NURSERY RHYMES - APRIL 2010

Director's Corner - by Lisa Wenz

Welcome back from Spring break! It was a busy late winter early spring here at the Nursery. We have recovered from the water damage in the big room and adjoining classrooms. The new cubbies and block cabinets in the classrooms are installed and the new rug is in place. We have worked with the insurance company to replace all that was damaged or soiled. The staff still has a few changes they hope to implement in the big room – to make better use of the space. Thanks to
all families for being so patient during the clean-up.
Registration for next year is still underway. We still have room in our UPK classes, both full day and half day. Our three year old class is full and we have a strong waiting list. Our Little Hands registration is comfortable for this time of year.
We are moving ahead with purchasing a new piece of climbing equipment for the tire park. While the old wooden structure is still sturdy - it has become weather damaged and needs to be replaced. The teachers and I have been meeting to select a structure that will be exciting and challenging for all the age groups that use that park. The fundraising that has been going on all year will helped us select suitable, good quality piece of equipment. Please continue to support our morning and afternoon Coffee/Tea Bake Sales which have been helping support this purchase.
In the meantime there are several upcoming events to look forward to here at the Nursery. In mid April we will begin our duck and chick incubation project. Eggs will be picked up on April 14th. This is such a fun and exciting project. If all goes well, we will have chicks hatch in 21 days and ducklings in 28 days. We will also be watching the development of caterpillars into butterflies and continue to observe our toads, stick bugs, hermit crabs and tadpoles. It becomes a bit critter crazy in May!! Although the incubators are housed in rooms 2 and 3, each class will be involved in the study of the changes and growth of the embryos inside the eggs and each class will have their own group of caterpillars. We also have scheduled our annual Little Red Lighthouse trip for the Three year old class and the UPK classes on May 10th. Unfortunately the Little Hands children are too young for this trip – but they will have their turn next year!! There will be no Little Hands Class on May 10th.
We also have the Annual Spring Bazaar to look forward to as well as the Moving Up Picnic. The Moving Up Picnic will be held on Monday June 14th – Not Wednesday, June 9th as noted on the school calendar. We have rescheduled the date to give our Little Hands students an extra day or two to make up for the school they missed due to the water damage in their classroom.
The children will be spending a great deal more time outdoors now that the weather is warmer. Please continue to dress your children in weather appropriate clothing and especially good climbing/running shoes. Please note that children cannot wear flip-flop shoes in school. This year we will be enforcing this policy strictly. Also if possible limit the wearing of sandals to only the hottest days. When children are playing with blocks – they often drop them on their toes – and shoes or sneakers give the best protection. We are looking forward to enjoying our parks and all fun the outdoors has to offer!

Happy Spring!