Dear preschool families,

I realized on Thursday that I failed to put anything in the newsletter about all day preschool on Tuesday, March 29.  Just as we did last semester, the children will have the opportunity to spend all day at preschool (8:30-3:30).  The children voted for dinosaur nuggets and French fries for lunch.  They also want carrots and broccoli and fresh fruit for dessert.  I will be purchasing these supplies on Monday.  We will eat lunch instead of morning snack.  There will also be an hour for resting so please send a blanket, pillow and any lovey your child may need.  The children generally are too excited to sleep but occasionally someone does fall asleep. 

The purpose of all day preschool is to encourage a more relaxed time together for the preschoolers while allowing my college students to visit and interact with the children.  All of our student teachers for next year are in this group.  Unless plans change in the fall Mauri and Kyra will be with us and Rebecca, Amanda and Bekka will be our spring student teachers.  Sometimes parents like to know who will be returning to our classroom.  They will be wearing nametags so you can spy them out.  All of them will be at preschool at various points during the day but obligations for other classes will prohibit some from spending the entire day with us.  Please feel free to talk with the college students and ask questions if you have any.  Many were also interacting with the children during the visit to CMU in February. 

Lastly, I failed to alert everyone to the intention sheet for summer and fall preschool/alumni school/creek club.  The following information has dates and costs.  Please note that there will be a rise in tuition in the fall as noted in the parent meeting minutes.

Summer Preschool/Alumni School will begin on Tuesday, June 14 and run through Thursday, July 21.  Preschool meets from 8:30-11:30 (as usual) and Alumni School meets 12:30-4 in the afternoons.  Alumni School is for k-3^rd grade graduates of preschool.  The cost is $90. 

Summer Creek Club meets on Wednesday mornings, June 15-July 20 from 9 AM to 12:30 PM.  The cost will be $25 per child (preschoolers must be accompanied by an adult but alumni schoolers and/or older siblings of preschoolers are welcome to attend without a parent).

Fall Preschool/Alumni School begins the Tuesday/Thursday after Labor day.  Alumni School meets on Thursday evenings from 5:45-7:45 and is for k-3^rd graders. 

I am also putting all of the rest of the important dates (that I know right now) below so you have them in an electronic format.  These are taken right from the sheet that I distributed at the beginning of the semester with some small changes as we noted during parent meetings.  Please let me know if I have omitted anything.

March 29 – All Day Preschool (8:30-3:30) Once again the children will plan the day to spend with our college friends from CMU.  Many of these students will be our student teachers in the fall and spring of next year. 

April 3 – Creek Club (1-4)

April 5 – Parent Meeting (6:30)

April 11-17 – TV TURNOFF WEEK ~ I will talk with the children about pledging to experience a screen free week.  We always plan a number of extra events to assist in this endeavor.

          April 12 – Moms’ Night (6:30 - 8 PM) – Children will plan and prepare for an evening with mom all to themselves.  This is a special night to         share                                 preschool with your child. 

          April 14 – After Preschool Skating (12-2) – Once again we will have the Empire Roller Rink all to ourselves.  Immediately following preschool we will                           travel to Columbia to roller skate!  Please plan to eat lunch there or in route (no food should be taken into the rink).  This is another                       event to celebrate our screen free week!

          April 16 - Bunny Breakfast (9-12) – Shari Given is our Easter Bunny.  Come and bring a breakfast dish to share.  Each family should also bring 1                                   dozen stuffed eggs per child (stuffing eggs with toys as opposed to candy cuts down significantly on the children’s sugar intake!).                                        While the children are feasting with the bunny,       adults or older children hide the eggs.  We generally allow the children to go                                outside and hunt by age group.  If it rains we will hunt inside (but not in the sanctuary).  This is always a fun event shared with other                         preschool and member families!

          April 17 – Bedtime Stories with Larry Brown (4-5:30) – Come in your pajamas and bring your pillow and blanket to share bedtimes stories and                                   songs with Larry.  Each child attending will receive a snack and book.

April 17 – Palm Sunday Service, potluck and Easter egg hunt with our church friends.  If you like, just come to the dinner and egg hunt following their service.  The church members want preschool to especially feel invited to participate.

April 19 or 21 – Preschool Creek Visit – Meet and pick up at Miss Sherri’s house.

May 1 – Creek Club (1-4)

May 3 – Parent Meeting (6:30 PM) – Open house for new summer and fall members

May 10 or 12 – Preschool Creek Visit – Meet and pick up at Miss Sherri’s house.

May 14^th – Creek Party (4:00 - ?) - Come and celebrate our year together.  Bring a dish to share, hot dogs, plates, silverware and drinks for your        family, lawn chairs, extra clothes in case you get wet and your spirit of adventure and fun.  We celebrate with activities like tug of war, sack races    and glow stick demonstrations.  It is always a fun evening for everyone!

May 26 – Preschool/Alumni School last day

TBA – DIAL 3 Screenings – I conduct these in April.  Your child should not go through the DIAL screening with parents as teachers or for kindergarten screening.  The school accepts the screening we do at preschool.

TBA – (sometime the first part of April) Parent Preschool Cleaning Event – Please come and help complete our spring cleaning chores.

TBA – Parent/Teacher Celebrations!  These occur toward the end of the school year.

We have some busy months ahead of us!  Thank you for all you do to make preschool/alumni school a high quality educational experience for the preschoolers and the college friends!

Sherri