Weekday Update

In This Issue

Upcoming Events

Tax Time

Inclement Weather Policy Reminder

My Friends' Place

Community/Church News

Director's Report

2012-2013 Enrollment

Get to Know, Go and Grow

PTC News

Parents Corner

Upcoming events

January-

1-Happy New Year's Day

2-Child/Teacher Holiday- CLOSED

3-Preschool Resumes

5-God's House

11-God's House

13-2012-2013 Tuition Rates Announced

16-MLK Holiday-CLOSED

17-18-Enrollment Intent forms sent home in children's folders

19-God's House

25-Enrollment forms and fees for returning students due to Weekday Program office

25- Parent Workshop 11:30-1 & 6:30-8 Chapel- Ask the Experts, "Children's Health Panel"

25- God's House

30-Enrollment begins for church members and people on the 2011-2012 wait list

31-Enrollment open to public

February-

2-God's House

8-God's House

17-God's House

20-PISD Holiday-No Preschool, LFP* open

22-PISD Early Release**

22-God's House

29- Parent Workshop- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Kids overview 6:30-8 in Chapel

*LFP open 7:00-6:30

** Preschool regular hours

It's Tax Time!
If you need a receipt for your taxes, please let Denise know. You may stop by our office and put your name on the request list, or e-mail her at dtharp@firstmethodistplano.org

Inclement Weather Policy Reminder:

Closings:

If and when The Weekday Program is unexpectedly closed an e-mail will be sent to all parents who are signed up to receive e-mail notifications.

In the event of inclement weather, the Weekday Program preschool (9:00-2:00 program) and LFP (before- and after-school program) will close if PISD is closed or releases students early. If PISD opens late, preschool (9:00-2:00 program) will be closed for the full day and the extended day (before- and after-school program) will open at 10:00 am.

Please consult local TV and radio stations for information whenever inclement weather is predicted. You may sign up to get e-mail or text message alerts by going to http://kxasstore.hipcricket.com/. They will alert you immediately when PISD makes a decision regarding closings.

In the event that building conditions, natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics or other events make it unsafe for children to attend school, the Weekday Program will close as directed by appropriate authorities such as the Collin County Health Department, DFPS and/or the Centers for Disease Control. We will send you an email through Constant Contact.

We are unable to offer refunds or make-up days for school closings.

Weekday Program Parent Handbook, Pg. 20 located on our website: Parent Handbook

My Friends' Place

As you begin thinking about your summer plans don't forget about My Friends' Place. We offer full time care that includes enrichment, field trips and a summer reading program for kindergarten through 7th graders. More info to come in March.

Church/Community News

Wed
First Family Wednesdays 5:30pm

Family dinner followed by a variety of adult and children's activities,

Reservations required.

Spanish Classes

Spanish, English classes 6:30pm Tues & Thurs Jan 4 - May 26

New Spanish and English as a Second Language classes beginning in January.

Register by Dec. 30 thru church office or at the Hispanic Ministry table on Sunday mornings. For more information, contact David Gonzalez, Associate Pastor for Hispanic Ministry.

Best of Me Series-

God wants you to be the best you can possibly be. Not selfishly, but in the fullest, healthiest, most generous and connected way possible.

It's time to get to work!

Pick up your copy of "The Best Me" catalog, describing a wealth of classes to help you become your best physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually.

Be in worship each Sunday as Senior Pastor Gary Mueller addresses these and other topics from a Biblical perspective.

And let God help you become

The Best Me you are meant to be!

Join our list

January 2012

Director's Report

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

The New Year is a time to make a fresh start and to renew our spirits and goals. It is a time to reflect and to celebrate all God has done for us in 2011!

In 2011, the Weekday Program celebrated many successes:

1- NAEYC Accreditation!

2- Celebrated 6 teachers/staff with more than 10 years of service:Ms. Bobbi, Srn. Nance, Ms. Angie, Ms. Denise, Ms. Ann, Ms. Dee!

3- Celebrated 9 teachers/staff with more than 5 years of service: Ms. Daphne, Ms. Angela, Mr. Andrew, Ms. Amy, Ms. Natalie, Ms. Teresa, Ms. Vonda, Ms. Dorota, Ms. Terry!

4- We welcomed 10 new and amazingly talented teachers to our program: Ms. Caitlin, Ms. Pam, Ms. Heather, Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Jaysha, Ms. Gab, Ms. Kim, Ms. Allyson, Ms. Alisa, Ms. Kris

5- Recognized 6 teachers with Star Teacher awards for their outstanding contributions: Ms. Vonda, Ms. Royce, Ms. Makalae, Ms. Boogie, Ms. Ashley, Ms. Linda!

6- Recognized our first family with Family Spotlight- The McWilliams Family!

Now to look at our 2012 goals and exciting new programs:

1- Kindergarten program starting in 2012-2013 school year!

2- We will be working on accreditation to be TEA (Texas Education Association) recognized as well as accreditating our Afterschool Program.

3- Our partnership with Dallas School of Movement and Teams for Tomorrow is growing- check out the flyers to see the details.

4- We will be hosting a Parent Workshop Series from January-March.

5- We will be hosting Region 10 High Scope Training for all of our new teachers!

6- We will be forming a prayer team- this will be a group of volunteers that will pray over the school and our families.

7- We will be naming Mentor/Lead teachers!

We are grateful that God has his hand on our work and given us a vision as a ministry of the First United Methodist Church Plano! I want to thank each of our families for trusting us and supporting us with the care of your most precious gift from God!

Happy New Year to everyone!

God Bless,

Shela

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they can not fathom what God has done from beginning until the end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

2012-2013 Enrollment

Enrollment for the 2012-2013 school year will take place as follows:

January

13-Tuition and enrollment fee rates will be announced

17 & 18-Enrollment intent forms sent home in children's

folders

25-Enrollment forms and fees for returning students due to

Weekday Program office

30-Enrollment begins for church members and people on

2011-2012 wait list

31-Enrollment open to public

Get to Know, Go and Grow in God's love
Get to Know, Go and Grow in God's love is our Christian curriculum that was designed to be developmentally appropriate by our Assistant Director, Natalie Garcia. Please feel free to provide feedback on how your child is responding at anytime. The January themes are: Week 1- Prayer is Talking to God Week 2- Pray for Others Week 3- God Hears our Prayers Week 4- God Answers our Prayers

Cold Weather Reminder

Outdoor Play and Exposure to the Elements and Insects:

Unless inclement weather is present, children MUST go outside each day. To protect against cold, heat, sun, and injury, the following procedures are required:

Clothing-Children should wear clothing that is dry and layered for warmth in cold weather. Preschool children should always have a weather appropriate change of clothes with them at school each day.

Parent Teacher Connection News!

The first semester is a busy time of the year for our PTC members. They coordinate volunteers/events/donations for Meet the Teacher, Spirit Nights, Flower Sales, Pumpkin Carnival, Teacher Christmas Luncheon, Spaghetti with Santa and Silent Auction! Whew, I said it is a busy time of year!

This year was not an exception! The PTC makes all these events and fundraisers happen. They do all this because they have a heart for the Weekday Program. A huge thank you to each one of them.

I wanted to take a moment and give a special thank you to our President, Stacy Spears. She will be turning over her duties to Layla Pugliese (who has already been busy stepping in many times!). Thank you Stacy for your dedication and all your years of volunteer work and support for the Weekday Program!

I wanted to share the huge success of this years Online Auction and Spaghetti with Santa events. This year we had over 128 items donated for the Online Auction with a total revenue of $2,903! Wow, Thank you for everyone that contributed through donations or who had fun bidding!

Finally, the Spaghetti with Santa committee changed things up this year and went with an in-house caterer with HUGE success! The event raised $4,635! We had several businesses and amazing families donate over $2,100 in sponsorships to cover the cost of the food! Thank you!

The total contribution to the Weekday Program Scholarship fund minus expenses for the events is $6,600! That is amazing! Thanks everyone for allowing a child/family the opportunity to have their child in a high quality program.

Parent Corner

One of our goals this year is to provide our families with more support. We are a community here at the Weekday Program and have many fun/fellowship events. However one of our goals is to provide additional resources.

This year we will be offering a Parent Workshop Series to address several different issues/topics that have been discussed by our parents as areas of interest. Please save the date for the following workshops which are designed to be interesting and informative.

January 25th- Parent Health Panel 11:30-1 & 6:30-8

February 29th- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Kids-book overview 6:30-8

March 28th- Overview of Conscious Discipline 7-7:45

All these will be held in the Chapel. Sign up will be in the Weekday Program office or through the Church online registration system. Childcare will be provided through the church nursery.


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