NEWSLETTER - February 3, 2023
WEEK IN REVIEW
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Our construction project is finally coming to a close. We completed 2 inspections this week and so we are getting closer to moving our Elementary Classroom as well as opening an additional Children’s House Class. We will now be working on setting up the environments as well as completing a few more inspections before we can open. We are so excited to be ending this phase of our growth which has been ongoing for the past 4 years. Thank you for all your support throughout the years!
TRANSPARENT CLASSROOM ISSUE
We are so sorry for the issues we had with the Transparent Classroom App this week. We were caught off guard and were not notified in advance that the system changes would be taking place. We have reached out and asked for advanced warning in the future so we can make you aware that an action is needed on the portal for continued access. For those of you who are still having issues with your account, please stop in the office and we would be happy to assist you.
NEATSCHOOL PORTAL
Work continues in the office with our move away from the Neatschool Portal. There has been a massive amount of data entry involved and we are moving closer to making the switch to eliminating this portal. We will be switching over one student account at a time. You will be notified when your account will be terminated in the Neatschool Portal and your billing moved to Quickbooks. We are sorry for the delay in this process. Please contact us if you have issues once you are notified of the switch.
UPCOMING EVENTS
JOURNEY AND DISCOVERY
Our Journey and Discovery will be taking place tomorrow, February 4th from 9 to 11 AM. We still have spots available if you would like to participate. The Journey and Discovery is a hands-on seminar to go through the Montessori prepared environments and learn more about what happens in our classrooms. This seminar is for adults only and we will not be able to have childcare for this event. Please inquire in the office if you are interested in attending.
COFFEE WITH THE DIRECTOR
We believe that involvement in your student's education is very important and as a team, we can make a big difference. We would like to invite you to our new event Coffee with the Director! We invite all our families and community members to attend, participate and support our students. It is a chance to speak directly with our director and look for ways to support the school, teachers, staff, and students. The first event will take place on Wednesday, February 15 from 8:30-9AM. Please RSVP by contacting the office. We will have Coffee and Donuts available. Check-in at the office and you will be directed to the appropriate room.
PARENT TEACHER COMMITTEE (PTC)
The Parent Teacher Committee is another way that parents can support our school community. The PTC is currently planning for our Casino Night that will take place on Saturday, March 18th. More details about this event will be available after next week’s PTC meeting. We will be meeting at 6 PM on Thursday, February 9th. A link will be sent out to the entire school community so you can hop on to check out this group before deciding if you would like to be a part and contribute going forward.
SAFETY REMINDERS
The safety of our community is our highest priority. These are the ways that you can help us achieve this mission:
Please do not hold the door open for other parents that you personally don’t know. This will help us make sure that a stranger does not end up on our campus.
Immediately report to the office if you observe any suspicious activities or hazards around our facility.
Keep your child with you when arriving and leaving the campus and encourage them to walk while in our hallways.
We are currently in the coldest months of the year. Please be mindful and send your child with appropriate attire. You may also wish to check their extra clothes boxes to see if you need to trade shorts for pants or want to add long sleeve shirt options. We will be continuing to go outside during these cold days unless there is rain or an excessive amount of water on the ground. Infants who are not walking and would be on the cold surface for extended periods of time would not be going outside when temperatures are low, and we will try and schedule outside time for the warmest parts of the day and when the play surface is dry.
EMERGENCY PROCEDURE REMINDERS
The school has policies and procedures for Emergency situations. These policies are located in the Parents section of our website in the Parent Handbook. Please be mindful that if an emergency takes place our first priority is to deal with the emergency and focus on the safety of those on campus at the time. Once the situation is handled our next priority is to notify the school community. Depending on the circumstances, the time between the incident and notifying parents can differ.
If you are on campus during an emergency there are the things we need you to do. Please follow the direction of the school Staff who will be leading our emergency response. Note that during a Shelter in Place or Lockdown situation there will be nobody allowed in or out of the facility until we get the green light from Emergency Services that it is safe. The keypads on the entrances are disabled during these events. We know that notices about events like this will elicit anxiety, but please be patient and wait to be notified that the situation is resolved and it is safe at the facility before attempting to pick up your child. Take some time as soon as possible to check the email and phone number entered in the Transparent Classroom App and make sure your contact info is up to date so you will receive urgent alerts. We will be doing an emergency drill next week, so expect to receive a drill alert like it was an actual event. After the event we will send a regular email to follow up so that you are aware the event happened. The drill notification will note that it is a drill, so if you receive another notice that doesn't have the word "DRILL" then please know we are experiencing a live event.
Please also note in our policies that in some circumstances, such as a prolonged power outage, we may have to cancel school for the day. While we have battery backup systems for lights and our communication devices, if a service outage is projected to be more than 90 minutes we cannot continue to operate and guarantee safe conditions. A prolonged outage may inhibit essential components needed to keep the children safe and healthy such as heating and air conditioning, the inability to heat food and bottles, as well as having inadequate light for safe conditions inside the building. I strongly encourage all our parents to check out and be familiar with our Emergency Procedures.
Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the topics discussed. My door is always open, please do not hesitate to stop in if you have questions, concerns, or ideas to share.
Have a great weekend!
Adam Thewes, Director
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