Weekly Director Letter 10/20/2023

Weekly Newsletter 10/20/2023

Dear Parents,

You may have noticed we are gearing up for Halloween and having a SPOOKTACULAR time. We have had volunteers sorting candy and non-candy items so we can make really great bags of candy for homeless kids and also get our baskets ready for our parade. Please be sure to see the flyers around the outside of the school so you don't miss the parade time for your child. This is a wonderful time for parents to see great things going on in our school.

Please remember we can welcome up to 2 adults per child to our Halloween event on October 25th. WE CANNOT PERMIT BABIES OR YOUNGER SIBLINGS TO ATTEND as our insurance will not permit non-enrolled children on site, even in strollers. Once you see the time your child will be doing their parade, if you are able to volunteer before or after that time, we will need help passing out treats to our Trick or Treaters.

You may be wondering why we don't do this event on Halloween....One reason is we use our event to help your child learn and practice for the real Halloween night with their families. We will teach the children how to approach those with treats and to say thank you. It is also a great practice time to wear the costume which is difficult for some of our younger kids. We have also found in the past that doing our event on the same day as Halloween proves to be stressful for kids.

Please remember for our event, no masks, weapons, or toys. Please also ensure that the costume is comfortable for your child. Sometimes big bulky or hot costumes cause stress for kids. On October 25th, please send your child IN COSTUME with their uniform in a bag. Please make sure the uniform has your child's NAME INSIDE IT as we do not want to confuse clothing.

A WORD ABOUT CLOTHING AND OTHER ITEMS....Although we ask that ALL spare clothing and jackets come to school with your child's name on them (this includes items like underwear) many come in with no name. My staff is amazing and they wear many hats and do their best to take care of the needs of all their children. It makes it very difficult when clothing in the cubbies is not labeled. To minimize the chance that your child is sent home in the wrong clothing, I am asking again that ALL CLOTHING INCLUDING JACKETS come to school with the child's name inside.

To help facilitate this, there is a wonderful company called Mabel's Labels. They specialize in pre-inked stamps and special labels that can be put in clothing and washed. If you do not wish to write the name on the clothing, please consider this option. They usually have coupons and they also donate 20% of all orders to our school charity so it is a real win for everyone.

Here is the link:

https://mabelslabels.com/

For GREEN DOOR FAMILIES... Please keep in mind that The Department of Children and Families REQUIRES that the child's first and last name be placed on both the top and bottom of the sippy cups. We have found that permanent marker wipes off cups please either purchase a set of labels or be sure to put the name with masking tape on the top and bottom of the cup.

We continue to get rave reviews from families about Josh's Pizza and our NO Cook Wednesdays. We will continue this as long as families wish to participate. Remember if you wish to reorder, be sure that reorder is checked on the paper on the whiteboard. If you wish to come off for the upcoming week, cross yourself out and if you wish to be added please add yourself so you are not left out.

Finally, the 4 staff members and I who went to the FLAEYC conference last week learned so much that we are excited to share with our staff. One thing we did find out is that DCF is cracking down and issuing violations for children attending with expired medical forms. Please know that we do our best to alert parents 30 days before forms are due to expire, but it is ultimately the parent's responsibility to know those dates and remain up to date.

It has always been our policy to remind families but we still have many out of compliance. Please be advised that effective immediately we must enforce this school and state requirement. If your child's records are expired, THEY CANNOT ATTEND SCHOOL UNTIL FORMS ARE COMPLIANT. We know this presents a hardship for families, but we cannot allow children to attend with expired health forms. Thank you for your understanding.

Have a wonderful weekend

Beth Rosenthal Davis, Ed.S, NBCT