A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:

Love is in the air!  The staff and I want to thank all our families for making us apart of your families and the love you show us daily makes our hearts full.  This month the children will be celebrating Dental Health, Our Presidents, and also will the Groundhog see it’s shadow?

At the end of this month we will begin our registration for the 2019-2020 school.  This is your opportunity to save your child’s spot for the upcoming year which will begin on June 17th.  Spaces will be very limited so please make sure you reserve your space.  We will be sending the packets out with the priority registration fees as soon as we receive them.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents who have completed the parent survey.  Your comments and suggestions are very important to us.  I would also like to remind you if you every have any concerns, questions or suggestions to help make our school better, please feel free to contact me or the administration at the front desk.  Our number goal is to make sure that our school is a loving and welcoming safe environment for the children.

Have a wonderful month!

Nieva Gatbonton

Principal

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 1st                                             Football Day

February 2nd                                           Groundhog’s Day

February 4th                                            Cooking Class Begins

February 5th                                            Chinese New Year

February 12th                                         Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

February 13th                                         Valentine Grams delivered

February 14th                                         Valentine’s Day

February 18th                                         President’s Day *SCHOOL IS CLOSED*

February 19th                                        Lantern Festival

February 21st                                         George Washington’s Birthday

February 24th                                        Mexican Flag Day

Expressing Feelings of Love & Appreciation for Valentine’s Day

February, 2019   |   Topics: Social Emotional

The symbols of love given for Valentine’s Day are a fun way for children to learn how to express appreciation for those they love. Below is a roundup of five fun ways you can celebrate with your child. 1. Create special one-on-one time Many people go on a date with[.....]
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A few friendly reminders …….

Health & Safety First:

• Upon arrival and during pick-up time, please make sure that you sign your child in and out using the iPad located on the front desk. Please remember to sign your child into the school as soon as you arrive before going back to the classroom and sign your child out of the school last thing before you leave after picking them up from their class.  A good way to remember this is to always use the sign in/out iPad when you have your child with you.

• Should you require an alternate person to pick-up your child, please submit request in writing via email or directly to the front office, stating the name of the person who is authorized to pick up. Please inform the person picking up the child that they must provide a valid form of identification with photo. A staff will ask for I.D. to properly identify this person as someone who is authorized to pick-up your child.

• It is very important that you make contact with the teacher on duty when arriving or picking-up your child. This will help you better understand how your child’s day went and allow you time to ask any questions and/or voice any concerns you may have.

• Please make sure to carefully review the new and updated Parent Handbook and our  Sick and Medication policies. Our goal is to maintain a healthy environment for all our children and staff. We are asking you to abide by our sick policy as we will continue to enforce those policies with every enrolled student. Although their symptoms may not abide by the sick child policy, the school administration will determine when a child needs to go home according to their well being. On occasion, symptoms may be outside the parameter of our Sick Child Policy, at that time the school administration will contact you if we feel your child needs parental care.

• With the exception of our infant population, children at Merryhill Preschool will be involved in physical fitness activities, both indoors and outdoors, as an important part of the curriculum. If a parent believes that his/her child is not well enough to participate, s/he will probably be more comfortable at home in more familiar surroundings. The school is not equipped to accommodate the needs of a sick child. Additionally, to prevent widespread flu in the school, we recommend that your child stay home from school if experiencing flu or cold symptoms.

• During the summer months we will try to maintain our playground schedule when weather permits. We ask that parents put sunscreen on the children before they come to school. We also ask that you maintain a bottle of sunscreen in your child’s classroom and teachers will reapply as needed.

• Please make sure all doors close securely behind you when you leave a room or the building. Please refrain from exiting through the Emergency Exit Door to the parking lot. (We do not want the children to think it is okay to use this door.)
  Please do not give out your door code to anyone other than the primary people on your pick up list.
  Please do not allow “piggy backing” at the front door. If there is someone behind or in front of you that does not know the code, please ring the door bell, which is located above the key pad.

Parking Lot Safety

Please remember not to leave any valuables in your car (including your children) when entering our building or any other location. With the slump in the economy, thieves are getting BOLD! They are taking part in a practice  refer as “Smash and Grab”. They target mostly women’s cars who leave without a purse in hand who have left their purses, lap tops, etc. sitting in plain view in their locked vehicles! The “locked vehicle” does not stop them as they come prepared with a special glass breaking tool! They break your window, grab what they want and speed away!

Please do not leave anything of value or that resembles a purse or bag in plain view in your car, for any amount of time! This includes your children!

Rules for Vehicles While On School Grounds: Because the safety of our children is of paramount concern to us, we require all parents to adhere to the following rules of the road while on campus:

1. There is a 5 miles per hour speed limit at all times while on school property.
2. Park in designated parking spaces only.
3. While on school grounds, pedestrians always have the right of way.
4. Vehicle ignitions MUST be turned off, and the keys removed, while parked on school grounds.
5. Children may NOT be left unattended in a vehicle at any time or for any reason.
6. Violations of these rules may result in a warning. If a violation is serious, or if violations continue, school personnel are authorized to take a tag number for a report to the local police.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep all of our children safe.

Tuition Policy Reminder:

• Tuition is due no later than Friday prior to the week of attendance. Tuition is considered delinquent at 12:00 PM on Monday. A $25 late fee charge will be assessed at that time and should be included in your payment. Tuition is continuous throughout the year. There are no deductions in tuition for absences, illness, or the holidays that are observed throughout the year. Each child is entitled to one week of vacation credit for each school year after attending school for six months. Requests for vacation credit must be presented in writing to the office at least two weeks in advance.

• A charge of $1 per minute will be assessed for children picked-up after 12:00 PM for half-day students, and 6:00 PM for full-day students.
• Sign up for our Automatic Payment Program and avoid late fee charges via your parent portal, ALMA! You can also use this portal to submit payments via credit card.
• We encourage you all parents to sign into your parent portal, ALMA, to view your account, print statements, make payments, and update contact information.  ALMA is an online platform that can be reached from this website from the “For Parents” tab.  Please see an administrative staff member if you need help setting up your account or a password reset.

Additional Reminders:

• Please make sure that your child has a crib-sized fitted sheet to cover his/her mat, a blanket, and at least two spare set of clothing in his/her cubby. On Fridays, you must take blankets and sheets home to be laundered and return them on Mondays. Please check your child’s cubby everyday for soiled clothing or other items that may need to be taken home. Please also make sure all items are clearly marked with your child’s name (clothing, sheets, blankets, sweaters and jackets, towels and bathing suits, etc.).
• We ask that your child wear appropriate shoes to School in order to protect them for potential injuries. Flip Flops are not permitted at school.
• Merryhill provides a hot lunch as well as a morning and afternoon snack. We do not provide breakfast, but we’ll be happy to assist your child with breakfast brought from home until 8:45 AM. If you would like your child to eat breakfast at school, he/she must arrive by 8:30 AM.
• Merryhill School is a NUT FREE environment, we ask that you not bring any food items into the school that contain nut products.
• In order to keep you informed of everything happening at Merryhill, please check the Merryhill Links to Learning Parent Board and students’ files located in each classroom, our monthly newsletter, and our website. In an effort to establish prompt communication with parents please make sure to provide us with an e-mail address for up-to-date e-notifications