First and Second Graders Inspired by Paul Klee

Parent Meeting for Twos

The Parent meeting for the 2-year-old class is Wednesday, October 7 at 6:30 pm. This meeting is for parents only. There is a babysitter list in the cottage, which has our college students on it, if you are in need of child care for that night. This meeting will be a great time to get to know other families and your child's teachers.

Hope to see you all there!

~Kerri, Kathie and Mrs. Dottie~

College Students

I am sure you have noticed all of our wonderful college students working here at The Children's School. It has been a very busy time with hiring and orienting them, but well worth it. With our full day this year we have had a greater need for larger numbers of students.

For many of them, this is their job where they can earn spending money. However, we also have interns that are earning college credit by working here. We are privileged to have interns from two Professors this semester. Pat Smiley from Pomona and Mita Banerjee from Pitzer both have sent students to us, and do every year. We are very grateful to them.

We also have a large number of students that are volunteering at The Children's School. Pitzer College put out a notice to all of their students asking for volunteers, and many of them are now donating their time to make your child's experience here richer.

The children love the college students. They bring a different energy and experience to the day, and help enable our individualized program. And we love them too!

Broken Record

I know, I know, I have been saying this forever...However, if you have not turned in your registration packets yet, please do so this week. Every child needs to have the updated forms turned in every year, including a new medical form signed by your pediatrician. Also, if your child has had immunizations this past year I will need a new copy of their immunization record. The state requires that we report all of this information to them every year. I have to do this report in October, which is almost here!

If you lost your registration packet I can give you another one.

Also, the disaster prep kits are due this week. There is a labeled bin in every cottage, so you can drop the kits into them.

To those of you that have already turned these items in - thank you, thank you, thank you!

Parent Handbook

Our new parent handbook is out. I put them in your child's cubby on Friday afternoon. There is one handbook per family, so if you have more than one child it will only be in one of their cubbies.

He made my day!

Yesterday afternoon one of our first graders came into my office. He said, "You must be 21, right?" I said to him, "You are right, I am 21." He got a very excited look on his face as he exclaimed, "I KNEW it!"

Disaster Prep Kits

Parents have had some questions on what food to include in the Disaster Prep Kits. The self-contained, nutritious meal refers to any food items that your child likes that are sealed so they will last the school year. This can include personal servings of applesauce, granola bars, crackers, tuna, etc. The grocery stores are full of personal servings of all kinds of food these days, so it is up to you what you would like to include.

If you can return these kits to your child's classroom by Monday, September 21st, we will appreciate it. There is a labeled bin in all of the cottages where you can drop them. We will store the kits for the school year and then return them to you.

Hopefully we will not need these emergency supplies, but we will be prepared if we do.

Three and Four Year Olds - Parent Night

The Parent Night for our three and four year old class is Thursday, September 17, at 7:00 pm. This is an information night and it will be better if you don't bring your children. With 36 little ones between both classes, it will be difficult to talk and listen if they are there.

Hope to see all of you there!
~~Marcia, Maria, Badria, Lori and Jeanette~~

Kindergarten Back to School Night

Back to School Night for our kindergarten class is Tuesday, September 15, at 7:00 pm. Parents, you will be able to absorb more information that night if you don't bring your children. However, if you don't have child care please feel free to bring them. Above all we want you to come that evening.

Hope to see you there!
~~Catie and Susan~~

Gates

We keep trying to make the gates as secure as possible. Today I put a sign on all gates asking everyone to please make sure the gate closes and latches behind you. This is an important safety concern.

Also, we decided to permanently lock the gate that is closest to the 3 and 4 year old cottage. We don't feel that it is safe to keep it unlocked, as it is very difficult to see the gate and who is going in and out. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but know that you understand how important your child's safety is to all of us.

I also asked CMC's maintainance supervisor to assess the gates and advise us. He came over today to inspect them and has some ideas on how to ensure that they close automatically more efficiently. He will be implementing these changes early next week.

We know that these safety measures make your coming and going a little more difficult, but the safety of the children is worth it.

Successful Opening

The first two days of school have been busy and fun. The children are so happy to be back. Many parents have had a difficult time getting them to leave for the day. After a summer of quiet days without children it is so good to have all of you back.

Thanks to all that have turned in registration packets. If you still need to turn in registration materials please come by the office anytime. Also, thank you for giving me your email addresses. Most seem to like the idea of receiving statements through email, and the few kinks I have experienced seem to be working themselves out.

In every cottage there is a copy of the class list near the sign-in sheets. Please make corrections if necessary. I plan to get the new Parent Handbook out next week, and want the class lists to be accurate.

If you need to add or delete extended care, please let me know as soon as possible. It is much better if you inform me of this, and not the teachers, as they have their hands full caring for your children and may not be able to pass the message along to me.

The first week of school is nearly over. Have a wonderful weekend - and we will see you on Monday.

School Tomorrow!

We had a very successful and busy Open House day today. It was so good to see all of you again after the summer break. It is amazing how much taller the children are after only just a few months.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. If you haven't turned in your registration packets yet, please stop by the office and drop them off.

This past weekend I was at the wedding of my son's best friend since kindergarten. As I watched this young man take his bride, all I could think of was dropping Matt off for school and Skyler running up so they could go off and play. Those years were so precious and they went so fast. Treasure each and every moment that you have with your little ones.

See you tomorrow!

Open Houses Tomorrow

It is almost time to come back to The Children's School! Tomorrow, September 8, are the Open Houses. If your child is in the 2s you should have your scheduled time for your Open House. All other families are welcome to drop by their child's classroom anytime between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm.

And Wednesday, September 9 is the first day of school.

See you soon!

Welcome Back to School

All of us at The Children's School are excited about the new school year. We can't wait to see you all again. See you next week!

~~Marcia, Maria, Susan, Kathie, Lori, Dottie, Badria~~

~~Catie, Janet, Jeanette, Kerri~~