Unity Preschool News

October 2022 Newsletter

Ms. Linda's Letter

Dear Preschool Families,


This month we have the opportunity to teach our children about loving our neighbors and sharing with them. Unity Presbyterian Church is currently collecting non-perishable food items for the Fort Mill Care Center to provide a Thanksgiving meal for Fort Mill families who find themselves in need of food. We would love the children to bring some items to Preschool during October. We will help the children place the items in our church display when we have Chapel later this month.


The items specifically requested by the Care Center include the following: spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, small (1-2 pound) bags of rice, jam and jellies, pancake mix and syrup, canned fruit, cranberry sauce, evaporated milk, pie fillings (including pumpkin), pie crust mix, evaporated milk and gravy. If you are overdue in cleaning out your pantry - those items (as long as not expired and not opened) are welcome too. Please send your items during the month of October. Staff will accept them during car line.


Thanks in advance for your participation and for sharing with others the wondrous gifts that God has given us.


Blessings,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

Meet Ms. Jane - Our Storyteller

Below are some pictures from our first visit last week with Ms. Jane, our Storyteller. We are blessed to have Ms. Jane visit us once a month to share her fantastic stories with us. Ms. Jane was a former Preschool Director in New Jersey. She moved to Fort Mill to be closer to her two daughters and grandchildren. She LOVES to read (for herself and to young children), travel, and work in her garden. Thank you, Ms. Jane, for sharing your wonderful stories with our children.

Color Days

This month we have two Color Days:


Orange Day: Wear ORANGE on Thursday, October 13


Black Day: Wear BLACK on Thursday, October 27

Spirit Day - Halloween Celebration

Our next Spirit Day is Thursday, October 27 (Two's/Three's) and Monday, October 31 (Four's). We will celebrate Halloween in our classrooms. Your child's teacher will send party requests through SeeSaw later this month. We ask that the children wear Halloween-themed shirts or leggings or something BLACK. Please do not send them in costumes --- the novelty wears off quickly and we do not want to misplace costume pieces.

Thank You Fish Class

Last week our Fish class planted flowers and plants in the pots at our school entrance. They look so beautiful. Many thanks to Ms. Maureen and GeGe (Ms. Maureen's mom) for helping us with this project. Our Four's classes will be adding a "plant watering" job to their job boards and will be helping the preschool take care of these throughout the winter.
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Scholastic Book Order Thank You

Thank you so very much for your generous Scholastic Book Orders. We earned maximum rewards this month. We purchased "Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Leaf" for our students which we will distribute later this month. Several of our wish list items were also purchased so we increased our preschool library with several current titles. On behalf of our budding readers, we THANK YOU!


Our next school order will be sent home before Thanksgiving so that you can purchase Christmas gifts. You are, however, welcome to order any time of the year on the Scholastic website. If you use our Class Code (GXCK8) I will be notified and can finalize the order and have it sent to school.

Trunk or Treat

Join Unity on Saturday, Oct. 22nd from 3:00 – 5:00 pm on the front lawn for Trunk or Treat! This is a free event for Unity families and the community at large. Wear your costumes and enjoy fun, fellowship, games, and prizes!


Bring a non-perishable food donation for the Fort Mill Care Center. Sponsored by Children’s and Youth Ministry Teams. We are Teal Pumpkin Initiative Friendly!

Teacher Feature - Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Sarah

This week we feature Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Sarah from our Fours (Owl) class.


Ms. Elizabeth: Ms. Elizabeth is the Lead Teacher for the Owls Class. This is her second year teaching the Fours class at Unity. She was a teacher in Charlotte and in Fort Mill before taking time off to take care of her daughter, Katherine, who is now in the Monkey Class at Unity.


Ms. Elizabeth moved back to Fort Mill in 2015. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Simon, daughter, and her dog, Janson.


A few of Ms. Elizabeth’s favorites:

Food: Spicy; lives on chips and salsa

Music: likes it all

Books: Prince of Tides, A Bad Case of Stripes - David Shannon(a story about being yourself), The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein, Matilda - Roald Dahl

Activity: Painting; reading; running/walking outside and preferably at the beach.


Ms. Sarah: Our family of four moved to the Carolinas from Michigan 11 years ago. The warm weather suits me just fine. In fact, summer is my absolute favorite season. My husband and I have two girls, Katherine is 17 and Elizabeth Grace is 8. We love taking trips to the beach and to the mountains. Another warm weather favorite of mine is gardening. Planting flowers gives me great joy and pleasure. l enjoy nothing more than filling up the back of my vehicle in the spring with beautiful annuals.


I cherish spending time with my family. Especially with how rushed we all are nowadays. To me, time is one of the most important things you can give your loved ones. Both of my girls love to play golf, so I spend lots of time on the course! I also enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen with my husband. We make a great team when it comes to food.


I love “Oldies” music...60’s and 70’s. Anything from the Beatles, The Stones, to CCR, Bob Seger and Rod Stewart...I could go on and on! Being from Detroit, Motown music has a special place in my heart too.


I really enjoy reading when time lends itself and I have read many good books. One that stands out in particular is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I thoroughly enjoy reading or watching period pieces. My favorite series though, is Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling has an amazing imagination! Speaking of Harry Potter, I have an 9 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi named “Potter” who I absolutely love and adore!


That pretty much sums it up for me, other than being a part of such a special community and playing such a tremendous roll in the lives of our precious children. There’s no doubt in my mind that God lead me to Unity Presbyterian for a reason when I enrolled my youngest daughter in the program three years ago.

Do I Send My Child to School?

We have received questions about whether you should send your child to school with runny noses, coughs and other symptoms. The rule of thumb that we like to use is "If another child had similar symptoms, would you want your child playing with them?" Missing a day or two of preschool will not set them back on their education journey. If you find you are wiping your child's nose often and/or you are reminding them to cough in their sleeve all day long, please keep them home. Your child will enjoy the extra loving time and it will help prevent spread in the classroom. If your child has a persistent cough or runny nose due to allergies, please let us know that they are not contagious. We welcome questions if you are just not sure.

Miscellaneous

*No School - Monday, October 17: This is a teacher work day for the FMSD.


*Tuition: Our next tuition withdrawal date will be Tuesday, November 1st.


*Folder Reminder: Please remember to empty your child's folder at least every week!


*Label Clothes/Backpacks/Water Bottles: Please remember to label all items that you send to school so that we can make sure they go home with the correct child.

Unity Preschool Staff 2022-23

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Front Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Maureen and Ms. Kellie (Fours - Fish)

Ms. Sarah and Ms. Elizabeth (Fours - Owls)

Back Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Carolyn (Librarian/Thursday Helper/First Call Sub)

Ms. Danielle and Ms. Jen (Twos - Bees)

Ms. Brandi and Ms. Becca (Threes - Monkeys)

Ms. Beth and Ms. Laura (Threes- Frogs)

Ms. Linda (Director)

Unity Preschool

Unity Preschool does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and other school-administered programs.