Dear Families,
Happy New Year, and welcome to the recent snow fall. It was small, but mighty in the early childhood world. While waking up to some fresh powder can certainly be a nuisance for many, to children it is a gift. The playground is always more inviting in the winter when there is snow to roll in, sled down, build snow people with, and even an occasional snowball to toss. After all, dressing in snow clothes takes a lot of energy, patience, and coordination for young children, so the recent weather can absolutely help to make it that much more exciting once you finally get outside!
CONFERENCES & REGISTRATION
We hope you enjoyed reading about your child’s growth and development during this first half of the school year and meeting with their teachers on Conference Day. It is always exciting to share the growth and many successes that have taken place since September, as well as perhaps even creating some goals together. Believe it or not, registration for next year is already underway, and information packets have been distributed to families. Please be sure to get us your Registration form by the end of this week to be included in the in-house priority. Feel free to stop by the front desk with questions, clarification on program choices, or if you need to pick up another form. We are hosting a brief Kindergarten/Pre-Kindergarten Information Night on Thursday, January 31st at 6:30 PM (snow date: February 7th) for those of you who are considering and may want to know more about both of these programs. Please leave your name at the front desk if you plan on attending to help us better gauge and prepare for attendees.
FORWARD MOTION
We are still working out final details to our impending and temporary relocation. We know the details are very important to families, and we are making every effort to be able share this plan very soon, both in writing and during an informational evening.
SQUARE 1 ART
Be on the look-out for an exciting and meaningful fundraiser that is coming your way. Children are putting their skill and artistic talents into artwork that we will be sharing with you in the coming weeks. You will then have the opportunity to have their work put onto products such as mugs, note cards, tote bags, and the like. Take a peak in the display window that is just inside the front entrance for the many different ways in which you could show off your child’s artistry. All products will be distributed in time for Mother’s Day. Being a non-profit, our budget is breakeven, and tuition does not fully cover the cost of attending GCS. We look for meaningful ways to close that gap and always appreciate your participation. The GCS Annual Fund is another opportunity if you would prefer to simply donate. Please see details by clicking on this link www.grotoncommunityschool.org/annual-fund-donation/.
TECH TIME
We are incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts for an extremely generous $10,000 grant for technology consultation and iPads for our teaching teams and classrooms! In order to utilize our new resources as efficiently as possible, we are using a mobile device management system to coordinate our iPads. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Emily and Andrew Davis for volunteering their time, efforts, and expertise in coordination of this system, and for loading our iPads with our selections for educational apps for children. Our goal is to expose children to interactive learning apps in a balanced and thoughtful way. Classroom iPads are helping teachers in their observation and assessment of children and communications with families, as well as enhancing our curriculum.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations to the Snow Family on the birth of their daughter, Scarlett. Mom, Jessica, is a past Parent and the GCS Board Treasurer.
THANK YOU!
Thank you, Emily Davis, for the snowman & winter wreath that adorns our front entrance this month. We’d also like to thank Amber Lynde, who helped Kate Engstrom last month with greens & ornaments for the planter.
We’d like to thank the GCS Board of Directors for providing snacks and lunch during the week of January 14th for teachers who were busy writing Children’s Observations.
Thank you to our refreshment volunteers this month who contributed food & beverages for the January Trustee meeting and for our Parent/Teacher Conference Day lunch: Megan Black, Donna Haggerty, Leslie Howard, Elizabeth Ly, Tracy Martino, Shelby Morris, Stephanie Morrison, Hannah Pugh, Katie Quinn, and Courtney Schmitt.
Thanks to the following families for their delicious contributions of holiday snacks for the staff: The Anderson/Romano family, Wayne Grinkas, Debbie MacDonald, Katy Niose, the Quinn family, and the Spar family. A special thanks to the Culley family for providing lunch for the staff before the holidays.
We’d also like to thank families for various contributions made to the school: The Keydel and Steltzer families for toys, the McAdams family for recyclables, the Moeser family for math & literacy games, the Narayan family for puzzles & games, the Petelle family for spare clothing, the Ramsay-Gudelot family for books, Rochefort family for spare sneakers, and to Shaelyn Sweenie for a book for the BIG Room and Mary Wills for a large collection of Big Books for our Children’s Library.
Until next time,
Linda Kosinski, Director
DATES TO REMEMBER
Thursday, January 31st K/Pre-K Information Night – 6:30 PM
(Snow Date: Thursday, February 7th)
Friday, February 1st 2019-20 Registration Forms Due
Feb. 18th – 22nd Winter Recess – NO SCHOOL
