April Edition

I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing spring vacation. It is hard to believe that there are less than 40 school days left. I feel like this year has flown by so quickly. Just as the flowers and trees have bloomed outside this season your children have grown tremendously during this school year.

Ms. Joanie


General Membership Meeting

On Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 7PM Joan Fretz form the Huntington School District will be presenting on the topic of "Social Emotional Growth of Children." This is a valuable workshop for parents, grandparents and educators. The board and I hope to see you all there!

Field Trip to Schmitt's Farm

The 4s are going to Schmitt's Farm on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 to learn all about the life cycle of a plant. Each family is expected to meet Ms Sara and Ms Mary at the farm by 9:45AM. Parents DO NOT pay for their entrance to the farm.

Speech Evaluations

Our final session for speech evaluations will be on Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 10:00 AM -2:00 PM. Walk-ins are welcome. Jane Gruner will evaluate 2, 3, 4 and 5 year olds. The cost of the evaluation is $20 per child. Please let me know if you are interested in having your child evaluated.

ROCK AND ROLL IN THE PRE K

Yes, it is true the Pre K class has turned into a band! Ms Sara will be sending out an invitation to their big musical debut. I know that you are in for a BIG TREAT!!!!!

Library Visits

The children will be visiting the Bethpage Public Library for story time and a craft.

May 18, 2009 Pre K will take their walk to the Library by 9:45 AM.
May 19, 2009 Nursery will take their walk to the Library by 9:45 AM.

Ms Sara and Ms Christine will send out permission slips.

Updates:

Carpet

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to Kevin Groom for installing our new "purple giraffe" carpet in the main classroom. He did a fabulous job and more importantly donated the product and all of his labor. We are so fortunate to have someone that cares so much for this school and the safety of our children.

Many thanks to the board members who prepared the room for the job and those that returned the classroom to working order.

Kitchen

The kitchen in the main classroom will be redone before the '09-'10 school year. Chris Calamia (3 AM)has agreed to be the "project manager" for us. He has completed a detailed plan for us and will be using the IKEA cabinetry that was purchased recently with money raised by our Eagle Scout. Chris will need some parents to help him with demolition and construction. If you are interested in helping out let him know.

Lower Room

It seems that our Eagle Scout for the downstairs project has not panned out. We still need to fix up the classroom. We would like a fresh coat of paint and a teachers' center built in the corner. We will need volunteers. This project will be done after the summer program lets out.

John Looney is installing a bathroom in the lower Room over the summer. He is also looking into replacing the kids sinks upstairs and downstairs.

Safety

We held an emergency board meeting on March 31, 2009 to discuss the safety of our children at BNS. The board will be going through the school with the faculty to take care of safety concerns. We will be getting rid of toys and other items that present potential risk. The teachers have already removed push pins from walls and bulletin boards. They have also gone through the art unit and have removed the small items that can be a choking hazard. If you see anything in the room that is a concern to you, please do not hesitate to let one of us know.


Registration

Our registration for the '09-'10 school year is ongoing. We have openings in the PM classes for Pre K and Nursery, AM Nursery Enrichment, PM Kindergarten Readiness, Monday/Wednesday PM Toddler Separation and AM Wednesday and Friday Two of Us.

Summer Registration

The toddler program is full and currently has a waiting list.
The upstairs program has room for 4 more children.

Year books

The class moms and members of the board are working on the class year books. If you have any pictures from your participation days or special occasions at the school, could you please put a copy in my mailbox. CD files or emailed attachments would be perfect. I will forward the pictures to the class moms.

Graduation and End of the Year Picnic

The date is not settled for graduation and the picnic. The board has to review our calendar before finalizing anything.