Newsletter: October 2024
Dear Common Ground Community,
Happy Fall and Happy Friday! We have a lot of exciting information to share in this newsletter.
Miss Mimi
We have created a place on our website where we will keep you updated on how Mimi is doing: https://commongroundchildcare.org/mimi
We have scheduled a Community Yard Sale fundraiser for November 9th to help raise funds to help with her medical and related expenses. Please see that information here: https://commongroundchildcare.org/mimi/2024/10/23/yard-sale-fundraiser-1192024
We are asking for donations of items to sell AND your time to help run the event.
Fall Week - October 28 to November 1
We are excited to have a center wide activity week next week! It’s FALL WEEK! Our classes will be rotating through different, fun, fall themed events with Trunk-Or-Treat being our grande finale on Friday afternoon!
Monday: Apple tasting - we will be trying a variety of different apples!
Tuesday: Fall ‘sink or float’ - where we test a lot of fall items to see if they sink or float!
Wednesday: Pumpkin exploration - we will be opening our pumpkins, emptying them, and getting ready to carve them!
Thursday: Pumkin carving and Halloween! Your children are welcome to wear or bring costumes!
Friday: School Agers will lead art projects for the younger kids and Trunk-or-Treat! (we still have spaces for trunks!) Your children are welcome to wear or bring costumes!
Illnesses - Pneumonia is on the rise
We have had two children (in unrelated programs) that are out with pneumonia. We were told by several pediatric practitioners that pneumonia is on the rise.
As a reminder, all of our practices are designed to mitigate the spread of illnesses. These practices include, but are not limited to:
cleaning and disinfecting regularly
handwashing
open air practices and outside time
masking when appropriate
illness policies that are designed to keep the most children in care as possible
If your child becomes ill, it is important to keep them home until they meet the return criteria for their diagnosis AND for you to alert the office, via a brightwheel admin message, as soon as a diagnosis is made.
Thanksgiving Boxes
It’s time for our Annual Thanksgiving Box drive to support Cornerstones. Our classrooms will decorate the boxes and talk about the importance of giving as part of their Thanksgiving conversations. Please see our blog post for more information: https://commongroundchildcare.org/blog-1/thanksgiving-boxes
Or sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F4FACA723ABFF2-52723163-thanksgiving
Vision Screening with the Lions Club
Grandparents of one of our students are members of the local Lion’s Club and they will be onsite for a non-contact, vision screening using a photo screener. More information about the screening can be found here: https://www.lionsclubs.org/en/resources-for-members/resource-center/vision-screening
We will be sending out a waiver to those who do not have one on file from our previous screening, however, we will be screening all students over the age of 11 months, unless you inform us via brightwheel admin message that you would like to opt out.
Blacktop: Open at 5pm on Wednesdays
Our school aged program has exclusive use of the blacktop until 5:30pm. For the safety of our younger students, we cannot allow younger students who have been checked out by their parents to play on the blacktop until the school aged program has moved. We understand that the blacktop area is a desirable play space for the younger kids, but we have to make sure all of the children in our care are safe and have an appropriate place to play.
In order to compromise, we are able to open the blacktop at 5pm on Wednesdays for children who have been checked out to play!
As a reminder, please make sure that you clear everything that was used from the blacktop when you are finished.
