Footsteps Newsletter

Footsteps Newsletter

vol 3 Issue 1

Welcome to the 2017-2018

St. Catherine Preschool School Year

We are happy that you have chosen our school! This Summer Edition of our newsletter will answer many of the questions that you may have about our upcoming school year. Please read through each item and feel free to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or if you need clarification. We are so pleased and excited to begin a new year!

I apologize in advance! Our newsletter is typically not this long but we have a lot of information to share!

Transitioning into School

10 Tips for an easy transition:

1. Bring your child to parent night to see the room and meet the teacher.

2. Find and read some books to your child about starting school. The local library has plenty!

3. Show excitement and enthusiasm for school. Please hide your own apprehensions and anxiety as your child will pick up on those feelings.

4. Have your child get plenty of sleep, especially the first couple of weeks

5. Show confidence in saying goodbye. The more you linger and look uneasy the more your child will feel as though there is something to be uneasy about.

6. Discuss your fears or your child's needs with your child's teacher ahead of time! We are a team and want to help in anyway possible.

7.Ask your child about his/her day.

8. Expect that there may be tears and know that we will call if there is an extreme case of your child not adjusting. Give your child's teacher your cell number and we can text you a picture of your little one smiling and playing, which usually happens quite quickly.

9. Let your child pick out clothing and shoes for school.

10. Include a picture of you or the family in your child's backpack, send a love note in lunchbox or send a special stuffed animal or small item to remind your child of home.

Snack Information

AM & PM student will have snack around approximately an hour to an hour 1/2 after arrival. Students are offered water, milk, apple or white grape juice and a healthy snack (fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese, crackers, pretzels etc.)

All day students have snack with the AM students.

If your child is attending extended day in the PM, snack will be provided around 3:30 PM

*We request that you provide either a $15 ($8 for those enrolled 2 half days) donation toward the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables or 3 (2 f or those enrolled 2 half days) shelf stable snacks enough to feed 25 students per snack.

For students attending the all-day program

The hot lunch and breakfast program will begin September 1st. Please send a packed lunch prior to 9/1. Breakfast and Hot Lunch is an optional service. You will have the opportunity to order each month. We will send home the first order form the first week of school. We are part of the National School Hot Lunch Program. This means that your child may qualify for free or reduced prices on meals. The applications will be sent home the first week of school. If your child has been approved for the ECE grant, meals are free. If your child receives SNAP or OWF benefits, he/she may be automatically qualified. Ms. Huber will notify you if this is the case. You can also contact the office if you feel your child will automatically qualify.

Safety and Security

Students are never left alone! We maintain constant visual contact with each child (with the exception of private bathroom breaks where we stay within the room but not in the stall). Students practice fire, safety and tornado drills. We keep all doors locked at all times except for the 15 minute arrival period in the morning. At that time, a faculty member is standing at our one open entrance greeting and screening all those who enter.

All visitors must sign in at the office. If a visitor is a parent picking up early or volunteering in the classroom, the office will call down to the classroom so that the teacher is aware that someone is arriving. Any other visitor (meter reader, repair person etc.) will be escorted throughout the building. All volunteers must be screened through Virtus prior to having any interaction with students.

Our faculty and maintenance staff have all complied with the mandatory fingerprinting and background checks. They have also been trained and screened through Virtus.

If you have a concern about the safety of your child (custody issues) please let us know immediately so that we can make all faculty aware of concerns. Please be sure to copy any custody agreements or judgement and drop them off at the office.

Tuition Payments are due by the 25th of each month. If you chose invoicing, you will be sent an invoice through the yellow folder that is sent home weekly. You may pay at any point during the month up to and including the 25th. Some families chose to make smaller weekly payments. How you pay is up to you. We accept cash, check, money order, automatic deductions through FACTS, direct pay through your bank account and we hope to have the option to pay with credit card set up soon. Payment for school is a set amount broken up over ten months. The first payment is due by August 25th. Your invoice will be mailed to you at the beginning of August with subsequent invoices arriving in the yellow folder.

All students must be escorted to the appropriate classroom and signed in by an adult.

AM Extended Day Only drop off-ring doorbell outside of entrance #8 off of main parking lot.

AM drop off- Enter through the Siena Center glass doors. The main school door will open at 7:55 AM and remain open with a faculty greeter until 8:15 AM. If you arrive late, ring the doorbell located outside of this door for admittance.

PM drop off- Enter through the Siena Center glass doors. At 11:55 PM or later, ring the doorbell for admittance.

Pick up procedures- See diagram below. If you need to meet with your child's teacher, please wait until the line is gone to have a lengthy discussion. After the first week, the line typically takes around 5-7 minutes to clear.

Due to increased enrollment and our desire to reduce classroom size, class assignments have not been completely finalized yet. Teachers will be sending home welcome letters in two weeks.

Don't think that you can afford PK or preschool?

We're excited to announce that St. Catherine Preschool has been awarded a large grant which will assist 4 year old students from low income families in receiving a quality preschool education. Only 17 spots are still available. Call the school office for details.

If your are an active parishioner from Most Blessed Sacrament, St. Catherine, St. John the Baptist, St. Clement or St. Michael the Archangel, you may qualify for an active parishioner scholarship. Contact the school office for details.

[email protected] (419)478-9900

Allergies, Medical Conditions and Medication

If your child has an allergy, medical condition or medication that needs to be administered at school, please contact the school office so we can be sure to prepare the faculty to meet the needs of your child. All medications must be hand delivered to a faculty member (do not send in backpacks) with the appropriate permissions and forms. Medications must be in the original bottles. Some medications require physician instructions and permission for us to administer.

Bathroom Concerns

Please rest assured, we are part of your team now! We understand that there will be accidents. Because of this, we schedule MANY trips to the bathroom each day. As we learn the needs of the class, breaks are adjusted. Our goal for each child is to learn to:

1.speak up when a bathroom break is needed

2.Independently manage clothing

3.wipe independently

4.operate soap and towel dispensers

5. wash hands appropriately

Part of preschool and PK is learning independence. Children thrive when they can be self-reliant. We will support your child at their current level and work on these goals. You can help us by dressing your child in clothing that can be managed easily by the child, practice independent wiping using verbal cues, understanding that accidents happen and by supporting your child's development in this area. As a final note, students may not attend school in pull-ups.

Independence in the bathroom

Teaching your child to wipe

Enrolling Now!

If you know someone who has not signed their child up for preschool or prek yet but is interested, we are still accepting enrollments in some classes. We are happy to say that we have three PK classes this year!

You may set up a tour by calling the office (419) 478-9900 or by emailing Mrs. Kummer [email protected]

Registration paperwork can be found on our website or can be obtained by stopping by the school office.

You can find us on facebook, through our website, and on

Like us on Facebook or leave a review!

Enrollment Paperwork

All students must have a complete file within 30 days from the first day of school. Items in BOLD below must be completed on the first day of school.

1. current physical (valid for 12 months)

2. immunization records

3. registration paper (please fill out ALL portions of the dentist, physician and

emergency contact information including addresses and phone numbers )

4. baptismal or birth certificate

5. any custody paperwork that we need to be made aware of

6. Dentist form -Does not need to be signed by a dentist

7. Publicity Form

8. An emergency care plan for any children diagnosed with severe asthma, food or insect

allergies requiring an EPI-pen, medical concerns requiring medications to be administered at school or other health related concerns that would require our faculty to have a plan in place in the event of an emergency. Please ask your doctor for a form or call the school office. Please attach a picture of your child to the form.

Forms can be found here!

Please plan on attending our Parent Night. You will be able to meet the faculty, hear about policies/procedures and drop off school supplies.

The meeting will take place in the Siena Center gym located through the glass doors on the St. Catherine Campus. Children are welcome to come but it is not required. Following the meeting, you will have the opportunity to visit the classrooms, meet the teachers and drop off any school supplies. We prefer that you drop supplies off on parent night rather than the first day of school so that we may focus on your child on his/her first day of school!

Parent Night Student Last Names A-M 7 PM

Monday August 14th

Parent Night Student Last Names N-Z 7 PM

Tuesday August 15th

Supply List

Preschool Students
(those not attending K in 2018)

All Preschool students-

1 labeled bag of extra clothes *

1 backpack large enough to fit file folder

1 1 inch white clear view binder

2 pocket folders

2 liquid glue bottles

4 glue sticks

2 boxes of 24 count crayons

2 ticonderoga (fat) pencils

2 packs of baby wipes

2 containers of lysol wipes

2 boxes of kleenex

2 rolls of paper towels

2 large packs of napkins

1 white poster board

Those staying all day only-

small pillow and small blanket

to stay at school **

*Due to duplicate lunchboxes, if using a lunchbox, please write name on outside of box

1 labeled tote bag(no suitcases) to transport pillow/blanket when it needs laundered

Optional items-

Googly eyes

brown lunch bags

stickers

low odor dry erase markers

play doh

paper plates

dry beans

zip lock bags (sandwich and quart)

*clothes-please include a pair of pants, shorts, one long sleeve, one short sleeve shirt, pair of underwear and socks in a labeled ziplock bag

**please no sleeping bags or bedspreads, one soft stuffed friend is permitted. NO hard or plastic items. They will keep their stuffed friend here at school. It can be exchanged when items are brought home to be laundered. If your child has a special stuffed friend that they need to sleep with at night, please keep this friend at home so it is not forgotten at school!

Supply List

PreK Students

(those attending K in 2018)

All PK students-

1 labeled bag of extra clothes *

1 backpack large enough to fit white binder-name on outside

2 1 inch white clear view binder

8 glue sticks

2 boxes of 24 count crayons

4 ticonderoga fat pencils

2 packs of baby wipes

2 containers of lysol wipes

2 boxes of kleenex

2 rolls of paper towels

2 large packs of napkins

1 yellow or orange highlighter

4 pack low odor black expo thin barrel markers

1 package of 100 3x5 white index cards

2 white poster boards

1 composition notebook wide ruled

1 spiral notebook wide ruled 70 pages

1 8-pack washable Crayola (not thin tip) markers

Those staying all day only-

small pillow and small blanket to stay at school

please no sleeping bags **

*Due to duplicate lunchboxes, if using a lunchbox, please write name on outside

of box

1 labeled tote bag(no suitcases) to transport pillow/blanket when it needs laundered

Optional items-

paper cups (3 and 5 ounce sizes

google eyes

assorted pom-poms

gallon sized or quart sized ziploc bags

elmer's glue bottle

glitter glue

lunch bags

dried beans, peas, rice or pasta

flour, salt or cream or tartar

metal cookie sheets from the dollar tree for magnetic activities

For our returning families: We are happy for two of our teachers who have moved on to new experiences. Ms. Ann Huber has moved to Florida and will be teaching in a Pre-Kindergarten class. Ms. Jamie Bauer has taken a position at OLPH as a Kindergarten teacher. Ms. Jamie can walk to work now! We will miss them and look forward to hearing about their new adventures!

Please look below and meet our new faculty!

Ms. Jannelle's & Ms. Ashley's

Preschool Class

Ms. Jannelle Garcia is currently our Preschool teacher and was in charge of our summer program. Ms. Jannelle is currently working on her Early Childhood Education Degree. Ms. J is enthusiastic, kind, inventive and a wonderful teacher. She has a way of connecting to students who may be struggling. This will be her third year as part of our faculty! She will be team teaching with Ms. Ashley!

Ms. J can be contacted through her email [email protected]

Jannelle Garcia's Email

Ms. Ashley Doty has been a Early Childhood professional for 10 years. She brings a wealth of experience to our campus. Ms. Ashley is looking forward to pursuing her Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education. She is creative, fun, organized, caring and experienced! She enjoys watching the students learn and grow! Ms. Ashley can be contacted [email protected]

Ashley Doty email .

Mrs. Laura DeGasto's

PreK Class

Mrs. DeGasto is new to our faculty this year! She has a wealth of experience as an Early Childhood Education teacher and also as an Intervention Specialist for Washington Local. Laura holds a Bachelor degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master's degree in Special Education. She is excited to begin her journey with us!

Mrs. Degasto can be contacted through her email [email protected]

Laura DeGasto's Email

Mrs. Goldie Easton

Mrs. Goldie will be assisting in Mrs. DeGasto's class during arrival and dismissal and as needed. She will also be our new food service director! She will be preparing and serving the meals as well as assisting with snack time for all classes. Later in the year she will assist in cooking projects with the students. Mrs. Goldie has her Bachelor degree in Education and has been a Assistant Teacher for the last few years. Prior to that, she was a Physical Education teacher. You can contact her through her email. [email protected]

Mrs. L & Mrs. A's

PreK Class

Mrs. Ledergerber will be teaching one of the PK classes this year. Mrs. Amborski is the assistant in this PK room. The two are an amazing team and bring a wealth of experience to our program

Mrs. Jill Ledergerber was born in Ohio and now lives in Tecumseh, Michigan with her husband. They have two adult children and two four-legged kids as well! She earned a Bachelor's degree in Early and Middle Childhood Education from the Ohio State University. She has had the opportunity to work with many different ages of children, and her favorite has been in Early Education. Currently Jill is pursuing an additional certificate geared toward early learners.

Mrs. L can be contacted through her email jledergerber@stcatherineearlyed.org

Jill Ledergerber's Email

Mrs. Melinda Amborski has been an assistant teacher at the preschool level for several years. She is married and has two daughters. Mrs. A is a member of St. John the Baptist Parish. She is a kind and patient teacher with a positive attitude! Melinda brings years of training in Early Childhood Education.

Mrs. A can be contacted through her email [email protected]

Mrs. A's Email

Mrs. Jeanette Williams & Mrs. Erin Cromly's

PK Class

Mrs. Jeanette Williams is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a Bachelor degree in Education and a Master's degree in Special Education. Jeanette is a licensed Intervention Specialist as well. She has been teaching for many years and is very excited to be joining our family. If you see her around, please welcome her to our staff!

You can contact Mrs. Williams through her email. jwilliams@stcatherineearlyed.org

Mrs. Erin Cromly will be assistant teaching with Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Cromly holds a Bachelor degree from the University of Toledo in Early Childhood Education. We are so pleased that she has joined our team because she brings compassion, enthusiasm, knowledge and experience with children to our family! Don't worry! We will get a real picture of Mrs. Cromly soon! Mrs. Cromly is a Parishioner at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish. You can contact her through her email. ecromly@ stcatherineearlyed.org

Mrs. Rupp will be teaching Art and will also guide students in the Atrium during the Cathechesis of the Good Shepherd Program. Mrs. Rupp has both an Associate's Degree as well as over 20 years of experience as an educational professional. Terri enjoys helping children understand God's love for them. Terri has a wonderful connection with children and is able to reach the introverted child through her patience and kindness.Terri is married and has 3 sons. She is a member of St. Catherine Parish.

You can reach Mrs. Rupp through her email. trupp@ stcatherineearlyed.org

Mrs. Becky Boros will be teaching Computer and PE. Becky is married to Jeff and they have two children; Marissa and Tanner. Becky enjoys camping and time at the beach with her family. When they can't be outdoors, they are supporting some type of sporting events with their children. Becky says, "I love children and enjoy working with them. I believe there is good in everyone and will never give up hope on a child."

You can contact Becky through her email . bboros@ stcatherineearlyed.org

Ms. Beth Huber is a member of St. Catherine Parish. She not only runs the Preschool office but also directs the hot lunch program for NCCS.

She keeps everything running smoothly. If you call the office, Beth will probably be the one to greet you!

You can contact Ms. Beth Huber through her email ehuber@ stcatherineearlyed.org

or through the school office (419) 478-9900

Mrs. Chris Kummer is the director of NCCS ECEC St. Catherine Preschool. She holds a Master's Degree in Teaching and Curriculum and a BA in Early Childhood Education from Lourdes University. She and her family have lived in the St. Catherine area for over 20 years. Chris is committed to Catholic Education, focusing her Master's thesis on teaching curriculum through essential Catholic values.

You can contact Mrs. Kummer through her email ckummer@stcatherineearlyed.org or through the school office (419)478-9900

Ms .Jailyn Dolan is a PM extended day teacher. She is a graduate of Notre Dame Academy. She currently is in her Senior year at the University of Toledo pursuing her BS in Recreational Therapy. Ms. Jailyn also has taught during our summer program. She has three years of experience as an assistant teacher. This summer, Ms. Jailyn was also our intern and had many great ideas, activities and experiences with the students!

Ms .Jessica Winterhalter is an AM and PM extended day teacher. She is a graduate of Start High School. She currently is in her Junior year at the University of Toledo pursuing her BA in Education. Ms. Jessica also has taught during our summer program. She has two years of experience as an assistant teacher. Ms. Jessica is a proud new mother!

Ms. Brenna Kummer is an AM Extended Day teacher. She is currently a Senior at the University of Toledo pursuing her BS in Exercise Science with the hopes of becoming a physical therapist. Ms. Brenna is also an Irish Dance teacher and has 7 years experience working directly with children. You can also see her at UT football and basketball games as a dancer with the University of Toledo Dancing Rockettes.

Ms. Colleen Kummer is our library volunteer! Colleen is a ten year brain cancer survivor! She is also a graduate of Notre Dame Academy and has taken several college courses in the area of early childhood education. Colleen has volunteered for the past 5 years and enjoys helping in the classroom and finding "just the right books" to aid in any learning experience.