Early Childhood Connection
April 1, 2021
Hello Preschool Families and Guardians....
....and hello spring break! I want to take an opportunity to wish everyone a fun and restful spring break. Just a reminder school will be closed Friday, April 2- Friday, April 9. We will resume instruction in a remote capacity for all students during the week of April 12. Our final declaration phase will begin Monday, April 19 and will run through the end of the school year.
For those ending Passover this weekend, I hope you and your family had an enjoyable holiday and for those celebrating Easter on Sunday may your holiday be delightful.
April is Autism Awareness Month so get ready to rock your blue and show your awareness for Autism! World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated annually on April 2nd so wear your blue tomorrow. We'll continue to bring awareness each and every Monday in April so join us by wearing blue on Mondays throughout April. In the preschool space we aim to bring awareness to all kinds of differences and abilities and promote acceptance while celebrating the unique talents of all our students. We will continue to celebrate our friends with autism everyday.
The ECE newsletter is always full of important and relevant information. While lengthy, this is a one stop shop for preschool resources. To help guide you through each edition of the newsletter I want to highlight each section of the newsletter:
- Current Events will be shared at the top of each weekly newsletter;
- Highlights from our Early Childhood staff;
- Nurse's Corner will provide you with updates from our ECE nurse, Deb Meier. There you will also find a link to the Universal Child Health Record form should you need it;
- Our attendance policy and overview;
- Framework that contains additional resources for at home student learning, complete with links and suggestions for brain breaks, gross motor activities, and more;
- Crisis counseling services and resources as provided and supported by local NJ agencies;
- ECE website another wonderful resource filled with websites, activities, and links to even more resources to support the academic and social emotional needs of our youngest learners;
- Preschool Organizational Charts with contact information for the various people at each site, by organization, to help you get your concerns and questions heard and answered;
- and finally our PK Reopening Plan where you can find specific information pertaining to our reopening/ COVID policies and practices.
Best,
Lauren Eakin, Supervisor of Early Childhood
April is Autism Awareness Month
OUR TERRIFIC TEACHERS
Ms. Darnisha Feuer
Ms. Samantha Buckley
Nurse's Corner
Your mask helps protect those around you and it helps protect you, too! It is important for adults and children to stay vigilant in mask wearing to help prevent spread of the virus.
COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets travel into the air when you cough, sneeze, talk, shout, or sing. These droplets can then land in the mouths or noses of people who are near you or they may breathe these droplets in.
Masks are a simple barrier to help prevent your respiratory droplets from reaching others. Studies show that masks reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth.
You should wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick. This is because several studies have found that people with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic) and those who are not yet showing symptoms (pre-symptomatic) can still spread the virus to other people. Wearing a mask helps protect those around you, in case you are infected but not showing symptoms.
It is especially important to wear a mask when you are indoors with people you do not live with and when you are unable to stay 6 feet apart since COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with one another. Your mask also offers some protection to you, too.
Please enjoy watching this fun video with your children about the need to wear a mask.
Information courtesy of the CDC: Guidance for Wearing Masks
~ Nurse Deb Meier
Hoboken Early Childhood Program
Attendance Counts and Matters!
If your child will be on site attendance will be recorded in class.
Students are expected to attend school daily, unless they are ill.
Vacations:
Please be cognizant of school calendar when planning vacations. These will be logged as an unexcused absence.
April 2021 Framework
ECE Website
This year, we'll be providing a facelift to the ECE Available Resource webpage starting with a name change. Since this website is so much more than available resources, this site will simply be referred to as the ECE website.
This webpage will be a work in progress and will be updated frequently. Be sure to visit often!
Contacts
Reopening Plan
Department of Early Childhood
leakin@hoboken.k12.nj.us | 201-356-3695
Diana Milne, Community Parent Involvement Specialist
dmilne@hoboken.k12.nj.us | 201-356-3698
Denise Valetin- Brookes, Early Childhood Clerk
dbrookes@hoboken.k12.nj.us | 201-356-3695
Deb Meier, Early Childhood Nurse
dmeier@hoboken.k12.nj.us | 201-356-3756