2008-2009 School Year Letters to Orange Door Parents

Miss Aida, Ms. Patty, & Ms. Katrina

November 21, 2008

This week the topic was “Thanksgiving”.  The children learned many facts about “Thanksgiving” such as, pilgrims and where they came from, how they met the Native Americans and the type of foods they ate.  On Monday, the children started cutting paper feathers to make an Indian hat.  On Tuesday, the children enjoyed soccer class with Coach Oscar and also drew on their journals “What they were thankful for”.  On Wednesday, the children made Thanksgiving cards for their families. On Thursday, the children made Pilgrim hats. And finally on Friday, we prepared edible Indian corn with corn cereal, diced dried fruit and a popsicle stick.

 Please don’t forget to sign up for our Thanksgiving Feast that will take place on Tuesday, November 25 at 11:00am.

 A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

      Thank you to all the families who have sent in Publix Gift Cards to share with families in need this Thanksgiving season.  Those who donated, your child moved their heart onto the graph of giving for sharing their heart with someone else.  We will still be collecting gift cards in any amount until November 26^th.  Remember, lots of little donations make a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast!

      Thank you, thank you, thank you to Holly’s dad, Inaki’s Mom, Angeline’s Dad (from blue door) and Adelise’s Siblings Ramón, Leesia & Britney  (Yellow Door) for helping spread the mulch on the playground.

      A word of thanks for everyone who has turned in their already read magazines to recycle for others to read.  If you would like to borrow one, they are on the last set of bookshelves outside of Blue Door.  When you finish, just bring it back.

      Please plan accordingly…we will be closed on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28^th in observance of Thanksgiving.  Weekly parents are asked to please pay on Monday.

      If you plan to shop on line on “Black Friday” instead of standing in line at the store, please go through our portal to do your holiday shopping.

o       http://www.kidsforkidsacademy.com/shop%20to%20earn.htm

      Do you like to bake or to have great baked goods in your house around the holiday time?  If so, sign up to be part of the Great Cookie Exchange.  Here is how it works:

o       Sign up and bake 4 dozen cookies using your favorite recipe.  

o       Put 2 cookies in each zip lock bag with a label or insert in the bag with the recipe.

§         If you need our help, email us the recipe and we will print out 24 little inserts for you to put in the bags.  

o       Bring in the 24 bags on December 17^th.

o       We will but your bags on the assembly line and in return, you will get 24 different bags with other cookies and their recipes.  

o       Enjoy a wonderful variety of cookies in your home this holiday season.

 November 14, 2008

This week our topic was shapes and the letter “S”.  On Monday, the children traced and colored the letter “S”; they also wrote words that begin with the letter “S” and drew corresponding pictures.  On Tuesday, there was no school in observance of Veteran’s Day.  On Wednesday, the children glued different shapes on a red construction paper.  They also wrote in their journals “A skunk sneaked into school”.  On Thursday, the children scribbled with a black crayon and then colored in the sections between the scribbles.  On Friday, the class prepared a salad using lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and salad dressing.

 The student of the week will be Jayden More-Rodriguez.  Please bring in a poster to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

What a wonderful week we had!  Not only did our teachers enjoy getting a ton of new things for their class from the NAEYC conference, but I was happy to be back enjoying our students.  I especially had a great time at our Family Reading Night.  For those of you, who missed it, please consider joining us next month on December 4^th. 

We have a lot of things coming up in November.  We will be introducing our students to the Graph Of Giving as we teach them to share their hearts with someone else.  In November, we usually collect food and grocery gift cards for needy families outside of our school, but this year we have 6 families we have recently lost their jobs and are falling on hard economic times.  If you are able, we are collecting $5 Publix Gift Cards to help those families from our own school to have a Happy Thanksgiving.  Any child who brings in a $5 Publix Gift Card will move their heart onto the Graph of Giving on the Pantry Door.

For those of you who ordered cookie dough, it will be arriving on Wednesday, November 19^th.  Please plan to pick it up that day and either deliver it to the individuals you sold it to or have a place in your refrigerator or freezer until you can deliver it.  It is ok to refreeze or refrigerate, but we do not have space at the school to store it overnight.   In all, we raised $1400 on the sale, $850 will be used on a truck full of playground mulch and the rest will be used to enhance our multicultural toys and books in the classrooms.  If you are able to help in spreading the mulch, we are looking for help around noon Saturday.  Rakes, wheel barrels, and shovels are welcome!  If we have a lot of volunteers, it should take about an hour.

We will be holding a Family Turkey Decorating Event.  Please check your child’s mailbox for an outline of a turkey.  Use your creativity to decorate it any way you wish.  Some ideas include using beans, rice, feathers, buttons, or anything found around your house. Please return it before Monday, November 25^th so that we can hang them for all to see.  Be sure to write your child’s name and class on the back.

Finally, we will be holding Thanksgiving Feasts in all our rooms.  Please check your child’s class door to sign up to bring an item for the feast.  VPK sign up sheets will be on the pantry doors by the kitchen.  Families are invited to join us for this special day so mark your calendars.  Remember, we will be closed on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28^th in Observance of Thanksgiving.

November 7, 2008 

This week our topic was “All About Me” and we reinforced the letters we have already learned.  On Monday, the children decorated their names with glue and tiny squares.  On Tuesday, they started making a birthday book by decorating a crown.  On Wednesday, we went to go see “The Wizard of Oz” at the Actors Playhouse; it was fun.  On Thursday, we finished our crown book by adding our birthdays on it.  On Friday, we ate “Ants on a Log”.  We spread cream cheese on a celery stick and used raisins to put on top of the cream cheese to make it look like ants.  This week we also enjoyed soccer with Coach Oscar.

Our student of the week next week will be:  Kevin Maltez.  Please bring in a poster on Monday to share with the class.

Please remember there is no school next Tuesday, November 11^th due to Veteran’s Day!

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS

I am writing you from Dallas where I am attending the NAEYC conference.  I want to take a moment to thank my wonderful staff who has worked so hard in my absence to make sure things ran smoothly, especially Miss Jeanne who stood in for me, Miss Delly, and even cooked in the kitchen for Miss Maria.  I have learned so much at the conference that I can’t wait to share with the parents and staff.  I am always looking to improve my skills as an administrator since my primary training is as a teacher.  I had a chance to look at some great new innovative things for the classroom and made some purchases that I know the teachers and students will really enjoy.  One of the things I learned was how to put up a Staff Compliment Tree.  In the weeks to come you will see it going up.  I am asking parents to think of a compliment you can give to the teachers and assistants in your child’s class and turn it in to me on a post it note.  Each week, I will add the compliments to the tree.  It can be general or specific (I really appreciate it when I pick up my child and Miss X always hugs them as they leave the class.  Or I loved the monkey activity that was done in Miss X’s class this week.  My child really learned a lot.)  You can also mention a quality that makes the teacher special.  You will be surprised how special just a few words can make someone feel and it only takes a moment out of your day.  Also feel free to submit compliments for our office and kitchen staff.  If you do not have any post it notes, just cut out a 3 inch square of paper and use that.  I can’t wait to get back and see everyone on Monday.

October 31, 2008

     We had so much fun this week with our Pumpkin topic.  Monday the children traced a pumpkin shape then ripped pieces of orange paper to fill in the pumpkin shape.  On Tuesday we made another type of Pumpkin.  We used small paper bags, stuffed them with crumpled paper and painted them orange with green stems.  Wednesday we carved and decorated our pumpkin.  I was surprised to see most of the children were willing to put their hands in the pumpkin to take out the seeds.  We washed the seeds and then asked the children to estimate the amount of seeds.  We counted 498 seeds!  Our Halloween celebration on Friday was amazing.  On Friday we all participated in the Halloween Happening.  The kids went from room to room and participated in various events.  They made pumpkin bats, decorated and filled bags with candy for homeless kids, made Halloween necklaces, took part in a costume parade, decorated cupcakes, and watched Dora The Explorer Halloween.  A great time was had by all! The children were beautiful in their costumes.  Thank you to the parents who came to help us.

 Our student of the week will be Miguel Juelle.  please send in a poster with photos of your family to share on Monday.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS

It was so incredible to have more than 40 parents volunteering at our Halloween Happening.  Thank you so much to those who came and helped at the event, but also to everyone who donated candy for the bags for the homeless (we made 150 bags), non candy treats for the Halloween parade, and mini pumpkins.  We hope you liked the Pumpkin Bats!  Also a special thanks to all the parents who took home pumpkins to put holes in and those who cut out bat body parts out of felt.  With Halloween behind us, we look forward to Thanksgiving and helping families who are not as fortunate as we are.  More details to follow!  In a few days, we should have the Halloween photos on our website.  If you took photos and bring them in on a disk, we can upload them as well.  For those of you getting a head start on holiday shopping, please remember if you plan to shop on-line, if you go to your shopping destinations through our website, our school can benefit from your shopping.  K-Mart on-line is even doing lay away!  To shop, click on the link below and then go to your favorite merchants.  www.shoptoearn.net/kidsforkidsacademy

            This week the topic was “Our Country”.  The children learned that our country is called the United States of America; that we have 50 states; and that we live in the city of Miami in the state of Florida.  On Monday the children traced the continents and colored them with different colors, they also reviewed shapes and were introduced to new ones.  On Tuesday they traced and colored the state of Florida and also practiced their numbers.  On Wednesday they drew our country in their journals and they also painted the U.S flag.  On Thursday, they drew the White house with chalk on black construction paper and finally on Friday the children made the flag of the U.S with graham crackers and red, white and blue frosting.

            Our student of the week will be: Ilania Gonzalez.  Please don’t forget to bring a poster to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS

We are so excited that now 85% of our parents are getting their communications through e-mail.  What a great way to save paper!  Please continue to check your child’s mailbox to get their free books and work for the week.   I also wanted to mention that we have had several parents who have lost their jobs in these hard economic times.  If you have a company that is hiring, please let us know so that we can try and help out those who need jobs.   Next Friday is our annual Halloween Happening!  It is a really fun day not only for our students, but for anyone who wants to come and help out at the school.  All kids expect green door are invited to come dressed up in costume.  Classes will travel from room to room doing different activities.  Parent volunteers will travel with their child’s class and assist.  When their class is watching the Dora Movie, those parents will help pass out treats at the Halloween Parade.  We are still short a few mini pumpkins, candy for the homeless bags, and non food treats for our students.  We will be accepting donations until Thursday, October 30^th.  We will be mailing the remaining school picture packets back on Monday so if you still want to purchase them; you have until Monday to do so.  Finally, we are having a small problem that we hope you will be able to help us with.  Our teachers get paid on the 15^th and 30^th of the month.  Since VPK payments have been due on the 18^th, each month we are coming up short for our 15^th of the month payroll.  Therefore, we will need to change the due date on VPK payment starting November to the 13^th of the month.  If this creates a financial hardship for you, please let us know and we will accept your payment on the 18^th.  We really appreciate your assistance with this.

HALLOWEEN HAPPENING SCHEDULE

October 17, 2008

This week our topic was “Being Safe” and the letter “B”.  During the week, the children were taught about the how and when to dial “911” for emergencies and they also learned words that begin with the letter “B”.  On Monday, they traced and colored the letter “B” and a bumble bee.  On Tuesday, they colored the letter “B” with the colors black, brown and/or blue and decorated it with buttons.  On Wednesday, the children used their imagination to draw what they wanted on their journals and they also wrote the sentence “Butterflies take bubble bathes.”  On Thursday, they drew a safety picture and also practiced their phone numbers.  Finally, on Friday, the children enjoyed a strawberry smoothie.

 Our student of the week will be: Kristina Ferguson.  Please bring in a poster on Monday with pictures to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS

What an exciting week we had together.  I think the highlight of the week was our Family Reading Night.  We had 33 families in attendance and everyone had a great time.  Next time I will have to make more cookies!  Here is a picture of everyone together.  If you missed this one, the next one will be on November 12^th.  Come early to get a good seat.  This weekend is our garage sale.  Please come by and shop or if you have donations, feel free to drop them off on Saturday morning.  Our next big event is our Halloween Happening.  If you would like to sign up to volunteer, it will be a fun morning.  It will start at 9 am and go until 11:30 in all classes except green.  We will be accepting donations of candy (for the homeless kids), mini pumpkins, and non-candy treat like fruit snacks, cookies, and small trinkets to pass out at our Halloween Parade.

October 10, 2008

This week we learned about the Fall Season and the letter “L”.  The children learned about the different colors the leaves turn during this season.  During the week, we had many activities:  On Monday, the children painted a tree using the colors brown, red, orange and purple.  They also traced and colored the letter “L” and a ladybug.  On Tuesday, the children glued the trunk of a tree on construction paper and with their handprint, they used different colors to represent the leaves on the tree; they also wrote on their journals “The Lobster Lays on a Log”.  On Wednesday, the children decorated a placemat using stencils and fall colors.  They also drew pictures and wrote words with the letter “L”.  On Thursday, the children drew a fall tree in their journals and experienced a science experiment of separating salt and pepper.  Finally, on Friday, they prepared yummy leaf-shaped cookies. 

Our student of the week will be: Chabeli Fallarero.  Please bring in a poster on Monday to share with the class.

 Join Us For The 4^th Annual Halloween Happening

All children ages 2 and up are asked to come to school in their Halloween Costume with a change of clothing.  

(Please do not send guns, knives, or other weapons or toys)

 Students will rotate from room to room and participate in the following events:

Ø     Cookie Decorating

Ø     Mini Pumpkin Decorating

Ø     Dora Halloween video

Ø     Decorating and filling candy bags for Homeless Kids

o       Please donate a bag of candy for this activity

Ø     Halloween Art Project

Ø     Decorate Halloween Bags for Costume Parade

Ø     Costume Parade

o       Please send in any of the following NON CANDY ITEMS for the kids to get at the parade:

§        Fruit snacks

§        Mini bags of cookies or goldfish

§        Halloween gummies

§        Mini bags of pretzels

§        Halloween trinkets like:

·        Rings, bubbles, necklaces, or other age appropriate Halloween toys.

 We will also need parents to volunteer to hand out the treats at the Halloween parade.

 We are also looking for 4 parents in each class to donate 5 mini pumpkins.  They have them at Publix or at the pumpkin patches and range in price from $0.50 to $1.00 each.  We will need all pumpkins at the school no later than October 30^th.

 October 3, 2008

            This week the topic was transportation and the letter T.  We talked about different types of transportation and learned words that start with the letter T.  On Monday the children wrote different words that start with the letter T and they drew corresponding pictures.  On Tuesday they traced, cut and decorated a yellow school bus, it was fun cutting different shapes and drawing on the bus.  On Wednesday we had fun going to “Jungle Island”, the children had fun and got to see and pet different animals.  On Thursday the children learned about things that float and they also traced and cut out a boat shape.  On Friday we prepared a yummy banana boat with bananas and cream cheese. 

            Our next student of the week will be Christian Ebo, please bring a poster to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

We have completed the LAP-D testing and the reports will be available starting Monday.  Please call or stop by and schedule an appointment to go over your child’s results with the teacher.  If you are unable to come for a face to face conference, please call and schedule one on the phone.  Once we have gone over the results with you, we will send home the report.  If you would like to speak to myself or Mr. Davis about the report, please don’t hesitate to set up a conference. 

 We are still collecting donations for The Harbin Family who lost their home and their 4 year old son in a house fire.  Any donations are greatly appreciated.  To make matters worse, the hotel they are staying in was robbed.  The child’s funeral is on Sunday and they are still short $2500 to pay for it.  Please Help!  Cash of checks can be left at the front desk.  So far our school has raised $600.

 Todavia estamos collectando donaciones para la familia Harbin, quienes perdieron a su hijo de 4 años y su casa en un insendio.  Cualquier cantidad de donacion que puedan darles se le agradecera.  Como si no fuera suficiente, les robaron lo que tenienan en el hotel donde se estaban quedando.  El funeral del niño sera este domingo y necesitan recaudar $2,500 para poder pagarlo.  Por favor de ayudar !  Los cheques o efectivo se puede dejar en la oficina al frente.

 UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OCTOBER:

1. October 3^rd:  VPK SUPPLY FEE BILLED
2. October 7^th :  FIU FAMILY SAFETY CLASS:  , 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
3. October 15^th:  Family Storytime & Pajama Jam 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm
4. October 18^th:  Country Walk/School Garage Sale, please save us your unwanted items, they can be brought in October 16 & 17
5. October 18^th:  Parents Night Out 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm Reservations Required
6. October 20^th: Frozen Gourmet Cookie Dough Order Forms Go Home
7. October 31:  Halloween Happening- 9:00 am – 11:00 am (Parents Invited!)

September 26, 2008

            This week the topic was “Emotions” and the letter “E”.  On Monday, we traced, colored and decorated the letter “E” and an elephant.  On Tuesday, we made happy and sad faced puppets.  On Wednesday, we had fun making huge elephant ears.  It was lots of fun!  On Thursday, we drew on our journals how we felt.  We all drew happy faces and wrote the word “happy!”  On Friday, we made rice cake faces with rice cakes, cream cheese, raisins and chocolate chips.  It was lots of fun!

            Next week our student of the week will be:  Kristopher Diaz.  Please bring a poster on Monday with pictures to share with the class.

Help Us Go Green, and register for a chance to WIN GREEN!

Many of you have told us that you are computer literate.   In an effort to save paper and be better to our environment, we are giving parents the opportunity to receive the Friday Letters via e-mail.  If you do not want to get the Friday letter by e-mail, but would like to get other info like upcoming event by e-mail, you can submit your e-mail and check the box below.  All parents who register their e-mail will be entered into a drawing for a one year family pass for Miami Metro Zoo.   Simply fill out the form below, cut it and return to the front desk.  If you would like to receive the e-mail at more than one address, list all addresses and we will send the letter to each one.

FIU FAMILY SAFETY CLASS STARTS NEXT WEEK

If you have a child who is between the ages of 3 and 5 there is still time to sign up for the FREE class being offered by FIU.  All participants must turn in a completed registration form in order to participate.  Forms are available at the front desk.

Signing in and Out

PLEASE remember in order for us to make a lunch for your child, you must sign them in on the computer.  Please also remember to sign out at the end of the day.

WELCOME TO BROWN DOOR

After much anticipation we are thrilled to report that our new classroom is completed.  There are still a few spaces left in our PRE-K program in you have friends who are interested.  I would like to thank all the teachers and support staff in the school who helped to make the transition to our new class so successful.

PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT LETTER ON THE BACK OF THIS PAPER, IT CAN CHANGE THE LIFE OF A FAMILY WHO NEEDS OUR HELP.

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If you are interested in getting your Friday Letter via e-mail, please fill out this form and turn it in to the front desk:

Child’s Name:______________________________________     Class___________________________

E-mail address:_______________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PRINT 

______ Do not send the Friday Letter, but send other  _____ I wish to get the Friday Letter by email      

announcements to my email.                                             as well as other announcements.

 I am sending you this information because part of the goal of our school is to create caring citizens.  Here is a chance for you and your family to make a huge difference in the life of another family.  It is with a very heavy heart that I share this sad information with you.  Although the child mentioned below IS NOT from our school, the family certainly is in need of our help.  I have included the small mention from the Wednesday Miami Herald.

On Monday, Shamese Harbon picked up her Pre-K (4 year old) child and left him home with his grandmother and 12 month old baby brother for a nap.  She went to pick up her 4^th grade daughter from school and returned to find that her house had burned down.  Her mother and infant child were safe, but the 4 year old perished in the fire.  The family is left to deal with not only the loss of a child, but the loss of their home and all their belongings.  The Red Cross is providing a hotel for two days.  Kids For Kids Academy will be taking up a collection for the family which includes a boy and girl, both in elementary school, the mother, father, aunt, and grandmother who all lived in the home.  Mr. Davis and I will start the collection with $100.  We will collect for two weeks, please remember no donation is too small, a lot of small contributions will make a big difference.  If you are able, please send in either cash, checks made out to cash, or Publix, Walmart, or Target Gift cards to assist the family in starting over.  Let’s take this opportunity to count our blessings for all we have!

September 19, 2008

        This week the topic was “Our Family” and the letter F.  On Monday the children traced and colored the letter F, they decorated it with colorful feathers.  On Tuesday the children drew a family portrait and also practiced words with the letter F, they also drew corresponding pictures to the words, they did a great job!  On Wednesday they made a house of shapes and decorated people to represent the members of their family.  On Thursday the children made their family tree and finally on Friday with broccoli, tomatoes and ranch dressing they enjoyed making an edible family tree.  This week the children also enjoyed The Fun Bus, Spanish, French, music, and soccer classes.

        Next week our student of the week will be Benjamin Debiase.  Please remember to bring in a poster to share with the class.

 A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS

Please note on the last letter the dates for upcoming events were listed as October.  The dates below are the correct ones.

September 23:  Picture Day for Rainbow and VPK

September 24:  Picture Day ALL other classes, you many wear any clothing you wish.

September 12, 2008

          This week the children learned about community helpers and the letter C.  On Monday they traced and decorated the letter C and a cat.  On Tuesday, they painted a fire truck using the colors, red, black and yellow.  They all did a beautiful job.  On Wednesday, they drew on their journals what they would like to be when they grow up.  On Thursday, they made a chef hat and as a class, we made a graph of jobs of what the children would like to be when they grow up.  On Friday, the children pretended to be chefs and for the cooking activity they made crispy cheese balls.  During the week we also had Spanish class with Mrs. Luz, French with Mrs. Murielle, music with Mrs. Michelle, soccer with Coach Oscar and lots of fun on the fun bus.  We also started doing our daily news where each child on a different day is a “news reporter” and describes what they did the previous night and they draw a picture to show the class.

          Next week the student of the week will be Natalie Cruz, please bring a poster on Monday with pictures of the family to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

Thank you to all the families who attending our parent meeting and open house.  If you did not attend, please see someone at the front desk for a copy of the powerpoint presentation.   If you did not sign up for the FREE FAMILY SAFETY CLASS being put on by FIU, there are still a few spaces available.    Please note the following upcoming events:

September 17:  FREE MOBILE DENTAL UNIT (Miami Children’s Hospital)  If you would like your child to receive a FREE CHECK UP, please sign a consent form available at the front desk.

 September 18:  VPK TUITION DUE

 September 20:  Parents Night Out:  $25 for the first child and $15 for each additional child.  Drop off children in their Pajamas at 6 pm and pick up by 11 pm.  Reservations required, a sign up sheet will be at the front desk on Monday.

 September 23:  Picture Day for Rainbow and VPK, you many wear any clothing you wish.

September 5, 2008

                        This week the children had fun learning about the letter D and dinosaurs.  On Tuesday the children traced and colored the letter D, they also practiced their names and writing the word duck; the children also enjoyed having soccer with Coach Oscar and they also had Spanish with Mrs. Luz.  On Wednesday we all had fun exploring the Miami Children’s Museum during our fieldtrip.  On Thursday, they traced and decorated a dinosaur shape, had French with Mrs. Murielle and music with Mrs. Michelle.  Our cooking activity on Friday was to make dinosaur bones with peanut butter, powdered milk and graham crackers.   This week we also started our Spanish class. 

                        Student of the week:  ALEC BEERS the student of the week is asked to bring in a poster of themselves with their family to share with the class.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

Open house is currently scheduled for Wednesday, September 10^th at 7:00.  We will watch the weather to determine if it will need to be rescheduled.  Also please keep in mind that we follow the advisories of the Public School System.  In the event of weather emergency, will be open as long as it is determined safe for Public Schools to be open.  If Public Schools are closed, we will be closed as well.  Please be sure to read the back of this letter about something very exciting at our school.

August 29, 2008

         This week the topic was “All about me”. During the week the kids did activities such as: traced and decorated the letter “A” and an apple, the kids also drew a self portrait as free art and in their journals. We made a graph and found out that most of the students in our class have black hair. The children also practiced letter A words and drew pictures with the letter A. we also measured and weighed all of our friends in Orange Door. For our cooking activity we made short bread cookies with jam in the middle. They were delicious!  Thursday we had music with Miss Michelle and Soccer class starts on Tuesday for all the kids in the enrichment program.

          Please remember to bring back the family photos on the papers that were given to you so we can keep it for the kids at the quiet area. Also remember there is no school on Monday due to Labor Day.

August 22, 2008

                This short week we had fun getting to know our great new students.  The children drew a self-portrait, they did a great job!  They also made an orange hand print on their journals.  On Friday we made our very own butter which we did it as a group cooperation project, we enjoyed it with some crackers!  They are learning the “I care rules” and were introduced to the “I care cat”.  They are also learning new songs and their favorite one so far is “Dicky, dicky, Dinosaur”.  They are enjoying getting to know their new teachers, friends and were happy to see their old friends as well.

                We look forward to next week and we hope you have a great weekend!  Our theme for next week is “All about me” and the letter A.

A NOTE FROM MRS. DAVIS:

We would like to welcome back all our old families and sent a special welcome to our new ones.  We had a great turn out for the Family Fun Day.  If you were there, we took pictures that are on our website and you can take one copy off the pantry doors.  When you stop by your child’s class, please pick up the “My Family Page” and take it home.  Please return it to school as soon as possible filled with family photos.  We will be making a booklet to be kept in the Quiet Area for when students need time to reflect.  Sometimes having family photos is comforting to them.  If you have not gotten your copy of the school calendar, please see someone at the front desk.  The calendar has the food menus for the year as well as events that will take place at the school.  You will see on the calendar that the Oral Health Fee will be billed on August 25^th and must be paid by September 25^th to avoid late fees.  This fee, about $0.09 per day is to cover the cost of the disposable toothbrushes we use after lunch.    Also please mark your calendars now for our Open House on September 10^th.  The mandatory VPK parent meeting will take place at 7 pm followed by classroom visitations.  This is the only event we have all year that is not very “Kids Friendly”.  If it is possible to leave one parent at home with your child, it would be a better experience for everyone.

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