Learn what’s happening in the classroom this month.

January has passed, and we have focused on our letter of the week activities in the class room.  All the children have been enjoying the activities and have been improving their writing and recognition skills for letters and numbers

Candy Gram order forms have been sent home.  These will be passed out during our Valentine’s Day party on Thursday February 13^th and Friday February 14^th.  If you would like your child to participate, please have your form and money back by Monday February 10^th. Late forms will not be accepted.

During the month of January, we explored different aspects of winter that people enjoy and had a lot of fun trying out some winter sports.  We have been working away on our Alphabet crafts and talking about the sounds of different letters.  All the children have been enjoying doing all the arts. They are all very hands-on, which we love here in the classrooms. We are continuing with all the sensory play, and the children are loving it.

This month, we will be exploring Family and friends and all the things we can enjoy doing with our Family and friends. We will continue with our letter activities.

In January we introduced show-and-share Fridays for the children. We will continue this through February, so please remember to have your child bring something in on Fridays that they can share with their friends and discuss why it is special to them.

Progress reports went out, if you would like to arrange a meeting with the teachers to go over your child’s report, please get in touch with the office via email and a meeting can be set up.

We are looking for some empty baby food jars.  If anyone has any and would like to donate them, we will take them.  Thank you in advance.

As the weather starts to change, please review our sick policy and if your child is feeling under the weather please keep them home.  Please help us keep everyone safe and healthy.  If your child is going to be absent, please remember to call.  If we do not hear from you by 10 am we will call and check in.

Events

• Valentine’s Day Party: Thursday, February 13^th and Friday, February 14th

Reminders:

• The school will be closed Monday, February 17^th, 2025 for Family Day
• Child has a pair of clean indoor shoes and a spill-proof water bottle labeled with their name
• An extra change of clothes, diapers, and wipes may be stored above your child’s cubby

Message from the Board:

Thank you to everyone that came out and helped with the set up for the holiday concert, the children all did an amazing job. Our next board meeting is on February 19^th, 2025 at 7pm

Menu:

Learn what’s happening in the classroom at the start of the year

Welcome back!! Happy New Year!!! We hope everyone had a nice and relaxing break. At this time the teachers would like to thank everyone for all the very thoughtful gifts that we received.

All the children have been very busy working hard on their ABC projects.  The improvement in all children is just amazing.    

During December, we explored different holidays that people celebrate and had a lot of fun working on all our special activities and crafts.  We have been working away on our Alphabet crafts and talking about the sounds of different letters.  All the children have been enjoying doing all the arts. They are all very hands-on, which we love here in the classrooms. We are continuing with all the sensory play, and the children are loving it.

This month, we will be exploring winter and all the things we can enjoy during the winter.  We will continue with our letter activities.

New this year, we will also be introducing show-and-share Fridays for the children.  This will be a time for the children to bring in a special object from home that relates to what we have been talking about during the week.  

We will also be contacting all the parents who signed up for the progress report and setting up meetings to go over their child’s adjustments in the school setting.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.  The progress reports will be going home by the end of the week of Jan 17, 2025, and meetings set up for the following weeks.

We are looking for some empty baby food jars.  If anyone has any and would like to donate them, we will take them.  Thank you in advance.

As the weather starts to change, please review our sick policy and if your child is feeling under the weather please keep them home.  Please help us keep everyone safe and healthy.  If your child is going to be absent, please remember to call.  If we do not hear from you by 10 am we will call and check in.

Thank you to everyone who placed a MacMillan’s order for our fundraiser and supported our toy drive. 

As a reminder about our inclement weather policy, if the York region school buses are cancelled school will be closed on that day.  Notifications will go out via email and will be posted on our social media accounts.

Reminders:

• The school will be closed on Monday, February 17^th, 2025 for Family Day 
• Ensure your child has a pair of clean indoor shoes and a spill-proof water bottle labelled with their name
• An extra change of clothes, diapers, and wipes may be stored above your child’s cubby

Message from the Board:

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped with the setup for the holiday concert, the children all did an amazing job. Our next board meeting is on Jan. 22, 2025 at 7pm.

Menu:

Learn about what’s happening in the classroom in December.

Where did the Month of November go? This year seems to be flying by and we’re already in December.  All the children have been very busy working hard on their ABC projects.  The improvement in all children is just amazing.   

In November, we explored colours and numbers.  The children were all engaged and did amazing jobs learning their colours and the numbers representing, each in different ways and forms. We have been working away on our Alphabet crafts and talking about the sounds of various letters.  All the children have been enjoying doing all the arts. They are all very hands-on, which we love here in the classrooms. We are continuing with all the sensory play and the children are loving it.

In December, we will be learning about the different holidays that people celebrate.  We will be doing a lot of fun holiday crafts.  If there is a specific holiday that you and your family celebrate, please let us know and we can incorporate it into our learning activities.

The children will be busy working on special crafts and gifts over the next 3 weeks, so if a craft does not go home every day, please know that it is drying or still being worked on.

We are looking for some empty baby food jars.  If anyone has any and would like to donate them, we will take them.  Thank you in advance.

As the weather starts to change in December, please review our sick policy and if your child is feeling under the weather, please keep them home.  Please help us keep everyone safe and healthy.  If your child is going to be absent, please remember to call.  If we do not hear from you by 10 am we will call and check in.

Thank you to everyone who placed a MacMillan’s order for our fundraiser. Pick up date is Friday, December 13th, at noon.  Please note that the school cannot store items.

To give back to the community this year, we have partnered with the Stouffville Lions Club to take part in their annual Toy and Gift Card Drive! If you wish to take part in our community initiative this year, please bring a new and unused toy or gift card to the school by December 9th.

As a reminder about our inclement weather policy, if the York region school busses are cancelled school will be closed on that day.  Notifications will go out via email and will be posted on our social media accounts.

Upcoming Events:

• Holiday Concert: Thursday, December 19^th at 6:30 pm

Reminders:

• Last day of school for holiday break: Thursday, December 19^th
• The school will be closed from Friday, December 20 to Monday, January 6, 2025
• Please ensure that your child has a pair of clean indoor shoes and a spill-proof water bottle labelled with their name
• An extra change of clothes, diapers, and wipes may be stored above your child’s cubby
• MacMillan’s Delivery date: December 13^th.
• Toy Drive: Please help by bringing in a new unwrapped toy or gift card. Delivery date December 14th

Message from the Board:

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Santa Claus parade it was another successful year and a lot of fun.  Our next board meeting is Dec.18th at 7 PM. This meeting will be virtual.

Menu:

Learn what’s happening in the classroom this month

Where did the Month of October go? This year seems to be flying by.  I am happy to say that all the children have settled in so nicely and are all doing great.   

We would like to thank everyone for participating in our Boo-A-Gram fundraiser.  The children all had a great time trick-or-treating with their friends.

During October, we talked about Fall and the changes that fall brings followed by Halloween and Diwali.  We have been working away on our Alphabet crafts and talking about the sounds different letters make.  All the children have been enjoying doing all the arts. They are all very hands-on, which we love here in the classrooms. We have introduced many sensory activities for the children to engage in. They have all been loving it.  This is a great way to explore different materials and very educational as we have been doing our introduction to the new letters this way with either sand, sandpaper letters or playdough.

During the month of November, we will be learning about our colours. Numbers and talking about Remembrance Day.  There will be some messy crafts as the children love to paint so please if you have not sent in extra clothes please do so as the children sometimes do not like to be wet or dirty.

 As the weather starts to change, please review our sick policy and if your child is feeling under the weather please keep them home.  Please help us keep everyone safe and healthy.  If your child is going to be absent, please remember to call.  If we do not hear from you by 10 am we will call and check in.

Some exciting news for November is the Santa Claus Parade. The parade this year is on Saturday, November 30^th. This is always an exciting event for everyone, and we ask for all the help that parents can offer.  Our Committee Member Coordinator will be reaching out to those who signed up for the Santa Claus parade committee. If anyone has a truck and or trailer that we could use, please reach out and let us know.  Help us win First place again this year. Check out our gallery to see what we did last year!

We will be running our second fundraiser this month.  We will be doing McMillan’s please look out for the following email with the details and dates.

To give back to the community this year, we have partnered with the Stouffville Lions Club for their annual Toy and Gift Card Drive! If you wish to participate in our community initiative this year, please bring a new and unused toy or gift card to the school by December 9th.

Upcoming Events:

• Red Day November 11
• Picture day November 27 & 28
• Santa Claus Parade Saturday, November 30^th at 11 am

Reminders:

• Please ensure that your child has a pair of clean indoor shoes and a spill-proof water bottle labeled with their name
• An extra change of clothes, diapers, and wipes may be stored above your child’s cubby

Message from the Board:

We would like to thank everyone who came out to the parent meeting in September. If you were unable to attend, please reach out to us and we will send all information that was gone over.   The school is already hard at work planning valuable activities, engaging trips, important fundraising initiatives, and organizing the maintenance, and support of the school. 

Calendar:

Learn what’s happening in the classroom this month.

Where did the Month of September go? We made it one month down.  All the children are doing fantastic jobs settling in.  Very little tears, yay for you mommy and daddy you did it too. The first month is always the hardest and now should be smooth sailing as everyone is adjusted.

During the month of September we talked about some Nursery rhymes, we made Goldie locks and the 3 bear booklets, and all the children had fun doing that.  We spent 2 weeks working on and learning about the very hungry caterpillar and made a book with all our art.  We also started our Alphabet crafts and talked about the sounds different letters make.  All the children have been enjoying doing all the arts they are all very hands-on, which we love here in the classrooms.

For the month of October, we will be continuing with our letters of the day.  We will also be talking about farm animals and harvesting as we get ready for our trip to the Markham Fair on Thursday, October 3, 2024.  This is always a fun trip, and the children all enjoy it.  We will continue the month by talking about Thanksgiving as we celebrate on Monday, October 14^th, followed by 2 spooky weeks of Halloween. 

For the month of October, we will be continuing with our letters of the day.  We will also be talking about farm animals and harvesting as we get ready for our trip to the Markham Fair on Thursday October 3,2024.  This is always a fun trip, and the children all enjoy it.  We will continue the month with talking about Thanksgiving as we celebrate on Monday, October 14^th, followed by 2 spooky weeks of Halloween. 

For our trip to the Markham fair on Thursday October 3, 2024 we kindly ask that everyone meet at the main box office gate which is located by the stables by the parking lot by 9am.  If you are unable to come that day, please let me know by calling or texting 437-441-5212.  We will be entering the fair by 9:15 so that we can start our day.  We do have to go in as a group at the rate that has been paid.  If you have not arrived by 9:15 we will not be able to come out and get you as we will be starting our events which will start with the super dog show.

I would like to ask all parents to bring in a little picture of their child and family so we can incorporate them into our daily activity and a special activity. 

We will be doing our first fundraiser of the school year this month.  We will be doing Boo-A-Grams. Please see the order form below.  These have been a hit with the children for the last few years.  They are little Halloween treat bags that the children give out to their friends during our Halloween party when trick-or-treating.

Upcoming Events:

Markham Fair Field Trip: Thursday, October 3, 2024  (Rain date: Oct.4,2024)

Reminders:

Please ensure that your child has a pair of clean indoor shoes and a spill-proof water bottle labeled with their name

An extra change of clothes, diapers, and wipes may be stored above your child’s cubby

School is closed for Thanksgiving, on Monday, October 14.

Message from the Board:

Menu:

As the summer comes to an end, the excitement of a new school year is upon us! We are thrilled to welcome both returning and new families to St. Andrew’s Co-op Playschool. Our first day of school is just around the corner, starting Thursday, September 5. We can’t wait to see all the smiling faces and embark on another wonderful year of learning, growth, and fun.

Here’s everything you need to know to help prepare for a smooth and successful first day of school.

What to Expect on the First Day

The first day of school is a milestone for both children and parents. Whether your child is stepping into a classroom for the first time or returning for another year, this welcome day is filled with excitement and curiosity.

Our teachers and staff are ready to warmly welcome your child with open arms, making sure they feel comfortable and safe in their new environment. We understand that the first day can be a little overwhelming for some, so we’ve created a nurturing space where your child can explore, meet new friends, and engage in activities that spark creativity and learning.

What Your Child Needs to Bring

To ensure your child is fully prepared and comfortable on their first day, please make sure to pack the following essentials:

• Indoor running shoes – These will stay at school and help keep our floors clean and safe.
• Diapers and wipes (if needed) – Be sure to pack a few extra in case of emergencies.
• A change of clothes – Accidents happen, and having a spare set of clothes will help avoid any discomfort.
• A water bottle labelled with their name – Staying hydrated is key to keeping little ones energized and ready to learn.
• A family picture – This will be displayed on our Family Wall, creating a sense of comfort and belonging for your child.

Helpful Tips for the First Day

• Label Everything: To avoid mix-ups, make sure all of your child’s belongings are labeled with their name. Need labels – check out Oliverslabels.com/standrews
• Plan for Drop-off: It’s normal for some children to feel separation anxiety. A quick hug and reassuring words can help ease the transition. Rest assured, our caring teachers will be there to support your child throughout the day.
• Arrive On Time: Give yourself enough time to settle in and get your child comfortable with their surroundings. A calm morning can set the tone for a great day.

Looking Forward to a Great Year

We are incredibly excited for this new school year at St. Andrew’s Co-op Playschool. Our goal is to create a safe, nurturing environment where your child can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. We look forward to working together with you to make this year a success.

If you have any questions or concerns leading up to the first day, don’t hesitate to reach out. Let’s make this school year one to remember!