WE ARE LICENSED AND READY TO OPEN ON MONDAY, JANUARY 4th!!!!

Happy New Year!

We have had the most incredible week. There have been highs and lows for sure and some of the obstacles seemed momentarily insurmountable. Having said that, WE ARE LICENSED AND READY TO OPEN ON MONDAY, JANUARY 4th!!!!

We are so excited. We know that you have suffered right along with us and we can't thank you enough for your never ending support and encourgement.

We are EXHAUSTED. We are bent and broken and we will look a littl rough on Monday morning, but the building and grounds look fantastic.

We are hoping that some of you are around on Saturday to help us with the final unpacking and cleaning. We will also be building the first of many of our playground installations. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. We would appreciate it if you would email us to tell us if you can come so that we can plan our projects for the day. We will be working in two shifts. Shift one will be from 9-1. Shift two will be from 1-5. It is fine if you can come for a part of a shift also, please let us know what you have avaialble.

Thanks so much and we hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday!

Very, very best regards for the new year!

Christa and Jennifer

Weekend Update

We had a FANTASTIC weekend!!! We began our move-in officially on Monday when Ikea and Discount School Supplies each brought a truck load of supplies. Tuesday, December 22nd Two Men and a Truck moved all of the things from all SIX of our storage lockers over to one of the empty buildings at the school. It took them 12 hours to move all of our things. It was amazing.

On Tuesday night we bought and transported over 200 baskets to the school- that was a site to see for sure! On Thursday and Friday we emptied a very large bonus room and two garages into the school. On Saturday and Sunday we emptied three classrooms from the current Little School and thinned some of the surplus from what will be the half day classrooms, throwing away many very loved, and very tired items.

As of this evening, Sunday night, we are probably 85% done putting it all away. The classrooms are so beautiful and different. The teachers have brought their individual personalities and points of view to their classroom compositions. It is just incredible to see it all come together.

The remainder of the flooring was also installed over the weekend.

The week of December 28-December 31:
Monday: We will have all of our final inspections AND HAVE OUR WATER METER INSTALLED AND WATER TURNED ON!!! We will also have the first load of mulch installed. A total of 5 tractor trailer loads of mulch will be delivered and spread this week. The mulch is going to absolutely transform the campus.


Tuesday: Any remaining site inspections (if something has to be fixed in order for us to pass our final inspection) will be completed. We will be putting away all of the office, art room, and dining room furniture. We will also be making all of our last minute classroom changes prior to our North Carolina Division of Child Development licensing inspection on Wednesday morning. If all goes as planned we will have our temporary license on Wednesday! At worst case scenario we will have them return on Thursday the 31st.

We are hoping to rest on New Year's Day.

NEEDS: WE NEED TO ASK THAT PARENTS DO NOT VISIT THE SITE BEFORE 5:00 AS OSHA REGULATIONS FORBID VISITS DURING CONTRACTOR WORK HOURS. PLEASE DO NOT WANDER THE SITE ALONE. ANY VIOLATION COULD CAUSE OUR OPENING TO BE DELAYED.

We are really, really, REALLY excited now. We are beginning to imagine what it is going to be like to see the children arrive on the 4th. What an exciting time!

Please write Christa at christaniven@thelittleschool.net with any questions. No one will be answering the Little School phone this week. Thanks and we can't wait to see you soon.


REMINDER: Our ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled from 3:00-4:00 on Sunday, January 3, 2010. Please be sure to join us for that exciting event.

Too Many People to Thank in One Blog!

As of this evening we have our conditional certificate of occupancy and we are ready to begin to move into the buildings!!!

Yay! Hurray!! Yippee!!!

We have accomplished the following:

1. Fencing is complete- and SO cute
2. Heating in all three of our buildings
3. Electricity in all three of our buildings
4. The site is just about completely graded and expectantly awaiting mulch next week- Mulch is going to bring about a MIRACULOUS transformation!!!
5. The concrete and walkways are in

To Be Completed Next Week:

1. We are awaiting our water meter so that we can run water. This is a big one. We need lots of prayer and well-wishes going into the weekend.
2. Mulch
3. The remainder of the flooring
4. Permanent certificate of occupancy

We want to say a great big thank you to Kenny Keel and our very own (and much beloved) Eric Peterson without whom the water meter would be impossible. We also need to say thank you to the entire office of inspections and zoning department, but especially to Michael Rettie who has been just amazing to work with this week. Our poor exhausted team of subcontractors, general contractors, site superintendents and project manager and husbands, parents, staff and children are so incredibly dedicated and determined to get us ready for the 4th. We just don't have room to sing their praises adequately so instead we will just say a profound THANK YOU TO YOU ALL- You know who you are and so do we!

We hope that you all have a wonderful and joyous holiday. We can't wait to see you all soon.

Jennifer, Wendy and Christa

We got our conditional certificate of occupancy today!!!

A Whirlwind Week

This week at the Waterstone Campus is a complete blur tonight as I sit and think about it while watching the snow fall. There were many, many highpoints, and also several low points, but all in all it was a wonderfully productive week.

Highlights:

The heat and electric are now installed and operating.
The lighting and ceiling tiles are installed.
The remainder of the kitchen equipment is on site and awaiting installation on Monday morning.
The water lines are tested and the water quality is excellent.
The plumbing is very nearly complete.
The walls are painted and the trim is getting close to being completed.
The fencing began today.
The road is nearly finished and the parking lot will be finished by Wednesday.
The landscaping materials have all been purchased and are ready for installation just after Christmas.

As you can see, this was a great week on site.

Timeline:

Monday: Kitchen installation and site work continues. Ikea order delivered.

Tuesday: Inspections and Temporary Certificate of Occupancy application. Move out of storage locker. All acquired materials arrive on site.

Wednesday: Site work completion and Final Walk-Through
Thursday-Friday- Christmas break
Saturday-Sunday- We move in.

Needs: Next weekend, December 26 and 27 are going to be incredibly busy days. We have hundreds of pieces of Ikea furniture to assemble, thousands of toys to sort, and lots of furniture to move. We would love to have help if you are able. While we love our children desperately, we are not going to be equipped to have anyone under twelve who is not related to us on site that weekend. Children 12 and over who would like to help are not only welcome, but greatly appreciated. Please email Christa at christaniven@thelittleschool.net if you are able to help.

The week after will be a continuation of the weekend as we fine tune the classrooms and get ready for our ribbon cutting on the 3rd and First day on the 4th. We would again welcome any help that you are able to give.

Glimpse: Our site superintendent, David Hickey; Project Manager, Shannon Dixon; General Contractor, Chris Hale; all of the inspectors at the Orange County Office of Inspections; and hundreds of subcontractors have worked tirelessly to bring this project together. The weather should have delayed us several months and would have if not for the tremendous dedication of our incredible team. There have been some tense moments, but overall the atmosphere on the campus has been dedicated and determined. This team feels like a part of the Little School family and they have been very sure that they were not going to let our kids down come January 4th. I would like to offer them our highest praises and greatest regards.

A Big Week Ahead

See new construction pictures below the posts.

This week begins our race to the finish line. By this time next week we will have electricity, heat, flooring, paint, plumbing, trim, and even an installed kitchen. It is going to be a big week. Driving by things may look a little rough as the site work and landscaping are yet to be finished. We are working every day that is not raining on the grounds, but as you know, dry days have been few and far between. What that will mean for us is that it is very likely that we will open on January 4th without any of our playground installations in place.


This actually works out beautifully for us because we have contracted with folks at NC State's Natural Learning Initiative to help us with our playground plans. Robin Moore, the director of The Natural Learning Initiative has been working for the last 10 years to inspire those of us who work with young children to create natural learning spaces for children to explore. Through this contract, he and his staff are going to meet with our teachers to discuss best practices in incorporating the outdoor environment into our curriculum. They are also going to provide a workshop for our parents in which they are going to help us remember the wonderful experiences we had as children playing outdoors and relate this to our plans for our children. They are then going to create both a schematic plan and a master concept plan for our initial three outdoor spaces. They are also going to be consulting with us every step of the way while we build these spaces. We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have been chosen by them. If you would like more information about them or to see some of their incredible ideas that have already been completed all over the country, please visit their website: http://www.naturalearning.org/

Needs: We will be painting trim every night this week and welcome a few volunteers who can help. We are also seeking a few volunteers to help us to distribute materials to the new classrooms on December 26th. Please write to christaniven@thelittleschool.net if you are able to volunteer.

REMINDER: We will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at the school on January 3, 2010 from 3:00-4:00. Mayor Tom Stevens will be with us to help the children cut the ribbon. Please join us if you are able!

Glimpse: Thank you to all that joined us for our open house last week. As always, it is so inspiring to us to see the level of participation and commitment from our families. We had over 200 people join us to meet the teachers and see their child's classroom assignments. The weather didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirit! Our teachers were so excited to meet so many of their future families.

Educator of the Week

By Vanessa C. Shortley

Little School teacher has big love for students

Silva Gabriele Stumpf, child development lead teacher for middlers at The Little School, said she decided to become a teacher because of her love of children. Still, she said, she kind of fell into it.


Silva Gabriele Stumpf, child development lead teacher for middlers at The Little School, passes out scarecrows to preschoolers during the October Fall Festival at The Little School. Photo by Elizabeth Romska.

“I ‘wandered’ into [early childhood education] in the Black Forest region of Germany, where I attended a four-year ECE program that emphasized practical learning,” she said.

She was drawn to The Little School in particular, the veteran teacher of 13 years said, because of the approach they take to teaching young children by being a partner in their education instead of just an instructor.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy, which draws its name from a town in Italy, has no set curriculum or methods, but instead relies on a series of community-centric values that is child directed. It is this approach, Stumpf said, that brought her to the Little School — and the resulting environment is what has kept her at the school.

“Now in my third year, it is easier to say why I am interested in staying than why I originally came,” she said. “TLS is a place that provides a home away from home for children that houses an ambience of joy and serious intent at the same time.


“It is inspiring that the new, enlarged campus [in the Waterstone development next to Durham Technical Community College’s Orange County Campus] will strive to continue to foster a nurturing community, where teachers contribute to being part of a school, rather than ‘just’ a day care center.”

The Little School, located at 200 Davis Road with a Waterstone campus set to open in January, is a five-star preschool and child development center that offers a nurturing, exploratory education program, according to the school’s Web site.

The children Stumpf gets to teach — 2- and 3-year-olds, mostly — are also why she loves going to work every morning, she said.

The challenge of being a role model, of sharing with children and watching them light up as they learn something new are tangible benefits that spur Stumpf on, urging her to keep growing and changing herself, she said.

“I enjoy the opportunity to bring heart and soul into a class of children, with the chance to make a difference in so many little, seemingly minute ways every day,” she said. “… I enjoy the instant gratification of captivating a child, the instant tangibility of our work.

“I enjoy seeing children be creative, whether it is through language, art, movement, problem-solving, role-playing or whatever they come up with.”

Comments? Send them via e-mail: v.shortley@newsoforange.com

What would you like to say to your nominator?

“I truly appreciate your recognition on behalf of all our staff and their hard work to fill portfolios, not to mention the tireless dedication on so many levels in all classrooms.

“Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to be part of the very important recognition of teachers in the field of early childhood, which will receive a boost through your series.” — Silva Gabriele Stumpf