Carla Heintz, Principal, Early Childhood Education Center

Tracy Smarr-Dolezal, Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator

Hello!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the SMSD "We care, I Can" food drive. Our school collected 198 items to help families in need this holiday season.

As we move into December I would like to remind you all to make sure your child is dressed appropriately for outdoor play when they come to school. If your child wears an extra hat or mittens, please label them with your child's name so that we can get them back to the correct child in the event they are dropped in the hallway on the way back to class and don't make it into your child's locker.

We have had some items that have been left on the playground and in the hall inadvertently. If your child is missing something, please check with your child's teacher to see if they might know where it is. We also have a lost and found box in our office, parents are welcome to come check it out at any time for missing items as well!

In celebration of winter break we will be having an school wide pajama day on Monday, Dec. 20th. Feel free to send your child in their coziest jammies to enjoy our last day together before break.

There will be no school for students December 21-January 4th due to Winter Break. Enjoy your time with your child!

District Mitigation has changed, effective 1/3/22. Please see below for more information.

Please be sure to check out our Facebook page and Twitter for additional information and ideas of fun things to do with your child!

December 10- Early Childhood Screening

December 20- School Wide Pajama Day

December 21-January 4- No School- Winter Break

Our building follows the district calendar and PreK schedule, with the exception of no school on Fridays. You can access the district calendar here District Calendar 21-22

The Broadmoor Bistro has partnered with Pete’s Garden, 15 and Mahomies Foundation, and Lucky International Trading and will provide 250 FREE family-sized meals to the SMSD community. There is not cost, but please sign up and select a pick up date/time here https://calendly.com/chefschool/kids-feeding-kids-family-meal-pickup?month=2021-12

Pickups are scheduled on Thursday, December 9th from 12pm-4pm or Friday, December 10th from 8am-12pm and will take place outside the CAA.

Immunizations/Physical Exam: Just a quick reminder that if you have a new student and have not sent in a copy of your child’s most recent physical, you will need to do that soon. If you have updated vaccination records please send those in as well. I will be sending out reminders for those students who still need to turn in a physical/updated vaccinations in the next couple of weeks. There will be an exclusion date that student’s will need to have those turned in by. You may send those to me at katiewatkins@smsd.org.

Attendance Reminder: Please call your student in to our attendance line if they will be missing school for illness/appointments/out of town. Our attendance line is 913-993-2688.

As the weather gets colder, please be sure to dress your child appropriately for outdoor play. We follow the school district guidelines and go outside for recess as long as the temperature is above 15 degrees, the wind chill is above 0 and there is no falling moisture.

If you would like for your child to celebrate their birthday at school, please contact your child's teacher to set up a time and day for the snacks to come. We are able to share store bought, individually wrapped, items. Unfortunately, we cannot accept home made treats or unwrapped items in clam shell packaging, such as cookies or cupcakes that are not individually wrapped. In addition, as of right now, visitors are not allowed past the office, due to current community COVID numbers so parents could not attend the celebration with their child. But we are happy to celebrate and snap a picture or two for you if you wold like!

The Shawnee Mission Board of Education revised the district mitigation plans and winter activity guidance effective January 3, 2022. The update continues to require all elementary, including the students at SMECEC to wear a mask until such a time as all students have the opportunity to be vaccinated. In additional all students must wear a mask on the bus as they are able.

Students will not be wearing their masks outdoors, on the playground.

Outside visitors to the building must wear a mask. Visitors are now allowed past the office, however any visits to your child's classroom must be scheduled with the teacher prior to that visit. No more than 3 outside visitors can be in one classroom at a time.

For those of your bringing your child to school, masks are strongly recommended for the adults during drop off and pick up when around other adults, however because it is outdoors, a mask will not required. If you are waiting outside a door we do request you honor social distancing protocols of 3 feet.

We will continue to disinfect rooms between sessions daily, cohort as much as possible, and utilize assigned seating and social distancing when masks are off for meal time.

Please know that at anytime these measures may change based on data from the Johnson County Department of Health and decisions made by the Shawnee Mission Board of Education.

You can read the full mitigation plan here and the full winter activities plan here

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Free Meals

School breakfast and lunch meals are FREE for ALL students at all schools for the 2021-22 school year. Once again, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has put into effect nationwide waivers allowing school foodservice departments to continue to serve healthy school meal options free to all students. PreK students at SMECEC attending the AM session receive breakfast, those attending the PM session receive lunch.

Breakfast

Breakfast is available each school day. The breakfast menu includes an entrée, grain, fruit and milk. Students are served all items to receive a full breakfast; including the required ½ cup of fruit.

Lunch

Lunch includes an entrée, grain, fruit, vegetable and milk. Students are served all of these five components on their lunch tray, including the required ½ cup fruit and/or vegetable.

The “pig” symbol on the menu means that the item contains pork.

Menus, nutritional and allergy information are available online at https://www.schoolcafe.com.

Special Diet

If you have an allergy or specific dietary concerns, contact your school nurse for a medical form to be filled out by your doctor.

Food service information is available on the district’s web site at www.smsd.org/about/departments/food-service or you can call the Food Service office at 913-993-9710.

SMSD offers an early childhood developmental screening which includes the areas of vision, hearing, problem-solving, personal-social development, gross/fine motor skills, and speech/language skills. The purpose of the screening is to identify children who may have substantial developmental delays and who may be eligible for special education services. SMSD’s Early Childhood Screening (ECS) is appropriate for children ages 2 years 9 months to 5 years old who reside within the Shawnee Mission School District boundaries.

How often are screenings offered?

Screenings for 2020-2021 occur monthly on a Friday morning and are by appointment only. Parent or other legal guardian must complete a request for screening and submit the required documents before an appointment is offered.

How do I request a screening for my child?

More information about the ECS program can be found on the district’s Early Childhood Special Education home page under Early Childhood Screening.

We have new social media sites this year! Please feel free to follow us and like us!!

Twitter: @theSMECEC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/THESMECEC/

Or search for #EarlyEDSMSD to see what's happening district wide in PreK!