Hello Preschool Families!!   

I hope that you had a wonderful week!  

This week:

• ­ We talked about Buildings. We walked around the school and took pictures of the different building. We talked about how the buildings were special.
• Talked about the color yellow. We looked for yellow things in our classroom and outside as well as looked at who is wearing yellow.
• Talked about the number two. How do we write 2? Can we find 2 object?  Is there a poem to remember how to write the number 2?
• We worked on the Letters, Oo, Qq, Pp and Bb. We practiced writing them, building them with wood and writing them in the sand.

Next Week:

• ­  ­ Letters: Rr, Kk, Aa, Vv
• The number: Three 3
•   The color: Green
•   The Shape: Triangle 
•   Sight word: The
• Making our first trip to Makerspace
• Starting a new unit on Buildings. Our Focus this week is: Why do we need buildings? What happens inside buildings?

Important Dates:

Dec.1st: Kindergarten Enrollment begins

Dec. 8th: Starpower Reward: Dance Party

Dec. 12th: All School Movement

Dec. 15th: PTO-Sponsored PJ Day! Bring a $1.00 donation.

Dec. 15th: Winter Celebrations

Dec.19th -30th: Winter Break

  Please remember that the weather is changing for the colder side to make sure that your child is properly dressed for being outside. Please also check the spare clothes in your child’s backpack to make sure that they are for the right weather. We will be going outside unless it is below 20°F or unsafe weather conditions.

Spark! Toy Drive: Help us put a smile on the face of a child! Drop off any new, unwrapped book or toy from 11/7/16 to Friday, 12/16/16 at Spark! Discovery Preschool, at 555 Eighth Street, Frederick, from 7:30 am – 4 pm, Monday through Friday. Staff will help to distribute items to children in need from our school at their homes before the holidays.  We are also in need of wrapping paper, tape, and bows.

Help us to TAKE ACTION in our local community! Consider having your workplace help in this community service project too!

Shoe Drive, Sponsored by PTO!!!   Do you have any outgrown, old, no longer worn shoes? Bring them to Spark! Discovery Preschool. We are working with a company called Funds2.org who helps get the shoes we collect to developing countries. We are collecting: tennis shoes/sneakers, heels, boots, sandals, flats, dress, infant, dance shoes—all sizes, all styles!  We will start collecting on Oct 28th! Bring your shoes to Trick -or-treat street at the school!!! The shoe drive runs until January 31, 2017.

INFORMATION ABOUT A SECOND YEAR of Preschool AT SPARK, for children who do not meet age requirements for kindergarten

It is already time to be thinking about school for next year—whether you have a child leaving Spark! Discovery Preschool to move on to kindergarten, if you have a child staying for another year, or if you have an additional child that is going to enroll.

Returning Tuition-Based Families: For families who pay tuition with children returning for a second year of preschool, we will be sending home tuition applications in early December for you to fill out and return to our office, along with a $65 non-refundable deposit for the 2017-2018 school year, so we can hold your child’s place for their second year prior to opening up enrollment for any new families. Return this by Friday, December 16, 2016, to the school.  

A goal would be to provide returning children programming with the same teacher the second year so as to provide consistency and continuity, unless there is a preference to try something new. This may not be possible, in some cases, as your child’s teacher may not offer all the possible schedules.  As a returning family to Spark! Discovery Preschool, a second enrollment packet will not be needed since your child was enrolled this year. Tuition rates for the ’17-’18 school year have not yet been communicated to us at this point, but when we have them, we will be sure to communicate this to you. 

Returning Families with Children with Special Needs:  For families with children with an Individualize Education Plan (IEP) through Special Education, we will be sending home a note in early December for you to confirm that your child is planning on returning to Spark! Discovery Preschool for the 2017 – 2018 school year. Return this by Friday, December 16, 2016, to the school. As always with children with special needs, no deposit or tuition is required.  As a returning family to Spark! Discovery Preschool, a second enrollment packet will not be needed since your child was enrolled this year.

Returning Families with children who receive a Scholarship: For children who currently have a scholarship for their 3-year-old, and who have a child turning 4 (by October 1, 2017), these families maybe eligible for a state-funded program, called the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP).  We will be sending home CPP applications with these families in early December so we can get your child’s CPP application in place prior to opening this process up to families currently not enrolled.  There are limited numbers of CPP placements at Spark! Discovery Preschool. Return this by Friday, December 16, 2016, to the school.  To qualify for CPP, an hour-long screening/ family interview is required; these will be scheduled and conducted by school district CPP screening staff at Spark! sometime after the new year, with the dates to be determined.  The CPP office staff determine eligibility. Spark! Discovery Preschool staff members do not complete scheduling, screening, and do not make decisions on eligibility for CPP.  As always with children who qualify, no deposit or tuition is required.  As a returning family to Spark! Discovery Preschool, a second enrollment packet will not be needed since your child was enrolled this year.

Returning Wrap Around families:  Stacey Petering, our Community Schools Manager for extended-day childcare, will be sending home information regarding the application and deposit required for returning families in December as well, so that you can reserve a placement for your child for next year. 

INFORMATION ABOUT NEW SIBLINGS ENTERING PRESCHOOL AT SPARK!

ADDING SIBLINGS: We will also be working to register and enroll siblings, along with other new families, from Monday, January 2 – Tuesday, January 17, 2017.  An application, enrollment packet, and deposit are required to complete this process.  Sibling applications are treated with a priority so that we can help families with multiple children have an easier time of organizing preschool and childcare.  Families need to make sure to include that they have a sibling on their paperwork so we can keep them together and try to make their schedules as aligned as possible to make transportation easy.

Please call school at 720-652-7906 if you have any questions about registration and enrollment for preschool for next school year! 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mrs. Tori