Monthly Newsletter
Dear Parents,

February was a busy month! The children had a ton of fun with the Valentine’s Day theme and party. We thought the highlight of the event had to have been the “Treasure Hunt”- complete with clues to figure out. How exciting….! The classes also both really enjoyed the unit on Firefighters and fire safety. The children learned Stop, drop, & roll, what 911 is for, never to touch matches or lighters, plus so much more! And as you probably know, the unit was enriched by a visit from some real live Fire Fighters! Thank You to Mike Murphy (Madeline’s dad) and his friend Mike Marquardt for volunteering their valuable time. They were so generous to come to both classes and were so great with the children! Thank You!!
We are just finishing up the Weather unit begun in Feb. and will continue with “Fish” through mid-March.
Also in March, we will add a new continent study focusing on Asia- a big unit! Don’t forget Dad’s Nights, plus some time to appreciate the new spring season, and March will be a busy month, too!

Each child has a “Portfolio” at school. The book is started when they begin at Garden School and they take it home when they leave. It includes photographs taken of the children during the year and examples of the work they do. It is intended to represent the growth of the child during their 2-3 years at Garden School. Many children want to take all their work home and there is very little except photographs in their books. Please encourage your child to leave work at school or even return projects to school to put in their books. They enjoy looking at their books and it is a nice way to remember their preschool years. If you send back an envelope of work, we will put it all into their books.

Many mothers have the opportunity to visit school during the day, but few fathers have that opportunity. To help include Dads, we are scheduling 2 Dad’s Nights. The morning Dads are invited on Thursday, March 17th, and the afternoon Dads are invited Thursday, March 24th. The evenings will be from 6:30-8:00. Dad’s can spend a “day” at preschool with their child. We will have a shortened day with a circle, work time, and closing circle. The children will bring home invitations. It will be a fun night for all. Dads that cannot make it on “their” night are invited to attend on the alternate one. Please let us know, though, if you plan to do this. Space is limited…

Detailed Information on Summer School Themes will be out later this month. For those of you that are really organized, summer school will be July 11th through August 11th. There will be 5 four-day weeks (Fridays off), 3.5 hours per day. 9:00 am-12:30pm. Children will bring lunches and the theme for the whole summer will be ‘Nature Camp at Garden School’. Each week will focus on a new nature based theme with lots of hands-on, fun activities. More details to follow…

Book orders due Friday, March 4th.

Dad’s Nights – Thursday, March 17 for AM, Thursday, March 23 for PM

Picture Day will be Friday, April 1st. (last day before Spring Break!) Information will be sent home. Children not scheduled for Friday should come at 10:15 for the morning class and 12:10 for the afternoon class. The group picture will be taken at the end for the morning class and at the beginning for the afternoon class.

We are almost full in the Morning class for next year, but we still have openings in the afternoon class. We really need boys in both classes!! (That’s a switch!) As usual, we have more children enrolled in the morning than the afternoon. Please consider if you can be flexible… We try to look at the groups and place children where we feel they will benefit. We try to balance the classes and your flexibility helps us make the best placement for your child. Please notify Jaye of any changes or if you can be flexible.



Garden Montessori School, Preschool, Danville, Ca.