Links to Follow

Following is a list of links to information regarding parenting, health and child-rearing. We hope you find these websites helpful. Please continue to check our blog for updates.

The following website, Healthy Childcare Pennsylvania, is pubilised by the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Here you will find important information regarding health issues.
http://www.ecels-healthychildcarepa.org/section.cfm?subID=66

The following is a list of publications by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/backpack, or http://www.naeyc.org/back-to-school/parents

Enjoy the reading!

It's no Picnic

Due to the ongoing construction project at our church, the SPCNS will not hold the yearly "Back to School Picnic." The Board of Trustees is currently working on planning an event for after we return to school. Stay tunned for any news.

Looking Forward

As the month of August gets on its way, we prepare for welcoming all of you back into our hallways. Our school is currently undergoing a major "face-lift": new flooring, light fixtures, bathrooms, paint and even furniture. It is hardly recognizable! We are excited to welcome you back into a beautiful, light and friendly school. The construction crews tell us that the project is well on schedule.

Following, you will see some pictures of the changes to our schoool...



Over the next few weeks you will be receiving some information from us regarding the beginning of the year procedures. We will try to post some of that information on this blog as well. In the meantime, please visit our website to review our Parent Handbook, where you will also find some very useful information regarding our policies and procedures. You will also find a copy of our 2010-2011 School Year Calendar.

Please keep checking this blog for more upcoming information.

Last Day Celebrations

One of our favorite traditions at SPCNS is the Last Day Celebration. For many, many years the 3-, 4-, and 5-year old classes have delighted their families with songs and dances in the Grassy Park (or the Gym); and the children who are bound for kindergarten walk through a flowered arch and receive a certificate to mark the end of their nursery school days.

This year, the church’s major construction project and the resultant indoor space and parking issues have necessitated that we make some changes to our usual celebration. The staff has been busy planning a special event for each age group which will signify both the closing of our school year together as well as the beginning of the children's next phase--be it moving on to a new school or simply heading into a summer vacation. Here is a brief description of your child's Last Day Celebration. Please note that school wide, these celebrations will be taking place across three different days (June 1-3), but each class will only have one special event according to their age group and their usual school day of the week.

Mrs. Hall’s and Mrs. Gianakas’s Tuesday/Thursday Three-year-olds: The children in these two classes will have their Last Day Celebration on Tuesday, June 1. Children will arrive and play as usual from 9:00 until 11:00 AM. At 11:00 we invite parents and siblings to join them for a picnic and a special story time, which will take place in the Grassy Park (weather permitting).

Mrs. Kozy’s Monday/Wednesday/Friday Three-year-olds: The children will have their Last Day Celebration on Wednesday, June 2. Children will arrive and play as usual from 9:00 until 11:00 AM. At 11:00 we invite parents and siblings to join them for a picnic and a special story time, which will take place in the Grassy Park (weather permitting).

Mrs. Jones’s and Mrs. Callaway’s Monday/Wednesday/Friday Four-year-olds: The children in these two classes will have their Last Day Celebration on Wednesday, June 2. Children will arrive at 9:00 AM and will be dropped off in either the Blue Room or the Babcock Room (specific room assignments will be posted that morning). Parents, siblings, and significant others may go to Classrooms C & D and take a seat. The children will present a short program and then walk through the flowered arch and receive their certificate. Refreshments will follow.

Mrs. Crossett’s and Mrs. Vallejo’s Monday-Friday Four/Five-year olds: The children in these two classes will have their Last Day Celebration on Thursday, June 3. Children will arrive at 9:00 AM and will be dropped off in either the Blue Room or the Babcock Room (specific room assignments will be posted that morning). Parents, siblings, and significant others may go to the Big Room Classroom A and take a seat. The children will present a short program and then walk through the flowered arch and receive their certificate. Refreshments will follow.

Big Happennings in the Big Room

The children and teachers in the Big Room would like to invite you to their Second Annual "Muffins and Masterpieces." This is a fun event where the children share their art work and guide you through interactive stations for you to create masterpieces of your own. The event will be held on Friday, April 30th from 9-10 a.m. We hope to see you there.

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

Parking with bad weather

It has been brought to our attention that with the bad weather, we’ve had many more parents/nannies entering and parking along the circular drive to the school.

We know and understand that it is not pleasant to deal with the snow and the cold conditions, however, it is extremely important that you do not enter the church’s circular driveway, as this is to be reserved for Church staff.

Please make sure to pass on this information to your nannies or anyone else in charge of your children.

Thanks for your understading.

The SPCNS Staff

The SPCNS Helps the East End Cooperative Ministries

We want to take this time to thank all of our families for their generosity in helping out the East End Cooperative Ministries for our Christmas Drive.

Through this drive, we collected seven large and heavy bags of children's books. On Thursday, I had the priviledge of personally offering some books to a very grateful grandmother who was expecting a new grandson in a few days. I wished that you could have seen her smile! Many families visited the E.E.C.M. food pantry this week; and I was so proud to offer them great literature to enjoy. I also wished that you could have heard and seen the coordinatro of the Meals on Wheels program giggle with excitement when I handed her a bag full of cards. She shook the bag and said, "They are going to LOVE these cards!:

Thank yo also for the toiletries which I sorted and tallied with amazing results...
Bottles of hand lotion/body wash (90), Shampoo (58), hand sanitizers (19), deodorants (40), Boxes of Bandaids (5), tubes of antibiotic ointments (2), bars of soaps (76), packages of dental floss (9), combs (16), brushes (2), tubes of Chap Stick (28), sunscreen (1), shower cap (1), sewing kit (1), tubes of petroleum jelly (2), body powder (4), tissue packs (49), reading glasses (6), shaving cream (11), razors (4), toweletts (6), laundry detergent packets (7), packages of !-tips (2), 4 complete travel kits in cloth pouches, 24 toothbrushes, 25 toothbrushes with toothpaste, 46 tubes of toothpaste and a pair of men's gloves.

Mother Teresa said,
"In life, we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

If I did my math correctly, that is 539 small acts of kindnesses and at least 100 shared books and 45 handmade cards that will give somenone a smile..., giving with great love!

Your children made my Christmas so special today with theri beautiful singing. Thank you for sharing them with us at Shadyside Presbyterian Church Nursery School.

Blessing,
Trish Callaway
Mary Lang, Sara Berg, and all the staff at SPCNS