Hazel Creek Montessori

May Newsletter 2008

Family Tragedy: One of our most beloved families whose three children went to school at Hazel Creek lost their dad in a car accident. Caleb, Jack and Jessica Markowitz lost their loving father, Jon, Sunday April 20th. His wife Sarah will be at a loss without him and the children will truly miss one of the most loving fathers on earth.

There will be a service for Jon at Hazel Creek in our big barn on Sunday May 4th starting at 10 am. It will be a pot luck and BBQ, families welcome. It will last until 2pm.

Our hearts go out to their family at this time. We will post a sign up sheet if you wish to volunteer to cook a meal or offer support during their time of need. Thank you so much for all of your concerns. I will be happy to relay any messages to the family.

The moments we spend with your children mean a great deal to us and we thank you for your friendships over the years. All of us on staff build such wonderful relationships with the families and feel so grateful for the opportunity to get to know so many so intimately. When our small community is hit by such a tragic accident, we all will grieve deeply with the families affected. Our love and prayers go out to the Markowitz family.

New Students: We want to welcome all of the new families that have joined us in the past months. Our school has filled with wonderful children who have added a wonderful dynamic to the group of children already in attendance.

Changes: Our plans to have the Naturalists come to give a talk on the Grizzly Bears have been canceled. We had a large bill to pay for the cut on our horse and the pump needs replacing in the swimming pool. We are unable to afford them at this time but hope that sometime in the future we can extend an invitation. The cost to have them was over $ 1300.00 and we thought we would rather use our future resources towards outdoor play equipment and a sand box at the white school house.

Tuition: Tuition for the half day program is paid in 10 equal payments, Sept. through June. If you paid a deposit and will use your deposit for the last month of June, please let me know. If your child attends the full day program then you need to give a 30 day notice and apply your deposit to your last month. If you paid a deposit several years ago and are unsure what your payment was, please contact me and I can look that up for you and we can figure out the balance. I wish to thank all of our families for attending Hazel Creek. We value our families and so appreciate you as our clients.

Tuition Changes: Tuition will change for all students attending the public schools and HCM in June that need additional care for the last part of the month. The public school ends June 16you’re your child will be in our care for 10 days full time during the month. Tuition will also change for the months of July and August. Please look in the tuition book for the new fee. I will write it down for those that it effects. Any Questions, please contact me. Fall tuition will increase slightly and I will post the new prices this summer.

Power of Guidance: If you are interested in checking out this book, I now have 2 copies that you can check out. Please sign up on the check-out list if you check it out. This list is in the lobby next to my office.

Gardening: We have started to plant the gardens at both of the schools. It has been a challenge with the cold weather. Our peas are up!

Tie Shoes and Lunches: Please do not send your child to school in tie shoes. Please pack a protein, fresh fruits and veggies, dairy and grains and a drink with low amounts of sugar and processed food for every lunch.

Love Janice

Welcome back and Happy Spring time.

April Newsletter 2008

Welcome back and Happy Spring time.

This will be the first Newsletter that will be only on line. We will post one at each school and we can print one out at your request, but this will be our first trial to see if everyone still gets the news. Give us your feedback and let us know if you prefer to have a hard copy.

Horse News: Our prized mare, Skidder, cut her leg. She has healed up nicely and I think by the time you read this we will already be back to riding her. We can’t predict what will happen to these animals sometimes but when one gets hurt we have to cancel lessons and wait for them to heal. Thank you for understanding.

Donations of outdoor toys are welcome. Some of you have asked if we can use riding or climbing toys and we do appreciate when you bring in items you are no longer using. The kids love it. We are looking for some of the bigger climbing toys for the white school if you know of anyone who is no longer using theirs. Eventually, we would like to build a large permanent structure, but that will be down the road a ways.

We have started planting the gardens at both of the schools. We will continue over the next few months. I will make our flower order at the end of May if anyone wants to order for their own personal use.

Lunches: Please make sure your child’s lunch is nutritious. The state requires us to monitor your child’s lunch. It needs to have a protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables and grains. The fruits and veggies need to be fresh. EVERYONE needs to place a drink in their child’s lunch and put a spoon in if it is needed. We will do our best to make sure everything goes back home in their lunch boxes. Make sure you are not sending all processed foods and foods full of refined sugars. Give your child a selection of food and continue to offer a variety. They often don’t try a new food until it is offered several times. Combine new foods with their favorites and we will encourage them to at least try.

Summer Camp is full. Fall registration is still open for a few spots. Be sure to check with me if you need to register a sibling that is planning on coming into the toddler room this fall.

Graduation and our year end celebration will take place this year May 19-23. Our Graduation ceremony and BBQ will be held on Thursday, May 22nd. The Naturalists coming for the Grizzly Bear Show will be here Friday May 23rd. If your child attends public school, please ask if your child can be excused from their classes so they can attend Hazel Creek all day Friday. It will be a very special event.

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March 2008 Newsletter

Art Gallery: Check out the children’s art gallery in the lobby of the tan school house. Can you believe the talent of your children? Thank you Jamy, you’re teaching all of the children techniques that most of us don’t know.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: We had our best turn out for the conferences. Thank you for putting forth the effort to attend. A heart felt thanks to all of the teachers for gearing up for the conferences this year. Power of

Guidance: I have ordered a book for parents that have outlined successful ways to parent and positive avenues for guiding your children. I will have several copies available in my office. You can also order this book on line. It is one of the most valuable books I have ever read in regards to everyone’s own up bringing and how that impacts your parenting skills. You will read about yourself in this book and be able to pinpoint areas of development that did or did not occur due to the level of guidance you had. The benefit of reading this book will be immeasurable to the raising of your own family. It is easy to read and outlines very simply, ways you can improve your parenting skills by having a greater understanding of what takes place during those developing years. It has changed my life dramatically within my own personal family. I am so grateful to finally fit some of those pieces of the puzzle together that only caused frustration when raising my family. I hope to now pass on this wisdom for future generations. Nothing like a grandchild to make you reflect on what you did or did not do that was either a benefit or a distraction. This book makes you realize that it is all about “knowing” more and giving you the confidence to take action for positive results.

Gardening: It is that time of year to start planning our garden. I have been attending local meetings and seminars on the idea of Bainbridge growing more of their own food and having these resources available to directly feed children in the local school programs. I am attending a seminar at Island Wood to brainstorm and share ideas with other schools this month. There is an exciting program coming available for you to buy and sell your products @ Farm Courier.com. Look up this web site for more information. It will be the “E-Bay” for produce, chickens, eggs and baked goods. You go on line and list what you have for sale and others go on line and list what they need. Farm Courier will pick it up and deliver within the community. Children can start their own businesses, if they have a sponsor, age 18 or older. All of your children can plant gardens at home and start honing their entrepreneurial skills and save money for something they want. This is an awesome opportunity for starting up a cottage industry and for the continuation of “back yard farming.”

A gift for all of our parents: As a thank you to all of our parents @ Hazel Creek, Ollie and I would like to pass on our wholesale prices for garden plants this year. We are able to order plants from Skagit Gardens at a wholesale price. We will pass on our savings directly to you with no additional fees. If you are planning to plant vegetables or flowers this spring or summer, you are welcome to look at the catalogue and place an order with us this year. Once we place an order, it will be delivered directly to our door. This will include hanging baskets of flowers, some perennials and annuals. They have high quality products. I will post a sign up sheet for anyone who is interested. You can order whole flats, or split with other people. The size of the plants will range from plugs to gallons. If this is something people enjoy, we will continue to do this every year.

Mentor program: For the rest of the year, we will have a mentor program in Sharon’s class, where the older children will come over to the napper class to read books and help with the younger children. Every child will get a chance to participate a few times per month. Summer Camp and Fall Registration: Many of you were asked at the parent/teacher conferences whether your child would be attending this summer or fall. Please sign up on our board in the lobby. I will write-in those that responded, please correct if needed, all parents that did not respond need to sign up ASAP. We need to have all of the big kids sign up as well. There will be limits this year for your child’s schedule. We may not be able to accommodate a “hit and miss” schedule for the summer. It is too difficult to fill in the missing blanks if your child comes in a few days here and there. Any questions please see Janice. Summer will be filled with all the wonderful activities we have each year; swimming, horse back riding, sports, dance class, cooking and art.

Holidays: For grades 5-12 there is half day early dismissal for the public school aged children is March 5th, Wed. Pack your child a lunch if they will be attending HCM. There will be NO SCHOOL for public school children Mar. 5-7th in grades K-4th. Pack your child a lunch and a swim suit if they will be attending HCM. Please sign up for this time. Spring Break will be held March 31st-April 4th. If your child attends HCM for half days, they do not attend during this time. Please sign your child up for those dates if your child will be attending during this time. This includes all of our students, Toddler-Big Kids. Thank you.

Earth Friendly Dry Cleaners: A new dry cleaners that is earth friendly is open for business on Hildebrand, right across from the liquor store, by the pet store. They are called Hildebrand Cleaners, 780-1531. They do a really good job and I’m excited that there is an alternative to all of the chemicals used in that industry. I have used dry cleaning a lot in the past and feel better about using their services. I am more than happy to announce any news you have that can help to promote a cleaner environment. Just let me know.

End of the Year Celebration: We will make the entire week of May 19th-23rd, an eventful celebration. We will have each day be special, Monday-Teddy Bear Picnic, Tuesday-Alphabet Parade, etc. We will post the activities for each day. At the end of the week, we are sponsoring two nationally known Naturalists that are going to give an all day presentation to the children about Grizzly Bears in Alaska and give a walking field trip into the wetlands. This year should be an unforgettable experience for the children. We will ask that all of our older school aged children can miss school that day in order to attend. . Graduation day will be held on Thursday, May 22nd for all of the children graduation from HCM.

Granddaughter Gabby: Thank you for all your well wishes, beautiful card, flowers and hugs from all of the parents congratulating us on our new granddaughter. We arrived 2 hours after she was born, just in time to hold and kiss her for two weeks. It was transforming and made us realize just how special all of your children are once again. Great big thanks go to all of the staff for doing such a great job while we were gone.

Thanks once again for being a part of our lives,

Janice & Ollie & Staff

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February Newsletter 2008

Our Studies in each of the classrooms is as follows:

Sharon’s class: January-Marine Science February-Dinosaurs March-Space

Jamy’s Class: January-Space February-Marine Science
March-Dinosaurs

Jennifer’s Class: January-Dinosaurs February-Space
March-Marine Science

Dates to Remember:
Feb. 6th- Half/day early dismissal for public school children. (Please sign your child up if they will be attending HCM. Bring a lunch and swim suit for your child.)
February 15&19th: Non-contract day for public school children. (Please sign your child up if they will be attending HCM. Bring in a lunch and swimsuit for your child.) Half day children at HCM follow the public school schedule and do not attend at this time. If you wish to have your child attend during these two days, you must sign them up and pay an additional $60/day on the day they come.
February 18th-Presidents’ Day HAZEL CREEK IS CLOSED

ALL CHILDREN ATTENDING HAZEL CREEK DURING THE PRESIDENT’S DAY HOLIDAY-FEB 15th and FEB.19th, Toddler, preschool and kg classes must sign up for those days so that we can plan for our staffing. We will have sign up sheets at both schools.

Celebrations: We will celebrate Valentine’s Day Thurs: Feb. 14th. Please have your child bring in 24 “signed” valentines to share with the class. You can sign up to bring in a treat for the class party. Have your child dress in red for the day.

Parent Teacher Conferences: We will hold our annual parent/teacher conferences Feb. 25th, for Jennifer’s students, Feb. 26th, for Jamy’s students and Feb. 26th for Sharon’s students. Please sign up for your conference. They will be held every 20 minutes throughout the day, therefore it is important to be on time.
Sign up for your conference at the “tan” school house at the office.

Hazel Creek has added a few more students and we have hired a few more staff members to accommodate the increase at Hazel Creek. We have hired Andrew, a recent graduate of Western Washington University and a former BHS classmate of Colin’s. We also hired Diane, who has taught Spanish at other Montessori schools, to teach with Jennifer and teach Spanish to the 3-4 year olds. We want to welcome them to the team and look forward to their enriching styles. Please introduce yourselves to the new staff members. Everyone on staff completed their required state training in the month of January and I am very proud of everyone’s accomplishments.

Janice will be gone for the weeks of Feb. 11-22 to join our eldest daughter for the birth of our first grandchild. We will not have horseback riding lessons for those two weeks. Please address any administration questions to Sharon, Jamy or Jacque during this time. Thank you. All of our newsletters are again posted on line on the HCM web site.

Much love to everyone,

Janice and staff

January 2008 Newsletter

Nut Free Facility: It has come to my attention that there are a few parents who have been up-set due to the fact that we will no longer allow nuts at our school. HCM is one of the LAST facilities to turn nut free. I recognize that any change can be inconvenient and perhaps be an additional cost. I try not to make changes without a great deal of thought and consideration for every family enrolled at our school. We now have several children attending our program that are allergic to nuts. The range is from mild to severe. I believe that everyone is aware of children who have had allergies and after ingesting the item they are allergic to, or even being touched with residue, have had a severe reaction and sometimes fatal. My job is to maintain a safe environment for all children attending our program. I have chosen not to discriminate against children with allergies, as they are quite common in today’s world. When my staff takes the required courses from the state to be a certified pre-school teacher, one of the first warnings they give, are the hazards of serving any nuts, recommending that you should be working in a nut free environment. I do not want to place my staff in a compromising situation, nor do I wish for any child that is attending this school to be placed in jeopardy unnecessarily. When I announced that we would now be nut free because children attending had allergies, I did not anticipate negative reactions. I assumed that parents would feel it would be a small sacrifice to pay for the safety and well being of another parents’ child. I think it is a topic for that “peanut loving” child that you could easily address, by encouraging them to “expand” their palate and talk about how foods they might really love could be harmful to another child. I am most certain this would provide a chance for your child to show compassion for their fellow playmates. Thank you for your continued consideration on this matter. If there are further concerns, the person to address would be me.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES: February 26-28 we will have our annual student progress reports. Please sign up for your conference. We will post a sign up sheet for each of the classrooms.

CURRICULUM: Our studies for each classroom will be posted after the holidays. January is always a great academic month, the children enjoy getting back into the routine. Depending on the weather, we may or may not include horse back riding. Last year we didn’t ride for the months of December and January, as it was far too cold for the children to be outside sitting and waiting for their turn. If it is too cold, we will resume in February. We will be closed for Martin Luther King Day, January 21st/Monday.

Please continue to look for all of the daily announcements on our bulletins. We will always post reminders for school closures and have sign- in sheets for the holidays. Our newsletters are always beside the sign-in and out sheets. We are in the process of making a new web-site, so our newsletters are posted on-line until the web-site is finished.

Our school has now made numerous changes for becoming a more green facility. We are very proud of all the changes we have made. The children have been helping to recycle and are actively feeding our “worms.” We will start planting our garden this Feb.

We want to thank all of the parents for our wonderful gifts, cards and well wishes for the holidays. You were soooo generous and heartfelt, we appreciate our parents more than you can imagine.

Thank you and Happy New Year Everyone, Love Janice and Staff

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Holiday 2007 Parent Bulletin

Important Announcement: This will be the last newsletter that we hand out to parents. All future newsletters can be read on-line @ www.hazelcreekmontessori.com. We will post the most recent newsletter on our bulletin boards for viewing. We are going “green” at Hazel Creek and want to do as many things as we can to conserve the earth’s resources.

School Supplies: HCM is now ordering all of their dry goods from “Green Home,” a supplier out of the Bay area that carries recycled, compost able and earth friendly products. HCM will be ordering food products from “Pioneer Organics,” a supplier from Seattle. Both of these companies deliver to private homes and businesses. You can Google their names and look at their web sites if you are interested in having them deliver products to your home. We are now ordering many of our toys from companies like “Palumba,” that are making earth friendly products.

Ethical Shopping: When ever possible, HCM will make every effort to buy locally and purchase items which have as little impact on the environment as possible. We are going to sign up for the “Join the Co-op America’s Green Business Network”. We have subscribed to the “Little Green Steps” newsletter, a program developed to promote sustainability among preschools and childhood centers. The newsletters contain lots of hints on ways preschools can communicate environmental issues to children aged three to five.

Gardening Year Round: We will incorporate our gardening curriculum into our year round studies. We will set up worm boxes in the schools so that the children can recycle and compost daily. We want the children to directly experience the link between food and culture.

Santa Photos: Many of you have signed up for the Santa photos for Friday, November 30th. There are still a few spots left. Sign up ASAP

Christmas in the Country: 20 vendors with holiday gift items will be selling in our barn Nov.30-Dec.2nd. The children at HCM will perform their holiday songs on Friday @ 11am. Please dress them in red and green. The toddlers will not perform, but Santa will visit them in their classroom on that day. Santa photos will follow the performance.

Green diapers: We are still in the R&D process of changing to a more environmentally friendly diaper. We have several choices to help the environmental impact of disposable diapers. Seventh Generation has put out a more earth friendly disposable, there is another G-Diaper we’re looking into and also the cotton diapers. Please give us your impute.

Lunches: We have located sources for buying water bottles that can be re-used. (It takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce enough plastic water bottles for just one year. 86% of those bottles end up in our land fills.) We will order some samples of items that might be helpful when considering a “no-waste lunch,” so you will have sources for purchasing alternative goods. We will set up re-cycling in every class so the kids can help. Please continue to pack lunches in re-usable containers, and eliminate as much wasteful packaging as possible. Anything we can’t compost or re-cycle, will be returned in your child’s lunch box.

Emergency Procedures: Every parent needs to read and sign our emergency procedure manual. It is available in the lobby and the sign-up sheet is there as well. Thank you for taking a moment to do this. We will try to post these procedures on line as well.

Holiday Shopping Day-Children’s Holiday Camp Day: We will post a sign up sheet for anyone wishing to have a day to go shopping Saturday, December 8th. The staff at HCM will baby-sit your kids for $10/hr. at our Holiday Camp. We will have special activities for the kids, cooking, crafts, etc., while you get some things done for the Holidays. We will use the money to buy outdoor play equipment.

Guest Speakers: This spring we have invited world renowned naturalists to speak to the children about Nature. Buck and Diana Wilde have given presentations around the country about grizzly bears and wet-lands. We are going to also invite Ron Hirshi, marine biologist and author of many great children’s books, to give a presentation about the natural surroundings.

Happy Holidays: We try to celebrate all of the holidays that our families at HCM celebrate during this time of year. Please let us know if you have any family traditions that you would like us to share with the children. The children love learning about the various cultures that make our world so diverse. Please share!!!!

Holiday 2007 Parent Bulletin

Santa Photos: Many of you have signed up for the Santa photos for Friday, November 30th. There are still a few spots left. Sign up ASAP

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November 2007 Newsletter

The Holidays are fast approaching and we are getting ready. The following announcements will help you to prepare for the up-coming events.

November 7th is half day early dismissal for the elementary schools
Please provide a lunch for your child if they will be attending HCM.

HCM will be closed for Veteran’s Day November 12th, Monday.
HCM will be closed for Thanksgiving November 22nd and 23rd.
No horse back riding for the week of Thanksgiving.

HCM will celebrate Thanksgiving November 21st on Wednesday.
Please sign up to bring in a treat.

Christmas in the Country will be held at HCM Nov 30th-Dec. 2nd.
The children will be performing holiday songs and dance routines on Friday @ 11 am. Please dress your child in red and green for the event. We will have Santa pictures taken for the students in the afternoon. Please sign up if you would like a Santa photo of your child by Karen Lahotski. She took the school pictures this year.

School Pictures: Pictures should arrive in the next week or so. You can make additional orders by calling Karen directly.

The children have been enjoying their studies in the classrooms. All the children are excelling with the specialists for art, Spanish, horse back riding, dance and swimming. Hooray for the talented teachers at HCM that can provide such wonderful enrichment programs for the kids.

After the holidays, we will send out the dates and times for parent teacher conferences. If you feel a need to speak with your child’s teacher prior to that time, we would be happy to arrange a time to meet.

Thank you for making this a smooth flowing year thus far. Parents have gone out of their way to communicate with us and have participated in helping us create success for their children. We hope the up-coming holidays are filled with laughter and love.

Love to all,

Janice and Staff

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October 2007 Newsletter

SCHOOL PICTURES: The pictures that were taken of your child and the classes should be back in a couple of weeks. It was a perfect few days for the pictures, hopefully they all turn out. If they don’t we will have a day for re-takes. Please look up on the board of the tan school to see who still owes money for the pictures. Please leave a check in the envelope if you have not paid. The children were soooooooooooooo cute and the toddlers were awesome.

TODDLERS: The new students in the toddler class have adjusted well to their new surroundings. We had 5 new children join us at the beginning of September and that made it quite challenging for everyone. The class is really doing well and the teachers love love love the toddlers. I go in quite often to lend a hand, or bring one of the “sad” ones into my office for a break and I’m always amazed at how upbeat the teachers remain and how understanding they are of every situation. My hat goes off to Anna, Ashley, Jacque and Ashley H. I’ve been in there the past few days when there is not one tear being shed. It is so heart warming to see them all playing or sitting down for a snack, art class or lunch. They have all been taking a nap too. Way to go Toddlers…..you rock!!!!!!

STAFFING: Sharon returns this week from her vacation. Janice will be gone Oct. 8th-19th. (We will ride horses the 1st, 4th and 5th Tuesday of this month.) During this time, Jacque and Sharon can answer any of your questions that need to be asked of myself. During this time, Jacque will be helping in the toddler, pre-school and kindergarten classes throughout the day. Anna, Ashley P., and Ashley C., will continue teaching in the Toddler class. They are doing a fantastic job. While Sharon was gone, Jacque & Jamie organized all of our curriculum files and added to the existing subjects. This should prove to be an outstanding year for our academic program. A special thank you goes to Jacque for bringing in her wealth of background and materials.

PUBLIC SCHOOL CLOSURE /Parent Teacher Conferences: October 3-5 public school is closed. If your child will be attending Hazel Creek during this time, you must sign them up on our sign-up sheet. Don’t forget to send a lunch for your child.

NON-CONTRACT DAYS AND EXTRA DAYS at HCM: Oct. 15 is a non-contract day for the public schools and they will be closed. Everyone enrolled at HCM must sign your child up for that day, so we can staff accordingly. Children who are enrolled at Hazel Creek for our half day program only, do NOT attend Hazel Creek on that day-Friday, October 15th. If anyone wishes to sign up for any additional days, please pay the daily rate. We are unable to “exchange” days, so if you need to change your child’s schedule and we have space, you’ll need to pay the additional amount for that day. Thank you!

TUITION IS DUE: Please pay your tuition by the 1st of every month. In going back in our records, we have found that some people have not paid for a certain month. We will be contacting those families and letting them know. It’s easy to steam ahead and not realize you have missed a month or have forgotten to pay your deposit. Thank you for catching up.

HALLOWEEN PARTY: We will hold our annual Halloween Party @ HCM, October 31, Wednesday. The children may come dressed in costume and bring in a treat for our party. We will have our costume parade @ 9:30 am and again @ 1pm. Trick or Treat.

CURRICULUM: Our students have started their math and language packets. You will find the letter and number of the week posted in their classrooms. Sharing is on Fridays, and your child can bring in an item that starts with the letter of the week. Please do not send toys to school, we will collect them if they are brought in.

Thank you for a wonderful start and for the creative “Harvest fair.” Our next newsletter will be out by the beginning of November. Dates for the future will include school closures November 12, Veteran’s Day, Nov. 22-23, Thanksgiving Holiday, December 24-26, Christmas and Chanukah, December 31-Jan 2, New Years’. Parents have been asking for these dates and I wanted to get them posted so that everyone could plan ahead.

Kate Meiser has written a letter to the entire staff and wanted us to say Hello to everyone. She hopes we haven’t forgotten her…ha….impossible.

Love,

Janice and Staff

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June 2007 Newsletter

Curriculum: Summer Fun, gardening, hiking, games

Summer Camp: Starts July 2nd…….horseback riding, swimming, cooking, art, games, dance class

Last day of school for half day kids @ HCM June 15th…Tuition remains the same. Half day students pay 10 equal payments, Sept-June. Some months are longer and some are shorter but the payments remain the same. If June is your child’s last month at HCM, you will use your original deposit as your last payment for June.

The Pedersen’s are opening a Bed and Breakfast July 1st. All HCM clients will receive a 15% discount for any family members or friends that they would like to book a room or the entire house for. Read about the Hazel Creek Manor on the back of this newsletter. The prices will be very reasonable and the amenities and rooms are luxurious. Come to the open house and see for yourself.

We love love love our families at HCM. Thank you for such a terrific year. We feel like we all live in such an ideal place, feels like we live in Mayberry.

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May 2007 Newsletter

New Playground: The new playground is getting close to being finished. It will feature a “toddler playground,” a big kids play area, a grassy field, a barked area for the climbing toys, a sport court, and terraced gardens for vegetables. The toddler play ground has a large sandbox and a paved patio. We are going to repaint the school and add a couple of colorful awnings to the building to create shade. We will also be planting trees out back in the meadow area. The sport court will be set up with a basketball hoop and riding surface for the trikes. This is a dream come true for all of us. We will have a small green house in the garden area along with a compost drum for the kids to compost their edibles. We want the kids to be able to start seedlings, move them to a cold frame and transplant into the garden beds. The garden will be all organic.

Greener Hazel Creek: We are now using all bio-degradable products for cleaning the school. Our school is switching all of our light bulbs to longer lasting bulbs. We also want to start using cloth diapers in the toddler class and will send out a notice to the parents. The amount of waste that disposable diapers create for our planet is astronomical. Each diaper made contains over 6oo known chemicals. The diaper service that we will be using has a great website. I encourage every parent to view the website to gain insight regarding the topic of disposables. Google “Baby Diaper Service-Seattle.” 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown in landfills each year and take as many as 500 years to decompose. They make up a third of the solid waste in landfills. (We plan to make the switch over a period of the next few weeks. We will send out an information sheet to all of the parents with kids still in diapers.) We also ask that every parent chose food items for their children’s lunches that reduce waste. We are no longer using plastic bags or liners at our facility. ( England has now outlawed all plastic bags. San Francisco has also banned the use of all plastic bags.) Look at the samples of products on display, in the lobby of the red school house that you can now purchase at the grocery store to wrap food without the use of plastic. We recycle everything that we can at our facility. We no longer will throw anything away from your child’s lunch. We are going to adopt the same policy that our national forest service has…packed it in…pack it out! Thank you for your consideration. A new ionization unit has now been installed in our pool to reduce the number of chemicals used for swimming. It really works. We are committed to making a difference a little at a time. Hopefully we can inspire one another at the grass roots level and help to clean up the environment locally and affect the global status. Some of our parents have been leaving me articles to read, let me know if you have something you would like to share that we can pass on.

May 18th Year End Celebration and Graduation: We will have our year- end graduation and celebration May 18th. Parents are welcome to attend. This will be a potluck and outdoor extravaganza.

Summer Camp: Finalize your summer plans with Janice before it’s too late. We are planning to have swimming, cooking, horseback riding, sports and dance and gardening be the 6 activities for the summer. This program starts July 2nd. Let us know if your child will be with us for the last part of June. Tuition will change for the big kids who continue for the summer months.

I will be gone for the week of May 21st. There will not be any horse-back riding during that week.

Thanks for the great year,

Love Janice and Staff

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April 2007 Newsletter

New Playground construction: Ollie and the crew are building a new playground behind the red school. Our plan is to have a barked area for the climbing toys, a sand box, a toddler playground, a sport court, a lawn field, and raised garden beds. It should be beautiful.

Spring Break: April 2-7 is spring break for the public school. You need to sign your child up at our school if they will be attending HCM during this time. (This information was in the last newsletter and has been posted for the past two weeks)

Natural and Bio-degradable: Hazel Creek is using all bio-degradable cleaning products. We are purchasing products at Central Market. They carry many various products for dishwashers, laundry, dish soap, toilet cleaner and cleaners for floors and surfaces. “Seventh Generation” is the name brand. They are wonderful products with excellent results. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25oz. petroleum based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable based product, it would save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year. They also make a non-chlorine bleach that whitens your clothes. We’re very excited to use these earth friendly products. The cost is not any greater due to the fact that they are highly concentrated and you use very little.

Summer Camp: We have asked every parent if their child will be attending this summer and have enrolled the ones who said their child would be here. We still have a few places left, but they are going fast. We still have room in the fall due to the fact that so many kids graduate this year from HCM.
Easter and Passover: Because of the dates for spring break, we will not be holding any celebrations this year for the holidays. Many of the kids will not even be here. We wish everyone a happy holiday and spring break.

Horseback Riding: Your children are truly amazing riders. They have loved the riding program and are thoroughly enjoying the horses again.

Swimming: So many of the young kids are now venturing out on their own (with their life jackets) and feeling so comfortable in the water.

Art: Please take a moment and view the great art works in the lobby of the red school house. Fantastic owls and frogs

Summer Camp: We will have swimming, horseback riding, cooking, art, dance and sports this year. We can’t wait. Many of our students will be returning from previous years to “hang out” for the summer.

Ana-Toddler teacher: Ana’s last day will be March 30th, Friday. She is expecting her baby boy “Allen” at the end of May. We want to thank her for the tremendous job she has done at HCM. We are hiring another Anna who has been teaching with Ana and learning the ropes. We have a couple of others interested in working here as well. We’ll keep you posted. I will be helping with the transition in the toddler class. The toddlers hold a very special place in my heart and it is with great pleasure that I will be teaching too.
Thank you to all the wonderful families that have recently joined our school. We will do everything we can to make your families feel welcome and introduce you to the “super” families that are already a part of our school. Dr. Fred Walters, pediatrician and client, has opened a new office for the families on B.I. We highly recommend him if you do not already have a doctor for your children. Call 780-5437 All my love, Janice

February 2007 Newsletter

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES: If you wish to have a conference with your child's teacher, you need to sign up at each classroom. Erin's class will have conferences on Tues., Feb 6th, Jamy's class is Wed., Feb. 7th and Sharon's class is on Thurs., Feb., 8th. Toddlers will have separate conferences and will be notified by Ana.

VALENTINES DAY: We will celebrate Valentines Day, Wed., Feb. 14th. Please have your child wear the colors red or pink for the party. Please sign up to bring in treats. Each child should bring in 20 SIGNED valentines. Don't address them to individual children. This is a wonderful time for the children. We always look forward to the day of expressing our love.

NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER: We are sending home a packet with vital information about children and nature. Please take the time to read this, we think it will change the way you think about your child and their future.

PRESIDENT'S DAY HOLIDAY: Public schools will be closed for 5 days. Friday, Feb. 16th through Tues., Feb. 20th. Hazel Creek will be open Friday the 16th and Tuesday the 20th but we are closed MONDAY Feb. 19th. Every child, including toddlers, needs to sign-up for Friday and Tuesday if they will be attending Hazel Creek so we can calculate for staff. If you do not sign-up, your child will not be accounted for and your child will not be able to attend due to our ratios. Thank you very much!!!

HORSE BACK RIDING WILL RESUME AS SOON AS THE WEATHER WARMS UP AND OLLIE IS ABLE TO HELP HAUL THE HORSES. OLLIE'S SURGERY WAS A TOTAL SUCCESS. THANKYOU FOR ALL YOUR WELL WISHES, HE APPRECIATED EVERY ONE OF THEM.

We are so happy with how the children are progressing socially, intellectually and academically. We look forward to meeting with all of our parents to discuss your child's progress.

All of our love, The Staff at Hazel Creek

P.S. teachers have been attending workshops for art, outdoor ed and science

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January 2007 Newsletter

Happy New Year!! We are all looking forward to drying out and having a little more daylight to enjoy the Pacific Northwest. We are busy gathering art work to send home and changing out the curriculum this week. All the staff would like to thank our parents for the wonderful gifts, cards and well wishes. We have the best parents and appreciate all of you so much. Your generosity was amazing.

Hazel Creek will be closed January 15th for Martin Luther King Holiday. For the elementary students, January 10th is a half day at public school. Be sure to have your child bring a lunch to school at Hazel Creek if they will be in attendance here.

We will also be closed in February on the 19th for Presidents' Day.

Our curriculum for the next 3 months will be as follows: Sharon will study planets and the solar system this month, Jamy will study the rain forest and Erin will be talking about those big old dinosaurs. The studies will be in conjunction with the holidays and will rotate to each classroom. (We will celebrate Martin Luther King Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day and St. Patrick's Day during the up-coming months.)

Ollie goes into surgery January 16th for his hip replacement. We will resume horseback riding lessons when he is able to get around and haul the horses in the horse trailer once again. We are substituting "cooking class" for the horse lessons. Erin will be the chef and give the lessons. This class is a big hit with the kids.

May everyone have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2007.

Love, Janice and Staff

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November 2006 Newsletter

The holidays are fast approaching....donÕt panic. Please remember, things do get a little more hectic around the house and we want you to know we are there for you. If your child has any special needs, extra sleep, hugs, etc. just let us know. We will do our part to keep to a routine, give healthy snacks and share in the joy of this special time. We celebrate the fall and winter holidays and will include any of the family traditions you might wish to share with the children.

Thanksgiving Feast: We will have our annual Feast this year, Tues. Nov.21st. Please sign up to bring in a treat for the feast. We have the best parents in the whole wide world. Thank you for your ongoing support and contributions. We would like to have each child bring in one canned good item for the Helpline House on this day to help teach them the spirit of giving. We will distribute their contributions that day. Thank you very much.

Christmas in the Country: Hazel Creek is a participant in this annual event. This year we have 16 vendors in the big barn that will display their items for sale. "New" this year will be food vendors selling yummy savories, nuts and holiday drinks. We will not have the Elf Bakery this year, so you donÕt have to worry about baking any extra items. It is a lot of work for all of the parents and we only made $250 in the past. The money made from the food vendors will probably exceed our bakery profit without the fuss. Please pick up our Holiday Guides at the school for viewing all the activities available on the Island this year. The children will be performing Holiday Music on Friday, Dec. 1st @ 11am., in the Barn. Parents are welcome to attend this delightful event. We will start practicing out music next week. After their concert we will have a visit from Santa. Karin Lehotsky will take professional pictures of any child with Santa again this year. You may sign up on Friday or call to make an appointment @ 780-8999. Christmas in the Country lasts for three glorious days and provides people the opportunity to buy local crafts and to get out and see the Island dressed in Holiday style.

Reminders: Please have your child wear boots every day now because we still go hiking. Please dress your child warmly. Do not send in cough medicine for your child. Our policy is to not give any medication at school, including over the counter. If there is an emergency request, please consult with Janice first.

Happy Holidays are in order to all our wonderful families. Every classroom is going full steam ahead with their studies. We will have our parent-teacher conferences sometime in February.

Schedule: We will be closed November 23th and 24th. We will also be closed December 25th and 26th, and January 1st and 2nd. Please sign your child up if they will be attending HCM during the holiday time. We will post a sign-up sheet. This Friday Nov. 10th: Public school will be closed. Sign your child up if they will be attending HCM that day. (this only pertains to K-4th)

Horse back riding: We are postponing horse back riding for the next few weeks due to Ollie's up-coming hip surgery. It is too difficult to haul the horses without him and "Nurse Janice" needs to attend to his EVERY need#@$%%!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I've covered everything, you can stop reading nowÉ.tee hee

Love,

Janice and her great and wonderful staff