NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE:

HELLO SPRING!  The flowers are in full bloom, and the children are enjoying going outside and this beautiful weather.  This month we will be celebrating “THE WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD”, April 24th-28th.  This is a special week designed for our young children.  The children will be enjoying various special activities each day that week and, we will end the week with a puppet show and petting zoo from 4:30 pm to 5:45 pm we hope to see all our families there.

This month the children also will be doing various activities and lessons outside as we take the classroom outdoors and learning about Nature and all its beauty.  We will be having our annual Ladybug Parade and Release Celebration on April 21st.

Nieva Gatbonton

Principal

IMPORTANT DATES:

Cooking Class                             17th-21st

Life Cycle of a Ladybug            17th-21st

Ladybug Release Celebration       21st

Earth Day                                         22nd

Week of the Young Child       24th-28th

Pajama Day                                     24th

Arbor Day                                        24th

Team Colors                                   25th

Bubble Adventure                         25th

Music Matt Concert                      26th

Trike a Thon                                   27th

Class Spirit Day                              28th

Puppet Show                                   28th

Petting Zoo                                      28th

Folders Go Home                           28th

COOKING CLASS:  Ms. Esmeralda will be having a Spring Cooking Class from April 17th-20th.  If you would like to have your child participate please feel out the form along with $20.00 to the front desk.  Remember space is limited.

LADYBUG RELEASE CELEBRATION: The children will be learning about the life cycle of a ladybug from April 17th-21st, and then April 21st the children will be participating in our annual Ladybug Parade and Release Celebration.  The children will be releasing 3,000 ladybugs back into the Earth.

TRIKE A THON:  The children will be participating in our annual St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital Trike A Thon on April 27th.  Please have your child bring their bike and helmet. This year our goal is to raise $1500.00 to help children’s research.  Please look for more information as the time becomes closer.

Few friendly reminders …….

Health & Safety First:

• Upon arrival and during pick-up time, please make sure that you sign your child in and out in the sign-in/out binder located in the front office. All information must be completed on each line and be clearly legible. You must write a phone number each day where we can reach you immediately should there be a need for it.
• Should you require an alternate person to pick-up your child, please give a written letter to the 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 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 12:30 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! 

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.

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