May 2009 Newsletter

May 2009

School News
2009 “Little Hands, Big Art” Show and Spaghetti Dinner Update
Thank you to all of the parents, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who supported this year’s annual fundraiser for the God is Good Scholarship. The proceeds from the dinner and the birdhouses added a little over $650.00 to our God is Good Scholarship Fund. We would especially like to thank Mrs. Lawton for making her homemade spaghetti sauce and those delicious cheese cake bars, all the staff for their “behind the scenes work” picking out the art work and helping in the kitchen and last but definitely not least our parent “servers” who served everything up with a smile. You are all simply the best!  We couldn’t have done it without you! We look forward to another great event next year!

2009-2010 School Year Update
Enrollment Packets will be sent home on Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8. Please check your child’s folder for their and/or a sibling’s packet. All enrollment forms with the $100.00 enrollment fee are due no later than Friday, May 30 unless other arrangements have been made with Mrs. Amrhein. Please let the Preschool office know immediately if you do not get your packet or if your plans have changed. For the first time in a number of years there is a waiting list for all programs. For that reason spaces will not be held after May 30th. Thank you parents for continuing to share your experience with others and the Hertzlers for an awesome web site!

Opposite Day
We plan to have fun “mixing things up” on Friday, May 15! Look out for more information in your child’s folder earlier that week.

“See you later Alligator!”
This is the theme of our final week, May 26 - 29. Each day holds a special surprise for the children!

End of the Year Program & “BYOP” Picnic
Save this date:  Wednesday, May 27 and plan to join us for another awesome End of the Year program! Parents, extended family and friends are welcome! Our program will be held in the Fellowship Hall. We will begin the program at 10:30am, so plan to arrive no later than 10:15am. Each class is practicing their special part with Ms. Mandy and Mrs. Gill and from all indications it promises to be another memorable show! We are asking that parents of all Tuesday/Thursday children send their child that day and plan to attend the program and picnic: Preschool children should be dropped off at 8:45am using the regular arrival line. Playgroup children should be dropped off at 10:00 am using regular arrival procedure. Bring a picnic for your family to enjoy on the playground immediately following the program. Drinks and popsicles will be provided. Look for an invitation with more information and an RSVP to come home the week of May 12.

May Birthdays
Happy May Birthday to Max Lawton/ May 1, Cassidy Read/ May 1, Parker Maughan/ May 12.

Congratulations
The McCain family! Caleb (Playgroup) has a new brother - James
The Gill family! Mrs.Gill has a new grandson - Kai

For your thoughts and prayers
The Bayles family - Mitchell’s (Mrs. Oliver) great grandmother passed away
The Carlson family - Duncan’s (Mrs. Parent) grandfather is ill
The Jacobsen family - Ed, a member of the Lakeside Church family and a very special friend of the Weekday Preschool was diagnosed with Leukemia before Easter and is in VCU Medical Center for treatment. We have put up a “Ed In/ Ed Home” count down over our fish tank and are asking people to pray for him every day at 12:30pm. It is our prayer that there is a miracle out there with his name on it!

Reminders Who’s in charge when the Director’s gone?
Mrs. Lawton! with full authority to deal with any occurrence that requires immediate attention or decision. Mrs. Amrhein will be in Philadelphia Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15 attending her son’s graduation from graduate school.

Teacher Appreciation Week - May 4 - 8, 2009
Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week! It is our chance to thank the teachers for all that they do for our children. Please take the time to write a personal note to your child’s teacher. Even a picture drawn by your child with a nice note would do fine! Also, please don’t forget about the Extended Hours and Administrative Staff, too!

Summer Camp
We have a couple of spaces left in each session.  Please email Celeste Lawton ASAP if you would like your child to fill one of the remaining spots. We will be offering these spaces to our new incoming students in their enrollment packet being mailed Friday, May 8. The last week of May a Summer Camp Newsletter will be sent home with important information for parents of children enrolled to attend.

Sunscreen
With our mini heatwave we had earlier in the week we want to remind you to put sunscreen on your children before coming to school.  Those sunny mornings on the playground can leave your child with a sunburn. While tank shirts and halter tops look cooler, a short sleeve t-shirt offers more protection - just something to consider. Thanks!

Boxtops 4 Education and Golden Gift Receipts
Box Tops collection is year round, so keep clippin’ all summer long.  During the summer stick then in a ziploc and return them when your child starts school in September. We just received a check for $115.50 for our last box top turn in which we’ll add to the $226.00 we received in the Fall for a grand total of $341.50 to purchase something new for the playground! We would love to be the recipient of your Ukrop’s Golden Gift receipt.  We will add these to our Boxtops to purchase more outdoor equipment!

Pony Picture Packages
Payments and/or packages are due no later than Friday, May 8.  Please make checks payable to Happy Face Photography, not the preschool. Thanks!>

School Closings in May
School will be closed Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.

Last Day
The last day for TTh children is Thursday, May 29.
The last day for MWF & 5day children is Friday, May 30.

From the Director’s Desk
For the first time in my memory we have experienced a lot of absences. In my 26 years I don’t recall having as many children out on a given day as we have had the past couple of weeks. Quite frankly I have always been awed, but not really surprised, at our track record in this area. Admittedly 2 or 3 of the current absences were due to vacations. The majority, however, were due to illness. Some have had a stomach virus which involved recurring fever. Strep has reared it’s ugly head in 2 cases. Many are experiencing normal “allergy” related coughs and congestion. We have had 3 children test positive for flu - a nonthreatening strain that doctor’s believed was done, but has become active again. It is in no way related to the “swine” flu outbreak. In each case the appropriate treatment was administered and the required number of days out strictly adhered to, in some cases more than was necessary to be on the safe side. 

Please know how much we appreciate you not only letting us know when your child is going to be out, but why as well. We thank you for being conscientious about not sending your child when they are not feeling well or have “sick” symptoms. We also appreciate your promptness in coming to get your child when they take sick after arriving. If you have any questions about our policy please check pg.4 in the Parent Handbook.

Most important please be assured that we continue to be pro-active where the safety and healthiness of this preschool is concerned for everyone who is here. This is a responsibility we have never taken lightly. We are keeping current with health bulletins, especially those being generated by Henrico County Public Schools. Lysol spray and wipes continue to be used regularly and consistently by the staff. We continue to insist that everyone wash hands with soap and water, using hand sanitizer only in an emergency. Finally we could not have a better or more conscientious person than Mrs. Dunkelberger in charge of keeping all of the areas we use clean. Every afternoon she cleans, disinfects, wipes down every area we use making sure that those areas are ready for us to safely use the next day. She shampoos classroom rugs on a regular rotating schedule. If you have any questions or concerns, I will be happy to talk with you about them.

Classroom Updates
Toddler’s Morning Out: All the children like going outside. We can not go out everyday, due to the weather. When it rains one day, we are not able to go out the next because of the puddles and wet sand. But when it dries out enough we go out. One of the children’s favorite activities is creative movement. Our favorite songs are “The Wheels On The Bus”, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and the “ABC” song. The children sing them all morning as they play.  ...read more.

Playgroup: Playgroup went back to prehistoric times this week and learned about dinosaurs. We read Dinosaur-Rumpus and Count-a-saurus. We also reviewed our colors. For art, we used elbow macaroni and triangles to decorate a dinosaur and we also used dinosaur stickers to make a dino-scene. ...read more.

Preschool:
Mrs. Hudson’s Class: They all have worked so hard this year painting, gluing, cutting, coloring and making.  I know all of them will be excited to show you all of their art work coming home in their memory books at the end of next month.  We have continued talking about our alphabet in April and we also had a week of farm and a week of bugs and earth day.  The boys and girls enjoyed learning and helping to recycle products.... read more.

Mrs. Parent’s Class: We have talked abut how caterpillars change into butterflies, and how we can plant seeds that with the right care will grow into something. Friday we will be planting our own seeds to keep in the classroom and watch them progress as days pass. The children are already so observant of what is outdoors, so this theme is making them understand what they are seeing maybe a little bit more. I hope we will be able to see some caterpillar before the year ends. ..read more.

Pre-K:
Mrs. Porter’s Class: We went on a picnic around a fish filled pond. Everyone threw their trash into the pond and killed all the fish.  We then had to become “The Clean-Up Crew”.  We cleared all the trash from the pond and the pond became filled with fish again.  We then sorted the trash into piles of plastics, papers, and aluminum cans.  We put all the sorted trash into paper bags labeled with each category.  We also read the book “Ten Things I Can Do to Help My World”.  ...read more.

Mrs. Oliver’s Class: This week in class we talked about rainy weather and caterpillars.  For our understanding of how rain works, we had water in bowls and estimated how many cotton ball “clouds” it would take to soak up the water.  We found it took over 30 small cotton balls!  After the “clouds” were full of rain, we took turns squeezing them out to make it “rain” back into the bowl.  The kids did not want to stop!Our art projects was an “April Showers” finger painting showing the clouds and rain.... read more.

Extended Hours: We planted flower seeds in one of the containers by the benches. We planted Cosmos, Four O’Clocks, Marigolds, and the hard to pronounce Nasturtiums. The April rains have helped us keep them moist. We have been eagerly watching for the first shoots. The weather has been wonderful, and we have been outside as much as possible. In May, we will be doing some projects outside as well as our class discussions and some of our art. The beautiful “greening” in nature and the gorgeous flowers will be our inspiration.... read more.

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions!