August, 2011 Edition 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sharing Times

Kirkland Preschool

802 – 2^nd St., Kirkland, WA. 98033

Carolyn Wirkman, Director & Editor

www.kirklandpreschool.org

wirkmanc@frontier.com

425-822-4450

CALENDAR

PARENT INFORMATION NIGHTS – 7:15 – 8:30:

Wed. 9/7 is for Tues-Wed -Thurs class (4 to 5-1/2 yr. olds)

Thur. 9/8 is for Tues-Thurs class and Mon-Wed-Fri class (3 to young 4 year olds)

***** Parent Information Nights – 7:15 – 8:30 – at the preschool (802 – 2^nd St.)

Please join us to meet the teachers and other parents and to receive your school handbook. You also sign up for your child’s special before-school visit and for the in-class parent helping days, so please bring your personal calendar.

Sorry, no child care is available.

If you are parents of siblings in different classes, you are welcome at both or either evenings. You can pick whichever is most important or convenient, although each class has important unique information for you.

Week of 9/12 Each child and parent comes for a special before-school visit with his or her teacher. Appointments are made at the Parent Information Night.
< 2^nd of the 10 tuition payments due, please>

Week of 9/19 Classes begin.

Sat. 10/8 Our first Kids’Time playdate at school (see article below & look for special
sign-up information closer to the date)

Thurs-Fri 10/27-28 School closed for our Teacher In-Service Days. (more calendar info below)

Carolyn’s comments…..

WELCOME!

We are very glad you have chosen our school for your child’s early education. We can’t wait to greet our old friends and to begin new relationships with families who are just joining us. We hope you feel welcomed into our community with our amazing teachers and our overall philosophy of hands-on, creative learning and respect for all. We also hope you will welcome us into your community which is full of special family traditions, favorite things and special people. Together, we can learn so much. And after all, without you and your children, we wouldn’t even be a school community!

Please join us at the early September Parent Meeting to start building your sense of belonging. Plan on a lively, interactive evening with opportunities to meet parents in your class, to meet your teachers, and to start learning how to make this a successful school year for you and your child. This is also the time to sign up for the following week’s special in-school visit for your child.

See you in September!

PLANNING YOUR FAMILY CALENDAR…

Here is a general school calendar so you may plan vacations, etc. As the year progresses, each class shares specific calendars with information about class topics, projects, field trips and goals.

MCj04042890000[1] 2011 – 2012

6/20 First of 10 tuition payments due, please

9/7 TWTh parents meeting, 7:15-8:30

9/8 TTh parents & MWF parents meeting, 7:15-8:30

Week of 9/12 Family visits at school;

2^nd of 10 tuition payments due, please

9/19 MWF class 1^st day of school

9/20 TWTh class 1^st day of school

9/20 TTh class 1^st day of school

10/27-28 SCHOOL CLOSED for Teacher

In-Service Days

11/11 School closed for Veterans’ Day

11/24 & 25 School closed for Thanksgiving

12/19–1/2 School closed for winter break

1/16 School closed for Martin Luther King Day

2/13-20 School closed for mid-winter break & Presidents’ Day

(note: this is different than LWSD)

4/2–6 School closed for spring break

5/28 School closed for Memorial Day

6/7 Last day for TWTh class & TTh class

6/8 Last day for MWF class

HOW DO WE START SCHOOL?

My grandchildren love butterfly houses at the zoo and science center. They are fascinated with those fluttery wings going all different directions. Usually, there is gentle classical music in the background, and the whole effect is soothing and peaceful.

But remember that nervous, funny feeling in the pit of your stomach when you start something new? Knowing what to expect from any new situation goes a long way to easing those other kinds of “butterflies”. At Kirkland Preschool, we ease everyone into our school community so all can feel successful, even if soothing and peaceful doesn’t seem to quite describe typical preschoolers.

So, we start with our evening Parent Meetings for each class. When you come, you get to meet other families and the teachers in your class. We go over some basic information so you know our school routines and culture. This is the basis for feeling like you are “in the know”. It’s always awkward when a family doesn’t get some important piece of information and then feels left out of the loop.

Special note to our returning families: THIS EVENING IS FOR YOU, TOO! We have lots of important new information to share and besides, we miss you! And, you are our most excellent resources for the new families so we want you all to meet and start developing friendships.

Also at this evening meeting, families sign up for short family visits which take place the week of 9/12, so bring your personal calendar that night.

Then at the family visit, your child gets the chance to meet one of his or her teachers in the classroom and find out important stuff, like “Are there any toys at school?” and ”Where’s the bathroom?” We take photos for the coat hooks and cubbies or baskets and for our family bulletin board. You sign up for some of your family’s classroom helping days, so please bring your personal calendar. In classes with nearly full enrollment, we count on a helper for each school day. But, we also want families to spread out their own days, so families don’t have to wait a long time between opportunities.

Classes actually start the week of 9/19, and then we’re off and running.

This brings up the point that parents really have the responsibility to read school notices and make note of important dates and details. Life is busy and complicated for all of us, but it’s hard on your child and you if you always feel out-of-step.

We give you a school handbook with pockets. Perhaps that’s where you want to stuff all your stuff. You also need to note important dates on your family calendar.

We give you paper notices and we post them on the website. And be sure to find us on Facebook by searching “Kirkland Preschool”.

All the teachers try to be accessible to answer questions and explain the “mysteries” of preschool. Please just ask!

NOTE: WE STILL HAVE SOME AVAILABLE SPOTS FOR NEW STUDENTS. PLEASE SHARE US WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST TEACHERS!

We are pleased to welcome Sue Monahan and Kate Kiser to our school staff. Both have ties with our school and value our tradition of creative and well-thought-out education for young learners.

Sue joins Karla and Retha in our oldest classes, which meet on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. Sue has substituted with us before. Then in the spring of last year, she joined Patrice in the Little Friends’ classroom with the Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes. Our families and students appreciated Sue’s easy-going manner and enjoyed the creative movement and music activities she added to the children’s days. She has many years experience with both preschool and with elementary students. But in addition, she has the perspective of a Kirkland Preschool parent because her son Daniel spent his early years with us.

Kate joins Patrice in our Little Friends classes, the Monday-Wednesday-Friday bunch and the Tuesday-Thursday bunch. Kate also has been with us before. She joined us for a college quarter as a teaching intern. Kate also helped as a substitute during this summer’s Summer Adventure Camps. She, too, has had prior teaching experience and has spent much time as her neighborhood children’s biggest cheerleader. Just the other day, she made a point to attend a young friend’s first big baseball team game. Kate shares with us her creativity and her passionate belief that all styles of learners should be respected and encouraged.

We know you and your children will appreciate the individual gifts and styles each of our teachers have. All of us are looking forward to discovering (with our new families) and reacquainting ourselves (with our returning families) the wonderful individual gifts that each of you bring.

KIDS’ TIME = PARENTS’ TIME!

Do you ever have a Saturday when you really need to get some tasks accomplished? You know it isn’t fair to haul the children around on your errands and you really don’t want to let them watch a lot of TV while you work at home. You know you’ll risk cranky kids if they aren’t getting exercise and playing and enjoying their friends.

Kirkland Preschool and Teacher Patrice to the rescue! About once a month, we offer 4 hours of Saturday fun for your children, from 10AM to 2PM. The children with Patrice and one other teacher play in our Little Friends classroom, in the Big Room upstairs and out on the playground. Guaranteed – they meet new friends, old friends, run, play, and definitely get the wiggles out! You send a lunch and we provide the fun! The 4 hours costs a total of $30 per child, and we offer this to our preschoolers, older siblings, and younger siblings who are at least 2-1/2 years old and who can handle 4 hours away from Mom and Dad.

Look for the special information sheet a little closer to our first Kids’ Time on Saturday, October 8^th. We usually offer Kids’ Times on the 2^nd Saturday of most months, and you can sign up about 1-2 weeks ahead of each. The sign-up sheets will be posted in each building.

And if you really don’t have a special task to accomplish – you just want to savor some coffee and read a good book – no one will ever know!

WE LOVE YOUR “ODDS ‘N ENDS”!

During the year we’ll ask for some specific things for particular projects,
but we also love receiving various “odds ‘n ends”, things such as:

pine cones, especially mid- to large sized ones
paper grocery bags

scraps of soft lumber, small chunks as well as 6”-12” lengths – not too thick, though
green plastic mesh berry baskets – washed, please

small Trader Joe’s yogurt containers with lids – washed, please
buttons, if you are discarding an article of clothing and not sending it on to someone else

We use lots of recyclable materials for projects, encouraging children to use their creativity as we keep things out of the waste stream. So if you have some odd somethings or another that need to get out of your house, please check with us. We may very well be able to help take them off your hands!