pre-k

December is a very busy month for the Pre-K. We will be talking about the spirit of giving and holiday traditions. The teachers will be looking for input from parents regarding special family celebrations that the children can share in class. Please speak with your child’s teacher about your holiday observances.

December 7th, Walking Field Trip: Our annual Walking Field Trip to the North Oxford Post Office will take place on Wednesday, December 7th. Please return permission slips as soon as possible.

December 17^th Christmas Party: Mrs. Benson’s and Mrs. Dearent’s classes will have their Christmas party at the Mohegan Bowl-A-Drome in Webster on Friday, December 21. They will enjoy bowling, pizza and a gift exchange on that day. Parents: Please bring your child directly to the bowling lanes on that day. Please note the adjusted times listed below. Children should bring a gift for the child whose name they drew in the grab. (We suggest a $5.00 limit.) Gifts should be wrapped and labeled; and so that no child will be without a gift, it is imperative to let the teacher know if your child will be absent th

When: Wednesday, December 21

Where: Mohegan Bowl-A-Drome ThompsonRd., Webster

(Drop off & pick up your child at Mohegan Bowl-A-Drome, not at the school.)

Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon (AM Class)

Time:12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m (PM Class)

*** Please note: December 21st is the last day of school for 3 & 5 Day Pre-K sessions until we resume classes on Wednesday, January 4, 2012. (On Tuesday, Jan 3, there is a scheduled Staff Development Day, as listed in your handbook.)

Snow Day Policy: A reminder (as in the handbook), when the Oxford schools are cancelled due to snow- we are cancelled as well!! When Oxford has a one or two hour delay, the Jack & Jill A.M. classes are cancelled. The P.M. classes will be in session. Please listen to your local radio stations or TV news for Oxford Public School cancellations. ~ This will be your only indicator, as we do not notify parents for weather-related cancellations. We reserve the right to cancel classes at anytime we determine our center or parking lot to be unsafe. You will be notified via telephone on these rare occasions that we cancel independently. After the radio announcement, our school answering machine generally carries the message of our school being closed.

School Pictures have been distributed and we are looking for feedback. Rachael Strogoff of Wicked Sweet Photography has guaranteed your satisfaction and will welcome your comments about her photos.

Speaking of pictures, we will be constructing a bulletin board to display all of the Christmas cards we receive and we love seeing the photos of your families! Thank you!

This has been a very busy place this last month! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your contributions to our program. Jack and Jill has the best parents!

Thanks to Nicole O’Shea for organizing this year’s Parent Vendor List. It is now hanging in the hallway if you want to take a copy. It is great to have resources at your fingertips when you need help with a project, and even better when the resources are all Jack and Jill parents!

Thank you for making our Thanksgiving celebrations and Pajama Party so successful. For all the donations and kitchen help, we are extremely appreciative. Thanks especially to the Goodrich Family, the Donohue Family, and the L’Esperance Family, who donated or cooked turkeys for our Thanksgiving feasts.

Our hat is off to the Parent Council fundraising coordinator Carla McDonald for coordinating the ButterBraid sale, and to Nichole Zacek for single-handedly managing the gift card sales. Thanks to the all the parents who helped with the delivery and distribution of all the fundraising orders. Our fall fundraising has been an enormous undertaking but because of all the parents who participated, the school and the children will reap the benefits! Last month we acknowledged the high sellers of the Meadow Farms fundraiser, now we have the list of top sellers for ButterBraids:

1. Emma Quinney ($204.) 2. Kiley Prochnow ($168.) 3. Jillian and Gabriella King, Nathan Catino ($156.). 4. Kate Mayo, Cayden Young and Sophina Zacek ($132.) 5. Travis Pytko ($120.)

Each one of these top sellers is a first time student this year! Congratulations and thank you for your enthusiasm!

Hurry! Don’t be left behind. Last gift card order deadline is December 5^th, delivered December 9^th.

Shhhhh! There are lots of opportunities for elves to help out around this school! Our Parent Council meeting on Wednesday, December 14 (at 12:30) will include two special activities which require many hands. We need volunteers who can sort and bag the T-shirt orders, and volunteers to wrap the gifts from Santa for our Christmas parties. (And at least one parent to keep the children occupied while the elves do their work!) Please come to the meeting if you can help, and bring scissors, tape and wrapping paper if you have some to spare.

The Parent Council is hosting a Party of Gold, for which you should have already received a flyer. We did this last year and our parents were both shocked and elated to receive large checks for their baggies of broken, outdated or never worn gold and silver jewelry or other items. It turned out to be a great fundraiser for the school. You may also book your own gold party and host it in your own home. Start cleaning out your jewelry boxes now, the consultant will be here on December 8 and 9, upstairs in the foyer, during school hours. She has her checkbook all ready and waiting!

The Sweet Dreams collection was a great success, with delivery of four boxes of backpacks and gifts to be distributed to foster children. Our Parent Council has also offered to facilitate coat, food and toy drives during this holiday season, in addition to a cash collection for the food shelf (at the office window).What wonderful opportunities to keep holiday giving in proper perspective for our children. Since there are many situations in which they will be on the receiving end, it is important to take the time for teaching them to reach out to others. There are designated areas to drop off food, coats, and toys. Collections will end on Friday, Dec. 16. Please allow your child to think about what s/he would like to contribute to a needy child, then allow them to help deliver it to the appropriate bin in the hallway. Coats can be new or gently worn and clean, any size. Foods must be non-perishable (canned or dry packaged) and will be donated to area food pantries. Toys must be new, unwrapped and for a child 10 or under. Please avoid stuffed animals unless in unopened packaging. Let your children know that we will make sure all donations are delivered to the children who need them.

If anyone knows of a situation where a child/family in or connected to our school, is in need this holiday season, please speak with Mrs. Morano directly, and as soon as possible.

The entire staff at Jack and Jill Preschool wishes you and your family a healthy, happy and magical Holiday Season!