eRPDS - January Newsletter

-eRPDS January 2023

"Childhood is the most precious gift of life."

Why Preschool through 3rd Grade?

Statement of Support from Nancy Grasmick

Former Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education

Nancy Grasmick is currently a Presidential Scholar at Towson University and served as the Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education from 1991 through 2011. By the end of her tenure Maryland's schools were ranked #1 in the nation.

I was so excited to hear that Church of the Redeemer Parish Day School has expanded its educational offerings through grade 3 and is preparing to break ground on a new wing to accommodate this new growth. That is such exciting news! I strongly applaud your efforts.

Children are born ready to learn. The brain grows starting before birth and continuing into early childhood and beyond. 3^rd grade has long been considered the milestone year for when a child goes from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Studies have shown that students who are not on grade level for reading by third grade are 4x less likely to graduate from high school. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize that “the first 8 years build the foundation for future learning, health and life success.”

That is why Redeemer’s decision to expand through grade 3 is so important. It gives Redeemer students the structured continuum and best pathway to develop cognitive, emotional and social capacities. Redeemer is preparing students with the strongest foundational skills to succeed on their educational journey.

Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick

Presidential Scholar, Towson University

UPCOMING EVENTS & OFFICE NOTES

Student Contracts

Student contracts for the 2023-2024 program year were emailed on January 10 and must be returned by February 3, 2023. They can be dropped off, emailed to kpoe@redeemerbaltimore.org, or mailed. A non-refundable enrollment fee will be due with a signed contract and billed via Brightwheel. Please note that the signed contract and paid enrollment fee serves as a formal commitment to our program.

If your child will not be returning to the Day School next year, please notify the office. We maintain an active waiting list and many families are eager to learn of enrollment availability.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions regarding the re-enrollment process as well as any questions you may have regarding our program offerings.

Registration for Extended Day 2023-2024

Registration for Early Drop-off, Lunch Bunch, and RED (Redeemer Extended Day) for the 2023-2024 program year will take place in May. An email with a link to the registration page will be sent to all enrolled families.

BLAZING A TRAIL!

We have enjoyed meeting with parents to share more about our growing program and elementary division. If you would like to learn more, please contact Katie Poe via email at kpoe@redeemerbaltimore.org to set up a time to meet with Mary Knott.

Winter Clothing

With the winter weather and fluctuating temperatures, please dress your children in layers and ensure cubbies are stocked with an appropriate change of clothing. Children should come to school with mittens, hats, and warm coats. We love to go out when there is snow on the ground so please be sure children have boots and snow pants and those days.

February Events

Thursday, February 2

Pre-k Sneak for 3s Parents

9:15 AM

Mary's Office

Thursday, February 9

Girls Night Out Galentine's Bingo

6:00 PM

Parish Hall

Friday, February 17

11:45 All School Dismissal, Professional Development

No afternoon programs or RED

Monday, February 20

NO SCHOOL - PRESIDENTS' DAY

Friday, February 24

Parent/Teacher Conferences

For 3s, Pre-k, Kindergarten, P1 & 1st

NO SCHOOL or RED.

Click here to access our school calendar.

Save the Date: Friday, May 5

Our first and second grade classes are thrilled to present, Frozen Kids! A special showing will take place on Friday, May 5 at 3:15 in the Parish Hall for the Redeemer students and their parents.

ENRICHMENT @ REDEEMER

The Winter Enrichment program is off to a wonderful start and the two classes “Super Chef” and “Winter Expedition” have been a huge hit. In the cooking class, children are learning about the basic concepts of working in a kitchen. They are busy measuring, mixing, whisking and cooking. The little chefs have been creative, are using their 5 senses and are gaining a general knowledge of cooking skills in the kitchen setting. Even though we haven’t had true winter weather until now, the Winter Expedition class is learning about a variety of winter animals as well as taking time to explore and investigate for signs of winter. The children have created their own “sit upons” that they will use for the class while they investigate, evaluate, meditate, speculate and contemplate the wonders of winter. We are crossing our fingers for some fun winter weather to come our way!

We are looking forward to our next session of Enrichment @ Redeemer in the spring. Stay tuned for more detail!

View Our School Video

"Good Times,

Good Friends!"

Monthly PDS Values

Giving

How to Say, "I'm Sorry!"

Responsibility

A Fly on the wall...

What's happening in the classrooms?

Pre-first with Mrs. Barta

The pre-first children jumped right back into our routine from the holiday break and have been busy at work. In Language Arts, we did a story comparison of the book, The Mitten by Jan Brett and Alvin Tresselt. We discussed the many similarities and differences throughout the stories. We continue to work on our phonics skills and learned 8 new glued sounds with words ending in -ng or -nk. Next, we will learn about consonant blends in words and sounding them out while reading and writing. Our handwriting continues to be a focus as well as punctuation in sentences when writing. In our next Math unit, we will learn all about money and the value of each coin. We will practice exchanging smaller coins for larger valued coins (EX. 10 pennies can be traded for a dime or 2 nickels.) Money is a difficult concept to grasp so we will continue to work on this throughout the year. Please ask your children to help you “pay” the next time you buy something using coins. Next week, we will focus on polar bears and hibernation.

Find out what's happening in all our classes.

CLICK HERE!

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

We were happy to return to school and our routines after a wonderful holiday break! January marked the beginning of some new big buddy partnerships. Our second graders will spend a little time with each pre-k class reading favorite books together, and our first graders will gather with each of our 3s classes to play games and do puzzles. These new partnerships are in addition to our Pre-first and 2s Chapel Buddies. Next year we are excited to pair our kindergarten students with our first class of third graders. The groups love spending time together, visiting each other's classrooms, and learning from one another! On Sunday, January 22 Mr. and Mrs. Sheckells welcomed Baby Wyatt. We cannot wait to meet him! Today we were thrilled to host Donuts at the Day School. It was such a treat to welcome our dads, grandfathers, and special friends to the classrooms! Thank you to the PDS teachers, Parent Council volunteers, and event chair, Ali Smith, for organizing this fun morning!

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