ONE WORLD LEARNING CENTER
DBA: Stepping Stones Children Center
February Newsletter 2010
Hot Lunch Reminder: Hot lunch will be every Friday as of February 5th as requested by parents. We hope that this will make Friday’s that much nicer for all our families.
President’s Day: We will be closed Monday, February 15th for President’s Day.
Special lunches and birthdays: Parents we have had a number of birthdays recently and a number of parents have generously asked to bring in a birthday lunch, etc. in the classrooms. We do ask however that we get at least a 4-5 day notice so that we can give everyone ample notice. Thank you so very much for all the delivered lunches and birthday parties in the classrooms. The children have sure enjoy thier parties.
Share Day: Share Day is every Friday in the Koalas and Panda classrooms. This gives the children one day a week that they can bring in a toy or item to share with friends. We ask that items are no bigger than an average shoebox that are brought in as we are limited on space and that you do not bring in expensive or special items. We cannot be responsible for lost or broken items. Books and or DVDs are always welcome especially when related to our themes in the classrooms. We just ask that you hand these items over directly to your child’s teacher for safe keeping. Thank you.
Morning Music and structured activities: Morning music and circle times start at 9a.m. We ask whenever possible that the children be dropped off a few minutes before. Not only do the children enjoy morning music, but they miss out on a very important part of the day. Recently we have had a number of parents coming in and wanting to have time to talk to their child’s teacher when we are in the middle of morning circle and our structured class time. We ask that if your child comes in later in the morning that parents do not disturb the teachers who are working directly with the children in circle time or learning centers as we take this time with the children seriously. It is also very disruptive to the other children;s classtime when their teacher is pulled away or interrupted. We realize that some of you have schedules that require coming in a bit later or have appointments before hand, however we ask that you come in as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the classrooms. There is usually a team teacher that might be available and/or Miss Shelly to help you if your child is having any trouble with separating and will be happy to have your child’s teacher give you a call if need be. Thank you for your support and understanding.
Reusable utensils: Parents we are encouraging and teaching the children about recycling and environmental issues as it is important that we all do our part to protect our environment. We have noticed lately that a number of children need utensils with their lunch. We are throwing away an awful lot of plastic spoons, etc., and have recently started adjusting our snack menu to use less plastic products. Plastic is very destructive towards the environment. We are asking that if your child needs utensils with their lunch that you provide them. We also have reusable hard plastic sets at the front desk for $1.00 that can be kept in your child’s lunchbox. We appreciate your support and understanding with this.
New Staffing: We just recently had to tell Miss Karli goodbye as she has moved to California. We have moved Miss Jessica in with Miss Michelle in the Panda’s class and Miss Becky is now working with Miss Amparo in the Koala’s. We think they will do very well together to provide a quality learning environment for your children. We have also brought in Miss Emilee who will be working with the Koala's in the afternoon. She is a licensed Wahoe County school teacher and has four years experience with Kindergarten thru 1st grade.
Enrollment: As we all know the economy is extremely difficult, especially in our area. In the last year 14 childcare centers have closed down along with many other businesses. Since July the school has felt the effects BUT fortunately we are running at 2/3’s capacity and we have not had to lay off any employees. Miss Shelly now works the front desk on a part-time basis but we do want to bring her on board full-time as soon as possible. We are asking for your help. We will have advertisement flyers at the front desk available and ask that parents help us out by spreading the word about the school as you are our best advertisement. For every referral we will give a $75.00 dollar credit towards 1 (one) week’s tuition after one month of enrollment. Thank you very much to the families that have already come in and asked what they can do to help and have taken flyers to work with them.
Parent Participation: Thank you very much to the parents and family members who have donated their time and/or special snacks to the classrooms. We appreciate it very much. We are always looking for new ways to improve the quality of the school and the service we provide to our families. Suggestions and ideas are always welcome and appreciated. Please remember that my door is always open and we appreciate parent participation. We are here to work with you and your child(ren) to provide the very best program and environment that we possibly can. Thank you for choosing One World Learning Center for your child and trusting us with your most prized possession.
Name Change: As many of you have seen the name One World is showing up more and more. I realize that Stepping Stones has a wonderful reputation and that is one of the main reasons I bought this business. One World is my actual corporate name before I took over Stepping Stones and a dream I have had to produce a preschool that is as eco-friendly as possible. We are using more green friendly cleaning products and are recycling throughout the school. We also provide organic milk and organic snacks along with filtering the water provided for the children. We feel it is very important that children are well educated when it comes to environmental issues and taught ways to minimize our carbon footprint. The school just recently became certified as an Eco-Healthy Childcare Center because of the steps we have taken. We are now just waiting for signs and new brochures before the name change will be official.