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December is upon us already. It's a time for good cheer and happiness. Our 11th annual Christmas Craft Faire, at the Freeport Campus, will be held on Saturday, December 6. It will begin at 10:00 AM and will end at 1:00 PM, or when the crafts have all been sold, whichever happens first. Please have the children at the Freeport campus by 9:30 AM, with their lunches and a small amount of change in a box to help expedite the sales. If you have a card table you would like to loan us for the day, please bring it in early on Saturday, or drop it off when you pick up your child on Friday. Be sure to put your name on everything (tables, lunches, money boxes). Please encourage all friends and family to attend! We would like to thank all the parents who came into the classrooms and spent their valuable time helping the children make their crafts.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held at each of the campuses Thursday, December 11, and Friday, December 12, except for Anne's class. The Adolescent conferences are scheduled for January 19. Please be prompt, and keep in mind that we are following a planned schedule in order to meet with all of the parents. There will be 45 minutes allowed for the Elementary conferences and 20 minutes for each Pre-school conference. School will be closed on these two days, however, daycare arrangements are as follows: Children who are in full time daycare - no charge. Children here only for the conference time - no charge. For all others in daycare beyond the conference time, there will be the usual charge of $3.00 per hour. If you would like to meet with Souad regarding your child's progress in French, you can make an appointment for Thursday at the Freeport Campus. If you have not already signed up with your child's teacher, times have been assigned. Lost and Found items will be available to be picked up during conferences. Any unclaimed items will be given away after the conferences.
December 15-19 will be the week for elementary secret pals. We will begin on Monday and have the finale on Friday. For new parents, secret pals exchange secret gifts with a $1.00 limit (pencils, erasers, and Craft Faire items make great gifts) Monday through Thursday, and on Friday they exchange their final gift (a $5.00 limit) at the secret pal circle. Please label the gifts on Monday through Thursday, "To: _______" and on the Friday gift, label it "From: _______." That way we can pass the gifts around the circle on Friday as part of the surprise.
The Pre-school will have a gift exchange on Friday. Please have your child bring in one Golden Book (8 in. x 6 1/2 in. size). The books cost approximately $1.25 each and can be purchased for as little as $.59 at Mac Frugals. Please bring the books in on Monday, December 15, wrapped and without a name tag. On Friday, the children will close their eyes and choose a book to take home.
Thanksgiving was quite an experience at all three campuses. This year the Pre-school and Riverside campuses each celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking Stone Soup and cornbread. The Pre-school would like to thank Zoe's mom and Amarit's mom for helping out with the Thanksgiving feast preparations, as well as their interns, Machiko and Galen. Sara also helped out at the Riverside campus as their intern. They prepared a Stone Soup from all the different vegetables brought in by the children. We were not sure what would show up to go in the pot, but when it was all mixed together, it was great. The story Stone Soup was also read. The Riverside students made their own place mats with a turkey theme for their own place setting, napkins with potato prints, and pilgrim and Indian hats. The Freeport campus started the day with two (13 & 17 pound) turkeys and all the trimmings, including stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn bread, string bean casserole, tossed salad, and cranberry sauce to go with the meal prepared by Anne's students. Anastasia's class prepared a Stone Soup and cornbread for the feast as well. They also made turkey place mats for everyone. Heidi's class helped out with all of the preparations for the meal. The Pre-school and Riverside interns helped with their respective Stone Soup meals in the morning and made it back just in time for their own meal. They did a wonderful job and were greatly appreciated. While they were gone, the rest of the class prepared the balance of the feast. All of the children looked so special by dressing up for the event. We told the children this was a dress up occasion, and that dresses were required for girls and ties for boys. They all looked very nice. The girls had to wait as the boys took turns escorting them to their seats. This was quite a day for everyone. The Pre-school started serving their soup around 11:00, Riverside at 11:30, and Freeport at 12:00. What a day! A very special thanks to everyone who helped make this day so special for the children.
The Pre-school Christmas Program will be held in the Chapel at 6:00 PM. The classes have been combined into one performance on Thursday, December 18. The children will be singing songs and looking adorable. This is another one of those Kodak moments for the entire family. Please enter and exit from the rear doors of the Chapel. On Friday, December 19, each class will have their own Christmas party. Each teacher will have a sign-up sheet for the parents who would like to send in special treats.
We invite all our parents to take photographs of the children on special occasions such as field trips, Christmas performances, or any other special days so we can put them in our yearbook. We prefer 4x6 glossy prints, but we welcome any pictures we can get.
Again, as a reminder: Please call ahead of time if you need to talk to your child's teacher. Porch (both before and after school) is a rather hectic time for a discussion, and also keeps other parents waiting who are there to drop off or pick up their children. The staff would really appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
At the Freeport Campus, if you are picking up your child during the school day, please check in with the office. A student will be sent to get your child. This way we can ensure your child's class will be disrupted minimally and that the staff knows your child left for the day.
If you have any old toys, board games, or other games your children are not using anymore, and you would like to make room in your closets for all of those new Christmas presents, we have a solution. Our daycare areas could use a re-supply of new things for the children to do, so the children would appreciate any donations. Thank You!
In January, we will be putting a list of "Did you know..." items in the monthly newsletter. Very often, we hear statements like, "Oh, I had no idea you did that with the students." This will just be a bit of an overview for parents to see all of the wonderful things our children do throughout the school year.
Just a reminder about the Questionnaires which went out with the weekly newsletter several weeks ago. Please return these to the school as soon as possible. The ones we have received back so far have been quite informative. We hope that everyone will take a few minutes to give feedback to the school.
As a reminder on payments, they are due on the 1st and are considered late if received after the 5th. In January, we will not be back until the 5th, so please mail your payments over the Holiday. Thank you.
We would like to congratulate the Mercado family. Christian has a new sister, Michaela, 8.5 pounds and 21.5 inches, born the first week of November. Congratulations!
Since it is that time again, our Federal Tax ID number can be found on page 3 of the Parent Handbook.
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Dec. 6 |
Sat. |
Christmas Craft Faire |
10:00 - 1:00 |
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Dec. 11-12 |
Thurs./Fri. |
Parent Teacher Conferences |
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Dec. 15 |
Mon. |
Begin secret pal exchange |
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Dec. 18 |
Thurs. |
Pre-school Christmas Performance |
6:00 PM |
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Dec. 19 |
Fri. |
Freeport Campus Parent Luncheon |
12:00 NOON |
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Dec. 19 |
Fri. |
Last day of school, secret pal parties |
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Dec. 22 |
Mon. |
Begin Christmas Holiday |
NO DAY CARE |
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Jan. 2 |
Fri. |
End Christmas Holiday |
NO DAY CARE |
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Jan. 5 |
Mon. |
Return to Class |
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Jan. 6 |
Tues. |
Begin Sports Term |
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Teacher |
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Anne, Heidi, & Anastasia |
Tues. December 16 |
9:30 AM |
Greenhaven Country Place |
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Anastasia & Ranji |
Wed. December 17 |
2:00 PM |
James Monroe Manor |
The school and staff would also like to wish all of the parents and students a very happy holiday season.