😀 Our Instagram is instagram.com/wcymca and our Facebook page is: fb.com/williamscoymca.
Safety & Health
Administration at the YMCA, childcare staff, and parent(s)/guardian(s) of enrolled children are the sole individuals who have key FOBs with childcare access. See the question below, “What safety measures are in place?” for additional information.
The safety of your children is our highest priority. We ensure all children are fully accounted for at the center and our staff is aware of every child at all points of the day.
Upon arrival, parents and guardians are required to sign their child(ren) IN and bring their child(ren) to the designated morning staff on a daily basis. Upon departure, parents are required to pick up their child(ren) and sign their child(ren) OUT on a daily basis. If someone else is picking up/dropping off your child, that person must be an authorized pick-up as indicated by you, the parent or guardian, in a completed authorization form.
The childcare wing of the YMCA can only be accessed via swiping a key FOB. A key FOB is a keychain-like electronic device with an embedded chip that provides secure access only to those who have been authorized. Administration at the YMCA, childcare staff, and parent(s)/guardian(s) of enrolled children are the sole individuals who have key FOBs with childcare access. When there is staff or enrolled child turnover, the relevant individuals will immediately have their FOBs set to deny access to the childcare wing.
Additionally, we have Emergency Actions Plans created for various situations. These can be reviewed during the tour with Courtney or you can reach out to her for more information.
Lastly, you can refer to the question below “Is the facility monitored with cameras?” for information on our camera surveillance system.
Our entire facility, including the childcare department, is equipped with a camera monitoring system.This system helps us ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone who comes to enjoy the YMCA.
Our cameras operate 24/7, providing continuous monitoring of all areas within the YMCA. The footage is recorded and stored securely, allowing us to review any incidents of concern. Our staff is trained to respond promptly to any issues that arise.
For security and privacy reasons, we do not provide streaming access to the cameras for our parent(s)/guardian(s). This policy helps protect the privacy of all children and staff members and ensures security measures are not compromised. Rest assured, our trained staff monitors the footage to maintain everyone’s well-being.
Our welcoming staff include our director, lead, and assistants. All staff are CPR/First Aid certified and go through a background check before their first day. Our staff are required to complete ongoing professional development training that encourages growth in Early Education and provides insight to consistently better our program.
Our Youth & Healthy Living Director, Courtney Schindler, oversees the childcare staff as well as the YMCA programming department. Courtney graduated from Bluffton University in 2020 with a degree in Child Development and Business Administration.
Her career started at the Findlay Y as a Lead Toddler Teacher and continued at the Williams County Y where she started as the Child Care Director in 2021. In 2024, she became the Youth and Healthy Living Director and loves being a part of the Y community.
When not at the Y, Courtney enjoys crocheting, reading, and playing board games with her husband, Ryan.
You can review our emergency inclement weather policy in the next question, “How do you handle emergencies & medical situations?”, but for less severe weather that only calls for a school delay or closure, we offer a solution!
Our School Delay & Closure Program provides students from CUBdergarten to age 12 with care on days when you need it most! Fog day? Teacher in service day? Snow day? 2 or 3-hour delay? We’ve got you covered. Outdoor and indoor play area, stem activities, crafts, games, Nerf gun zone, and more! Full day care for closure is 6am-6pm. Register in our childcare programming section above!
In case of a general emergency, the following action will be taken:
- Threats due to environmental situations: notify and take procedural direction from the local enforcement agency.
- Threats of violence: evaluate the situation, take the children to a planned safe location and notify authorities/parents/guardians.
- Natural disasters (tornado, flood, etc.): follow the diagrams posted in each childcare classroom for directions. Proceed to sheltered area, as directed.
- Loss of utilities: parents will be notified, and children will have to be sent home if longer than 2 hours.
In case of a serious incident, injury, or illness:
- When needed, call for emergency medical assistance. The child’s health and medical records will accompany the child. The Director or a staff member will stay with the child until the parent/guardian assumes responsibility for the child’s care.
- Call the parent/guardian.
- Complete an incident report (JFS 01299 for serious reports).
The YMCA childcare staff will fill out an incident report when:
- An illness, accident, or injury occurs that requires first aid treatment.
- A child experiences a bump or blow to the head.
- Emergency transport is needed.
- An unusual or unexpected event jeopardizes the safety of children or staff.
The medical, dental, and general emergency plan along with a diagram for evacuation/shelter is posted in each room where children are present. Regularly scheduled evacuation drills are logged each month and are located within the director’s office. Staff will also always have access to a working phone within the center.
The following are guidelines for exclusions from the program:
- Temperature of 100 degrees (your child may return 24 hours after their fever has broken without the aid of medication).
- One or more episodes of vomiting (may return once vomiting has ceased for 24 hours).
- One or more episodes of diarrhea (may return once diarrhea has ceased for 24 hours).
With the following, children may return with a doctor’s note stating that your child is contagious-free:
- Severe coughing, causing the child to make whooping sounds.
- Yellow skin or eyes.
- Severe chest or nasal congestion; difficulty breathing.
- Difficult or rapid breathing.
- Obvious symptoms of communicable diseases, such as chicken pox, pink eye, or head lice.
- Sore throat with white spots on tonsils.
- Unusual rashes or spots
- Unusually dark urine and/or grey stool.
- Stiff neck.
An ill child will be isolated and supervised by a staff member, and the parents will be called to pick up their child. Upon departure from the center, parents/guardians will be notified verbally or by a written statement that a child is exhibiting signs or symptoms of illness or has been exposed to a communicable disease. If the child is well enough to attend school, they may return to the YMCA program. If the child has a communicable disease, a physician’s slip may be requested in order to return to the center.
Costs & Assistance
Financial assistance may be available for those who qualify through NOCAC. You can reach out to them with the following link to see assistance options: https://nocac.org/child-care.
Nope! However, donations are accepted and always appreciated.
Materials donations can be given to the front desk and let them know the donation is for daycare.
Financial donations can be given at the front desk or you can check out our Amazon wish list: https://a.co/gAtH87B.
Contact Info
We do have more information available in our parent handbook, but if you still have questions, feel free to reach out to our Youth & Healthy Living Director, Courtney Schindler, at 419-636-6185 or [email protected].
We’d love to hear from you! There are multiple ways to connect with us to answer any questions or concerns you may have.
- Email Courtney at [email protected]
- 419-636-6185, ext. 110 to call or leave a message for Courtney
- Schedule a meeting with Courtney: https://zcal.co/i/oRcEFKsB