October Newsletter 2008
We have had such a nice start to the beginning of the school year. Your children are sure enjoying all of the new works and the teachers have done a spectacular job of setting up the classrooms with an exciting curriculum. As the school year brings the children back inside to their peaceful setting, they are still able to enjoy all of the specialists once a day, along with their Montessori studies.
October Curriculum: Sharon and Jamy’s class will be studying the Body, Colin and Emilia’s class will study Native Americans and Alison and Diane’s class will study Nutrition and Foods from Afar.
Specialists: We will post a schedule for the following specialists at each school: Horseback riding, swimming, Spanish, dance, and art. If your child does not attend school every day, it is not possible for them to participate in each of these enrichment programs. The days of certain activities can vary due to unforeseen circumstances.
Horseback riding: We will start riding the second week in September for just one week. I will be gone for the rest of the month and will resume for the month of October. Due to Alison’s surgery last month she will not be able to take over for me while I am gone. Thank you for your understanding.
Janice will be out of town: I will be out of town for a few weeks in September and one week in Oct. If you have any questions while I am gone that cannot be answered by one of the staff members, please address your questions to my daughter Alison, Jamy or Colin. We conducted a staff meeting and prepared fully for my absence.
Concerns: We ask that if you have any concerns regarding your child, please contact the staff member that was with your child. Please do so at the time of the occurrence so that we can process all of the information and give you the answers you need.
New Web Site: We are wrapping up our new web site and should see it’s completion in a month or so. We would like to invite anyone who would wish to write a few sentences describing your child’s experience at Hazel Creek, to do so. (There is a “Comments” clipboard in the lobby.) We want to include your comments on our testimonial page. Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to do this. We appreciate our families so much. I will show the “movie” we have shot over the past year at our back to school parent night, Sept. 8th to all the parents that attend. If you were unable to attend, I will have the movie available to anyone who wishes to see it. It takes about 10 minutes and will be set up in the lobby. I will be able to use this for all new prospective parents so they can see for themselves the scope of what the children do at Hazel Creek.
Suntan lotion: We try to keep your children protected from the sun by applying the lotions you send with them to school. We are asking you NOT TO SEND IN ANY OF THE ARESOL sprays as they drift and get into the eyes of other children. I know they are easier to apply but it isn’t good for them to breathe in or get into their eyes. There has always been controversy surrounding these products and the chemicals they put into these lotions. We recommend you research the products, look into products from your local health food stores that give the same amount of protection, use hats and long sleeves. We will do our very best to provide plenty of shade and water. Please let us know if your child has special needs. Thank you.
Swimming: We now have 4 qualified lifeguards on staff; Sharon, Colin, Alison and Janice. We are all Red Cross certified and professional rescuers. Please pack a swimming suit every day in your child’s back pack in case we take them swimming for a spontaneous swim. Please provide your child with their own goggles for swimming and pack a smaller towel for them to be able to fold up and put away. To keep your child’s things dry, we recommend that you supply a plastic or water proof bag that they can tuck their wet items in and replace into their backpacks.
Reminders: We now have our “Yearly School Calendar” posted on the current web site so you can check dates of events and school closures. We failed to put down that we will be closed for Thanksgiving Day and the day after. For this month we have School Photos Oct 7th, Tuesday starting @ 9am. Every child is invited to attend that morning so they can have their pictures taken with their classes and their individual pictures will also be taken by Karin Lahotski. Karin owns Lollipops and does a fantastic job of capturing the children. We will leave envelopes out for you to return with your orders the week before. Harvest Fair will be held Oct. 22nd. Every child is welcome to bring in a home-made creature made of veggies and fruit. We will award ribbons for all entries. Big kids are welcome to bring in entries as well.
What we did today: We will post in every classroom, or outside where you sign in and out at the white school, what we did today so that you know what your child is learning about. We have already held our first Fire Drill at the school and have had our annual inspection by the local fire department.
Toddler Room: We want to welcome all of the new members of our class and congratulate all of the recent graduates. The toddler class enrolls 14 children ages 1- 2 1/2yr. OR until they are potty trained. We will graduate toddlers into the pre-school classroom under the following conditions: readiness, age, potty training, and availability in the other classroom. It is not always possible to graduate your child unless all of these factors are in play. Thank you for your understanding. Please remember to have your child wear shoes they can get on and off themselves and please arrive before 9 am so we can start our circle time without interruption.
Immunization Records: Some of you have not filled out a card for your child’s immunization records. It is required by state law that you fill out the card using the information off their records. We can not do this for you. We will post a sign and leave an immunization card for you to return. We will need these records to be turned in ASAP, so we can put them in our files.
Big Kids: Oct. 1-3 W-F, there is no school for kids grades K-6. Please sign up on our list that we post each time we have a half-day early dismissal or a non-contract day, that way we can estimate for staffing. Oct. 10th is a non-contract day for the public schools. Please sign up at HCM for that day if your child will be here. Please remember to pack a lunch and swimming suit. Alison will be taking the Big Kids M-Th., to the swimming pool @ 2:30 every day for snack, homework, and swimming. She will stay at the pool until the Wilkes bus arrives and will also give them snack, homework time and swimming time. The big kids will be at the pool area from 2:30-5pm M-F. (Colin will take them on Fridays)
I Know this is a lot of Information: Thank you for bearing with me, this is a lot to digest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did You Know? How much we love our families? How much we appreciate every child at our school? How grateful that all of you are in our lives? How much I love and respect my staff? Now you know………….we do!!!!!
Love, Janice and Ollie
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Fall 2008 Newsletter
Welcome back!! We sure had a wonderful summer. Thank you to all of the families that participated. This newsletter will go over some of our policies and give you information about the school year.
We are also posting a yearly calendar for the web-site. This newsletter will be on-line along with a posting on the message board. If you need a hard copy, please leave me a note on my desk.
First Official Day of School: HCM follows the public school schedule for our HALF day program. The public school starts Wed.-Sept. 3rd. Our first official “school” day will also be Wed. Sept. 3rd. We will be open Sept. 2nd , but WE WILL BE CLOSED SEPTEMBER 1ST FOR LABOR DAY.
Classroom arrangements: This year we will be re-arranging our staff to better suit our student population. We have a lot of students who are close in age and many of whom will be attending kindergarten the following fall. The Montessori philosophy believes in mixing the age groups as much as 3 years apart. We have always had mixed age groupings of 2-2 ½ years apart. We have had a kindergarten class in the past, for the older pre-school children. Due to the fact that we have so many kids turning 5 in spring and summer, we will be mixing both class rooms at the white school house to include both 4 and 5 year olds. (Some children will be turning 6). Both classrooms will be set up for an academic kindergarten preparation. We teach to the individual in every classroom and will instruct your child at their own pace. Both classrooms will offer the same academic programs. Since Colin and Sharon have taught together for the past few years in the kindergarten class, Colin is going to be the lead teacher up-stairs and Sharon will be the lead teacher down stairs. We will notify you of your child’s teacher before the school year starts. We will remain flexible to make any changes needed in the first few weeks should any changes seem necessary. We will confer with our parents if we feel a change will be needed for their child.
Toddlers: We have several families returning this year with siblings. We are sooo excited to have the babies join us. Please remember to pay your one month deposit for your child. See Janice if you have any questions. The toddler teachers will be writing newsletters to specifically address issues in the toddler room throughout the course of the year. Several toddlers will be graduating into the preschool class. It is a big step and we want to congratulate our “wee” students along with the parents, for their major accomplishments.
Staffing:
Toddler Room: Ashley and Ashley
Napping-Non-napping pre school: Alison and Diane (Alison, my daughter, is from the 1st graduating class of HCM 1990!)
Pre-school Upstairs: Colin and Emilia
Pre-school Downstairs: Sharon and Jamy
*Chris will fill in for each classroom when a staff person has a day off. Days off are as follows: Alison& Jamy-Monday Diane-Tuesday Chris-Wednesday Colin- Thursday Janice&Sharon-Friday
Afternoon Staff: Ericka-noon-6:30 Erin-2:30-6:30 Dani-2:30-6:30
Erika, Erin and Dani will additionally sub for absentee staff
Specialists:
Art: Jamy Swimming: Sharon Spanish: Colin Horseback riding: Alison
Sharon, Alison, Janice, Kate and Colin are all certified by the American Red Cross to lifeguard. Janice will also help with the horseback riding.
Curriculum: We will rotate the following subjects among the three pre-school classrooms for the first half of the school year: “Back to School”, “Our Body”, “Pilgrims and Native Americans”, “Holidays”. We will post a schedule for the days of the specialists for each classroom. Look on the web site for additional celebrations and events. (We will also post the school calendar of events.)
Janice’s schedule: I will be gone for a few weeks in September and a few weeks in October. Sharon will be gone for a few weeks in September. Ericka will sub for Sharon during that time. Any questions for me during the time that I am gone, please see my daughter Alison.
Student Address List: We will put together an address list for parents who need to copy them for birthday parties. The list will be in my office for viewing by permission only. If you do not wish for your address or phone number to be given out, please let me know.
Tuition: Tuition will increase slightly this year and will be posted. Please mark your payments down in the blue payment book every month. Please pay by the 1st of the month. If you need for me to calculate your child’s tuition for our Big Kids program, please leave me a detailed note on my desk with your phone number, days and times your child will be attending HCM and whether or not they need care for half day early dismissal, vacation days and non-contract days. Thank you. I will get back to you as soon as I have all of your information, otherwise it is impossible for me to figure the cost not knowing your child’s exact schedule.
Horseback riding: When Janice is not here, we will not have riding lessons. The first week of school we will ride every day instead of once a week so the children will have the same number of times to ride in September.
Dates to remember: Sept. 1st-CLOSED for Labor Day. Sept.2nd.-open for our full day kids. Sept. 3rd.- First official day of the academic school year at HCM. Sept. 8th-Monday-Back to school orientation, Sept. 10th-half day early dismissal for the public school kids. *** Big Kids at HCM need to bring a lunch and sign up for the day.
Reminders: Please label your child’s belongings, arrive and pick up on time, update any changes of address or phone numbers, pack a nutritious lunch for your child and reduce packaging waste in their lunches.
Nut Free Facility: HCM is a nut free facility. Please do not pack any food items that contain nuts in your child’s lunch. Thank you.
Emergency Preparedness: We hold monthly fire drills and bi-monthly earthquake drills. Every staff person has their current CPR or Proffessional rescue certification. We will let you know who our emergency parents are for our Phone Tree. Please provide an emergency packet for your child if we have not received one. We have printed out what the contents should be for their own personal packet. Please pick one up in the lobby and return the packet as soon as possible.
Web Site: Our new Web site will be finished this fall. We have been in the process of producing this site for over a year. You will be able to purchase the movie on a CD for a nominal fee to have as a memory of your child’s experience at Hazel Creek. The 6 minute movie will also be a great tool for showing prospective parents what it is we do at our school and all that is available to us, including the extensive trail systems we have right out our back door. It will feature some of the children and show the classrooms along with specialist and summer camp activities. None of the children’s names will be posted. If for some reason you do not wish for your child to be on the web site, please let me know. Hazel Creek has been at the forefront of a new kind of school reform, incorporating outdoor education into the academic curriculum. We are very excited to capture these important elements on our web site. Your children speak volumes about the program you have chosen for them as they demonstrate their independence and abilities at every level. As parents, you are not always aware of everything your child experiences throughout the course of their day here, and now you will have a chance to see first hand. We raised the bar for these young children and they continue to reach high and achieve more than the ordinary.
We want to thank all of the families who have chosen Hazel Creek for their child. We are so happy to have your children this year and look forward to a very rewarding year.
All of our love at Hazel Creek,
Janice and Staff
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June 2008
June activities will include our year end “Fun Week”, June 2-5th.
On Thursday, a photographer will bring ponies for the kids to ride and he will also take their picture. If you like the picture and wish to purchase it, you can do so. There is no obligation, this is strictly for fun.
Last Day of School: For all of the half day kids, the last day of school will be June 13th. They follow the public school schedule.
Big Kids: For those who will be attending HCM after the public schools are out, we will have a special summer program starting June 16th to the 27th. Please have your child bring a swim suit every day.
Sunscreen: Please sign our permission slips for applying sunscreen. They are posted in the lobby.
Water Bottles: Be sure to have your child bring a refillable water bottle to school every day.
Summer Camp: We will start the official summer camp June 30th. We will be closed for the 4th of July, which is on a Friday this year.
Tuition is posted in the payment book for any students who have a change of schedule for the month of June. I have also posted your tuition changes for the month of July and August. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Our year end picnic was wonderful. Please check out the photos in the Lobby. It was such a wonderful event and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We want to thank all of the families who will have graduating students and will not be returning next year. We will miss you and hope that everyone stops by throughout the year so we can continue to witness the amazing development of your children.
We are all gearing up for Summer Camp and look forward to a stellar summer. We want to welcome back Kate and Ericka on staff. We have missed them. My daughter, Alison will be joining us this summer. She will be teaching in the preschool classes now and hopefully forever more. I am really looking forward to having her be a part of our team. She will teach horseback riding with Kate this summer and will replace Jennifer in the fall when Jennifer has her baby.
Have a great month everyone, this has been such an outstanding year on so many levels. I appreciate everyone who has been a part of it.
Love, Janice
