 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| News
and Events
|
| October
School Newsletter
|
| Highlights: Fall Open Houses Reminder Greeting and Dismissal Times Fall Semester Undergraduates in the Classroom Parent Brown Bag School Pictures Library Committee Scholastic Book Fair |
| Welcome to the Children's School. We are off to a great start and everyone is to be congratulated for the smooth "phasing-in" process. Thank you! We have many sources of communication between our school and our families. |
| Our main source of communication is our family newsletter and monthly calendar. This is sent home to each family in our school. General information for all families is included with this newsletter. |
| Each teacher sends home a group letter. This letter will include specific information about the curriculum themes, your child's class activities, and projects. Both letters are three-hole-punched so that you may put them in your Children's School notebook each month. In order to protect messages going from home to school and going from school to home, we are sending all papers home in a folder. This folder is then to be returned, immediately, to your child's teacher. We will continue to use the same folder for the entire school year. We will also send announcements via e-mail in addition to the newsletters. So please check that we have your email address! |
| Also, be sure to check the Childrenšs School Art Gallery on our website! Each month we will feature different children. This month's artists are: Bailey, Dana, Erin, Raymond, Cece, Jonathan, Madeline, Olivia, Andrew, Augusto, Ben T., Gabrielle, and Rain. |
|
Fall Open House This event is designed for the entire family to come and see their child's school. So join us for a snack while your child shows you the school! Please mark your calendar and remember that we have limited parking in our lot. A suggestion is to park in the parking garage on Forbes Avenue, which has meter parking on the first floor. Kindergarten Thursday, October 4 4:30 to 6:00 PM Three Year Olds Wednesday, October 10 4:30 to 6:00 PM Four Year Olds Wednesday, October 24 4:30 to 6:00 PM |
|
Greeting and Dismissal Reminders Please be patient and courteous while driving in our parking lot. It is difficult to get in and out of parking spaces while greeting and dismissal are occurring. If we work together then the system will work smoothly for all! If you would like to park and walk your child in or out of the school, please use the side doors to our building which are located near the top of the upper parking lot stairs. For safety reasons, do not walk through the parking lot by the rainbow stairs while we are greeting or dismissing. In order to avoid long lines and traffic "jams", please drop off and pick up your child(ren) at their assigned times. If you arrive early to pick up your child, please wait in a visitor parking space until it is time. Otherwise you may be in the "wrong line" (e.g., afternoon preschool greeting and not extended morning dismissal). |
|
Morning
Preschool Classes Kindergarten
Class |
|
Who Can Help? In the office, Dr. Carver, Mrs. Simpson, and Mrs. Fairweather work as a team to meet the administrative needs of our active school. We all know all of the children and interact with them frequently. We are all available to meet the needs of teachers, students, and families. At the same time, we focus our talents in different areas, so here are some helpful hints about who to approach for which issues. As the administrative coordinator, Mrs. Fairweather answers the primary school phone number (268-2199), keeps student attendance records, delivers messages to teachers, and can answer most questions about schedules, services (e.g., book club, pictures, etc.), and fund-raisers (e.g., Giant Eagle receipts, etc.). She handles visitor entry and exit via the security system and helps with greeting during the morning rush. Mrs. Fairweather is the person to whom ALL forms are returned. She also coordinates everything related to our parking lot, including selling park cards and providing dashboard passes. Another major part of Mrs. Fairweather's job is to keep the research running smoothly at the Children's School. Once Dr. Carver has approved studies and oriented researchers, Mrs. Fairweather coordinates scheduling, ensures that researchers follow appropriate procedures, and keeps records related to research. Mrs. Fairweather is also the Children's School Webmaster. Mrs. Simpson, the Assistant Director, produces the parent newsletter, handbook, etc. She takes the primary leadership role in coordinating parent participation in the school for special projects and committees. She also focuses her efforts on the marketing-admission-registration process, finance (including scholarships, fund-raising, and development), facilities, undergraduate hiring and supervision, and providing classroom coverage when teachers are absent. Mrs. Simpson serves as a resource to parents for general information on a wide variety of topics, as well as referrals when special services become necessary. This year she will coordinate the school's continual quality improvement as we work towards being accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Dr. Carver, the Director, takes primary leadership for program and staff development. She observes the classrooms frequently and provides support for new curriculum development, alternate teaching strategies, ways to meet individual student needs, etc. She also serves as a resource for parents with questions about child development, education, special needs, and family issues. Dr. Carver coordinates all uses of the Children's School as a psychology laboratory, including undergraduate courses, graduate student research, and faculty research. As a faculty member in the Psychology Department, Dr. Carver also teaches a Child Development course each semester, supervises the Child Development Interns, co-teaches the graduate Developmental Core Course, and participates in other departmental events. Most importantly, we're all here to help provide an excellent early childhood program for your children. If you have a question or concern and are not sure who to approach, feel free to ask your child's teacher or to call the school office. We'll be happy to direct your call. |
|
Undergraduates in the Classroom We are pleased to have 13 diverse undergraduates working in the school this fall. We welcome: Sriram
(Computer Science) |
|
Parent Involvement There are many opportunities for parents to be involved at the Children's School! This year we are planning a few "brown bag" talks on Fridays at noon. What are the topics of particular interest that you would like to learn more about? First
Staff/Parent Brown Bag
|
|
Another opportunity for parent involvement is sharing a special talent or a profession that is related to one of our themes. For example, a dentist could come and talk about teeth care during the theme, Healthy Me. Preschool
Kindergarten
|
|
A third way
for parents to be involved is with our Parent Committees. Fund
Raising If you would like to serve on a committee, share a talent/profession or have a topic for our "brown bag" talks, please complete the Parent Involvement Sheet found in your Parent Handbook or call Jean Simpson. If you need a form, call the school's office. Co |
|
Committee News School Pictures
"Photography
by James" will take the school pictures outside on our school
playground. They will bring an outdoor scene backdrop in case
the weather does not cooperate. The three-year-old classes and
the kindergarten class will have their pictures taken on Wednesday,
October 10. The four-year-old classes, extended-day classes, and
any children who were absent on Wednesday will have their picture
taken on Thursday, October 11. Vision Screening Each fall,
the Children's School collaborates with the Pittsburgh Vision
Services to conduct a free preschool vision screening for our
children. The children are screened for visual acuity, muscle
imbalance, lazy eye and color deficiency. We are seeking parent
volunteers to assist in the screening. Please see the enclosed
letter for more details. Library Committee The Library
Committee is responsible for reshelving books, processing new
books, maintaining the master list, repairing books and removing
those books beyond repair. Volunteers will be asked to come once
or twice during the course of the school year to reshelve books.
There may be a few Saturday morning meetings, if needed. Scholastic Book Club Once a month,
you will receive a book order from Scholastic Book Club. This
is a great way to purchase inexpensive books for your children.
With each book purchased, the Children's School earns bonus points,
which can be used to purchase books and other educational equipment
for the school. |
|
Scholastic Book Fair On November 6 & 7 we will host a Scholastic Book Fair in the University Center. You will be able to purchase wonderful books and other exciting products at the Fair. We need parents to volunteer at the Book Fair. If you can help at the Book Fair, please call Maria Swarts. |
|
The Children's School, MMC 17, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (412)268-2199 email: labsch@andrew.cmu.edu Copyright 1999 Carnegie Mellon University |