East Early Childhood Center
September 2022
Here's to a Great Start to our School Year!
Welcome to (or Back to) Early Childhood!
A few reminders...
- Please continue to provide ID when picking up your child. (We may have subs that will need to verify your identity)
- No parking in the bus lanes, we want all of our children and their families to be safe! Thank you for doing this already!
- AM Classes are 8:00-11:00
- PM Classes are 12:00-3:15
- The Extended Day students are picked up by the K-1 Playground exit at 3:00
I'll also take a moment to introduce myself, I am Brooke Uchtman, and I am excited to be entering my fourth year with the Jackson R-2 School District as the Director at East Elementary Early Childhood Center. This is my 17th year in education. Previously, I have worked for the Pattonville School District where I taught kindergarten for eight years and third grade for one year. I also taught Early Childhood majors and supervised student teachers at Southeast Missouri State University for four years . My husband, Matt, and I have been married for 14 years. We have three children Madison (13), Avery (11) and Griffin (3). You may get to meet Griffin as he is attending in Early Childhood with your children as well!
This year we will focus on taking our professional learning community to the next level. We have worked as a team to revisit and recreate our mission and vision. They state:
Mission Statement: We strive to ensure a safe, inclusive environment that promotes growth and learning for all students and staff through collaboration and research-based practices.
Vision Statement: In order to achieve our mission we will commit to the following...
- Work together with mutual respect to foster a positive environment
- Provide a safe inclusive environment by prioritizing developmentally appropriate practice for all learners
- Use data-based decision making to promote growth for all students through monitoring on a frequent basis
Our next goal this school year will be to work on our commitments and goals. Our teachers will continue to work in collaborative teams to plan, teach/assess, study the results, and then act. Four questions will guide our work to ensure high levels of learning for all:
- What do we want students to know and be able to do?
- How will we know if they have learned it?
- How will we respond when some students do not learn?
- How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient?
These questions have never been so important as they are this year. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email or call. Here's to a great year!
Counselor Corner
Hello! My name is Jill Hadler and I am the Early Childhood School Counselor. I am looking forward to working with you and your child(ren) this year! This is my twenty sixth year in education and my twentieth year as a school counselor. Prior to coming to the Early Childhood center, I was a school counselor at Orchard Drive Elementary in the Jackson R-2 school district. In the evenings, I also work as a parent educator in the Jackson R-2 Parents as Teachers program.
My husband, Tom, and I live in Jackson and have one daughter, Claire, who is finishing her final year of college. I enjoy baking, walking my dog, and working in my flower garden.
I am so excited to be working in the Early Childhood center. I look forward to meeting all of you and being a resource for your family!
What does the Early Childhood School Counselor do?
The primary goal of the school counseling program is to assist in the promotion of student success through academic, personal/social development, and career development.
In order to achieve this goal, the school counselor will be in the classroom during center time as a center activity. During that time, the focus will be learning about emotions (managing and expressing our emotions), working cooperatively with others, developing friendship skills (how to initiate play, playing fairly, and resolving conflicts with others), ways to be a successful learner (listening skills, following rules, managing daily routines), and basic career awareness.
In addition to counseling centers, I will meet with small groups and individual students. You will probably also find me on the playground and visiting classrooms as often as possible.
How can the School Counselor help my child and/or my family?
*Parent Workshops (variety of topics throughout the year)
*Connect families with resources
*Provide home/school connections
*I would love to be a resource for your family!
NEED TO CONTACT THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR?
Email: jhadler@jr2mail.org
Phone: (573) 243-4323
News from the Nurse
Welcome Back! Nurse Angie and Nurse Tosha are so happy to see everyone back at school! We hope everyone had a GREAT summer! There are a lot of things we need to cover in our first newsletter this year. Here it goes!
If your child is sick PLEASE KEEP THEM HOME. This is the number one way to stop the spread of germs. If the germs don’t come to school they can’t be shared. If your child has fever, vomiting, and/or diarrhea they need to be home for 24 hours symptom free without medication. If your child has other symptoms of illness like cough, sore throat, runny nose/congestion we ask that you keep them home at least 24 hours and that symptoms are improving before returning to school. Furthermore, if new symptoms develop, your child may be sent home (for example- they had congestion but now at school they present with a new cough). If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call us!
COVID: There is no longer a “covid coordinator”. Each school nurse is in charge of their building and right now we are only tracking positive cases. If your child would test positive by home test or through a dr’s office/clinic we ask that they stay home 5 days from when their symptoms started. (Day one is the first day of their symptoms). They can return to school on their day 6 if they have been 24 hours free of vomiting/diarrhea/fever (*without using medication for 24 hours to reduce fever). Also, their symptoms should be improving and no new symptoms developing when they return to school (loss of taste/smell can still be present). Please notify Nurse Angie @aboss@jr2mail.org or Nurse Tosha @tborgfield@jr2mail.org if your child would test positive.
FLU Shot Clinic (through the Cape County Health Department), at the Elementary building, will be October 20th, 7:30/8 am. Parents must be present for preschool students to receive the FLU vaccine. Please let the school know by October12th if you would like to come to the FLU Shot Clinic and a permission form will be sent home with your child the first-second week of October.
Dental Screenings will be on September 28. All students are screened, but the complimentary Fluoride varnish will ONLY be applied to those students with a signed permission form.
Let’s have a great year! We appreciate all of your help keeping our school safe and healthy.
Nurse Angie and Nurse Tosha
PTO, Did You Know?
RUN! MOVE! GO!
Whether it’s to avoid a vicious dog nipping at your heels, trim the waistline, or just to clear your head– the majority of folk can appreciate the value in running, moving, and getting started.
DID YOU KNOW… In September running, moving, and getting started is what PTO will be all about!
In lieu of the Otis Spunkmeier Cookie push of the past, this year’s Fall fundraiser will be a school-wide FUN RUN on Thursday, September 15th. Along with coordinating the run, APEX will teach daily leadership lessons starting next Tuesday, September 6th. More information on pledging and race-day specifics are coming soon. This fundraising platform has been very successful at other schools and we’re excited to try it here. We hope our East kiddos are ready to RUN!
We don’t care if parents skip, sprint, parachute in, or get pushed by a friend: we are seeking walk-ons and veterans to get involved. To make it that much easier we have created the QR code below. Simply scan this bad-boy to instantly view and sign up for opportunities throughout the year. Volunteers are what keep this organization moving and make so many extras at East a GO!
This month PTO meetings also get started on Tuesday, September 13th. We will meet in the library at 5:30pm. These meetings are a great place to meet So-And-So’s mom, learn about the school as a whole, voice an idea, ask a question, etc. Doors will open at 5:15 for cookies and saying hello before we formally kick-off promptly at 5:30pm. We know so many people are on the go these days and try to make these meetings as short as possible. Childcare will be provided.
In an effort to include parents who have evening activities they can’t move around, this year we will also be offering a “Coffee Catch-Up” the morning of Wednesday, September 14th at 8am in the Office Conference Room. We will review information from the previous night’s meeting and hopefully run into some new faces.
East Early Childhood Shirts
JR2 Stronger Together T-shirts
Families are also welcome to order the Jackson R-2 School District Stronger Together t-shirt. All proceeds will go to our Power Pack and Heroes 4 Hope programs, which support students in need in the Jackson R-2 School District. All orders are due by September 9th. Click here for the order form. Again, thank you for your support!
Full Day Kid's Club
The district offers a Full Day Kids’ Club program that will run at South Elementary from 7:30 am-5:45 p.m. and is open to currently enrolled preschool through 6th-grade students. This program is designed to provide a day full of fun activities for children whenever school is not in session.
There is NO Full Day Kids’ Club scheduled for September.
Full Day Kids’ Club will be offered twice in October at SOUTH ELEMENTARY.
Monday, October 10th: DEADLINE TO ENROLL AND PAY is Monday, October 3 before 4:30 p.m.
Monday, October 31st: DEADLINE TO ENROLL AND PAY is Monday, October 24 before 4:30 p.m.
Full Day Kids’ Club is hosted at South Elementary 7:30 a.m.-5:45 p.m. All students must bring a sack lunch and a water bottle. There is a $1 late fee per child, per minute after 5:45 pm. We provide an afternoon and morning snack. No walk-ins allowed.
You must enroll and pay for your child to attend Full Day Kids’ Club by the deadlines set for each date. The cost is $27 per day, (any additional children are $22 each). ALL enrollment and payments are due before 4:30 p.m. on the designated due date.
To enroll, please click on the link below to the Full Day Kids’ Club tab (if link does not work, please type the link in your browser) https://www.jacksonr2schools.com/parents/kids_club
For any questions, please email the Kids’ Club Assistant, Samantha Cavaness scavaness@jr2mail.org or call 243-9576
September Calendar Events
September 5 - NO SCHOOL - Labor Day
September 6 - JR2 Stronger Together T-shirt Orders Due
September 13 - PTO Meeting 5:30 p.m.
September 14 - McTeacher's Night 4:00-8:00 p.m.
September 15 - APEX PTO Fun Run Event
September 17 - Early Childhood Spiritwear T-shirt Orders Due
September 27- Fall Picture Day
September 28- EC Dental Screening
September 29- Family Workshop-Picky Eaters and Fine Motor Help
East Early Childhood Center
Email: buchtman@jr2mail.org
Website: https://jacksonees.ss12.sharpschool.com/early_childhood
Location: 455 North Lacey Street, Jackson, MO, USA
Phone: 573-243-5347