Dear Parents,
Welcome to Seaside Preschool 2015. We enjoyed seeing so many of you at the Open House. The teachers felt positive about the beginning of this new school year and already can feel your support. Thank you for taking the time to come out and see us.
TEACHING THEMES AND CONCEPTS
Our theme this month is Getting to Know Me. We will focus on several major concepts and skills that will include the five senses, colors, matching, and textures. The theme includes family, friends, emotions, and knowing first and last name.
Cathy will begin the phonics approach to letters and their sounds. You are encouraged to always go over the papers that the children take home showing what they did that day.
We are fortunate to have Miss Cathy offer the Kindermusic Program again this year. The unit from the program that she will be using to base her music is called “Marvelous Me”.
We focus on all values all year long, but we are especially focusing on the values of Following Rules and Friendship this month. Any reinforcement that you can offer at home is always appreciated.
This year, we will focus on the theme, “Fruits of the Spirit”. Each month we will focus on a “spiritual fruit” exemplified by a different Bible story each week. This month we will focus on Love. The Bible verse this month is John 13:34, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB
Several flyers are being sent home today of available books and materials for young children from Scholastic Book Services. Look at these with your child. If you choose to order, please return the order form from each flyer from which you made your selection with your payment. One check for the total order is all that is necessary. It is preferred that you pay by check, made payable to Scholastic Book Services. The deadline for orders is Monday, September 14. Thank you in advance for your support of this project as it allows us to build our own supply of books as well as help to instill a love of books in your child.
NEEDED SIGNATURES
As part of our church’s Safe Sanctuaries policy, we are asking that you sign the sheet on your child’s teacher door that gives permission for your child’s photo to be displayed on our bulletin board. We occasionally have opportunities for our school to be highlighted in the Beacon, and there may be a photo taken of the children in a group. Please let us know if this is acceptable to you by signing
the sheet. In addition, please share your e-mail address with your child’s teacher. This will make it much easier in notifying you of last minute changes in the schedule due to weather or to send you a reminder of an upcoming event. As a side note, remember that you can view our newsletter on seasideumc.org. Then just click on preschool. Our pastors, Mary Jane and Scott Wilson-Parsons have also offered to send you a weekly update of church news which may include news about our preschool. Thank you to them for doing this as it further unites us with the church and communicates to our members the events of our preschool.
DROP OFF AND PICK UP
To avoid parking and for safety reasons, children can be dropped off and picked up outside the entrance to our preschool wing from 8:55 until 9:05 A.M. and again from 12:00 until 12:15 P.M. There will be a teacher to welcome each child and make sure that he or she gets into the classroom safely. At the end of the day, the teachers will escort your child safely to your car. It is appreciated when the parent can help his/her child out of or into the child’s car seat. This eliminates a liability issue and helps to get children into school or on their way home more efficiently. Any child who is staying for lunch will be picked up inside the building unless otherwise notified. You are always welcome to bring your child into the building yourself, but we are hoping that this new system enhances the safety of our environment. We will begin this practice immediately.
LUNCH BUNCH
Lunch bunch will be Monday through Wednesday from 12:00 until 1:00. The $4 fee may be placed inside the lunch box. Any change will be placed in the lunch box. Lunch Bunch will begin next Monday. Please be sure to mark your child’s lunch box so that he or she gets the lunch that you prepared. Sometimes there is a favorite lunch box design and we may have three or four children with the same design. Please be prompt in picking your child up at 1:00.
PARENT HANDBOOK
You will also find the Parent Handbook that explains our policies. Included in this handbook are the explanation of the Lunch Bunch Program and the year’s calendar of important events and days that the school is closed or is having a special program. In addition to the closings mentioned in the calendar, understand that we will follow the Brunswick County School decisions of any whole day closings due to inclement weather. If you have any questions, ask your child’s teacher for further explanation. If there are any changes to the policies listed in the Handbook, you will be notified before the changes take place.
CHANGE OF CLOTHES
Please send into your teacher a change of clothes in a baggie labeled with your child’s name. We invariably need to make a change, and the extra clothes will be welcome. This should include pants, socks, and underpants. Thank you.
SCHOOL CLOSING for COUNTRY FAIR
As the calendar states, school will be closed on Thursday, September 17. If you have ever experienced the Country Fair at our church, you know that there is an entire day prior to the fair for setting up the different areas. You are invited to attend the fair on Friday and/or Saturday, September 18 – 19.
TUITION PAYMENTS
All tuition monies should be placed in the gray box on our book shelf in the hall. The money is collected and deposited on a daily basis at the beginning of each month and no money is left in the box over the weekend. We will be enforcing the $10 late payment if tuitions are turned in later than the second full week of school. If it is necessary to pay the tuition later than that, please let me know so that arrangements can be made. Without my knowing, I will have to charge a late fee. A reminder that this year’s tuition is $190 per month.
WELCOME to OUR NEW TEACHER
We want to officially welcome Jennifer Gerald to our preschool. She is the lead teacher in the three year old class and is highly qualified and enthusiastic about working with our children. Based on referrals and a stellar resume, we are very fortunate to have her with us. I am sure that the children will enjoy getting to know her and working with her. Please welcome her to our school when you see her.
MISCELLANEOUS INSERTS
In addition to the handbook, the newsletter, and the Scholastic Book flyers you will find two other inserts in your child’s folder. One is a child’s identification booklet. It seems to be a good idea to do this for your child and keep it in a secure place. The other is a flyer about Preschool soccer offered in North Myrtle Beach. If you have an interest, there is a number on the sheet for you to call.
We all look forward to getting to know you and your child better this year. We are very blessed to have him or her with us. We will do our best to make it a wonderful year for all of us.
Sincerely,
Donna Russell
Cathy Milstead
Jennifer Gerald
Sherry Marshall
Jean Francis
Sarah Beauvais