Winter Blues

Old Father Winter has been cruel to us this year. When we found out Phil the groundhog saw his shadow, we never expected "six more weeks of winter" to mean over three feet of snow, school cancellations, leaking roofs, icy roads, power outages, broken pipes, stuck vehicles, and un-walkable sidewalks. What a challenge this has been! We, however, are thankful for our health and well-being. We worried that the children would find coming back to school a little unsettling after having missed over a week of school. However, their return has been smooth and exciting! Their few days back greeted them with Valentine's Day Parties, birthday celebrations and pajama days. The Big Room and Mrs. Callaway's classes learned about the letter "P" (hence "pajama day"). The children enjoyed playing with pink play-doh and making pancakes and popcorn. Although too treacherous for the children to play outside, the weather conditions didn't stop the teachers from bringing the snow into the classrooms and letting the children have some winter fun. Looking forward to Spring, we remember the old saying, we must take things "one day at a time..."

Welcome to our blog

Dear SPCNS Community,

It is very exciting to be writing on this new blog. It will enable us to share important information about our school, the latest happennings and upcoming events. This will be the place to go to for the latest news. We hope you enjoy visiting this site. In the meantime, if you have topics of interest that you would like to see featured here, please send us a note and let us know. Please visit often and enjoy!

Sara Berg
SPCNS Assistant to the Director

Director’s Corner

When I give prospective families their tour of Shadyside Presbyterian Church Nursery School, I always mention that one of the school’s greatest assets is our fabulous teaching staff. By now, I trust that you all have experienced the expertise of a minimum of two of the teachers here, and many of you have had your children in a number of classrooms with a variety of teachers. I hope that you agree with me that they are all of a superlative quality.

The care and education of young children is complex and demanding. At SPCNS, we strive to provide your children with the best possible environment for learning and growth. We hold the belief that teachers are the most important contributors to quality experiences for children.

When considering possible topics for our first newsletter of the 2009-2010 school year, we thought about what it might feel like to be new to the school and be relatively unfamiliar with the adults who would be nurturing and teaching your children. It seemed like it might be helpful if we were to briefly introduce every one of us to you. Of course, the dossiers which follow only begin to describe them. We trust that their commitment, their competencies, and their caring will be evident to you every day.

The teachers have been asked to use the following questions as guides for their dossiers.

1. Where were you born and raised?
2. Tell us about your family and where you live:
3. What is your educational background?
4. How many years have you taught at SPCNS?
5. What is the most rewarding thing for you about working with children?
6. Tell us something most people might not know about you.
7. What is your favorite children’s book and why?
8. What makes you like/love/enjoy working at SPCNS?
9. What is your philosophy of working with preschool age children?
10. What else would you like our families to know about you?
    
    Read more in the SPCNS November 2009 Newsletter