Friendship Family Newsletter
Paul Carolan & Kristen Trahan, Administrative Team
January 23, 2018
First, the exciting news to share is that Principal Andrea Simmons and her husband welcomed their son John Harper Simmons on February 8 at 9lbs. 2oz.. We are all very happy for this new addition to our family.
With having recently marked and celebrated our 100th day of school at TFS, we are looking ahead at the many learning and growing opportunities we have over the next months. We have prepared for our important visit (2-3 days long) of the assessors from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The organization has rescheduled the visit into March due to the weather during the original window. We are ready and we are excited!!!
Great learning continues to be evident throughout the school with our primary focus this year on inquiry based learning and the implementation of our Eureka math program. We are in the middle of our mid-year conferences with each teacher to review their assessment data regarding student progress to help meet our school-wide goals.
TFS has entered into a wonderful, new partnership with the United States Coast Guard. We are looking forward to the opportunity this presents to our TFS community. The Coast Guard will be volunteering in classrooms and supporting TFS with unique learning experiences related to the work they do.
Please carefully read through the important information below in "Please Note." A few items to highlight are our Kindergarten Information Night (March 9) and the additional early dismissal day on March 23 for parent conferences.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts to help our school community continue to improve, please let us know.
In partnership,
Paul Carolan & Kristen Trahan
SOME GENTLE REMINDERS TO PARENTS AND GUARDIANS
In continuing to strive for excellence in supporting TFS being a safe and supportive community, we ask parents and guardians to remember the following:
- At the beginning of the day, children are welcome to their classrooms at 9:30AM. If you are dropping off your child, you may come into the building beginning at 9:15 and wait in the lobby area until 9:25. Please do not plan to come into the school before 9:15 as we are always involved in meetings and planning until that time.
- At the end of the day, parents are welcome to pick up their child beginning at 3:30PM. If you are picking up your child, you may come into the building beginning at 3:15 and wait in the lobby area until dismissal time. Please do not plan to come into the school before 3:15 as we are always involved in teaching and learning until that time.
- If you are picking up your child at the end of the day, you are very welcome to stop for a minute and check in with the teacher about your child's day or to say hello. Please don't use this time for a "parent conference." If there is a concern or need to speak at more length with the teacher, please ask to schedule another time to meet with him/her. Please also do not linger to chat with other parents at this time. Quick stop-ins to pick up, say hello and then leave with your child helps with the transition for all of the students.
Thank you for your understanding and support regarding these items.
PLEASE NOTE
NEW IMPORTANT INFORMATION
READ ACROSS AMERICA!!!
We will kick it off our Read Across America next Friday, 3/2 in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. We have planned a whole spirit week the following week to celebrate reading.
- Friday 3/2- Cat in the Hat Day- Wear Your Favorite Hat
- Monday 3/5- Hop on Pop- Wear favorite Sports Gear and Hop around!
- Tuesday 3/6- Green eggs & ham day- wear green/orange (Green Eggs & Ham for breakfast or lunch)
- Weds 3/7 Wacky Wednesday (Wear mismatched or inside out clothes)
- Thursday 3/8 Sleep Book- PJ Day; Last day 10:15 whole school will sit through the halls & read- any Dr. Seuss book
PARENT CONFERENCES
We are planning to have Friday, March 23, as an early dismissal day in order to schedule our spring parent conferences. Your child's teacher will communicate with you to schedule a day and time to meet to review progress.
RECRUITMENT SEASON
This is the time of year to register children for the lottery to attend TFS next year. The recruitment window closes on March 31. Please share this information and let your friends know about the amazing learning environment at The Friendship School!
- Sibling Policy - Please note that we have implemented a new sibling policy at TFS.
Sibling preference is allotted to applicants who have a sibling currently attending The Friendship School. The Friendship School requires proof of residence for all students at the time of registration.
This is the If you have a child presently in Kindergarten or PreK this year, that child's sibling (living in the same home) will be eligible to enter the school based on completion of the registration packet for the child. If you have any questions you can contact Robin at (860) 447-4049, ext. 7129.
Current TFS students do not need to register again for the lottery. Students who entered after the start of the school year through Birth-3, will need to apply.
NEWS FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE
Hi Parents,
Please be sure your child has a weather appropriate change of clothes for their classroom cubby. Endless situations arise, between wet weather outdoors, spills and accidents indoors, requiring the need to change into dry, clean clothes. Also, if your child had come home in in borrowed clothes from school, please return those at your earliest convenience.
As you know, the flu is widespread in CT. If you are ill and plan to bring or pick up your child at school, please be mindful about entering the building with serious illness. Let the office know if you need help in any way to pick up your child, or deliver them to class, as not to spread illness to our staff and very young children. If possible, a substitute family member on your child’s pick up list would be ideal.
Please remember student health policies regarding illness for public schools: For any communicable illness, fever, GI symptoms, infections, students need to be free of symptoms for 24 hours to return to school.
Thank you.
Lori Gatheral, RN, NCSN
UPDATES AND IMPORTANT REMINDERS
NAEYC ACCREDITATION.
- Our accreditation visit window for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has been rescheduled! The assessors will visit our school for two-three days anytime between March 12 and 29. We are excited for their visit and feedback!
- As part of the accreditation process, we need to ensure that all food served to students is safe according to NAEYC standards. If your child is three years old, please make sure that the following foods are not sent in from home, as the accreditation agency views them as choking hazards: hot dogs (whole or cut into rounds), hard pretzels, raw peas, whole grapes, popcorn, nuts (TFS is nut free, anyway!), or raw carrots or meat that are larger than can be swallowed whole.
- Friendly reminder: any food brought into school must meet our wellness guidelines (candy, cookies, cake, cupcakes, sweets, soda, chip products, etc are not permitted). Instead, if you are hoping to share a food item with your child's class, plan to bring something healthy (fruit trays, yogurt, granola, applesauce, cheese slices, etc). As always, ensure the food is nut-free, as we have many allergies at TFS. We also have an easy and affordable "birthday package" option through our food service, SLA. Please call or visit the main office for more info.
SUPPORT OUR WONDERFUL ART PROGRAM - We need donations!!
We are looking for all types/sizes of cardboard, fabric, ribbon, metallic objects, papers and /or metallic paint (non-toxic), bottle caps, glue gun(s), velcro, foam sheets, styrofoam trays that haven't had contact with meat, scrapbooking/decorative paper, paper punches (decorative), zig-zag cut scissors, yarns/string and raffia. Please drop off in the front office for the art program. Thank you!!!
Lisa Freeman
Visual Arts Educator
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
- March 9 - professional development day for staff. There is no school that day.
- March 15 - Kindergarten Information Night
- March 20 - TFS report cards will be sent home.
- March 23 - Early dismissal day (12:30PM) for parent conferences
- Our last day of school, due to snow days, is now June 18.
- March 30 - No school - Good Friday.
In February, the Kindergarten students celebrated 100 days of school with many activities relating to the number 100!
Chinese New Year provided the opportunity for many inquiry based learning experiences!
The Friendship School
Email: asimmons@thefriendshipschool.org
Website: www.thefriendshipschool.org
Location: 24 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, CT, United States
Phone: 860-447-4049
Facebook: facebook.com/thefriendshipschoolct