We Are Getting Very Close!

Hello Everyone,

We are getting very close. I realize that the site may not look like it is nearly ready, but it really is. We want to give you an update on our progress and our plans. This is intended to be a starting point. Many of our details are still unclear. We commit to you now that we will keep you updated as we move through the process. The Waterstone Blog will continue to be our primary means of communication, but you can also reach us by email with specific questions.

Here is a brief contact list:
Issues relating to:

Christa Niven, Director- christaniven@thelittleschool.net

The building and new campus
Finances
Donations
Partnership or investment opportunities
Secondary contact for hiring
Oversight of policy and procedure creation
Oversight of staff recruiting
Marketing
Volunteer organization

Jennifer Dock, Director- jennifer@thelittleschool.net

The building and new campus
Curriculum development and implementation
Portfolio development and implementation
Oversight of staff development and training
Classroom compilations
Marketing

Wendy Vavrousek, Program Manager- wendy@thelittleschool.net

Staff development and training
Staff management
Curricular implementation
Special services creation and implementation

Joann Milano, Human Resources Manager- joann@thelittleschool.net

Staff recruiting and screening
Policy and procedure creation
Staff orientation

Mary Swanson, Admission Manager- mary@thelittleschool.net

Enrollment of new families
Collection and organization of admission materials
Primary contact for new families


If there are any questions or concerns that are not obviously captured by the above descriptions please email Christa at christaniven@thelittleschool.net

Here is an incomplete list of Frequently Asked Questions that we hope to use as a starting point for our transition conversation. Please know that we welcome any and all questions, but do ask that you read through these first.

1. When is the school going to open?
Our site superintendent has told us that we are moving along at exactly the predicted pace for this point in the project. We are going to begin to landscape and paint in October. The site work required for our Temporary Certificate of Occupancy includes asphalt and gravel for the driveway. Those pieces have been ordered and should be done in the coming weeks. As long as we stay on track we will have the building ready to apply for final Certificate of Occupancy on December 1. We are estimating that we will need two weeks to move all of the materials into place before we are ready to ask our day care licensing person to license us to open. REMEMBER- EVERY TOY AND BLOCK MUST BE IN PLACE BEFORE WE WILL RECEIVE DAY CARE LICENSING PERMISSION TO OPEN. It is not the case that we can paint the walls and open the doors. Any and all help will be most welcome once we arrive at moving weekend.

2. Have you hired all of the new teachers yet?
We are very actively hiring teachers right now. Our current staff of fifteen will be spread throughout the building so that one of our current teachers will (most likely) be in each of our eleven new classrooms. We are receiving incredible resumes and are beginning to make final hiring decisions. This economy has provided us a truly top notch pool to choose from. Please see the August 7, 2009 Waterstone Blog Glimpse for more information about our hiring process.

Mr. Sean and Ms. Rachel will be staying on in the half-day program and will be working closely with the other teachers hired for the half-day program.

3. When will you finalize all of the hiring?
We will have all of the staff hired by November 1, 2009.

4. How will the teams be configured?
We will be bringing the staff together for a series of team meetings in November. We will be spending time getting to know each other in order to find the best fit. The great news is that all of our candidates (without exception) are very well educated and trained folks with great prior experience so we have some flexibility in allowing teams to come together based on personality AS WELL AS best age group fit.

5. Who will my child's teacher be?
The honest answer is that we do not know this yet. We won't know how the children will be placed into groups until two things happen:
1. All of the children need to be enrolled- we still have a limited number of openings available in all enrollment categories (full-day, half-day, full-week, part-week).
2. All of the teaching teams have to be configured. Once we have completed both of the tasks we will look at each child individually in order to find the best classroom AND teacher fit.

6. Will my currently enrolled child stay with their current teachers?
The current teaching teams will be broken up as the assistant and co-teachers take on lead and co positions. We will do EVERYTHING possible to keep our current children with at least one of their teachers. We understand that the parents want this as much as the teachers do. We are starting to shed some tears around TLS over the changes to come. While that is true, we are very much looking forward to inviting our new staff and children to join us. There will be lots of opportunities for children t continue to visit with their prior teams but every effort will be made to keep children and current teachers together whenever possible.

7. What is going on with the half-day program?
The half-day program is off to a great start. The children are adorable and we love having them with us. The classrooms are small, but so is the group size and the teachers are visiting the full-day classrooms and all of the playgrounds every day. This is a temporary solution that we think has been a tremendous success thus far.

We will move the half-day children into the full-day classrooms as soon as the Waterstone Campus opens. The broad age groupings currently in place will be spread a little as we move into the new classrooms. Those groupings will also be decided after we have completed enrollment and hiring.

8. Is there anything that I can do to help?
Yes, we have many upcoming events that will require a whole lot of help.

October: We will be spending most weekends at the new school installing our landscaping.

November: We will be painting and installing hardware, moving materials from the storage lockers to the new campus, assembling IKEA chairs and book shelves, and preparing the playgrounds. We have had several of our parent-artists volunteer to help us sand and refinish tables and chests as well as add the creative details that will make our building feel like our school. There is an awful lot to do so if you have an idea or a specific creative skill and would like to help please contact Christa to volunteer.

December: We will be putting materials on shelves and assembling centers in all of the classrooms. This will be a HUGE project and all forms of assistance will be more than greatly appreciated.

9. Will there be time for my child to meet their teachers prior to the first day?
Please see the Open House Invitation on the school website at http://www.thelittleschool.net/. We are very aware that we are going to be incredibly busy and pressed for time in December. While that is true, it is very important for us to provide opportunities to have the children see their new space. We will be working to provide additional opportunities. Please watch the blog.

It's the Little Things In Life...

See more construction progress in the slideshow below!

It was a week of little, but important, things. We spent a great deal of time on the site and made choices and changes. Here is a brief, but incomplete list:

1. We chose the paint colors- it is a surprise, but we think that you will love the finished product.

2. We chose the hardware - who knew there were so many doorknob choices??.

3. We figured out the "key map." That is a complicated task when you think about five buildings.

4. We worked out the "electrical map." That means things like outlets and switches.

5. We realized that one building only has windows on one side overlooking the dumpster. So... we added some windows and moved some others.

6. We added some more windows in the Middler Building.

7. We rerouted a part of the fence.

8. We chose the roofing tiles.

We hope that you have had a chance to visit the site. What you are seeing is the Administration Building closest to the road that is roofed and sided. The big building in back is the Preschool Building. Between those two buildings is the location of the Kitchen and Gross Motor Room. The Kitchen Building will begin to be framed this week. On the left side of the campus as you look at it from the road is the Middler Building. Still missing is the future Infant Building. It will be right in the middle close to the road. It will be the last to be completed.

We had a long conversation with the builders about our timing and they are saying that we can begin to landscape in October. We should receive what is called a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, or a TCO in November. We can begin to load supplies into the building once we have our TCO. We are expecting a Certificate of Occupancy, or a CO in December.

Our plan is to have our currently enrolled children begin to move over to the new campus for "try outs" in December. We will open the new campus on Monday,
January 4,2010 to all new students.

WE WILL GIVE YOU A NOTICE OF OFFICIAL ENROLLMENT DATE AS SOON AS WE HAVE RECEIVED TCO. Please wait to receive that from us before you give notice. We don't want anyone to give notice at their current schools until we know 100% for sure that we are ontime.

UPCOMING EVENTS
September 27th – Back to School Night from 4 – 6pm. This is a parents only event. We will begin with a large group meeting to talk about the new building and the transition as well as discuss the children’s portfolios. Everyone, including families who have not yet joined us is welcome to come for this portion. After, our current parents will be meeting with their child’s teachers for a classroom activity.

October 23rd – Fall Festival and Bonfire The Fall Festival will begin at 3:30 and will be for our currently enrolled children. We would love for everyone, including new families, alumni, future families, neighbors to join us for the bonfire that night. We will begin gathering around 6pm down at the field.

December 5th- Open House We will open up the current school from 10:00-12:00 for a meet and greet. Our HOPE is that we are able to take everyone interested on a walking tour of the new campus from 12:00-1:00. We won't be able to confirm that until we are closer to the date. This is an open house for current families, friends, and future families. We can't wait to see you all there.

Glimpse: This week's glimpse is a look into the Little School. We were sitting on the floor in the Toddler Room with a group of six children and their group leader. One of the children is newer to us and she is still very shy. Another of the children is new to us, but she has been around the school since her birth and she is not only comfortable, but rarely shy anyway. We were handing out crackers and the shy child had retreated but was watching intently as the others all came to take their crackers. We were still watching when our not-shy child walked over to us and thrust her free hand out to us with the most serious look on her face. Stuck by the boldness of her physical assertion, we giggled and handed her another cracker. She toddled herself right across the room and very gently handed the shy child the cracker. She then placed her free arm on the other child. The smile from the shy child was immediate and broad. She ate her cracker in her corner and was so pleased. We were so moved by the simple and beautiful gesture that we just knew that it had to be this week's glimpse for you. What a wonderful way to spend the day.

HAPPY EVERYTHING!

The Half-Day Program is a Success!
We are so pleased to report that we had a fantastic first week in our half-day program. Both Miss Rachel and Mr. Sean have reported that they are in love with their children who did a great job becoming a part of their new classrooms. We each had several opportunities to be in the classrooms and on the playground with our new half-dayers and were so blessed to see so many smiles, receive so many hugs, and witness such a smooth transition. One of our new children wore a dress this week that read: HAPPY EVERYTHING! That pretty much sums up our wonderful week 1!

On site we have had an equally successful week. We now have 3 buildings- some with walls, others with walls and siding, and one with walls, siding, and windows! It is just thrilling for us to drive by and see the changes happening daily.

We also purchased our commercial kitchen equipment this week! We took Chef Nate on a field trip and watched him as he explored the equipment and machinery and utensils. It was not that different than watching his sweet son explore his new classroom as he became a Preschooler recently. Like father, like son and so much fun to be a part of their lives. We just can't wait for Nate to be a daily component of the school.

Glimpse:
September 27th – Back to School Night from 4 – 6pm. This is a parents only event. We will begin with a large group meeting to talk about the new building and the transition as well as discuss the children’s portfolios. Everyone, including families who have not yet joined us is welcome to come for this portion. After, our current parents will be meeting with their child’s teachers for a classroom activity.

October 23rd – Fall Festival and Bonfire The Fall Festival will begin at 3:30 and will be for our currently enrolled children. We would love for everyone, including new families, alumni, future families, neighbors to join us for the bonfire that night. We will begin gathering around 6pm down at the field.