Tell me where has the summer gone? This has been such a busy one and so much fun. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games were just as exciting in New Providence as in Rio.
We have been busy getting ready for our new students. Much has been done in the rooms to ensure that all children have their own space, places to hang their coats, etc. — much is done behind the scenes to prepare the activities for the children to enjoy – purchasing basics, reading up on the latest STEAM info, getting all of our outdoor equipment ready.
This year we open with most classes very, very busy and full. In order to ensure that we cover all our classes, Ms. Karen, Ms. Jen and Ms. Ro will be working at both sites depending on the need. Ms. Maria and Ms. Maggie will go back to their school time calendar so you will see both of them as well.
Ms. Shpresa will be joining us primarily at the Pre-K site to assist with the older children. She holds an associate’s degree and experience in Early Childhood. We are happy to have her on board. We ask that all of you welcome her and her enthusiastic desire to work in our centers. Meagan and Cindy eagerly await her assistance and this will give me the opportunity to have Cindy help with some of our Grow NJ Kids projects.
In the PreK/Kinder classroom we will also have a Kean student, Ms. Kayla, working with our teachers as part of her junior field experience. We have been able to assist with the students on and off for several years and it has been a great experience for many.
At the beginning of the year we plan for the start of our parent/staff committee. The first meeting will be on Wednesday, October 5th. All meetings are held at the Infant Toddler location. For those of you not familiar with our committee, we invite parents to meet about 3 – 4 times during the academic calendar to discuss various topics related to the care and education of their children. In addition to this we plan educational topics around these meetings. I welcome any suggestions for topics of interest. I have already scheduled CPR/First Aid for parents on May 3rd.
I would like to reach out to all of you for your continued support as we start the new school year. Each room would typically have a parent representative who would bring any issues to the chairperson and then it is brought to the meeting. Please come forward to help out. We need a chairperson and parent reps for each room. Please email me with your name and willingness. We could always run it with co-chairs if this would work better and get more people involved. I am not going to assume that anyone from the past year is going to keep your position so please get back to me regarding your interest.
As you already know, you will see Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Rachelle in our rooms working with our teachers as we embrace the Grow NJ Kids initiative. We are currently interviewing for assistant teachers at the centers, so if you know anyone who might be interested and have experience in early childhood care you can send them our way. Thank you.
I’m wishing all my parents and staff a wonderful beginning to another exciting year.
Jane
