Our theme this month is Transportation and Community Helpers. The children will be learning about different ways to travel. Some of their projects will include painting with toy cars, making transportation collages, and matching/sorting/counting colored cars and trucks. Community helpers and their jobs will also be discussed this month.

Our Stepping Up class and Room 6 will be celebrating the 100th day of school on February 1. The teachers have planned many fun activities such as decorating hats with 100 dots, decorating with 100 stickers, doing 100 exercises, and staying quiet for 100 seconds!

Book orders are due Friday morning, February 10. Please make your check payable to Patti’s Preschool. You may also order books online. Please see Amy or Caroline for more information!

Parent/teacher conferences for Aisling’s class will be held during the week of February 12. Conferences for Allison’s class are scheduled for the week of February 19. Conferences for all classes will continue through the end of April. Our annual calendar lists all of the conference dates. Conferences are not mandatory. If you are interested in meeting with your child’s teacher, please remember to sign up in the classroom for a convenient time. We can also arrange for a phone conference if that is easier for you!

The children will be exchanging valentines on Wednesday, February 14. Please find a list of names attached to the newsletter. Please send valentines for your child’s classmates (not the entire school). We will also have a Valentine’s Day party in each classroom that morning. Wish lists for party items will be posted in the classrooms. We appreciate any donations! An open invitation is extended to all our students. Parents of children who normally don’t attend school on Wednesdays will need to stay in the classroom with their child.

Celebrating birthdays this month are Elise, Noelle, Kevin, Aubrey, Kayla, Owen, Marcus, Peyton, Sofia S., Tristyn and Brielynn. Happy birthday to all!

Our Stepping Up teacher, Lee Ann is celebrating her 6 year anniversary this month. We appreciate all of her hard work and dedication!

We are looking forward to visits from local community helpers this month. Stay tuned for dates!

Spanish class will begin on Mondays and Thursdays starting Monday, February 12. Our Spanish teacher is Tanya Rios. She is fluent in Spanish and has also completed the required Early Childhood Education classes. Tanya is also one of our afternoon teachers. Our Spanish class is offered to our children ages 3 and up and it has been a wonderful addition to our program.

We would like to thank the Stanton family and McNab family for their donation of puzzles! The Lyons family brought in a play kitchen and doll house for our students to enjoy. Many thanks to Jenn Spehar for sending an educational link that provided a variety of classroom projects and activities. Thanks for the great ideas, Jenn! We’re grateful for the train tracks and barn donated by the Schmidt family. We love the books donated by the Rodewald family and Kim Fluss. Thank you, parents!

We’d like to give a big thank you to Titi Dang for giving a dental health presentation to our Stepping Up class. Our students were very excited to remind their parents to brush and floss daily!

School is closed Monday, February 19 in celebration of Presidents’ Day!