WELCOME TO PRESCHOOL!

We hope you are enjoying summer with your little ones! We will have a Preschool Parent Meeting Tuesday, August 24, 2010 in the school gym at 6:30 P.M. This letter has some information for the Preschool year. You received information from the school office including the school calendar. Make note of some special Preschool events that are italicized. The only supplies you will need for your Preschool child are listed on the back of this letter.

The Butterflies (4/5 year olds) teacher is Mrs. Peggy Kline. The Caterpillars (3/4 year olds) teachers are Mrs. Jeanne Conner and Mrs. Peggy Johnson. Mrs. Leslie VandenBussche will be an assistant in Preschool Monday through Friday. We are excited to have Leslie with us this year. She has a kindergartener and a second grader at SJA. Mrs. Johnson has three children attending SJA, a second grader, a fourth grader and a sixth grader. Mrs. Conner has two grandchildren in our preschool program. All of us will interact with all the children daily.

This year you have the option to pay tuition annually, quarterly or monthly. If you chose to pay monthly you will need to sign up with FACTS tuition service by August 15th. You can access this service through the school website www.sjoa.org, click the school link and scroll down to eCashier. If you have any questions please contact Pasty Johantges at 283-1518. She will be happy to help you.

Preschool begins the week of August 30, 2010. Please bring your child to the classroom on the first day. All children must be potty trained before coming to Preschool. After the first day please plan on dropping your child off at the silver doors on the parking lot. We will get your child from the car and gather them inside the building on the steps. We will take them down to the classroom as a group. If you are dropping off K-8 graders, please pull up to the silver doors and release all the children at the same time. The older children will walk along the side of the building to enter at the main door of the school.

We will have a shared snack mid-morning. We ask you to donate snacks to share with the class. If your child has any special dietary needs or allergies please let us know prior to the first day of school. Please pack your child’s lunch, including a drink, in a labeled lunch box or sack. Milk is available to purchase through the school office. Preschool does not participate in the school hot lunch program. We will dismiss the class at 12:30 from the main office doors and 3:00 from the silver doors on the parking lot. All preschoolers must be picked up by 3:00 p.m.

We look forward to an exciting year! The early years in your child’s life are precious. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have about your child throughout the school year. While it may be difficult to talk while we are in the classroom with the children, please do not hesitate to email or call us anytime.

Peggy Kline - - pkline@sjoa.org (317) 506-3173

Jeanne Conner – jconner@sjoa.org

Peggy Johnson – pjohnson@sjoa.oorg

Leslie VandenBussche

This Friday, April 30TH all Preschool Students dismiss at 12:30. It is important to pick your child up at 12:30 P.M. We do not have supervision for them after 12:30 P.M. NO NYO for the after school students.

Thursday, May 6th Preschool will serve a special lunch! Do not pack a lunch for your child that day.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12TH: SPRING PRESCHOOL PROGRAM – 6:30 to 7:30 P.M. BRING YOUR CAMERAS. We will serve ICE CREAM SUNDAES after the performance! Please have your child here by 6:20 to get ready for the opening song.

MONDAY, MAY 17TH: LAST DAY OF PRESCHOOL FOR MONDAY, WEDNESDAY FRIDAY STUDENTS. The children will hold a Lemonade and Popcorn Stand for the entire school – little entrepreneurs!

TUESDAY, MAY 18TH: LAST DAY OF PRESCHOOL FOR TUESDAY-THURSDAY AND FULL-TIME STUDENTS. The children will hold a Lemonade and Popcorn Stand for the entire school – little entrepreneurs!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19TH: - ST. JOAN OF ARC PRESCHOOL FAMILY PICNIC AT BROAD RIPPLE PARK at 11:00 A.M. FAMILIES WILL MEET THE TEACHERS AT THE PARK. PLEASE BRING A SACK LUNCH FOR YOUR FAMILY. TEACHERS WILL PROVIDE POPSICLES FOR ALL ATTENDING.

The Athletic Commission holds our annual Walk-A-Thon on Friday, May 21st. We invite to walk with us around the neighborhood and collect money for SJA Athletics.

This week we are celebrating SPRING. It started on Monday with rain! We decided that was a good thing because the flowers, trees, and grass need rain to grow. We will be planting marigolds in the Preschool plot of the SJA Community Garden on the corner of 42nd and Park Avenue.

Next week we will learn about Children around the World. We will talk about how they live in different houses, speak in different languages, and celebrate different holidays.
DO NOT PACK A LUNCH FOR YOUR CHILD ON THURSDAY, MAY 6TH. We will provide a special lunch for everyone on that day.

Also on May 6th K-8 will be crowning Mary’s statue in the Church yard. She is the Mother of our Church and we recognize her every May with this special event. Please check the school newsletter for additional information. ALL ARE WELCOME!

The Preschool classes are busy painting, coloring, cutting, pasting, singing, dancing, and laughing getting ready for the Preschool Spring Program on WEDNESDAY, MAY 12th in the GYM. We will celebrate after the performance with ICE CREAM SUNDAES. Bring a camera and Grandma and Grandpa!

All the artwork and projects the children are working on these next few weeks will be displayed during the Spring Program. You will be free to take the work home after the show.

April and May calendars have been sent home. If you need a copy please let us know. Please remember to check the “Dates to Remember” sheet for upcoming events and end of the school year information.

You should have paid tuition through April at this time. The last tuition payment for the year is due May 1st. Our tuition is based on a school year, not by the hour, day, week or month. We divide the payments into nine equal monthly installments. Preschool does not attend 180 school days as is required by the state in grades 1-8. Preschool begins after the K-8 school year begins and ends before the K-8 ends.

For those of you enrolled in the 2010-2011 Preschool class you will receive information in early June.

Letter of the Week: Xx
We have learned about X-rays and how they take pictures of our bodies through our clothes, skin, muscles and bones. We asked the kids if anyone has had a broken bone. They discussed all their scrapes, bruises and ‘broken hearts’ but we didn’t get any one to talk about a broken bone and an X-RAY. We even had one little one cry because she didn’t have ‘a scrape or broken anything’!

MATH:
We are still counting up to “really high numbers – way past 20!!” If they think 20 is high I hope they don’t want to count our agesJ Both classes are continuing to count jelly beans, Easter eggs, and flowers. We counted to 100 in Butterflies and to 50 in the Caterpillars class!
The Butterflies are learning to write the number names. One, two, three…….

LITERACY/RELIGION:
Our Book of Virtues is our most popular book currently. We read The Selfish Giant about generosity and the Lion and the Mouse about friendship.The children shared their Easter stories and we are so excited and congratulate, Travis Chapman, Jasper’s Dad, for being received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil this past Saturday. If you or anyone you know is interested in participating or becoming an RCIA sponsor please contact Melinda Rivelli, coordinator for Adult Faith Formation @ SJOA @ 283-5508.

ARTS AND CRAFTS:
We made a X-Ray Man with the letter X. We also made a Xylophone with many colors of the rainbow.

MUSIC:
Mrs. Hatfield invited us to an instrument petting zoo. We listened and tried out many different PERCUSSION instruments. Mrs. Debra Hatfield is our K-8 music teacher. She is very talented and a gift to all the kids here at SJA.
We have spent a lot of time outdoors the past few weeks. I am sure you have noticed your child swinging, climbing the monkey bars and the climbing wall. All of these activities are important to your child’s growth in the classroom as well as their physical health.

Studies have shown the gross motor skills children acquire at ages 3, 4 and 5 enhance and accelerate reading and math skills later. We also engage in ‘running the bases’ (sequencing), playing matching games (patterning and graphing), and running games (counting forwards and backwards).

The Preschool classes are doing Easter Activities all week. We have read many stories about the risen Lord! Alleluia!

MATH: Both classes are counting jelly beans, Easter eggs, and flowers. We counted to 100 in Butterflies and to 50 in the Caterpillars class!

The Butterflies are learning to write the number names. One, two, three…….

LITERACY: Peter Rabbit is a fascinating bunny who gets into mischief every day. Mr. McGregor is a mean old farmer. He is frustrated with Peter getting into his garden. What a wonderful tale about growing up and making choices.

ARTS AND CRAFTS: Little chicks are popping out all over the preschool room.

Thank you to Mr. Joe Foster, our SJA neighbor, who brought his baby ducks over to the playground on Friday before Spring Break. Mr. Foster also supervises the SJA Community Garden at the corner of 42nd Street and Park. The preschool will be planting pumpkins at the end of the school year. Next year’s classes will harvest them in October.
Joe is very knowledgeable about many aspects of gardening and being ‘green’. He welcomes newcomers to the SJA Community Garden.

Early Dismissal News

Friday, April 2nd - GOOD FRIDAY all Preschool students dismiss at 12:30. It is important to pick your child up at 12:30 because we do not have supervision for them after 12:30 P.M.

Next Monday, April 5th WE WILL BE IN SCHOOL.

Friday, April 30th all Preschool Students dismiss at 12:30. It is important to pick your child up at 12:30 P.M. We do not have supervision for them after 12:30 P.M.

Fashion Show by Ms. Jeanne's Class