Welcome to the new school year!

The first day of school is underway and everyone seems to be transitioning nicely into their classrooms and routines. We have a few new children as well as new teachers. Teacher Christy and her daughter Ripley left Oak Lane over the summer because her family was relocating to New York. They have settled into their new home and we wish Ripley all the best on her first day of school. I had hired a new teacher, who unfortunately informed me this morning that she will not be able to take the position. So, if you know of anybody that might be interested in a part-time position working with 2 to 3 year olds, please send them my way. In the meantime, our substitute Teacher Juliet and I will assist Teacher Rachel in the classroom.

Teacher Savannah will also be leaving Oak Lane at the end of this week. We will miss her a lot but are happy for her at the same time as she will go back to school to fulfill her passion: music! Starting today, Teacher Alex will be working in the Infant and Young Toddler classroom with Teacher Sheila. Alex's son Hayden will be in the Older Toddler classroom. Please join me in welcoming everyone to Oak Lane.

The staff schedule will be as follows:
Rachel - 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Margaret - 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sheila - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Alex - 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Noreen - 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Monday and Friday)
               12 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Tuesday and Thursday)
               9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Wednesday)

My new hours may vary a bit from week to week but I will post my schedule for every week on the chalkboard by the sign-in sheet. Until I hire a new part-time teacher, I will be working with Teacher Rachel on some mornings. There are a lot of changes as we start this year, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Forms, forms, forms....

Some of you have already returned the various forms that I handed out. Thank you! If you need another copy of one of the forms, you can find them online on Oak Lane's website. (Note: The pizza form and coop form cannot be accessed at the moment. I will be able to fix the problem tonight from my home computer).

Pizza Form - If you are not sure if your child will like pizza for lunch on Wednesdays, you can sign up for only one week at a time. Simply check off the name on the pizza sign-up sheet on the bulletin board and please put the money in the tuition drop box.

Parent Cooperative Sign-Up Form - If you have any questions about the listed tasks, please feel free to contact me. A form with the tasks still available (updated daily) is posted on the bulletin board.

Calendar - Please be sure to take a look at the calendar and take note of the days Oak Lane is closed, when there is no pizza on Wednesdays and check out all of the fun family events we have planned for the year.

In the coming week, I will also be asking all of you to update and sign your child's emergency contact form. If you already know that there have been a lot of changes (work info, phone numbers, etc.), please let me know and I will leave a new form in your child's cubby for you to fill out. If there are no changes, you will just need to date and initial the current form.

Apologies

The technology world seems to be on strike today. I had included a number of pictures from every class but unfortunately was not able to send the newsletter with the pictures in it. I'm not sure why as I have done it many times before. I will look into the problem and promise that there will be pictures in the next newsletter.

Monday, September 6 - OLDC Closed - Labor Day
Thursday, September 16 - Back To School Potluck Dinner @ 6 p.m.

 Breakfast Club

Oak Lane is currently opening at 7 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m (except on Tuesday mornings). Children can be served breakfast provided by you at Oak Lane until 7:30.

Welcome to the Infant and Young Toddler class. We are off to a great start and everybody is doing a great job getting used to new surroundings and teachers. Our new classmates are Caroline (almost 1 year old), James (7 months old) who joined us over the summer and Forrest (1 month old) who will be with us starting October 15th. Teacher Alex will also be new to our classroom and we look forward to getting to know her.

Brooke, Pearl and Senna have become good friends over the summer as they spent lots of time playing together. William, Jocelyn and Max are working hard on keeping up and are perfecting their walking and crawling. And James and McKenna are not far behind as they are starting to crawl and pull up. It is going to be a fun and exciting year with all these little "busy bodies" in our classroom.

T. Sheila, T. Savannah and T. Alex

Older Toddlers 

Welcome to the Older Toddler Class and a big welcome to our new friends Finley and Riley, Hayden, and Claire. We have an exciting year planned. We will be working on sharing, self-help skills, and verbal skills. We will start off the day with Morning Meeting. During Morning Meeting, the children will listen to a story and sit quietly for a moment of silence. Throughout the day, the children will enjoy music, free play time, arts and crafts, and plenty of outdoors.

It is important to remember a few key rules to help everyone have an enjoyable day.

• Please do not bring in any toys from home. The only exception is a stuffed animal or baby doll for naptime.
• Please make sure your child has diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, naptime supplies, and appropriate outerwear at all times.
• If you arrive between 7 and 7:30 a.m. we will be happy to give your child breakfast that you provide. If you arrive after 7:30 a.m. your child needs to eat breakfast at home. We provide a snack every morning around 9:30 a.m.
• When your child is ready to potty train, please let us know so we can work together to make this transition as smooth as possible.

We are looking forward to seeing all of the familiar faces and getting to know the new ones. Please join us for Back to School Night on Thursday, September 16th.

T. Rachel and T. Erin

Preschoolers

Welcome to Teacher Margaret's Preschool Class! It should be a year filled with fun and learning. We will begin Morning Meeting again on September 7th. We will also have Morning Grouptime during which we will go over the calendar (counting), weather and educational games (color, matching, sorting, etc.)

This year we will work on the basics of letter and name recognition. We will also practice writing our names. We will have a book or story of the week which will help us develop these skills as well as a letter of the week.

Each day, we will have center time. There will be a math, science and art center each day. Show & Share will be on Wednesday. Please have your child bring in an item that starts with the letter of the week. You can find the letter of the week on our monthly calendar. We will do our cooking activity on Thursdays.

I look forward to seeing you at the Back To School Potluck on Thursday, September 16th.

T. Margaret