Home

About Us

Curriculum & Fees

Newsletter

Map & Directions

Newsletter

         Arcadia Episcopal Preschool

                 January 2012

                              From The Butterflies

Dear Butterfly Parents,           

   Happy New Year and welcome to 2012! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. All of the children did a wonderful job at the Christmas program. It was very nice to see all of the families there. I would like to thank you all for thinking of me and giving me Christmas gifts. I am very touched by your kindness and generosity.            

   In December the Butterflies enjoyed their class Christmas party and had fun learning about winter, Christmas and Jesus’ birth. They had so much fun sprinkling glitter on their angel ornaments for their Christmas presents for their families. We hope you like the gift. Moreover, they enjoyed making Christmas ornaments and pretend Christmas cookies with play dough.           

    There will be a big change happening starting January 9^th.  In the parent folders there was a letter from Ms. Marie about Ms. Marci’s resignation. I will be teaching in the Dragonfly class starting January 9^th. Ms. Alison will be the Butterfly teacher. For those of you who do not know Ms. Alison, she filled my position as the Butterfly teacher during my maternity leave. She is a wonderful and caring teacher and loves working with children. The children love to play with her as well. I will miss teaching the Butterflies but I will see them during outdoor play time and when we combine in the afternoon. It has been a joy teaching and playing with my Butterflies.                       

Have A Blessed New Year,                                   

Ms. Frannie

                          From The Seahorses

Dear Seahorse Parents,           

  The last year seemed to fly by! It is already January and a new year is here. December was a joyful month full of holiday celebration. We learned about the birth of Christ and talked about how our families celebrate at home. The children had the chance to study snow in our science center and sing Christmas songs as we counted the days until Christmas. I would like to thank all of you for your generous gifts. You are so thoughtful and kind.           

  In January the children will learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the importance of equality and tolerance. January’s theme is also health workers. The class will talk about nurses and doctors and how they help us and what we can do to be healthy. New concepts about health workers will be introduced through dramatic play as the children act out roles as well as through art projects and musical activities.           

  The children will also continue working on problem solving and turn taking skills through puzzles, games and circle time activities. As transition time to the Dolphin class grows closer, it is important that your child participates in circle time. Our class circle time begins after morning snack. Having your child at school by 9:30 a.m. will help them acclimate to the morning which will bring them greater success throughout the day.           

   If you have any long pants that you would like to donate to the school for use as extra clothes, it would be greatly appreciated.                                   

Happy New Year,                                     

  Ms. Beth

From The Assistant Director

Hello Everyone           

    I hope that your new year is off to a happy and healthy start. The teachers have been teaching the children how to cover their coughs and sneezes with the inside of their arms. A lot of them are doing well at this. The children are also asked to wash their hands after blowing their noses. It is important to teach these healthy habits when the children are young. Hopefully, there will not be too many sick children or staff this season.           

   I hope you all enjoyed the holidays. This month there will be parent-teacher conferences. Please sign up so you can speak with your child’s teacher and find out how your child is progressing. You can also ask what developmental skills they need extra help with.            

   I would like to thank all of the parents who gave me a Christmas present. You were very thoughtful and I appreciate them all. Thank you also to those who gave the staff yummy goodies to share. We always welcome food around here!           

   In closing, I remind you to please label your child’s clothes with their names, especially jackets. There are several jackets in the school which the staff does not know who they belong to.           

   I wish everyone a wonderful and Happy New Year!                                                Ms. Rita

                         From The Dragonflies

Dear Dragonfly Parents,           

   The Dragonflies had a lot of excitement in December learning about Christmas and the birth of Jesus. We started the month by practicing for our Christmas program.  The Dragonflies did a great job memorizing the songs and I am so proud of each and every one of them, they did a fantastic job getting up there on that huge stage the night of the show. Thank you so much for practicing the lyrics at home with your children.           

   Besides our Christmas program we also spent a majority of the month learning about Christmas and the birth of Jesus. We had a lot of fun making ornaments for our class tree, painting snowflakes for our winter bulletin board and making angels and other decorations for our classroom. The children also loved making their presents and cards for their parents. They were so excited to give them to their parents and could not wait to take them home to share with them.           

   In January we will spend time learning a bit about winter at the beginning of the month. We will be playing in are pretend “snow”, making more winter centered art activities, and work on turn taking through various memory games. We will also be welcoming a new Dragonfly to our class as Brooklynn from the Butterfly class joins us.           

   In closing I would like to thank everyone who gave me a gift at Christmas, I appreciate your generosity very much. I would also like to take the opportunity to say good bye and thank you to the parents and children that I have had the absolute privilege to teach over the years. I will be moving to Northern California in January and so my last day at Arcadia Episcopal Preschool will be on Friday, January 6. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to teach your children. I will treasure that experience always. I would also like to say thank you to my fellow staff members for teaching me so much along the way. I will miss all of you tremendously.                                   

Happy New Year,                                        

 Ms. Marci

                             From The Dolphins

Dear Dolphin Parents,           

   Happy New Year! We hope you had a peaceful Christmas. Thank you to all the parents for coming to our Christmas program. The children were so excited to perform their songs and poem. The Dolphins enjoyed all the food at our class Christmas party. Thank you to everyone who contributed something to our party.           

   The Dolphins will resume letters of the week and homework on Monday, January 9^th. The letters for the month are “L”, “M”, “N” and “O”. Our letter of the week share day is on Friday.            Parent conferences for the Dolphins are January 9^th through 11^th. We look forward to meeting with you.           

   Our themes for the month of January are the New Year, winter, and Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday. For our winter theme we will talk about the change of weather. The children will cut out snowflakes out of paper, make snowmen and play with snow. While learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. we will read books about how he wanted equality for all people. Mother Julie will have a special Chapel story for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.           

   We wish you the best in 2012.                       

 Ms. Kim and Ms. Debbie

                                  From the Director

 Dear Parents,         

   The Christmas program was the highlight of the month for us. The children gave a wonderful performance and I think everyone enjoyed the program. Parents are welcome to give feedback and suggestions. We had many solo artists performing this year. None of the children cried during the performance, that was a first for us. Thank you for coming and I hope you enjoyed it.           

   Please make sure that if you have not completed a new emergency form for 2012 that we have one very soon to update your child’s folder. Thank you for your cooperation.           

   This month we have scheduled parent-teacher conferences. I hope that you have been able to schedule a conference that works for you. If there is a time that would work better, please ask me to reschedule.           

   Children need to learn how to make good choices. One of the ways to help is to choose the choices for them. Typically, when there is a power struggle, the teachers offer choices. When you offer two positive choices, children generally forget about their struggle and choose one of the two. For example, “you can clean up your toys or we could clean them up together. Which would you like to do?” You may need to repeat this step more than once, if it does not work, you may need to tell them, “That is not one of the choices, pick one or I will have to choose for you.” Children still feel powerful. They are still in control of what they do: however, now it is between the limits you have provided.           

   Happy New Year! I hope that all of our families had a healthy and safe holiday season. I pray for the New Year that God continues to bless the church and the preschool and all the families in it.                                   

 In God’s Service,                                       

Ms. Marie