Many of us are watching the unfolding news of the Connecticut school shooting with deep horror and sadness.   Most of us are hugging our children a little tighter as we hear of this tragedy.  I know how hard it is to be away from your own children while something like this is unfolding.  Please know that here at TPAAK, we consider safety a top priority.  We, too, are hugging all of the children a little tighter today.  If you have any questions, or just want to touch base with us, please feel free to do so.  You can email at sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org, call us at (970)226-2800 or just leave a message here. 

Please also join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families, parents and children in Newtown, some of whom are facing unimaginable losses. 

Stay safe this weekend, and hug your children close.

Holiday Events

This school year is really flying by!  These months have been a lot of fun for the teachers, and we hope, for your children as well.  As December is a busy month for all of us, I wanted to take a moment to let you know about a few events we are having at TPAAK and the Preschool.

Our Preschool Holiday Program will be held on December 18th at 6pm in the cafeteria.  Yes, your child will be on-stage!  You are welcome to bring family and friends to this event.  We will have some light, dessert-type refreshments after the performance.  These usually last 30 minutes to an hour.

Our Holiday Parties will be held in each classroom on Friday, December 21st.  This is the last day of school for 2012!!  Watch for more information from your classroom teacher.

Reminder:  The Preschool is CLOSED the week of December 24-28, and closed on December 31 and January 1st.  We will reopen on January 2nd.  If you plan to miss any of the days we are in session, please email Shanda with the information or fill out the PINK form that was in your box last week.  This is the only way to avoid being charged for missing days over the break.

There are 2 Charity drives being done at TPAAK during this month.

1.  Toys for Tots: Student Council is holding a Toys for Tots drive until December 21. Students and parents are encouraged to bring in new, unwrapped toys for those in need this holiday season.

2.  2^nd grade is doing the Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive with Scholastic Book Clubs. We are collecting new pajamas for donation from now until December 14^th. The Pajama Program is a nonprofit organization that provides new books and new pajamas to children in need! Here is the link to the drive page for more information: https://clubs2.scholastic.com/programs/pjdrive.shtml?cid=SBC/e/20121114////PJDrive_8660///Z-PJT/////&ym_MID=1448638&ym_rid=16928672

Thanks so much for a great first semester!  We can't wait for an even better 2013!!!

CACFP

Most of you have seen a form come home the last month about the Colorado Adult and Childcare Food Program.  There have been a lot of questions about this program, so I wanted to try to address them.

This program provides reimbursements for snacks (and lunches) served to your child at school.  The school will receive reimbursements for EVERY CHILD served a snack at school who fills out this form.  There are different levels, but they all receive something.  This would enable us to serve even healthier snacks, and possibly even more of a breakfast in the mornings!!  We love providing nutritious snacks to our students and are always on the lookout for ways to improve the food at school.

This will also give us options for free and reduced lunches!  YAY!  Until we are qualified, I will not be able to figure out how it works, but I hope we can figure things out soon!
I cannot even apply for this program without the forms I have sent home filled out and returned.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  These forms are only used for eligility levels, and are locked in a file cabinet in a locked office when not in use.

Thanks!
Shanda Schlagenhauf

The Start of School

What a great start to the school year!  We have so many wonderful students this year and we are truly enjoying getting to know them all.  I hope that things are going smoothly for you as well.  Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns.

We will start sending home book orders soon.  These are a great way to build your home library at a low cost!  Please watch your child's box for their order forms.

Just a couple of reminders:
* please sign your child in and out every day! 
* Each child needs a crib sheet and blanket for naptime.  If you are having trouble with this, please let me know.
* We encourage the students to drink lots of water.  Please make sure they have a water bottle every day.

I am working to get our preschool on a snack/lunch reimbursement program.  In order for this to happen, I need every family to please fill out the forms that I have put in your child's box.  Without these, we can't get on the program.  This program will provide reimbursement for snacks each day as well as lunches.  There are 3 categories, and all receive some reimbursement, which would lower the costs of hot lunch, and enable us to provide even better snacks.  If you have any questions about this form, please see Shanda!

Thanks for a great start to the year!  I am looking forward to working more closely with each of you :)

Fall Semester

The new school year is almost here.  Our official first day for the 2012-2013 school year is Monday, August 6th.  Your child may be moved to a new classroom at the time, or they may remain in their current classroom.  If you are unsure about what class your child will be in, please feel free to contact Shanda at sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org.

There is a supply list located on the left side of this page.  We do not require much in the way of supplies, but may ask for donations during the school year.

Many children will be starting at different times during the next couple of months.  We are looking forward to all of you coming to our preschool.  We are going to have a great year.

Just a few notes:  I will be updating this blog regularly, so please subscribe so you can receive updates.  We also have a facebook page where I will be posting announcements, etc.  Each classroom also has a blog that you will want to subscribe to as well.

If you have any questions or concerns at all, please email Shanda at any time.

Summertime, summertime

We have had so much fun this month!  We have been able to go outside and have some water fun, despite the poor air quality and the heat.  We had a very special visitor, Angelyne the Deaf Cattle Dog, and her "dad" Eric.  They came and showed us some really cool dog tricks, and we all got to do some with her.  

July will be just as fun!  We are hoping to have a lot more outside time than we did this month.  We will be learning about nutrition, the solar system, sunshine, and the United States.  

Just a couple of reminders: 
There is NO school on Wednesday, July 4th!  We are open the rest of that week.
There is NO hot lunch during the summer.  We do have things available if you forget to bring something.  This lunch will cost $2.

Our wonderful pre-K summer teacher, Mrs. Van Horn, will be leaving us as she prepares and trains for her new position as Kindergarten teacher at TPAAK!  Some of our preschoolers can look forward to having her in the next couple of years.   Our amazing sub, Mrs. Nancy Burns, will be taking over for Mrs. V.  Most of you have met Mrs. Burns, as she is currently our sub for Mrs. Ashley.  The kids really love her, and we look forward to her being our Pre-K teacher in July.

We at the preschool monitor the air quality and heat index daily.  The air quality site we use is http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/colorado_summary.aspx.  This site rates the air quality as good-hazardous.  The guideline we use is this.  If the air quality is rated good or moderate, we go outside.  If it is moderate and we smell smoke, we stay in.  If it is rated anything else, we do not go outside.  

For the heat, we use the following chart: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/hcci/common/pdf/weatherwatch.pdf.  
This chart guides most of our decision making, even though we are not dealing with much humidity.  If the temperature is 100 or higher, we do not take the kids outside.  Between 95-99, we will go out and make a judgement call.  When we do go outside, we encourage the preschoolers to take their water bottles and drink regularly.  We also put sunscreen on them in the morning and in the afternoon if we have permission to do so.  

If you have any questions about any of these, please contact Shanda at sschagenhauf@tpaak.org

End of May

We are coming to the end of our official school year, and are preparing to start our summer session. Summers are a lot of fun for little children, and we do our best to make summers at The Academy of Arts and Knowledge Preschool great fun for our students. The summer session starts officially on June 4th. There will be a few changes in classrooms, but they will be wonderful changes. Our preschool classroom will be taught by Ms. Scheffer. Ms. Scheffer is currently our Pre-K teacher, and will be teaching the preschool this summer. This way, she will get to know our students that will be in pre-K in the fall, helping with the transition to that classroom. She will be assisted by Ms. Ashley. Our Pre-K classroom will be taught by Mrs. Van Horn. Mrs. V. currently teaches in the Pre-K classroom, and will be moving to kindergarten in the fall. She will get to know the students going to kindergarten this fall, helping them make that transition easier. She will be assisted by Mrs. K, who also currently works in the Pre-K classroom. We will also have a few new "helpers" this summer. Mrs. Ferrara will be coming in to help with the middle of the day, when we are doing lunches and naptime. She has been working at TPAAK for a year, and is very excited to work with our preschool this summer. Ms. Mahaffey will be working in the afternoons this summer. She is currently working at the front desk at TPAAK and will be closing daily for us. The students all know and love her, and I know that she will have a lot of fun with them this summer. Mrs. Erickson is coming back to help out in the Pre-K classroom as well. She is currently a kindergarten teacher, and knows a lot of our students already. Mrs. S will still be around, a lot! I will be working in both classroom, and planning a lot of fun activities for our students. I will also be getting everything ready for the fall session. I am so excited about our summer at AAKP! We are going to have a lot of fun with your children, and can't wait! If you have any questions about the summer program, please feel free to contact me: sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org.