St. Martin's Preschool
7547 East Brainerd Road
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421
Phone: 423-855-1011
Fax: 423-899-1083
Notes to current 2009-2010 Parents
BEGINNINGS
MAY 2010
The last day of school for the
Monday-Friday 2’s class will be Monday, May 24.
Wednesday, ‘Baby Day’ class will end on May 26. The Tues-Thurs 2’s class
will end on Thursday, May 27. We will
have lots of fun and games to celebrate!
Please write on your calendar that your first tuition payment is due any time
between now and July 1st. Some parents just send me checks all summer
and that is fine (
Wednesday, September 1
for ‘Baby Day’
Thursday, September 2 for 5-day 4’s, 2-day 3’s and Tues-Thurs Beginnings
Friday, September 3 for 3-day 3’s and 4’s and Mon-Fri Beginnings.
Tuitions
are as follows (they are the same as this year): 5 day 4’s-$255, 3-day 3’s or 4’s-$200, 2-day
3’s-$175, Beginnings 2’s-$215, Baby Day-$105.
Only new students will need a yellow Tennessee Preschool Immunization
Certificate or Georgia’s comparable form.
The
preschoolers are required to have a standard sized backpack without wheels that they can wear on their backs. The backpack should be big enough for
their lunchbox. I am telling you now for
your summer shopping.
Your
summer ‘homework’ is to READ, READ,
READ to, talk to, explain to, experience with, count with, sing with, verbalize
your thoughts to, visualize with, help them find the words to express with,
explore with, hug and kiss……your children.
The more you encourage their brains to think, the better readers and,
therefore, the better students they will be. Working on their small motor skills will yield a payoff
especially when the 2’s come into the ‘big room’ to 3’s next year. You can develop these skills by strengthening
their hands and dexterity with Playdoh, threading beads or cheerios, puzzles,
legos, stirring, tearing paper, coloring (don’t worry about staying in the
lines), etc. Running, jumping, pedaling, climbing, playing in dirt and water,
exploring the woods will peak their interest in nature and strengthen those gross motor skills. Those precious little brains and bodies don’t
go on vacation and need your stimulation for the learning
that goes on every minute of their busy days!
To enhance that experience, you might consider letting them get their
own card from the public library and join the library summer reading program. They can participate if you read books to
them. I quote Jim Trelease, author of The
Read Aloud Handbook, who says, ’reading aloud is the most important gift
you can give your child.’
Many
of you have asked about holidays and
events next school year so that you might plan vacations. Below is the capsule version based on
Hamilton County Schools holidays and, as they say, subject to change
(www.hcde.org):
First
tuition payment due by July 1
Orientation
Sept. 1, 2, 3
Classes
begin Sept 7
Fall
break Oct 18-22
Thanksgiving
Nov 24-26
Christmas
Dec 20-Jan 4
MLK
holiday Jan 17
Presidents
day holiday Feb 21
Spring
break March 21-25
Good
Friday closed April 22
Graduation
for 4’s May 27
Thank you Greta Gentle, Carson’s and Cooper’s Mom, for doing a great
job this year as PreSchool Board Parent Representative. Thank you Beth Lewis
for heading up the Parent Advisory Board and to all of the Beginnings Class
Parents: Sissy Figlestahler, Dawn
Schnitzer, Louise Harbison, Audra Vetzel, Leslea Bowen and Laura Israel. Thank you also Tracey Stevens and Emma Veys
for all of your hard work in pulling together our Teacher surprises.
Thank
you, for honoring us with a Teacher appreciation week of lots of food and
goodies. We also look forward to a
lovely end-of-the-year luncheon and shopping in the summer. We consider the time we get to spend with
your children as our blessing and to have gifts on top of that is icing on the
cake! THANK YOU, THANK YOU parents for a wonderful year of PreSchool!
During
the summer I will be in the preschool
office a few days a week and will check the answering machine and return
your calls. Even if I am out of town I
will check phone messages and my e-mail at stmartinspreschool@comcast.net.
I will update the preschool section of our website at stmartinsec.org with fall information. You may mail checks to preschool or drop them
by with Barb from 9-12 each day. She can
also answer most questions at 892-9131.
We look forward to seeing our returning families in the Fall for our 26th
year of
Have a terrific summer!