Dear Northminster Parents and Friends:
Your children are getting ready for Valentine’s Day. They will be learning songs about love, being polite and loving one another. All classes celebrate Valentine’s Day and have special instructions for you for making valentines. Please check with your child’s teacher.
I would like to take the opportunity to formally introduce Northminster Presbyterian Church’s new Pastor, Jay Shirley. He formally came on as the Pastor this month. Pastor Jay has been down to greet you a few times this month. The preschool is very excited to have Pastor Jay here and we will be starting up Chapel again this month! We will be going to the sanctuary 2 days a month to sing songs and listen to a story. Chapel this month is February 6th and 7th at 9:30 a.m. You are welcome to join us!
School will be closed on Friday, February 16, 2018 and Monday, February 19, 2018 in observance of Lincoln and Washington birthdays.
School will also be closed on Friday, March 2 for professional growth. The entire staff will be re-certifying in CPR.
Our enrichment program this month, courtesy of the Parent Group, is two animal shows by The Living Coast. The theme is animal movement. Those performance dates are February 21, 2018 and February 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. in the fireside room. Please check with your child’s teacher on which time they will be going.
The Parent Group meeting will be Friday, February 9, 2018 in the fireside room at noon, lunch is provided. Please joins us!
Tuesday, February 20th is priority registration for children and siblings of children currently enrolled in the program. We will be sending home registration packets for summer fun registration and fall registration. If you have a new sibling coming into the program, please stop by the office and get a registration form and new child packet. Your children have priority in the program, but please keep in mind your forms need to be in the office no later than March 1, 2018. We have past-priority registration March 1, 2018 and open enrollment March 5, 2018. Any spots available in the program on those days will be taken by new children.
While every effort will be made to honor teacher requests, the office reserves the right to fill classes based on age appropriateness, child dynamics and boy to girl ratios. Also, please keep in mind that although your child has a spot in the preschool, it is still first come first served regarding how many days a week you would like.
As cold and flu season is now in full swing, I would like to remind parents that if your child is sick with a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea you must keep them home until they
are symptom free without medication for 24 hours. Also, if your child has an excessive runny nose, you need to keep them home. A child, whose nose needs to be wiped consistently in an hour, constitutes excess. This applies even if the doctor states the child is not contagious. It is very hard to keep toys and hands clean when the nose is constantly running. We teach the children clean hands and noses while at preschool, but we cannot be at the ready with a Kleenex in hand with one child, let alone multiple children. This is for the health and safety of all the children as well as the staff. Thank you for your understanding.
I would also like to request that no toys from home be brought to school to play with in the classroom or the playground (this excludes the sharing box/bag and lovies for nap). Please keep them at home or in your car. It is very difficult to keep track of special toys that inevitably get lost on the playground and in the classroom. It also creates problems when those toys are not shared. Thank you for your understanding.
Thank you to everyone who donated items, spent time sorting and even shopped at our rummage sale. We were able to raise $1000.00. More importantly, we were also able to help very important charities M.O.M. (military outreach) and CCSA (Christian agency in Clairemont that helps Clairemont families) with the left over items.
Please remember to sign your child in and out each day. This is a licensing requirement. We also need to ask you to please write the times legibly. Please also remember to sign your child up for lunch bunch and extended care even if you are on contract. The sign-up sheets are used to make a master list for our lunch and after care staff. Thank you!
I wanted to thank all the parents who have signed up for snack this year. The reason we have snack sign up is because we are limited on what we can serve 95 children a day and this gives you the opportunity to introduce a favorite snack of your child to the other children. It also gives you the opportunity to go shopping with your child, pick out a healthy snack and make it into a fun teachable moment for you and your child. It is completely voluntary but very much appreciated! Remember to represent 2 food groups for your snack.
Your children are a precious gift to us and we love the opportunity to teach them and care for them every day!
Shelli Harder
Director
