We believe God has incredible things for StoryHeights Kids, and we're honored to partner with your family in helping raise the next generation to know and love Jesus. One of our highest priorities at StoryHeights Church is that every child who walks through our doors experiences a place that is safe, fun, engaging, and most importantly, filled with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to connect your child's story to God's Story.
We're excited to introduce several changes and improvements. If you ever have any questions or concerns, you can email nextgen@storyheights.com.
To provide the safest possible environment for every child, the doors to StoryHeights Kids will be secured at 9:50 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. each Sunday. If you arrive after these times, simply ring the doorbell, and a member of our team will gladly welcome you inside. The doors will remain secured until parent pickup at the conclusion of the service.
Every classroom door is equipped with child-safety hardware designed to prevent children from opening the doors independently during class, providing an additional layer of protection while they learn and play. Additionally, all of our doors have door hinge guards to protect your child's fingers.
After checking in, a member of our Welcome Team will escort you to your child's classroom. There, the lead teacher will personally greet your child, celebrate their arrival, help ease any first-day jitters, and walk them into the classroom.
For the safety of every child, only children and our background-checked StoryHeights Kids team membersâeasily identified by their StoryHeights Kids shirtsâare permitted beyond the classroom doors during service.
If you need to pick up your child before the service concludes, simply let our foyer host know, and a team member will bring your child to you.
All classroom doors are secured from the outside beginning at 9:50 a.m. and 11:20 a.m.
To help keep our hallways, classrooms, and worship spaces safe and accessible, strollers and stroller frames may not be brought into the kids' building. We kindly ask that you leave them in your vehicle or park them in the designated stroller area outside.
If your infant is sleeping in a car seat or baby carrier, we ask that they remain under the direct supervision of a parent or guardian rather than being checked into StoryHeights Kids while in the carrier. Should you choose to check your infant into our Nursery, our team will lovingly care for them in an age-appropriate environment designed for infants.
Our goal is to provide the safest possible experience for every child while following best practices for infant care and supervision.
Children are never permitted to visit the restroom alone. A female member of our Kids Team will escort your child to the restroom and will remain outside the stall or bathroom area to provide supervision and assistance if needed. Our youngest children will receive help only when necessary and in an age-appropriate manner.
Our infant and toddler friends will have diapers changed by female members of our Kids Team, who follow established hygiene procedures and wear disposable gloves during every diaper change to maintain a clean and safe environment.
For your child's safety, printed parent pickup tags are required when checking your child out. Please keep your tag with you during service and have it ready at pickup. This simple step helps ensure every child goes home with the correct family and correct guardian.
All StoryHeights Kids classrooms and environments are monitored through our closed-circuit NEST camera system, providing another layer of accountability and security for our families and volunteers. Footage is held on the Cloud for 60 days. Should you ever have any questions regarding an incident that a member of our team did not alert you about, please email info@storyheights.com, and our Next Generation Pastor will contact you to set a time to watch footage together.
To better protect children with food allergies and create a safer environment, we will be eliminating our traditional classroom snack time in our toddler and elementary classrooms. We provide water as needed for children. Please do not send in snacks or drinks to SH Kids.
Instead, many snack items and treats will be available for children to purchase with parent approval with their earned SuperBucks in StoryLand Market. This allows us to better control food distribution while making the experience even more fun for the kids.
Infants are welcome to bring prepared bottles, and our Nursery Team will gladly feed them according to your family's preferred feeding schedule and instructions, providing the same loving care and consistency they receive at home. We have a bottle warmer on site, but our team is not allowed to use a microwave or prepare a bottle.
Every Sunday, our team is prepared with established emergency procedures so we can respond quickly and confidently should the unexpected occur.
In the event of a building evacuation, all StoryHeights Kids classes have a designated family reunification meeting point, where children will remain with their teachers until they are released to a parent or guardian through our secure checkout procedures. At our Newton location, that meeting spot is in the top parking lot closest to Johnson Violins.
For medical emergencies, AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) are located in both the Adult and StoryHeights Kids wings, and both wings are equipped with fully stocked first aid kits for minor injuries and immediate care.
Additionally, our volunteers receive CPR and emergency response training and are taught clear protocols for handling medical situations, evacuations, and other safety concerns. We pray we'll never need these systems, but we believe loving children well means being prepared before an emergency ever happens.
To help protect the health of all the children, families, and volunteers in our ministry, we ask that you please keep your child home if they have a contagious illness, including but not limited to lice, pink eye, COVID-19, influenza, vomiting, diarrhea, or a stomach virus.
Children should be symptom-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing or symptom-masking medication before returning to Kids Ministry. If your child has been prescribed antibiotics for a contagious bacterial infection, please follow your healthcare provider's recommendations regarding when it is safe to return.
Should your child feel warm, become ill, or appear unwell during service, a member of our team will assess the situation, including taking your child's temperature if appropriate, and will promptly notify you so you can determine the best next steps.
Should your child develop a case of lice or pink eye within 72 hours of being at church, please email our team at nextgen@storyheights.com so that we can alert the rest of the community to watch for symptoms so we can curb the spread. We will check everyone for lice the following Sunday before permitting entry.
From time to time, families may wish to hire a Kids Team member for babysitting or childcare outside of church. While we understand these relationships may naturally develop, StoryHeights Church does not coordinate, recommend, endorse, or supervise private childcare arrangements. Any such agreement is solely between the family and the individual volunteer and is not a church-sponsored activity.
Kids Team members may not solicit babysitting opportunities while serving or use their ministry role to obtain childcare employment. Likewise, the completion of a church background check or training should not be interpreted as a certification or endorsement for private childcare services.
We encourage all volunteers to maintain healthy boundaries and exercise wisdom in all interactions with families and children.
It's not uncommon for children to have difficult mornings, even if they've attended StoryHeights Kids many times before. If your child is crying or hesitant at check-in, we encourage you to make your goodbye warm, positive, and brief. One of the best ways to help your child succeed on Sunday is to build excitement before they ever arrive. Talk about church the night before, remind them of the friends they'll see and the fun they'll have on the drive over, and reassure them that you'll be back to pick them up as soon as the service is over. At check-in, a confident hug, a cheerful "I love you," and a positive goodbye typically help children transition much more quickly than a prolonged farewell.
Our team is specifically trained to receive upset children with calmness, confidence, and compassion.
If you feel your child would benefit from easing into the environment, you're also welcome to spend a few minutes with them on our playground before they go into their classroom. Additionally, if becoming more familiar with the space would help, a member of our team would be happy to give you and your child a tour of their classroom before or after any service.
Every child adjusts to a new environment differently. If a child is experiencing anxiety, crying, has a medical issue, or simply isn't quite ready to join the large-group setting, we don't force the transition.
Instead, a trained member of our StoryHeights Kids Team will be personally assigned to your child, providing one-on-one care, encouragement, and reassurance while helping them feel safe and comfortable. Our goal is to gently ease them into the classroom experience at a pace that's best for them.
We want every child to know that StoryHeights Kids is a place where they are loved, known, and cared for from the moment they arrive.
To help us maintain a safe, distraction-free, and engaging environment, we ask that children leave toys and personal belongings at home unless specifically requested for a classroom activity. Items brought from home can easily become lost, damaged, or create unnecessary distractions during service.
Additionally, cell phones and smart watches are not permitted during Kids Ministry programming. If a child arrives with a non-permitted personal item, our team will check it in and safely store it until the end of the service, when it can be picked up at dismissal.
We absolutely love having children in church and believe they are a vital part of our church family! At the same time, we want to create an environment where everyone can hear God's Word, engage in worship, and focus on life-changing, spiritual decisions with minimal distraction.
If your child becomes noisy or needs a break during the service, we kindly ask that you step into our Family Lounge, where the service is streamed live so you won't miss a moment while caring for your little one.
Additionally, families with young children are encouraged to utilize our Family Reserved Seating, located closest to the sanctuary exits. These seats make it easy to step out if needed and return to the service with minimal disruption to those around you.
Our Elementary Experience will include an opportunity during every service for children to worship God through giving. Just as they learn to worship through singing, praying, and serving, we want to teach them that generosity is also an act of worship.
Participation is completely optional, but if your child chooses to bring an offering, 100% of every dollar given by our children will go directly to the StoryHeights Benevolence & Missions Fund, helping provide practical assistance to families in need and supporting the spread of the Gospel.
Our prayer is that, from a young age, our children will learn that God is the giver of every good gift, and we joyfully give back to Him so others can experience His love.
StoryLand Market is open every Sunday for children ages 4 years old through 3rd Grade!
Instead of simply attending church, kids will now have opportunities every week to earn "SuperBucks" that they can spend in StoryLand Market after service.
Our goal is to use positive reinforcement for the behaviors and habits that help children become lifelong followers of Jesus and create a fun last impression of being a part of church.
Every child will earn SuperBucks each Sunday, giving them something to celebrate and look forward to every week! After you pick them up, you'll have the opportunity to shop together in StoryLand Market, creating a fun family experience while reinforcing positive habits and participation.
Using our new Dojo system, each child will have their own SuperBucks account where they can choose to spend or save their earnings from week to week. Along the way, they'll learn valuable life skills like responsibility, delayed gratification, and wise stewardship.
Most importantly, they'll also have the opportunity to practice biblical generosity.
Starting on July 12, Children may choose to tithe a portion of their SuperBucks or donate some to help start an account for a new friend, teaching them that God blesses us so we can be a blessing to others.
Kids can earn SuperBucks through things like:
đ Bringing their Bible to Church
đ Inviting or bringing friends to church
â¤ď¸ Serving in church and exemplifying Christlike behavior in church
đ Participation during class
đ Birthday celebrations
âď¸ Completing worksheets and activities
â Other special accomplishments throughout the day
Then, after service, they'll have designated StoryLand Market Shopping Time where they can choose fun prizes and treats they've earned through their efforts.
Please note: SuperBucks are designed to celebrate and reinforce positive choicesânot to punish mistakes. Because of that, we will never withhold or take away SuperBucks for behavior. Once earned, they belong to your child.
Instead of focusing on consequences, we believe in encouraging growth by recognizing how God designed each child and creating opportunities for them to succeed.
We're excited to launch a brand-new Sunday flow for our 4th and 5th graders! In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to create a consistently engaging stand-alone classroom experience for this age group, as attendance naturally fluctuates with sports, travel, and other family commitments. Rather than asking them to attend worship with you and then transition to a small class that can vary greatly in size from week to week, we're inviting them into something even more meaningful: serving as Junior Counselors within our Elementary Experience. This new model gives them purpose, responsibility, and leadership opportunities while helping them grow in their faith by serving younger children, while also simultaneously receiving age-appropriate lessons geared to this unique time of life.
Each Junior Counselor will receive their own special JC lanyard and will be entrusted with meaningful responsibilities throughout the morningâwelcoming new children, leading worship, assisting younger friends, helping with activities, setting up and cleaning up stations, and serving alongside our Kids Team. Our goal is to help them discover that following Jesus means serving others.
After serving in these leadership roles, our 4th and 5th graders will gather together for their own age-specific small group lesson led by a specially trained 4th & 5th Grade leader. This gives them the best of both worlds: opportunities to lead and opportunities to grow deeper in God's Word alongside peers their own age.
At the beginning of service, 4th and 5th graders will report to the Elementary Classroom, where they'll begin their exciting new role as the next generation of leaders at StoryHeights Kids.
We are so thankful for the many families who both serve and worship at StoryHeights Church and, as a result, spend both Sunday services on campus. We know that's a long morning for children, and sitting through the same environment twice can become boring.
To make the experience more engaging, we're creating a brand-new Second Service Activity Room for children who attended the Kids experience during the 9:30 am service and will also be staying for the 11 am service.
Located in the former 4th & 5th Grade Room, this space will offer a completely different experience filled with hands-on, sensory-rich activities such as arts and crafts, building challenges, group games, creative play, and other fun projects.
Our goal is to give these children something fresh and exciting while their parents continue serving or worshipping, making Sunday a joyful experience from beginning to end.
If you're picking up your child during the second service and they also attended first service, your child will be waiting for you in this new Activity Room, where one of our team members will be happy to assist you with pickup.