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Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
February was filled with lots of love! The children had so much fun learning and celebrating Valentine’s day as well as Catholic School’s Week to list a few. Thank you to all the parents who brought in items needed to make our events special. It’s now time to say good-bye to winter and welcome spring! March will be another exciting month. Early Registration Parents, it is imperative that you register your soon to be preschooler or transitional kindergartner for the following 2017-18 school year as soon as possible. After March 3rd you will no longer have priority registration and your spot will not be saved. Preschool and TK spots are filling up fast and we currently have a waiting list for families who really want to get in so please make sure you see Scott to register to secure your spot. Celebrating St. Patrick's Day During this week the color we will mainly be focusing on is green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. If any parent would like to bring any healthy green snacks during St. Patrick’s week (3/13th -3/17th) or Fruit Loops cereal it will be greatly appreciated. Please have your child wear his/her favorite green outfit on Thursday, March 17th. Spring Concert (Save the Date!) Our annual preschool spring concert is coming up! Preschool children will be performing April 13TH, Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in our preschool yard. I hope you can all make it! The children have been practicing and working hard with Ms. L. and their teachers. Please dress your child in their favorite Spring/Easter attire. After the concert we will celebrate Easter by having an Easter egg hunt. All are welcome to attend and join in on the fun! Broken sheet covers As we prepare your child’s nap beds we have been noticing many of the straps in the sheets are broken. Please help us by sewing the broken sheet straps. Parent Fundraising and Service Hours Just a friendly reminder, we have 3 ½ more months until school ends and as a member of the Saint Sebastian community, all families are to complete 40 hours of service and raise $300 in fundraising. If not completed, there will be a fee of $10 per hour and pay the remaining fundraising not completed. To check your balance, please see the front office. If you need help in completing your service hours and fundraising please come see me. Our festival is April 29th and April 30th and I am sure we will need all the help we can get to help plan, set-up/clean, and run this huge annual event. All families are required to work a minimum of 6 hours for this fundraiser so please sign up. I believe the jobs listed are given based on first come first serve. Raffle tickets will also be going out soon. Each family will be selling $100 worth of tickets. These are two ways to help you complete your service commitment to the school. Donations needed (fundraising opportunity)
Thank you all so much for your support and dedication to our beautiful Saint Sebastian Preschool. Bunny and Lion Blurb: Dear Bunny and Lion Parents, February was filled with so much love and excitement! The children really enjoyed sharing their special valentines’ treats! We had such a great week participating in Catholic Schools week where we got to wear our pj’s to school, celebrate our diversity, meet firefighters and even explore the inside of a police car!. We also had an amazing time getting to meet Yasiel Puig a current Dodger Player! Go Dodgers! For the month of March we will continue the celebrations with Dr. Seuss's birthday, healthy habits and St. Patrick's Day! We will focus on recognizing numbers 1-20 in and out of order as well as working with letters R, S, T, and U. Thank you for all your support! Sincerely, Miss Jazmin & Miss Monica March Birthdays! March 17th - Happy Birthday Ms. Jazmin Important Reminders: March 8th – McTeacher’s Night March 10th Parent Teacher Conference March 13th -17th – Green Snack Week + Fruit Loops Cereal April 13th – Preschool Spring Concert (Please have your child dressed and here by 9:00a.m.) Followed by an Easter Egg Hunt (Reminder: 1:00p.m. early dismissal) April 14th – April 23rd - Easter Break (School closed) April 24th – Professional Development (School closed)
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February
What’s Going On in Preschool (A note from the Director) Dear Saint Sebastian Families, The principal and I have decided to combine our newsletters to create one newsletter for the entire school (Preschool -8th grade). By doing so this will create fewer newsletters to read for parents who have students enrolled in both programs and will create more opportunities for those would like to get involved with preschool through 8th grade. The preschoolers have grown and developed so much during the past 5 months in all developmental domains. I am so proud of their achievements. Most of our preschoolers are now familiar with the alphabet and the letter sounds. They are recognizing their numbers, colors, days of the week and so much more. But most importantly, they are learning how to use their words, take turns, share, and are good friends to one another. In the month of January our preschoolers have begun practicing in tracing their name each morning by signing in just like their parents. A BIG thank you to all our parents who take the time to help their preschooler sign in each morning, with time and practice our little learners will be writing novels. Looking forward, preschoolers will be exploring topics on love, kindness and friendship to help celebrate Valentine’s Day. Lastly, preschool can really use your help. I have broken them down for you below. Any items purchased or time donated will go toward your fundraising or service responsibility. Thank you again for all that you do to make our school GREAT! Valentine’s Day For the month of February we will be talking about Valentine’s Day/friendships. Our preschoolers will be making their Valentine’s Day mail boxes so please have your child bring a brown paper bag (market size) by Feb 3rd, Friday and 22 Valentine’s Day cards/goodies to pass out to their friends (optional) any day of the week of Feb 13th through Feb 17th. Please try to keep them gender neutral so that it’s easy to distribute. Parents, you are more than welcome to bring in your child’s favorite Valentine’s Day snack or decorations this week to share with the class. Please contact Emily, Raquel or myself for ways you can help make this Valentine’s Day week exciting and fun for the preschoolers. Wish list - AMAZON We still have one item left for purchase. If you would like to donate a coat rack, please let us know. Also we will need a handy person who’s good with tools to help hang our new coat rack to the wall. If you have the tools and would like to help with this project please let us know. 1. Headbourne 93785 Hook Rail/Coat Rack with 6 Satin Nickel Hooks, White Board (Price: $23.00, 1 needed) https://www.amazon.com/Headbourne-93785-Satin-Nickel-Hooks/dp/B00R6FKWAU/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1479503938&sr=1-3&keywords=coat+rack+wall+mounted Teacher/Parent Conferences Friday, March 10th is parent conferences. If you have not yet signed up please do so. Conferences will consist of 15 minute sessions for each child between 7:30 am to 12:00am. Child care will be provided for you during your conference period, if needed. Please keep in mind that also on this day Saint Sebastian School will be closed for Professional Development Day. School Improvement Project Are you good with using tools? Do you love to build things? Well we have a project for you. You can help by taking on this project and building our little learners a Wooden Gazebo Pergola stage where they can sing, dance and role play. If you know how to build one and have the time to lead this project please let me know. Materials for this project will also be needed. Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
Thank you so much for your support in our school’s Hop-a-thon! The money made will go a long way. Monday was such a fun day! Our annual parade around the school and experimenting with Professor Egghead was a great treat for preschoolers. I hope you had fun too. Everyone looked so cute parading in their Halloween costumes. Thank you to all of the parents, families, and volunteers who helped! Thank you especially to our room parents for all of your organization! Our students had an incredible time! November is here and we can start to feel the cool breeze. As the weather changes, please make sure to check your child’s cubby for warm clothing and a jacket. Also, to keep us all healthy during the cold season, please help promote these healthy habits by consciously modeling behaviors such as washing hands, sneezing/coughing into your elbow in front of your preschooler. This will encourage them to imitate you later on. St. Sebastian School Lunch Program St. Sebastian School is now offering a lunch program for preschoolers. Lunches are ordered monthly and prices of the lunch are $3.00 a day. Application for FREE or REDUCED ($0.40/day) lunches are also available, so please come and take advantage of this wonderful program and fill out an application to see if you qualify. For more information about the lunch program please go to http://www.better4youmeals.com/. If you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask Ms. Zuniga, our wonderful food coordinator. Thanksgiving lunch potluck Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It is a time for turkey, friends, and family but most importantly it is a time for giving thanks! What is your preschooler thankful for? Preschoolers would like to invite friends and families to their Thanksgiving lunch potluck on Tuesday, November 22nd, so please join us if you can. Lunch will begin at 11:45 and end at 12:30p.m. For those who would like to bring something, such as juice boxes, green beans, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie to list a few that your child likes to eat/drink and share with the class, we would appreciate it, but it is not mandatory. A Thanksgiving potluck signup sheet will be posted by our sign in/out book for parents who choose to participate. Also, please let us know if you plan on attending so that we can make sure there is enough food to go around. Book Fair Scholastic is making a visit to our school! This is a great opportunity to introduce our preschoolers to many great books. To help get them get excited, we will be making a visit to the book fair. If you have a love for books and would love to come and choose your favorite story to read to our preschoolers at the book fair, please let us know. If you would like to purchase books for our class, a list will be posted. We are so grateful and we thank you so much for your continued support. A Santa for Christmas If you are and would like to be Santa this year please email me or our room parents. This would be a nice treat for preschoolers to see Santa after their Christmas Performance (TBA). Thanks to Robert’s family we already have a Santa suit and just need to find a perfect Santa to introduce to the students. Bunny and Lion Blurb: Dear Bunny and Lion Parents, October was such a busy month filled with lots of fun and exciting activities. The children especially enjoyed showing off their wonderful costumes and the annual visit from Professor Egghead! We will now welcome the first week of November discussing “Dia de Los Muertos” (Day of the dead). November also brings many thoughts of gratitude and appreciation; we cannot wait to hear what all our preschoolers are thankful for. Our themes for this month will include friendship, turkeys and thanksgiving. Also for the last week of November our school will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair and for this week our activities will focus on the book “If you give a mouse a pancake”. We will also continue to work on our numbers 1-10 in both English and Spanish. Our alphabet language development will include letters G, H, I, J and K. Sincerely, Ms. Jazmin and Monica Important Reminders: November 4 - Parent Teacher Conferences/Professional Development Day (school closed) November 11 - Veteran’s Day (school closed) November 18 – School picture (make-ups) November 22 – Thanksgiving Potluck Lunch @ 11:30am November 23, 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday (school closed) November 28 - Book Fair God bless, Yuli Mihara Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
I cannot believe that the year is almost over! Looking back on our Shutterfly pictures, I am amazed how much our preschoolers have grown. They are doing things on their own, developed their individual personalities and my, have they changed physically. This is our last newsletter for the 2015-2016 school year! I hope you have found each month’s newsletter informative. Thank you to all of the parents who have participated in one way or another in your child’s classroom and/or school. Parent involvement is essential for the continued growth and improvement of our program. It's yearbook time! Finally, as you all know, we have been taking digital pictures throughout the school year. Most of you have seen these pictures on the school’s Shutterfly account. Our wonderful room parent, Giselle has graciously offered to make a professional memory book with these pictures. Don't miss out on 40 color pages, filled with great memories of your child’s 2015 - 2016 school year. The yearbook will have two personalized pages for each child plus lots of pages of different events that happened during the year. If you would like to see an example, please ask one of the teachers to show you last year's book. I highly recommend all families to purchase at least one yearbook. Children LOVE looking at themselves in pictures and finding all their friends and it will bring back many cheerful memories for many years to come. It also makes for a nice conversation for you and the family. Books will be available on the day of graduation. The cost of the yearbook is $40. Yearbook order forms will be outside our preschool door. All books must be pre-purchased by May 20th. Please submit all payments along with the pre-purchase form to any of our preschool staff. May is National Teacher Appreciation Month! Please take the time to recognize and say “Thank you” to our dedicated, hardworking teachers for all of their love and guidance in helping every child blossom and grow. We truly have amazing teachers here at Saint Sebastian. They work tirelessly to ensure a safe nurturing environment in their class to ensure your child to grow socially, emotionally and academically. Preschool Culmination It is that wonderful time of the year: a time during which we celebrate achievement. We want to wish all of our graduates the very best in TK as well as a fond farewell to all of our students who are not returning to our school next year. The transition from preschool to TK marks a very important step in a child’s life. It is only appropriate to celebrate this moment with an event that will be as memorable as the rest of the year. We thank you for all of your support in helping us make this a great school year! Our Preschool culmination will take place on Thursday, June 9th at 9:30a.m. We invite all parents, grandparents and all other loved ones to join us on this very special day. Please help us ensure spaces are available by RSVPing for you and your family (see preschool bulletin). Both the culmination and reception will take place in the school’s cafeteria. All students will take part in the culmination and are required to dress in their best attire of choice. Preschoolers graduating to TK should wear clothing that will be appropriate under the culmination gown. They will be provided with caps and gowns on the day of, by their teacher. Girls should wear their hair down or in a low ponytail because they will wear a cap. Please note that caps and gowns must be returned after the graduation. Please allow yourself time to get great seats. Seats are on a first come basis. Parking inside the schoolyard will be available starting at 9:00a.m. Lastly, to prepare for this special day, we will need parent helpers/planners. If you would like to be a part of the planning committee, please contact Giselle or myself. This is an important day for our preschoolers. They reached many milestones and are now moving on. If each family can kindly donate a suggested amount of $25, it would cover the cost of the decorations and food as well as cap and gown rentals. Please turn in all donations to the preschool in an envelope with your child's name and with "preschool culmination" written on the front. Thank you in advance for ALL your generous help. With your help we can put together a wonderful graduation ceremony. Continental Breakfast Come and have Breakfast with us! Friday, June 10th our school will be serving a continental breakfast for our Saint Sebastian School families. We will also have 12.30p.m. early dismissal on this day. Lost and Found Below our parent file table is our lost and found. Please make sure to check the lost and found items before the end of the school year. Any items left will be donated to Good Will. (Note from Ms. Jill) Dear Parents, I can't believe how fast this year has flown by! Throughout the months of May and June we will be having some big celebrations. We will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and of course Graduation Day!! Your children have worked so hard this year and I am so very proud of them. We will continue working with all of the letters and numbers up to 30. Our themes for the rest of the year consist of: Mother's Day, Dinosaurs, Flowers, Birds, Sports, and Summer Fun! If anyone would like to come in to read a story or teach an activity or lesson feel free to let me know. The preschoolers are always happy to have families come in and join our class! =) -Ms. Jill Important Reminders: April 30th & May 1st - School Carnival May 8th – Happy Mother’s Day! May 30th – Memorial Day (School Closed) June 9th - Preschool Culmination June 10th – Last Day of Preschool and Pancake Brunch 11AM (12:30PM Dismissal) *** Please make sure you have checked into registering your “Preschoolers or soon to be Transitional kindergarten” sometime this month for our Summer Program along with 2016-17 school year. **** Sincerely, Yuli MIhara Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break. “Spring Sing” was a huge success! Our preschoolers are so talented! They have grown so much both physically and intellectually over the last few months. We are so proud of them. I want to take a moment and thank all of you on the amazing job that you have done with your children and your continued support of our many ongoing projects. They say “It takes a village to raise a child,” and what a village have we created in the past few months! As we come back from Spring break, the month of April is packed with activities that are quite exciting. In April, we will be studying about the lifecycle of the butterfly. If you haven’t done so already, please see our science center. The science center is full of books, pictures and REAL caterpillars. Right in front of our very own eyes, these caterpillars will undergo some drastic changes before they turn into butterflies. Our preschoolers will also be learning about flowers growing, spring and the colors around us. One thing parents can do is take the time to point out all of these wondrous miracles God shows us in everyday life. As the weather warms, all of the children are excited to be using sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun. If you would like to bring sunscreen (spray, lotion, specific SPFs, or face lotions) please make sure to fill out a medical form when doing so. The teachers will provide the forms for you, but the preschool does not provide sunscreen. Names will be written on the sunscreen with Sharpie. Saint Sebastian School Carnival This year our school carnival will take place on Saturday, April 30th & Sunday, May 1st. The carnival is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we count on every family’s support. The preschool will be performing three songs that Saturday at 1:00pm and again at 2:00pm. Please have your child wear his /her carnival T-shirt for the performance. Preschool teachers will be there as well to support and help your child as they prepare to go on stage. This will be a great opportunity to show our community what preschoolers can do. Also, each year, every classroom donates a basket towards our carnival for silent auction. It has been a tradition that preschool has been donating a gift card basket. We ask that each family donates $10 or more towards the gift basket. Please submit your donation to the teachers or myself. Donations of $10 or more will be applied towards your annual fundraising responsibility. I thank you in advance for your support and generosity. Meet and Greet the New Principal Come meet the new principal, Mrs. Patricia Harty on Wednesday, April 13 at 7:30AM. Coffee will be served at 8:00AM followed by a formal meeting about our school. Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
A lot happened in February. We celebrated Catholic Schools Week, Valentine’s Day, and Chinese New Year! February was definitely an exciting month! I just want to thank everyone for making Catholic Schools Week and Chinese New Year a huge success. The children had so much fun along with their teachers. Parents who volunteered, donated food for our events and the gifts received for Teacher’s Appreciation Day was so generous and thoughtful of you. Thank you so much for supporting preschool and making each event a memorable one for all. It’s now time to say good-bye to winter and welcome spring! March will be another exciting month where we will begin to pick our corn and plant new seeds. Everyone has been waiting patiently for this day to finally ripe off that cornhusk to see what inside. Spring Concert Our annual preschool spring concert is coming up! Preschool children will be performing March 16th (Wednesday) at 9:30 a.m. in the school’s cafeteria. TK-8th grade will perform first at 8:30 a.m. and you are more than welcome to arrive early. I hope you can all make it! The children have been practicing and working hard with Ms. L. and their teachers. Please dress your child in their favorite Spring/Easter attire. Celebrating St. Patrick's Day During this week the color we will mainly be focusing on is green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. If any parent would like to bring any healthy green snacks during St. Patrick’s week (3/14th -3/18th) it will be greatly appreciated and fun for the children. We will also be talking and creating fun St. Patrick’s Day art such as shamrocks. Please have your child wear his/her favorite green outfit on Thursday, March 17th. Easter Celebration Please bring 2 hardboiled eggs and 6+ Eggs with goodies in them (i.e. stickers, treats, toys, etc.) by 3/23. Our class will celebrate Jesus’s return by dying eggs and having an Easter egg hunt March 24th outside our preschool yard at 11:00 a.m. followed by a picnic lunch. Please note that we have early dismissal (12:30 p.m.) for this day! Parents who would like to help and join us for our Easter egg hunt and picnic lunch you are more than welcome. We will need a few parents to help hide eggs and help children hunt. It will be so much fun! Recycled art: We need 6 half-sized milk or orange carton (Must be cardboard!) If you have them, please bring them in by 3/16. Thank you! Parent Fundraising and Service Hours Just a friendly reminder, we have 4 more months until school ends and as a member of the Saint Sebastian community, all families are to complete 40 hours of service and raise $300 in fundraising. If not completed, there will be a fee of $10 per hour and pay the remaining fundraising not completed. To check your balance, please see the front office. If you need help in completing your service hours and fundraising please come see me. Our festival is April 30th and May 1st. All families are required to work a minimum of 6 hours for this fundraiser. Raffle tickets will also be going out. Each family will be selling $100 worth of tickets. These are two ways to help you complete your service commitment to the school. Donations needed (fundraising opportunity)
Thank you all so much for your support and dedication to our beautiful Saint Sebastian Preschool. (Note from Ms. Jill) Dear Parents, February was filled with lots of love! The children really loved being a part of the Chinese New Year celebration and learning about the Chinese culture. We also worked hard in tracing and writing our names especially for our special valentines! March we will continue the celebrations with Dr. Seuss's birthday, Nutrition Month, St. Patrick's Day, and of course Easter! We will focus on recognizing numbers 1-20 in and out of order as well as working with letters T, U, V, and W. -Ms. Jill Important Reminders: March 14th -18th – Green Snack Week March 16th - Spring Concert (Please have your child dressed and here by 9:00 a.m.) K-8th grade @ 8:30 a.m. Preschool @ 9:30 a.m. March 24th – Easter egg hunt followed by a picnic lunch (12:30 p.m. early dismissal) March 25th – Good Friday (School closed) March 28th – April 1st - Easter Break (School closed) Sincerely, Yuli Mihara The preschoolers have grown and developed so much during the past 5 months in all developmental domains. I am so proud of their achievements. Most of our preschoolers are now familiar with the alphabet and the letter sounds. They are recognizing their numbers, colors, days of the week and so much more. But most importantly, they are learning how to use their words, take turns, share, and are good friends to one another. It is such a precious moment when I see our preschoolers show empathy towards each other and even towards their teachers. They really have come a long way. Our preschoolers are getting really good at writing their names, and are focused and motivated to try new experiences. Thank you parents for your dedication and time to work together to help your child reach their fullest potential.
Catholic Schools Week (February 1st to 5th) Volunteers are still needed for Catholic Schools Week. If you have any ideas or suggestions for any of the days below please contact Gisselle or myself. Monday - Student Day (Pajama day) Tuesday - Service Day Wednesday - Career Day Thursday - International Day Friday - Teacher's Day Parent Conferences Don’t forget! Monday, February 8th is parent conferences. If you have not yet signed up please do so. Conferences will consist of 15 minute sessions for each child between 7:30 am to 11:30 am. Child care will be provided for you during your conference period, if needed. Please keep in mind that also on this day Saint Sebastian School will be closed for Professional Development Day. Valentine’s Day For the month of February we will be talking about Valentine’s Day/friendships. Our preschoolers will be making their Valentine’sDay mail boxes so please have your child bring 11 Valentine’s Day cards/goodies to pass out to their friends. Please try to keep them gender neutral so that it’s easy to distribute. Also, our class will be decorating cupcakes and having them for Valentine’s Day snack on Friday, February 12th. Parents, you are more than welcome to bring in your child’s favorite Valentine’s Day snack or decorations this week to share with the class. Please contact Giselle or myself for ways you can help make this Valentine’s Day week exciting and fun for the preschoolers. Father-Daughter Dance This date has changed, it is now in March Chinese New Year Celebration (Year of the Monkey) February 18th, our preschoolers will be celebrating Chinese New Year along with TK-8th graders. This is a huge annual event and all friends and families of Saint Sebastian preschool are welcome to come and celebrate with us. The whole school will be parading outside on the big yard with preschoolers leading the wayand each class will be performing something that they learned in Mandarin class. For lunch, the school will cater Chinese food from a local restaurant. To help pay for the cost of this celebration, I am asking a suggested donation of $5 from each student (money left over will be used to pay for activities). Please bring in $5 by Feb 12th so that we can plan accordingly for this event.Our preschoolers have been attending Chinese class with Ms. Graves four days a week and have been practicing really hard. They are excited to show everyone what they have learned in Chinese class so parents, don’t miss out on this special event! Please dress your child up in red clothing on this day. It is said that the color red is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it was once believed that red could scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. You are more than welcome to dress yourself up for the occasion and join in. (Note from Ms. Jill) Dear Preschool Families, January sure did fly right on by! As we move into February, we will be participating in lots of fun events such as our special themed days during Catholic Schools Week, designing valentines, and Chinese New Year festivities. This month's themes will consist of: Catholic Schools Week, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, and All About Shapes. We will continue to focus on numbers 1-10 and start using 10-frames! Our alphabet language development will stem from letters R, S, and T. If you would like to join us for any activities, as always, please don't hesitate to contact us and let us know :) - Ms. Jill Important Reminders: February 8th - Professional Development Day (School Closed) February 8th - Parent/Teacher Conferences @ 7:30am to 11:30am February 15th- President's Day - School Closed February 18th - Chinese New Year Celebration @ 10:00am Sincerely, Yuli Mihara Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
The potluck was a huge success! Thanks to all of the families who brought food aplenty and helped with set up/clean up. The food was so delicious and we really enjoyed our time together. I would also like to thank the parents for your volunteer donations in selling chocolate bars and church raffle tickets. There are some great prizes like diamond bracelets, laptops and more and I hope our St. Sebastian School families win! Most importantly, we truly value your support and commitment to our school. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents who are always ready to help out in any way they can. Thank you once again. With the busy holiday season coming the weather is also changing. Please make sure that your child’s extra clothes in their cubby are complete and that they are appropriate for the weather. With the weather getting colder, it is imperative your children have adequate clothing for the cold weather. Preschool Christmas Concert Our Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec 18th begins at 9:15am at the church across the street from the school. The teachers and children have been working hard to prepare for this concert. I am sure you will be delighted with our children’s performances. Please have your child come to school dressed in Christmas attire. Coffee and refreshments will be provided after the concert in our preschool yard for parents to enjoy, relax and mingle with each other. The children will also be greeted with a special guest! Let me give you a hint… he’s jolly, wears red and says HO HO HO! Come take this opportunity to meet Santa in person (Thank you to Mr. Dominguez, for volunteering to be Santa this year. Our preschoolers will be so surprised and excited to see you!) Also, this day children will have early dismissal. Please pick your child up by 2:00pm. Cultural Month and Star Student If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for Cultural Month and Star Student. This will count towards your volunteer hours (4hrs. total). It is also a chance for us to get to know each of our families better as they share something special they do as a family. Be sure to sign up with your child's teacher. It can be as simple as a favorite book your family likes to read together or a project you do as a family. You can bring in pictures/ items from your culture, share about what you do or bring in the activity to actually do with the children. We have had people share their favorite family food, clothing from their culture, and even engage children in a short activity/song.....Whatever you do, we want to learn about what your family does. For more information please contact any of the teachers or our room parents. (Note from Ms. Jill) We did lots of cooking this month, and the children had a blast designing their very own pizzas while learning how to vote and discussed our favorite toppings. Your children have been participating in lots of discussions, and I can see so much progress with language already! The children loved decorating hearts and going around to their friends telling them what they are thankful for. I am very thankful that we have such a great group of children and families. December is going to fly by, and it will be Christmas before we know it. We have several birthdays coming up as well as our big Christmas concert and celebration. This first week of December we will be discussing, acting, designing, and experimenting with some “symbols” of Christmas such as the gingerbread man, snowmen, Santa Claus, and his elves! We will review and make new discoveries with our numbers 0 – 5 and continue our alphabet with letters K, L, and M. Week 2 will consist of holidays all around the world and learn about how different cultures celebrate. Our third and final week will be all about Christmas. From carols to cookies, and presents to performances, this month is sure to be one that the children won’t forget! If you’d like to add to these lessons on how you celebrate the holidays, please feel free to come in and join us, and share a special tradition you have in your family. Families are always welcome. Important Reminders: November 30th – Book Fair December 8th - SPC Meeting at 6:00pm December 18th – Preschool Christmas Concert 9:15am & 2pm Early Dismissal December 21 to January 5th - Christmas Holiday (school closed) January 4TH – Teacher Retreat (school closed) January 5th – School Resumes Dear St. Sebastian Preschool Families,
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us for parent conferences last week. The one on one time with you is so special and important to us. Thank you so much for your kind words about our program and your comments/suggestions. We continue to work hard every day for our preschoolers and are so blessed to have such wonderful families. Friday was such a fun day! Our annual parade around the school and experimenting with Professor Egghead was a great treat for preschoolers. I hope you had fun too. Everyone looked so cute parading in their Halloween costumes. Thank you Ethan’s mom for providing a pizza lunch for our preschoolers. Thank you everyone who volunteered and brought in special treats for the children. It was a fun day which will be memorable for everyone! November is just around the corner and we can start to feel the cool breeze. As the weather changes, please make sure to check your child’s cubby for warm clothing and a jacket. Also, to keep us all healthy during the cold season, please help promote these healthy habits. Consciously modeling behaviors such as washing hands, sneezing/coughing into your elbow in front of your preschooler. This will encourage them to imitate you later on. Thanksgiving lunch potluck Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It is a time for turkey, friends, and family but most importantly it is a time for giving thanks! What is your preschooler thankful for? Preschoolers would like to invite friends and families to their Thanksgiving lunch potluck on Tuesday, November 24th, so please join us if you can. Lunch will begin at 11:45 and end at 12:30p.m. For those who would like to bring something, such as juice boxes, green beans, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie to list a few that your child likes to eat/drink and share with the class, we would appreciate it, but it is not mandatory. A Thanksgiving potluck signup sheet will be posted by our sign in/out book for parents who choose to participate. Also, please let us know if you plan on attending so that we can make sure there is enough food to go around. Book Fair Scholastic is making a visit to our school! This is a great opportunity to introduce our preschoolers to many great books. To help get them get excited, we will be making a visit to the book fair. If you have a love for books and would love to come and choose your favorite story to read to our preschoolers at the book fair, please let us know. If you would like to purchase books for our class, a list will be posted. We are so grateful and we thank you so much for your continued support. A Santa for Christmas Do you own a Santa costume and are you available December 18th? If you are and would like to be Santa this year please email Giselle, our room parent. This would be a nice treat for preschoolers to see Santa after their Christmas Performance. (Note from Ms. Jill) October was a fun-filled month that flew right by! Your children have been having a blast all while learning, and I must say that I am very impressed when your children recognize their letters. They have really enjoyed our new language development posters and songs, and especially love coming up to the board to “be the teacher.” I am so proud of them. With such creative minds, we used our leaves from our Leaf Hunt to make our very own ‘Leaf Man’ and have been learning to use our language not only for talking to our friends, but for having class discussions and delving deeper to get our brains thinking and wondering. Thank you all for bringing in pumpkins! As you can see on Shutterfly, the children had an amazing time decorating at different centers. We will start November off with our Dia de Los Muertos celebration- the Day of the Dead. We started to bring out some decorations, and the children are very intrigued to see what this Mexican holiday is all about! November will be focused on themes of Dia de Los Muertos, Pizza (always a fan favorite), Being Thankful, and the meaning behind Thanksgiving. Our alphabet activities this month will focus on letters H, I, J, and K and numbers 3, 2, 1, and 0. We will have many discussions about what “thankful” means, and things that we love and treasure. I am so looking forward to our big potluck feast before Thanksgiving break and hope you all can make it! Please feel free to contact me if you would ever like to come in to preschool and help out! J Sincerely, Ms. Jill Dear Preschool Families,
The first month of school went by quick. As we continue to bond with your child we are forming trusting, loving relationships. Children are now comfortable with their preschool environment, teachers and friends. Fall is in the air and we have lots of fun activities planned this month. Blessing of the Animals Father German will be blessing all of God’s creatures at the church located across the street from our school, October 4th at 9:00am. Every member of the community is invited to bring their pets to be blessed. To ensure all the companions get along peacefully, please have your pet on a leash or in a secure carrier (if needed) for the safety of the other animals. Bring your favorite stuffed animal for a blessing too! St. Sebastian Church Yard Sale Come join us at our Church Yard Sale here at St. Sebastian Church parking lot, October 11th from 8am to 2pm. There will be delicious food for sale along with everything you can imagine that is sold at a yard sale. Who knows, you might find some treasures! Picture Day October 16th is picture day! Please have your child here no later than 9:00am. We will be taking pictures in the cafeteria. Please have your child dressed in their best picture day outfit. If you would like us to change your child after pictures please provide a change of clothes and let us know. We will be happy to do that for you. Free Spanish Early Literacy Program for you and your child! Come learn or practice your Spanish with your preschooler every Thursday, beginning October 22nd to December 17th from 11:00am to 11:45am here at our school with a Spanish instructor. Act quick, there are only 12 spots available. We are offering this wonderful opportunity to our St. Sebastian preschool families first. In order to participate, your child must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and must be committed to attend every Thursdays. If you are interested in this free program, please contact our school office. Pumpkin Decorating Towards the end of the month, preschoolers will be having fun working on Halloween activities. To help us create a seasonal atmosphere, please bring a small pumpkin (Approx. 5 inches for your child to use for an art activity at the beginning of the month. Small pumpkins can be purchased at Trader Joes for $1.99). Volunteer and donation needed: Our preschool class is in need of one or two big pumpkins. We also need a parent volunteer who can come in to show our preschoolers a pumpkin carving demonstration. Don’t worry…you don’t have to be an expert carver. Parent Teacher Conference Parent/Teacher conference will be October 26th, Monday. Please make sure to sign up. Sign-up sheet will be posted on our Preschool Parent Information board two weeks prior to the date. If you cannot make it on this day, please let us know. We understand how important it is for teachers and parents to meet. We will try our best to work with your schedule. Halloween Parade & Professor Egghead Every year St. Sebastian School celebrates Halloween in a “big” way and the celebrating starts at 9:15am on October 30th with our school parade. Please bring your child to school in costume and a change of clothes for later. After our parade we will return to our preschool class for a visit from “Professor Egghead.” If you would like to bring goody bags to be sent home with each child, we have a total of 14 children. Dia De Los Muertos On Friday, November 3rd we will be celebrating a Mexican holiday called Dia De Los Muertos. Translated to English, this is "The Day of the Dead." Dia De Los Muertos is not one, but two days spent in honor of the dead. The first day celebrates infants and children who have died. This is a group which is believed to have a special place in heaven and is referred to as "Angelitos" or little angels. The second day is in honor of adults who have passed away. Dia De Los Muertos is an opportunity to celebrate the death and the life of loved ones and friends. It is a day of celebration, not a day of mourning. On Dia De Los Muertos, people prepare a feast with many of the favorite dishes of lost loved ones. Pan de Muertos or "Bread of the Dead" is a traditional bread, which is baked during this celebration.Visiting the cemetery is also a popular tradition. At the cemetery, the tomb or burial plot is decorated. The cemetery visit is spent in a picnic environment. The air is filled with music from Mariachi bands while the scent of foods fills the air. Mrs. Pokrywka (Jackson’s Mom) will be presenting Dia De Los Muertos to our preschoolers along with a fun activity. Together we will be decorating our own altar right here in the classroom. Children are encouraged to bring pictures of loved ones who have passed away as well as pictures of pets that have died. Thank you, Mrs. Pokrywka, for volunteering. Photo Albums and Emergency Kits If you have not done so, please bring them in and hand them to Ms. Jill or myself. Thank you for those who have already brought them in. Photo Albums can be purchased at Target or the 99 cent store. Together with your child, please select several pictures that are meaningful to him/her. If you can help your child describe what is happening in the pictures, it would be greatly appreciated. Emergency Kits are to be brought in a one pound Ziploc bag and be given to myself or a teacher. In your Ziploc bag, please have a small favorite toy, photos of family loved ones, a snack bar that is not perishable and has a long shelf life, any necessary medication and a short, comforting letter addressed to your child. Easy Fundraising Help the school fundraise through Ralph's, Target and by buying gift cards. Thank you so much for your endless support! Welcome to preschool, Lea! I would like to introduce to you Lea and her family to our preschool. If you see them please be sure to introduce yourself and give them a warm welcome. =) Note from Ms. Jill Your children have been doing such a wonderful job using their manners after our manners-themed week, and I am so very proud of them! The children shared stories about their families, made some portraits, and got to learn a little more about one another from their adorable photo albums and share toys. Thank you for your help in bringing in pictures and apples! They loved mashing our homemade applesauce, a delicious treat. We started letters A, B, C, and D and will be adding to our alphabet song throughout October. I am also very impressed with our sign in sheets!! Thank you for guiding your children to the circle table, we will continue to get better each week. October will bring lots of Fall activities including leaf printing, pumpkin decorating, and celebrating fire safety! We will be learning how to stop, drop, and roll, some spooky poems, and cool science experiments with baking soda. Your children love being little scientists!! They will be doing lots of brainstorming and thinking about our new alphabet curriculum, where they get to help be a teacher themselves. I am looking forward to our Halloween parade and all of our fun events coming up! Be sure to always check my Weekly Plans on the door for any updates of upcoming events or reminders J Sincerely, Ms. Jill |
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February 2017
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SAINT SEBASTIAN SCHOOL
Saint Sebastian School provides academic excellence in a private, Catholic, multilingual setting in order to prepare students to serve as faith-filled disciples in our global community. We are West Los Angeles' Dual Language Immersion Catholic School with the goal for our students to master academic subjects while becoming fluent in both Spanish and English. Since 1950, Saint Sebastian School has educated students in Preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Elementary and Middle School.
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