Newsletter: April 5
Happy Spring, Common Ground Parents and Caregivers!
We have a jam packed newsletter for you with a LOT of upcoming information for the next month! Make sure to read every section and don’t forget to check out our calendar for all the upcoming important events!
Eclipse Plan - Indoor activities
We will be keeping our children indoors during the eclipse, which will begin in the area around 2pm, during nap, and end around 4:30pm. We will be keeping Preschool and under indoors until 4:45pm on Monday.
Our teachers may do some indoor eclipse related activities, but to protect our little ones eyes, we will remain vague on the timing of the eclipse, so that we don’t have kids trying to “see” the eclipse and staring at the sun after it is over.
School aged children will be sent home with eclipse glasses today, since they will be picked up from elementary school during the eclipse. Please leave them in their backpacks for Monday.
Next Week is Week of the Young Child
Next week is also the Week of the Young Child! We are excited to celebrate our young learners with the following activities:
Music Monday - during school, Mr. Josh will be sharing music with all of our classrooms.
Tasty Tuesday - during school, the preschoolers will be making fruit and oat milk smoothies for all of our children who are old enough to participate!
Work Together Wednesday - during school, our school agers will work with the rest of the classes to beautify our school!
Artsy Thursday - during school, the infants and toddlers will set up some art projects for all the classes to complete
Family Friday - after school, at 5pm, families are invited to BYOD - Bring Your Own Dinner to Common Ground! We will provide some light snacks, water coolers, and lemonade from 5-6:30/7. Make sure to bring your own
Parent Cell Phone Usage/Calls and Parking Lot Safety
We have had some safety concerns arise during pick up when parents are completing calls and trying to pick up at the same time. In order to keep everyone safe, we will no longer be able to release children to parents who are actively on phone calls during pick up. If you have an urgent work call, that you must remain on, please message through brightwheel, and we will have a staff member help escort your children to your car. Thank you for your assistance in helping to keep our kids safe.
Drop Off Reminders
With spring, springing, we thought it would be a good time for some drop off reminders!
Car Line
Car line will be open on fair weather days, when we have enough staff for it. You will know if car line is open or closed based on the gates/presence of staff. If the gates are open and staff are outside, then car line is open, if the gates are closed, please walk your child to their classroom.
The handicapped spaces and concrete pad are only open for drop off parking when car line is closed.
Brightwheel Check in
Please check your child into brightwheel FIRST, on your way to dropping your child off in their classroom/pulling into car line. This helps our classroom counts to be correct for our licensing records, staff planning, and just helps us know who we have in each room!
Parking Lot ETIQUETTE
Please make sure that you are:
driving slowly and carefully in our parking lot
walk with your child(ren) in the parking lot and do not allow them to run ahead
please be very careful backing into spaces and backing up
the handicapped spaces and concrete pad are only available for drop off when car line is closed
No cell phone usage in our building
Please be present when dropping your children off. This helps us keep everyone safe while moving through the parking lot and into our classrooms.
Pick Up Reminders
Brightwheel check out
Please pick up your child FIRST before checking them out of brightwheel. This allows us to know who is still present in our classrooms. We had an instance when a child was checked out by a parent, and the parent received a work call and wasn’t able to pick up immediately and we miscounted the children in a classroom group, since we use brightwheel to track the children in our care.
No Cell Phone USage at Pick up
Just like during drop off, we ask that you are present when you pick your children up. They are excited to see you and the teachers may need to communicate something about their day with you.
If you need to finish a work call, please park on Wainwright Drive and complete your call. The children begin to watch the parking lot and know their cars. They can get upset when they are not picked up quickly after your arrival.
We will no longer be able to release children to parents who are actively on phone calls, due to safety concerns regarding the parking lot. We have had too many children run into the parking lot without their parents. If you must remain on a work call during pick up, please message us through brightwheel and we can arrange to have a staff member help escort your children to your car safely.
Parking lot Etiquette
When our classes are outdoors, there is no driving through the ‘car line’ area in front of the fence. That area will be blocked off with cones and turtles, so this is just a reminder.
Please make sure that you are:
driving slowly and carefully in our parking lot
walking with your child(ren) in the parking lot and do not allow them to run ahead
please be very careful backing into spaces and backing up
the handicapped spaces and concrete pad are only available for pick up on rainy days when we are inside
Saturday Hours
We have the following dates scheduled
No Saturday hours in July
Saturday, August 24th
Teacher Appreciation Week and Summer Teacher Bonus Drive
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6th through 10th! We have quite a bit planned to spoil our teachers and we are looking for parents to take the lead the morning of Wednesday, May 8th! Please sign up here and be on the lookout for another action item next week!
We are also beginning our drive for End of School Year Teacher Bonuses. Please make your pledge here.
As a reminder, our staff are not allowed to accept any money, giftcards, or store bought gifts from families. You may, however, give cards with heartfelt words, homemade projects, and baked goods directly to our staff members.
Playground Usage
We are so excited to see families stay and play on our playground after pick up! Here’s how to stay and play:
Before 5:30pm, you may join your child’s class in their section of the playground and let them continue playing with their classmates
OR you may bring your child to an open area of the playground that does not have another class on it
If you have children in different classroom groups, you must have both of your children in the same are that you are in
Once you have picked up, you are responsible for the supervision of your children.
After 5:30pm, you may play on any section of the playground
Please remember to put away any toys that your child gets out, especially if they are played with on the blacktop!
Thank you so much for being a part of our community!
Love,
Your Common Ground School Family!