From the Principal’s Office
We are on the downside of 2019 with just a few weeks left to the year. The year brought lots of new faces and many challenges and successes to the children and school. We appreciate all of the support our families have given us during the year and we look forward to spending 2020 with you!
We can officially say we are in winter weather season! We’ve had our first official snow, and ready or not, winter is here! Now that we are in snow season, we run the chance of possible school closings due to the snow. The decision to close the school will be made by 6:00 a.m. School closings will be announced on radio stations WJBC 1230am, WBWN 104.5fm and WBNQ 101.5fm and their websites. We will send out a notification through Links to Home and our website (www.williamsburg.chesterbrookacademy.com) and voicemail message will be updated.
Thank you to all the parents and other special guests who were able to join us for our Thanksgiving Feast; the children enjoyed having all of you each lunch with them. There was plenty of yummy food to eat and everyone had a great time.
Thank you to everyone who brought in non-perishable food items for our food drive for Center for Hope! We collected 380 items that the pre-k 2 class delivered on November 25th. WHOI was on hand during the delivery and aired the segment on their evening news broadcast that evening. The pre-k 1 class brought in the most items so they got to enjoy a pizza lunch the week after Thanksgiving.
With the upcoming holidays, the school’s schedule has changed a bit. We will close at 12:00 on Christmas Eve, December 24th and will be closed all day Christmas Day, December 25th. We will serve the children a quick lunch on the 24th a little earlier than normal so the children will be ready to go by 12:00. The next week, we will close at 3:00 on New Year’s Eve, December 31st and will be closed all day on New Year’s Day, January 1st.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Shawna
Dates
December
December 3 – Links to Learning folders returned
December 9-13 – Yankee Candle orders deliver
December 20 – Classroom Holiday Parties @ 3:00
December 24 – Christmas Eve ~ closing @ 12:00
December 25 – Christmas Day ~ center closed
December 27 – Links to Learning folders distributed
December 31 – New Year’s Eve ~ closing @ 3:00
January 1 – New Year’s Day ~ center closed
Open House
January 25 ~ 10:00-1:00
For Parents and Teachers
The classrooms will hold holiday parties on December 20th at 3:00. Each classroom has a signup sheet for parents to volunteer to help with the party as a room parent or to provide snacks or paper goods. The teachers often plan games or other activities to do during their party. Please check with your child’s teacher on details for the individual class; each classroom runs their party a little differently.
We are asking parents to let us know about their child’s attendance for the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. This information will help us in scheduling and possibly give the teachers some extra time off. There are signup sheets available in each of the classrooms for you to mark your child’s attendance over the holidays.
Just a reminder for anyone who enters the Infant classroom… please either put shoe covers over your shoes or slip off your shoes and enter in your socking feet. Now that we are entering winter with the chance of snow, we need to keep snow and ice melt from being tracked into the infant room. This includes any children who are dropped off in the infant room in the mornings. Bare feet (without socks) are not allowed for sanitary/health reasons.
For Parents
Please be sure to let us know if you plan to use your vacation credit over the holidays. Each family earns one free week after six months enrollment to use between July 1st and June 30th each year. If you are not sure if you have a vacation credit to use, we can check your records. We ask that you make your request in writing or by email.
The children go outside daily, weather permitting, even during the winter. We monitor the wind chill factor and precipitation when making the decision to allow the children to go out. Please have your child dressed appropriately and prepared for the possibility of outside play. Extra hats and gloves/mittens can be left in the cubbies in the event they are forgotten at home or in the car.
We ask that your child be symptom free for 24 hours before returning after an illness. It is acceptable for a child to return prior to the 24 hours if he/she has a release from the doctor saying it is okay to return. This policy is in place to help prevent the spread of illnesses between the children. We appreciate your help in this matter.
Just a reminder: Chesterbrook Academy is a peanut/nut free school. We do not serve anything with peanuts or nuts. We ask that you adhere to this policy when bringing in treats/snacks to the classrooms. We also ask that your child not come in eating food that has peanuts or nuts in it. We do have children enrolled who are allergic and could have a reaction through an accidental physical transfer. We appreciate you following through on this policy so we don’t experience a medical emergency that could have been prevented.
Reminders
- Announcements will be aired on radio stations WJBC 1230am, WBNQ 101.5fm and WBWN 104.5fm in the event the school closes due to bad weather. The school’s voicemail and website will also be updated with closings. The decision to close will be made by 6:00 a.m.
- Please check to make sure your child as an extra set of winter clothes in his/her cubby. This needs to include underwear and socks.
- Families can earn a free week’s tuition by referring another family for enrollment in the school. The tuition credit is applied after the referred family has been enrolled for three months.
- Information for Consumer Product Safety Recalls: Website – http://www.cpsc.gov/en/recalls or Mobile app – RECALLS.GOV
Coming Up…
Our next professional development day is February 17th. The school will be closed so that the teachers can attend a variety of trainings. We know it is still a couple of months away but wanted to get the date out to you so you can make arrangements for childcare for the day.
Parent Reports will be distributed March 2nd. Parents will have plenty of time to review the reports before Kindergarten registration. Parent/Teacher conferences will be offered the week of March 9th for any parents wishing to discuss their child’s progress.
Open House
January 25 ~ 10:00-1:00
School Highlights
INFANTS 1: The infants are reading Merry Christmas Little One and How to Catch an Elf. We will be exploring new sensory items, such as snow, shaving cream and garland. We will be focusing on red and green colors as well. The teachers will be introducing new Christmas songs to the children as well. We hope everyone has a great holiday.
INFANT 2: Our Infant 2 room children have been very busy this month. The children are busy climbing, learning how to play and starting to talk. December will bring snowmen, stars, pine trees and new stories and songs like The Gingerbread Man, Frosty the Snowman and Little Jack Horner. We will also be very busy decorating the classroom with the children’s work, such as snowflakes, reindeer and some shape painting. Wishing you a wonderful winter season.
TODDLER 2: BRRRR! The winter is upon us. For the month of December, we will be learning about snowmen, how to build them and what goes on a snowman. We will be reading some fun books about snowmen. We will also be boogying with Pete the Cat and learning how to do some fun dance moves for celebrating the ending of the year and welcoming a new one. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
BEGINNER 2: Welcome to Winter in Beginner 2! For the month of December, we will be reading The Day the Goose got Loose!, Duck and Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore. Beginner 2 will have fun while we cut out snowflakes to decorate the room as well as decorating our own Christmas tree with D.I.Y. ornaments. We will continue to work on our growing Spanish vocabulary as well as many other skills. Happy holidays from Beginner 2!
BEGINNER 3: Winter is here and the beginner 3 class is exploring the seasons inside and outside. This month we will continue to work on our manners and sharing with our friends. We will explore the weather outside and bring the elements inside when we can. We will read the books; The Day the Goose got Loose, Mouse Paint, Frosty the Snowman and Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore.
INTERMEDIATE 1: This month is going by so fast and has been awesome! We have been learning lots and having so much fun! When it snowed, we brought some into the classroom for the children to explore and feel. We have not been able to go outside as much because it’s cold, so we have been playing inside games, like musical chairs and other fun games! The children are all excited for the holidays!
INTERMEDIATE 2: The first week in December we read Bear Snores On. We had fun making bears to put in our cave on the board. We also painted and decorated our own caves, then we made a forest of Christmas trees with tissue paper to create a collage. The second week of December we are reading Chicka Chica Boom Boom. We made our own coconut tree and put letters from our name on the tree. We will also paint our own coconut tree. The third week we will read Llama Llama Holiday Drama and talk about all of the things we do for Christmas. The fourth week we will read Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear and talk about giving.
PRE-K 1: Happy Holidays from Pre-k 1! This month is already flying by! Crazy! This month we are reading the books, How to Catch a Snowman, Too Many Toys, Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter and Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. We will really be working on tying our shoes this month. If you could practice that at home, it would be so helpful. Ms. Rose will be gone the 16th-29th and will be back on the 30th. We wish her the safest of travels and a very Merry Christmas! Don’t forget our Holiday Party is on December 20th! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
PRE-K 2: We are getting closer to the holiday season, and the class is very excited. In the first week in December, we will read the book Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party. The class will be writing their own pizza recipe and they will have fun in the dramatic play area pretending to run a pizza parlor. The second week in December, the class will be reading the book Round and Round the Seasons Go. The class will observe and draw trees or plants based on the way they look in each season and the class will explore with kinetic sand. The third week in December, the class will read the book How to Catch an Elf. The class will use wrapping paper, boxes, scissors and tape to wrap presents in the sensory table and the class will create an elf trap in construction. The last week of December, the class will read the book Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. The class will write a wish list for the holidays and will talk about how we all celebrate for the holidays.
From the Education Department
December, 2019
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Topics: Social-Emotional Learning
The holidays are a time for giving, and as you know, our schools are doing their part in giving back to those in need. We greatly appreciate all the parent support with these initiatives, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. The donations not only[.....]
Read More »
December Newletter
From the Principal’s Office
We are on the downside of 2019 with just a few weeks left to the year. The year brought lots of new faces and many challenges and successes to the children and school. We appreciate all of the support our families have given us during the year and we look forward to spending 2020 with you!
We can officially say we are in winter weather season! We’ve had our first official snow, and ready or not, winter is here! Now that we are in snow season, we run the chance of possible school closings due to the snow. The decision to close the school will be made by 6:00 a.m. School closings will be announced on radio stations WJBC 1230am, WBWN 104.5fm and WBNQ 101.5fm and their websites. We will send out a notification through Links to Home and our website (www.williamsburg.chesterbrookacademy.com) and voicemail message will be updated.
Thank you to all the parents and other special guests who were able to join us for our Thanksgiving Feast; the children enjoyed having all of you each lunch with them. There was plenty of yummy food to eat and everyone had a great time.
Thank you to everyone who brought in non-perishable food items for our food drive for Center for Hope! We collected 380 items that the pre-k 2 class delivered on November 25th. WHOI was on hand during the delivery and aired the segment on their evening news broadcast that evening. The pre-k 1 class brought in the most items so they got to enjoy a pizza lunch the week after Thanksgiving.
With the upcoming holidays, the school’s schedule has changed a bit. We will close at 12:00 on Christmas Eve, December 24th and will be closed all day Christmas Day, December 25th. We will serve the children a quick lunch on the 24th a little earlier than normal so the children will be ready to go by 12:00. The next week, we will close at 3:00 on New Year’s Eve, December 31st and will be closed all day on New Year’s Day, January 1st.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Shawna
Dates
December
December 3 – Links to Learning folders returned
December 9-13 – Yankee Candle orders deliver
December 20 – Classroom Holiday Parties @ 3:00
December 24 – Christmas Eve ~ closing @ 12:00
December 25 – Christmas Day ~ center closed
December 27 – Links to Learning folders distributed
December 31 – New Year’s Eve ~ closing @ 3:00
January 1 – New Year’s Day ~ center closed
Open House
January 25 ~ 10:00-1:00
For Parents and Teachers
The classrooms will hold holiday parties on December 20th at 3:00. Each classroom has a signup sheet for parents to volunteer to help with the party as a room parent or to provide snacks or paper goods. The teachers often plan games or other activities to do during their party. Please check with your child’s teacher on details for the individual class; each classroom runs their party a little differently.
We are asking parents to let us know about their child’s attendance for the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. This information will help us in scheduling and possibly give the teachers some extra time off. There are signup sheets available in each of the classrooms for you to mark your child’s attendance over the holidays.
Just a reminder for anyone who enters the Infant classroom… please either put shoe covers over your shoes or slip off your shoes and enter in your socking feet. Now that we are entering winter with the chance of snow, we need to keep snow and ice melt from being tracked into the infant room. This includes any children who are dropped off in the infant room in the mornings. Bare feet (without socks) are not allowed for sanitary/health reasons.
For Parents
Please be sure to let us know if you plan to use your vacation credit over the holidays. Each family earns one free week after six months enrollment to use between July 1st and June 30th each year. If you are not sure if you have a vacation credit to use, we can check your records. We ask that you make your request in writing or by email.
The children go outside daily, weather permitting, even during the winter. We monitor the wind chill factor and precipitation when making the decision to allow the children to go out. Please have your child dressed appropriately and prepared for the possibility of outside play. Extra hats and gloves/mittens can be left in the cubbies in the event they are forgotten at home or in the car.
We ask that your child be symptom free for 24 hours before returning after an illness. It is acceptable for a child to return prior to the 24 hours if he/she has a release from the doctor saying it is okay to return. This policy is in place to help prevent the spread of illnesses between the children. We appreciate your help in this matter.
Just a reminder: Chesterbrook Academy is a peanut/nut free school. We do not serve anything with peanuts or nuts. We ask that you adhere to this policy when bringing in treats/snacks to the classrooms. We also ask that your child not come in eating food that has peanuts or nuts in it. We do have children enrolled who are allergic and could have a reaction through an accidental physical transfer. We appreciate you following through on this policy so we don’t experience a medical emergency that could have been prevented.
Reminders
Coming Up…
Our next professional development day is February 17th. The school will be closed so that the teachers can attend a variety of trainings. We know it is still a couple of months away but wanted to get the date out to you so you can make arrangements for childcare for the day.
Parent Reports will be distributed March 2nd. Parents will have plenty of time to review the reports before Kindergarten registration. Parent/Teacher conferences will be offered the week of March 9th for any parents wishing to discuss their child’s progress.
Open House
January 25 ~ 10:00-1:00
School Highlights
INFANTS 1: The infants are reading Merry Christmas Little One and How to Catch an Elf. We will be exploring new sensory items, such as snow, shaving cream and garland. We will be focusing on red and green colors as well. The teachers will be introducing new Christmas songs to the children as well. We hope everyone has a great holiday.
INFANT 2: Our Infant 2 room children have been very busy this month. The children are busy climbing, learning how to play and starting to talk. December will bring snowmen, stars, pine trees and new stories and songs like The Gingerbread Man, Frosty the Snowman and Little Jack Horner. We will also be very busy decorating the classroom with the children’s work, such as snowflakes, reindeer and some shape painting. Wishing you a wonderful winter season.
TODDLER 2: BRRRR! The winter is upon us. For the month of December, we will be learning about snowmen, how to build them and what goes on a snowman. We will be reading some fun books about snowmen. We will also be boogying with Pete the Cat and learning how to do some fun dance moves for celebrating the ending of the year and welcoming a new one. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
BEGINNER 2: Welcome to Winter in Beginner 2! For the month of December, we will be reading The Day the Goose got Loose!, Duck and Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore. Beginner 2 will have fun while we cut out snowflakes to decorate the room as well as decorating our own Christmas tree with D.I.Y. ornaments. We will continue to work on our growing Spanish vocabulary as well as many other skills. Happy holidays from Beginner 2!
BEGINNER 3: Winter is here and the beginner 3 class is exploring the seasons inside and outside. This month we will continue to work on our manners and sharing with our friends. We will explore the weather outside and bring the elements inside when we can. We will read the books; The Day the Goose got Loose, Mouse Paint, Frosty the Snowman and Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore.
INTERMEDIATE 1: This month is going by so fast and has been awesome! We have been learning lots and having so much fun! When it snowed, we brought some into the classroom for the children to explore and feel. We have not been able to go outside as much because it’s cold, so we have been playing inside games, like musical chairs and other fun games! The children are all excited for the holidays!
INTERMEDIATE 2: The first week in December we read Bear Snores On. We had fun making bears to put in our cave on the board. We also painted and decorated our own caves, then we made a forest of Christmas trees with tissue paper to create a collage. The second week of December we are reading Chicka Chica Boom Boom. We made our own coconut tree and put letters from our name on the tree. We will also paint our own coconut tree. The third week we will read Llama Llama Holiday Drama and talk about all of the things we do for Christmas. The fourth week we will read Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear and talk about giving.
PRE-K 1: Happy Holidays from Pre-k 1! This month is already flying by! Crazy! This month we are reading the books, How to Catch a Snowman, Too Many Toys, Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter and Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. We will really be working on tying our shoes this month. If you could practice that at home, it would be so helpful. Ms. Rose will be gone the 16th-29th and will be back on the 30th. We wish her the safest of travels and a very Merry Christmas! Don’t forget our Holiday Party is on December 20th! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
PRE-K 2: We are getting closer to the holiday season, and the class is very excited. In the first week in December, we will read the book Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party. The class will be writing their own pizza recipe and they will have fun in the dramatic play area pretending to run a pizza parlor. The second week in December, the class will be reading the book Round and Round the Seasons Go. The class will observe and draw trees or plants based on the way they look in each season and the class will explore with kinetic sand. The third week in December, the class will read the book How to Catch an Elf. The class will use wrapping paper, boxes, scissors and tape to wrap presents in the sensory table and the class will create an elf trap in construction. The last week of December, the class will read the book Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. The class will write a wish list for the holidays and will talk about how we all celebrate for the holidays.
From the Education Department
Ways Our Students Are Giving Back This Holiday Season
Read More »