Preschool Newsletter

September Birthdays

* Mrs. Jennifer: September 3

* Elliott P.: September 27 (pre-k 4)

* Jack: September 28 (toddlers)

We welcome you to bring in store-bought treats (peanut and honey product-free) for your child’s birthday.

Special Events / Important Dates 

- The center will be closed on Monday, September 7th for Labor Day.

- St. Henry's Ladies Club is sponsoring an INDOOR YARD SALE in the gym at St. Henry’s on Sept. 11th 5-8 pm, Sept. 12th 8 am-4 pm, and Sept. 13th 8 am-12 pm. There is a seller fee of $20 per family to participate. Tables are provided until all are taken. Setup will be Thursday afternoon and Friday. Your area must be overseen by yourself or one of your family members at all times. Unsold items must be removed at the end of the sale. For questions, please call Marilyn Elam at (618)604-6340.

- Picture day will be on Tuesday, September 15th at 8:00 am. Please make sure to have your child here by then. Feel free to bring an extra set of clothes for your child to change into afterwards.

- We will be having an open house on Sunday, September 27th from 11 am to 1 pm. We are inviting everyone from the community to stop by. There will be an activity for the kids.

Important Notes

- Along with some other changes, we are modifying the classroom names. The names will be: toddlers, twos, pre-k 3, and pre-k 4. Also, Jennifer will be transitioning into the office. We have hired a new teacher, Demedia Harris, who will be starting in the toddlers/twos room; until her background check clears and she turns in her paperwork, Ms. Alicia will be with Ms. Abby in the toddlers/twos room.

- Classes start each morning at approximately 8:30 am. Please make sure your child is in class before then so they do not miss anything! If you want them to have morning snack, they need to be here no later than 8:00!

- The top 2 Savers fundraiser donors receive gift cards of their choosing (totaling $50 each), and the top 5 donors/families receive 2 free bags of popcorn. Top donors/families are determined by numbers of bags and/or boxes pledged online and then donated. The top donors for the Savers fundraiser based on online pledges and donations are:

1. Liz Jennings- popcorn and gift card(s)

2. Joy Dierkes- popcorn and gift card(s)

3. Marilyn Elam- popcorn

4. Cathleen Fenton- popcorn

5. Tasha Smith and Amanda Bayer (tied)- popcorn

* The prizes will be first come, first serve. Since there is a tie, two people will receive one bag of popcorn since we only have 10 bags.

- We kindly ask that parents/guardians do not enter the playground area. It causes confusion for the teachers to tally the remaining number of children during pick-up. One of the teachers will meet you at the gate when they send your child out.

- The lunch menus are from our catering company, Poettker’s; these reflect the days Poettker’s is open or closed. Please keep in mind that the menus do not reflect which days St. Henry’s is open or closed. We will let you know in advance which days we are closed or when you will need to provide a lunch.

- Please make sure to sign in and out next to your child’s name every day (time and signature)! 

- Every child needs to have some extra weather-appropriate clothes and shoes in their locker in case of accidents/spills! If your child has borrowed clothes or cubby cots from the center, please make sure to wash and return them to the center ASAP! Also, when you pick up your child, please make sure to check their locker for anything that needs to go home! Thank you!

- You might want to keep a light sweater or jacket in your child’s locker in case they get cold in the classroom.

- Please let Jennifer or Nicole know in advance if your child will use vacation days or be absent for whatever reason! This allows us to get a more accurate lunch count.

- Please make sure to dress for the weather! Close-toed shoes (tennis shoes, sneakers) are required to play on the playground! Shoes with openings such as sandals, jelly shoes, and Crocs are NOT allowed on the playground for safety reasons!

- Any donations to the classroom (Kleenex boxes, baby wipes, paper towels, etc.) are always appreciated!

WHERE DID AUGUST GO?!

Time flies when you are having fun, so each classroom wanted to share a highlight of August!

- Toddlers and Twos

“This month, we talked about our favorite dinosaur, the T-rex. We talked about going to the circus and ate some yummy snow cones! We also colored an elephant at the circus! We made self-portraits and had some rainy day fun playing in the tunnels. We also enjoyed a picnic lunch outside! What a great month!”

- Pre-k 3

“The pre-k 3 class had an incredible time this month! We practiced writing our names and learning all of our letters, numbers, and shapes. The threes made dinosaur fossils, a clown for circus week, and created their very own silhouette paintings! We were able to make personalized name signs based on the things they love, pencil and crayon handprint crafts for back to school week, and had a fun day of playing outside and eating snow cones with the rest of the school! The three year-olds ended the month by celebrating Women’s Equality Day by learning about and coloring great women in history. What an amazing month!”

- Pre-k 4

“This month was a blast! The kids made dinosaur puppets, T-rex footprints, Q-Tip x-rays, circus lion manes, full-body self-portraits, school supply collages, bucket filler watercolors, and a pencil name craft. They also played with moon sand, dug up some dinosaurs, ate snow cones, did an elephant toothpaste experiment, played circus games and won prizes, got to see a lunar moth outside (rare to see in the daytime), did a name writing activity with a pretend keyboard to type their names, and ate lunch outside. We’re looking forward to September!”