January 2022 Newsletter
Welcome back Families! Hopefully you all had a restful and enjoyable holiday break. We reopen January 3 rd and are excited to have everyone back in our classroom and settle in to our new year here at school.
Pick-Ups and Drop-Offs:
Our earliest drop-off time in the morning is 6:30am. If you are needing earlier drop-off time outside of the usual window of your drop-offs, please send either an email or a message on SeeSaw to let us know so that we can ensure that we are properly staffed and ratios are accounted for. Please drop your child off no later than 8:45am, as our Montessori work cycle is well under way at 9:00am and drop-offs after 8:45am can be disruptive to the children who are already in their work cycle. If your child is needing to be dropped off later in the morning due to things like appointments, message us on SeeSaw and aim for a drop off between 11:15-11:30am as this is when half day students are going home and full day children are transitioning for lunch.
With the cold weather, the messaging on SeeSaw has been working very well in order to get your children ready and ensure no one is waiting out in the cold, so a big thank you for all of your cooperation. Our earliest pick-up times in the afternoon is 2:00pm as prior to that the children are either napping or having their quiet time. Please pick-up your child no later than 5:45pm. Due to Covid and licensing policies which have quite an extensive cleaning process at the end of the day, and in order to ensure our staff is out at closing time we need time at the end of the day to complete that cleaning.
Labelling:
All of your children’s things need to be labelled with their name, including water bottles, boots, and lunch containers. Often times the children have the same belongings as each other, especially when it comes to things like boots and water bottles, so in order to avoid mix ups and confusion please have your children’s names on their things. With all the winter gear children have (toques, gloves, snow pants, etc.) it can be hard for them to keep track off all of it when getting dressed/undressed, so having their items labelled makes sure that the correct belongings are given to the right child.
Covid Health Checklist:
Each morning before drop-off it is required that you go through the Covid-19 Alberta Daily Health Checklist (for children under 18). If you answer yes to any of the questions then you are required to keep your child home and monitor them. Depending on what symptom the child has they need to either stay home for 24hrs and can only come back if showing signs of improvement, or they need to isolate, or test negative for Covid before they are able to return to school.
With Covid cases on the rise and the new Omicron variant, we all need to do our part to ensure that we keep ourselves and your children as healthy and safe as possible. We have our rigorous cleaning and disinfecting processes in place. We also have our protocols for if a child becomes ill while attending our program Temperatures are still taken daily. If at any point during the day your child begins to
show signs/symptoms of an illness, then you will be contacted and asked to pick up your child as soon as possible. Your child will be required to isolate with a teacher away from the other children (most likely in our dance and music room) and the teacher will be wearing full PPE until you arrive to pick them up.
Sound of the Week:
January 10 th : “o” as in octopus, orange, octagon
January 17 th : “p” as in penguin, pumpkin, pit
January 24 th : “q” as in quilt, queen, quail
The sound of the week objects needs to be in a labelled and sealed Ziploc bag. What we have found works best is to look for your five (or three) objects over the weekend, place them into one large Ziploc bag and then bring them in at the beginning of the week. This way you don’t have to worry about looking for an object each morning on top of getting your children ready for school.
Birthdays in January:
Leonie, Ayden, Azaria and Georgia!
If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday here in class then please send us a quick email or SeeSaw message. On the chosen day, we ask that parents bring in photos of their child from birth and one of each year of their life. This helps us to tellyour child’s story in our special Montessori way. If you would also like to bring in a snack for your child’s classmates, then let us know and we can give you the number of children that will be in. Snacks must be nut free and individually packaged, as well as relatively healthy. Great options include cheese strings, apple sauce pouches, or anything from the Made Good brand (like their granola bites or mini cookies).
Important Dates and School Closures
January 3 rd : Angel Wings reopens to all children
January 10 th – February 10 th : Parent Observations, please keep an eye out for a sign-up sheet as and an informational email about our parent observations
January 15 th : 10am Parent Informational Meeting with Mrs. Joce for those children who are eligible for kindergarten next year (you should have already all received an email regarding this).
Reminders!
January fees are due on the 1 st of the month
Bedding needs to be brought in at the beginning off the week in a labelled bag. Please ensure the bag is durable and large enough as the children pack up their own belongings and need to be able to fit everything in easily. This process helps the child to grow their independence.
Please remember to pack a fork, spoon, and water bottle everyday for your child’s snack and lunch. Having both a fork and spoon is important as it helps foster your child’s independence by giving them a choice of how to eat their food.
The Canadian government is aiming to ban harmful single-use plastics within the next year. Usually when a child’s fork or spoon is forgotten we provide a plastic one for them to use and dispose of. However, with the government moving forward on a ban of single-use plastics this will no longer be an option for us, so it becomes even more important for you to pack a fork and spoon for your child daily.
Thank you so much for all the wonderful holiday cards and gifts that we have received, we feel so very appreciative of everything.
Thank you to all of our wonderful and supportive families. We are very blessed to have you in our lives and at our center! We are looking forward to another year with your children here at Angel Wings.
The Angel Wings Team:
Ms. Nicole, Mrs. Joce, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Glynnis, Mrs. Divya, Mrs. Diana, and Ms.Tessa.