ANNOUNCEMENT:

Since we announced our decision to open the new school on December 21, 2009 to currently enrolled families we have spoken to several of our parents who would prefer that we move all of the children at the same time on Monday, January 4, 2010. We very much respect our parents feelings and hear their concerns about having the children make the transition just three days before the holiday break. As a result, we are in fact going to change our decision and OPEN THE NEW SCHOOL ON MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010 FOR ALL CHILDREN.
In addition, we want to remind you all that the half-day program will be enrolling one-year olds. Please contact mary@thelittleschool.net for more information about enrollment.

Fall Festival and Bonfire Events

We had such a wonderful day last Friday. As you probably know, Friday was our Fall Festival and School-wide Bonfire. Both events were a resounding success. Neither event is possible without a whole lot of hard work from the entire staff. The staff absolutely outdid themselves this year creating many new centers with wonderful activities for the children to enjoy. There was pumpkin bocce ball, leaf rubbing, vegetable painting, story-telling, a puppet theater, scare crow and luminary making, trail mix making, hay stack hunting, face painting, and the ever so popular hay bail ride. In fact, if you spoke to anyone who attended the event you very likely heard first about Mr. Blair and his Country/Karaoke/Hay Ride.

The other reason that we are able to hold this event is the incredible dedication of our parent volunteers. This year was our biggest volunteer turn out ever with 50-60 parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends coming out to help us to make this event so much fun for the children.

We were able to have a wonderful afternoon followed by a very sweet night of eating together and sitting by the fire visiting with friends old and new. We are always thrilled when our alumni attends and this year was no exception. Something that was new this year is that several of our soon-to-join us families were also able to attend. There is no better introduction to the Little School than the bonfire event- although we will work very hard to make the rest of you who are joining us feel equally welcomed to the school. It was a wonderful night and we just can hardly wait for next October to do it again.

We know that we say this nearly every week, but we are just so incredibly grateful for our amazing community.

WATERSTONE CAMPUS UPDATE: It was a terrific week on site this week. Things are really coming to a head as the site work crew gets ready to hand over the grounds for us to complete the landscaping the weekend of November 6-8. If anyone has any specific expertise with commercial landscaping in general, an excavator, or a Bobcat who would like to volunteer for that weekend we would love to hear from you.

We are also expecting our drywall to go up anytime after this Friday. We will also be doing the painting ourselves and we are preparing for that work now as well. Again, if anyone has any specific expertise with commercial painting or commercial sprayers and you are interested in volunteering please also let us know as soon as possible.

Thanks again and have a great week!




GLIMPSE: Our wonderful preschoolers created a book leading up to the Fall Festival. It illustrates the story of "The Leaf Man." Using materials from our playgrounds and the woods surrounding us, as well as pieces of interesting fabric, the preschoolers with Ms. Laura, created beautiful landscapes and Leaf Man puppets. During the Fall Festival, Ms. Laura (and helpers!) presented their work as a puppet show for the children and parents. See the slideshow below.

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.

Two Upcoming Events!

Hello Everyone.

We have several very exciting dates to share with you.

On Sunday, September 27th we will be holding a back to school night from 4:00-6:00. This event will begin with a conversation about our fall and our transition to the Waterstone Campus. We will be using that time to introduce you to our leadership team, share our vision, discuss logistics, and talk about roles at the new school. We will also be talking about children's portfolios and observations and the importance of these to our school.

Our conversation will be followed with classroom events in each of the SIX classrooms at the school. How exciting to have the half-day families joining us for the first time!

Next, the fall festival/bonfire/photo day will all be held on Friday, October 23rd.

Families are welcome to sign-up for family portraits beginning at 3:00 on the 23rd. There will be a sign-up sheet posted on the door to the main school building a week prior to the event. Families who are new to us should know that we love LOVE David Gellatly who is returning to take our photos for his 4th year. He is wonderful!

The fall festival will begin at 3:30 and will conclude by 5:00. We always need as many parent/grandparent volunteers as possible. Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be available to volunteer to help out with this event. As we are holding this event the week before Halloween it is going to be focused on Fall this year and not Halloween. CHILDREN WILL NOT WEAR COSTUMES TO THIS EVENT. We will be exploring the sites, smells, tastes and sounds of fall with a series of activities. This is always a great event!

*Our MTW families are very much invited to join us for all of the events of this day.

We will end the day with our annual bonfire. This is by far the most wonderful night of our year. Here are some important details for you to have:
1. This is a potluck. There will be a sign-up sheet on the door at the main school.
2. This event is usually attended by 90%+ of our community. This is a great chance for you to meet other families and make some new connections.
3. The event ends at 8:00 but it is very often the case that many families will sit around the fire much later into the night.
4. We serve s'mores so come hungry because the children love making them even more than they love eating them.
5. Chairs and blankets are a great idea.
6. The community photo will be taken at this event.
7. We really encourage you to attend this event!

There will be more information about all of these events in the coming weeks. Please contact us if you have any questions or if you can volunteer to help out at the Fall Festival.

Thanks so much!

Christa and Jennifer