July 2022 Newsletter
A Note From Our Principal
Dear Merryhill Families:
We would like to welcome everyone to a fun and exciting new school year. The children cannot wait to share some of the events that are planned for this month. We will be kicking off July with soda fireworks and celebration. The students are looking forward to creating their own art exhibits, a teddy bear picnic, water play days, Music Matt and so much more. Also be on the look out for Scholastic book fair the week of July 11th and our upcoming Kids Helping Kids event that will be supporting the Ronald McDonald House. More information is to come on items that can be donated. Hoping everyone has a safe and happy forth of July holiday with friends and family.
Sincerely,
Katie Moyer
Assistant Principal
Kids Helping Communities
Each summer, we participate in a service initiative to give back to communities in need. This summer, we will be collecting for Ronald McDonald House Charity July 18th– August 5th. This contribution is for the families and children whose children are seeking crucial medical treatment. We will be sending additional information soon via Links 2 Home.
Cubby Refresh
As a reminder, please make sure to refresh the spare clothing in your child’s cubby. Take home anything that no longer fits and leave a spare set of well-fitting, weather-appropriate clothes.
Important Dates
July 1st Soda Explosion – Wear Red, White & Blue
July 4th – School closed
July 11th-15th Scholastic Book Fair
July 15th Teddy Bear Picnic – Bring your favorite stuffed bear
July 18th– August 5th – Kids Helping Kids donation drive
July 29th – End of Month Folders go home
Keep in mind…. *
Home-Based Symptom Screening
All children MUST be pre-screened at home for Covid Symptoms prior to attending school.
It is recommended that all students, parents, and other individuals who are two years and older wear a face mask when on school premises.
Links 2 Home
If you’re not currently receiving photos and daily reports for your child, you can easily change this by downloading the Links 2 Home app on your phone. Just type ‘Links 2 Home’ in the search bar for the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. After downloading, you can register with the same email address that you used to enroll your child in our school.
Online Parent Communication
In addition to our newsletter, the ‘For Parents’ section of our website also includes links to our menu, monthly calendar and school year calendar. We update these items frequently to ensure you’re always in the know. Though we send information through Links 2 Home, our calendar can be printed or even downloaded directly to your device. Our menu and school year calendar can be printed or saved for easy reference as well.
Updating your Information in Alma
Do you have a different email address or phone number? Need to add or remove an emergency contact? You can do this at any time in Alma. If you need help logging in or accessing the system please let us know.
A few friendly reminders …….
Illness Policy Reminder:
Our parents are vital partners in helping us to maintain a safe and healthy environment for the students in our school. The most important thing you can do to assist us in creating a healthy environment is to keep your child home if they are ill. This reduces the spread of illness and allows your child to fully recuperate. Children may not attend school until they have been symptom free for 72 hours if they display any of the following:
- Fever of 100.4 degrees of more—must be fever free for 72 hours with no fever-reducing medicine before returning to school
- Vomiting, diarrhea or stomach upset
- Heavy nasal discharge requiring wiping every 3-5 minutes
- Persistent, non-productive or barking cough
- Sore throat
- Skin rash, including diaper rash
- Head lice
- Symptoms of a communicable disease
- Fussy, cranky behavior unlike child’s normal demeanor that may indicate illness
- For more information please see our Parent Handbook or reach out to a member of our administrative team
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 School is a NUT FREEenvironment, we ask that you not bring any food items into the school that contain nut products.
Love Our School? Review Us!
In today’s connected world, many families turn to online reviews to learn more about the reputation of schools. Just a reminder that you can find our school on Facebook, Google, Yelp and other online directories. We’d love more families like yours, so please consider spreading the word about our school!
What Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Looks Like in Our Classrooms
Children learn best, develop self-confidence, and thrive when they feel valued and supported. Because of this, diversity, inclusion, and belonging are hallmarks of our school community. Our teachers strive to cultivate learning environments that foster respect and acceptance and encourage students to learn from and with each other.
Our classrooms contain a range of materials to provoke children’s questions, ideas, and attitudes about their own identities and about differences and similarities among others. Items in our classrooms highlight each student’s culture in a positive way and include rich literature that holistically reflect the students in the classroom community and showcase diverse family structures, dolls with various skin tones, a variety of art and musical instruments from other countries, music in multiple genres and languages, and culturally diverse dramatic play props.
Below are some specific examples of what diversity, inclusion, and belonging looks like in each of our classrooms.
Infants (0-1 year)
A common activity in our Infant classroom is looking at similarities and differences in front of a mirror. For example, the teacher may say, “Liam, you have big brown eyes! Let’s look at Zoey’s reflection. Look! She has big green eyes!” Teachers may also adhere pictures of the children’s families to the mirror and talk about the photographs while viewing the reflections in the mirror.
Toddlers (1-2 years)
In our Toddler classrooms, we listen to songs that celebrate diversity, such as “Dance Tunes from Many Lands” by Ella Jenkins. Teachers provide multicultural instruments (maracas, drums, rain sticks, chimes), ribbons, and scarves, and encourage the children to dance along to the music while discussing the different rhythms, tempos, and lyrics.
Beginners (2-3 years)
We ask our Beginner students to bring in props from home that relate to personal experiences, such as empty food containers they enjoy sharing with their family or pieces of clothing that represent their family’s heritage. Teachers place these props in the dramatic play center for students to use while sharing and interacting with their peers.
Intermediates (3-4 years)
Intermediate teachers encourage students to bring in family photos. Teachers cut the portraits into interconnecting pieces varying in size and amount, meeting the needs of the individual students. All the puzzles are placed in the manipulative center for independent student exploration. This activity incorporates diversity, inclusion, and belonging, while also reinforcing mathematical skills of problem-solving and reasoning.
Pre-K (4-5 years)
In our Pre-K classrooms, we ask students to bring in pictures of a special family celebration, meal, or tradition. Students glue their picture to a piece of paper and are encouraged to discuss the photo and write or draw about the photo underneath. Teachers collect all the pictures to create a classroom book titled, “Our Family Memories.”
July Newsletter
July 2022 Newsletter
A Note From Our Principal
Dear Merryhill Families:
We would like to welcome everyone to a fun and exciting new school year. The children cannot wait to share some of the events that are planned for this month. We will be kicking off July with soda fireworks and celebration. The students are looking forward to creating their own art exhibits, a teddy bear picnic, water play days, Music Matt and so much more. Also be on the look out for Scholastic book fair the week of July 11th and our upcoming Kids Helping Kids event that will be supporting the Ronald McDonald House. More information is to come on items that can be donated. Hoping everyone has a safe and happy forth of July holiday with friends and family.
Sincerely,
Katie Moyer
Assistant Principal
Kids Helping Communities
Each summer, we participate in a service initiative to give back to communities in need. This summer, we will be collecting for Ronald McDonald House Charity July 18th– August 5th. This contribution is for the families and children whose children are seeking crucial medical treatment. We will be sending additional information soon via Links 2 Home.
Cubby Refresh
As a reminder, please make sure to refresh the spare clothing in your child’s cubby. Take home anything that no longer fits and leave a spare set of well-fitting, weather-appropriate clothes.
Important Dates
July 1st Soda Explosion – Wear Red, White & Blue
July 4th – School closed
July 11th-15th Scholastic Book Fair
July 15th Teddy Bear Picnic – Bring your favorite stuffed bear
July 18th– August 5th – Kids Helping Kids donation drive
July 29th – End of Month Folders go home
Keep in mind…. *
Home-Based Symptom Screening
All children MUST be pre-screened at home for Covid Symptoms prior to attending school.
It is recommended that all students, parents, and other individuals who are two years and older wear a face mask when on school premises.
Links 2 Home
If you’re not currently receiving photos and daily reports for your child, you can easily change this by downloading the Links 2 Home app on your phone. Just type ‘Links 2 Home’ in the search bar for the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. After downloading, you can register with the same email address that you used to enroll your child in our school.
Online Parent Communication
In addition to our newsletter, the ‘For Parents’ section of our website also includes links to our menu, monthly calendar and school year calendar. We update these items frequently to ensure you’re always in the know. Though we send information through Links 2 Home, our calendar can be printed or even downloaded directly to your device. Our menu and school year calendar can be printed or saved for easy reference as well.
Updating your Information in Alma
Do you have a different email address or phone number? Need to add or remove an emergency contact? You can do this at any time in Alma. If you need help logging in or accessing the system please let us know.
A few friendly reminders …….
Illness Policy Reminder:
Our parents are vital partners in helping us to maintain a safe and healthy environment for the students in our school. The most important thing you can do to assist us in creating a healthy environment is to keep your child home if they are ill. This reduces the spread of illness and allows your child to fully recuperate. Children may not attend school until they have been symptom free for 72 hours if they display any of the following:
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.
Additional Reminders:
Love Our School? Review Us!
In today’s connected world, many families turn to online reviews to learn more about the reputation of schools. Just a reminder that you can find our school on Facebook, Google, Yelp and other online directories. We’d love more families like yours, so please consider spreading the word about our school!
What Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Looks Like in Our Classrooms
Our classrooms contain a range of materials to provoke children’s questions, ideas, and attitudes about their own identities and about differences and similarities among others. Items in our classrooms highlight each student’s culture in a positive way and include rich literature that holistically reflect the students in the classroom community and showcase diverse family structures, dolls with various skin tones, a variety of art and musical instruments from other countries, music in multiple genres and languages, and culturally diverse dramatic play props.
Below are some specific examples of what diversity, inclusion, and belonging looks like in each of our classrooms.
Infants (0-1 year)
A common activity in our Infant classroom is looking at similarities and differences in front of a mirror. For example, the teacher may say, “Liam, you have big brown eyes! Let’s look at Zoey’s reflection. Look! She has big green eyes!” Teachers may also adhere pictures of the children’s families to the mirror and talk about the photographs while viewing the reflections in the mirror.
Toddlers (1-2 years)
In our Toddler classrooms, we listen to songs that celebrate diversity, such as “Dance Tunes from Many Lands” by Ella Jenkins. Teachers provide multicultural instruments (maracas, drums, rain sticks, chimes), ribbons, and scarves, and encourage the children to dance along to the music while discussing the different rhythms, tempos, and lyrics.
Beginners (2-3 years)
We ask our Beginner students to bring in props from home that relate to personal experiences, such as empty food containers they enjoy sharing with their family or pieces of clothing that represent their family’s heritage. Teachers place these props in the dramatic play center for students to use while sharing and interacting with their peers.
Intermediates (3-4 years)
Intermediate teachers encourage students to bring in family photos. Teachers cut the portraits into interconnecting pieces varying in size and amount, meeting the needs of the individual students. All the puzzles are placed in the manipulative center for independent student exploration. This activity incorporates diversity, inclusion, and belonging, while also reinforcing mathematical skills of problem-solving and reasoning.
Pre-K (4-5 years)
In our Pre-K classrooms, we ask students to bring in pictures of a special family celebration, meal, or tradition. Students glue their picture to a piece of paper and are encouraged to discuss the photo and write or draw about the photo underneath. Teachers collect all the pictures to create a classroom book titled, “Our Family Memories.”