2014
August
NEWS 2014-2015
St. James Staff
“A secret shared, held close to the heart, keeping loved ones together, never apart.� -Audrey Penn The Kissing Hand
So Dear Parents, Are you preparing for a wonderful drop-off for your child this school year? Most parents have mixed feelings about the first day of school… excited about what their child’s experience will be, and perhaps apprehensive about leaving them (especially for our new families). A great strategy is developing a “Goodbye Ritual” for you and your child. I’ve seen many variations on this routine! It could be 2 hugs and a kiss on each cheek, or something special you say to each other. Make sure your ritual is not too long, because leaving the first few times is similar to removing a band-aid! I absolutely love “The Kissing Hand” to address any concerns your child may have about separation, and I have used it with my own children. My favorite excerpt: “A secret shared, held close to the heart, keeping loved ones together, never apart.” We look so forward to seeing you and your child…and promise to help you through the emotions of your first drop-offs. Love, Mrs. Loree
MDO classroom
Mother’s Day Out Dear MDO Parents, We are very happy to welcome you to the 2014- 2015 school year. We are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure your children can achieve their highest potential. Your children need support from both the home and school. We know a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. We think that parent – teacher relationships are necessary for maximum student success. The MDO team feels privileged to be a part of this school family. We thank you for your support and look forward to meeting you. Sincerely, Ms. Eva, Ms. Bianca, and Ms. Mary
Welcome back, summer just flew by so quickly! We are very excited to get back in the Toddler 1 classroom. We have been cleaning, organizing, and decorating the classroom for a fun and exciting upcoming school year. We also have been getting extra TLC from St. James administration, including some great continuing education classes that have left us almost stress free. Miss Annabell and I cannot wait to welcome all our new students and to welcome back all our great second year students as well. Right now is the perfect time to get into a regular routine that will prepare your toddler for a very successful school year. Enjoy the last few days of summer! See you on the 25th. Mrs. Anna and Miss Annabel Toddler 1
TODDLER
Welcome back to another exciting year here at St. James! We hope everyone had a relaxing summer. We are looking forward to welcoming all our new families into our toddler community, as well as seeing the smiling faces of our returning toddlers. I am excited to share that this year we are going to start incorporating American Sign Language into our toddler curriculum through songs, stories, and simple phrases. Our goal this year is for your children to build upon their vocabulary, while learning a new language.
Don’t forget to bring a filled water bottle daily, labeled with your child’s name. Any food that needs to be heated up for lunch, please place in foil and mark with the child’s name. Thank you, Mrs. April, Mrs. Lily, and Ms. Eliane Toddler 2
Welcome Ms. Coral’s Toddler class! The summer has being relaxing and fun but we are gearing up in the classroom to welcome our students this year. I, Ms. Coral, personally enjoyed relaxing and organizing my new living space this summer as well as spending time with my almost 3 year old! This year we are welcoming Ms. Jaymie Esquivel and Ms. Monica Richter to our classroom. Ms. Jaymie and Ms. Monica both have a background and experience with toddlers and Montessori. Ms. Jaymie is a returning teacher to St. James and has worked in the toddler full day program before. Jaymie is a natural with toddlers and children and is a mom herself. We are happy to have her back! Ms. Monica was lead toddler teacher at her last school with a full class. She incorporated her knowledge of Sign Language and Montessori in her classroom and the results were beautiful. All of St. James will be teaching sign language to the children this year to facilitate the children’s needs. It will also serve as a communication system for children who are in the process of mastering language. I am so excited to work with them and feel blessed they will get to touch the lives of your children as well. We can’t wait to see you at St. James! Ms. Coral, Ms. Monica, & Ms. Jaymie Toddler 3
Jameson’s Summer Vacation
Jameson had a wonderful time this summer visiting with St. James families. We would like to thank all of Jameson’s faithful summer caretakers, including: Violet and the Rainey-Ellis family Emory and The Mooney family Riley and the Sutton family Kaylee and the Weaver family Noah and the Jiminez family Drake and the LaFond family Lucca, Max and the Martinelli family Look for Jameson in his habitat by the back door on the first day of school!
Primary 1 classroom
Primary Dear students and families of Primary 1, We are so excited to welcome you back to school for the 2014-15 school year at St. James! We have been dusting the shelves and arranging the furniture to prepare a beautiful environment for all of the students, returning and new. Ms. Kim and I both had a wonderful summer and enjoyed our time off. My summer highlights were a trip to the Big Apple and an unseasonably cool camp out at Eisenhower state park. In New York we attended a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, checked out masterpieces at the MOMA and enjoyed a star-studded rendition of the classic, “Of Mice and Men.” On our camping trip we biked, canoed, and roasted marshmallows for s’mores. We cooled off in Lake Texoma and enjoyed lazy evenings around the campfire. Overall, it was a great time. Ms. Kim embarked on her Montessori training at Shelton over the summer. She finished the Practical Life portion of her training and is looking forward to completing the program next summer! Kim spent a lot of time at the pool and visited college friends in Austin. She spent a little time boating with friends on Lake Travis and visiting her favorite local restaurants near the UT campus. Kim learned to two-step at famous dance hall, The Broken Spoke, and listened to some great live music. She is excited to begin the year in Primary one! See you soon, Ms. Charlotte and Ms. Kim Primary 1
Welcome and welcome back. We have a great school year planned for your children, our students. Here are a few items that will help us get off to a great start. 1. EXTRA CLOTHES: Please send an extra change of clothes for your child to leave in the classroom. They will only be used in case of accidents. (If you have a 3 year old, please leave 3 or 4 pairs of underwear). 2. CUBBIES: Please allow your child to independently put lunch boxes, sweaters, etc., in their cubbies and also independently retrieve those items at the end of the day. One of the goals of the Montessori classroom is to lead the child to independence. 3. SNACKS: Snack schedules will be put in your child’s cubbie. Please post the schedule with your other family reminders. If you cannot bring the snack on your assigned week/weeks please arrange a trade with another family. If you have any questions, please ask. 4. LUNCH GUIDELINES: WE ASK THAT YOU SEND YOUR CHILD A HEALTHY LUNCH. Please no chips of any kind. Most have no nutritional value. Please DO NOT include sweets. Please include a protein in your child’s lunch. We are ready and looking forward to a wonderful 2014-2015 school year! Mrs. Barrineau/Ms. Marla Primary 2
Primary 2 classoom
Primary 3 classroom
Welcome back P3 Families! We are so excited to start a new school year! Ms. Tamara and I both had a very relaxing summer and were able to finish home improvement projects and visit with our families. We are well rested and ready for the school year to begin! This past week we have begun our in-service projects in the classroom and teacher trainings. We have made some exciting changes to the room and look forward to welcoming the children back to their beautiful environment. We are looking forward to meeting the new students at Orientation and hope to see the familiar faces at Meet the Teacher Night. We can’t wait to see all the growth spurts and missing teeth! As always, feel free to email us if you have any questions. My email is juliaconva@gmail.com and Tamara’s is tamaralatchem@gmail.com. We will answer all parent emails as promptly as possible. Ms. Julia and Ms. Tamara Primary 3
We are so happy to welcome you into the 2014-2015 school year! This year promises to hold fun, discovery and a deepening of your child’s love of learning! We have been working hard in the classroom to prepare our beautiful Montessori environment to meet the needs of each child this year. Our Montessori classroom has an exciting new addition! St. James has provided each Primary classroom with new Maps! These materials will be a wonderful tool as we begin our studies of the world. This year we are welcoming 9 new students into our classroom who moved up from the Toddler and MDO programs or are new students to the St. James family. We are excited to integrate these new students into our Primary community. We also congratulate the three Kindergarten students in our classroom and look forward to all your accomplishments this year. See you all very soon and best wishes for this school year. Blessings, Miss Elizabeth Stark and Mrs. Ashley Woodruff Primary 4
Primary 4 classroom
ART AND TECHNOLOGY Welcome back! I hope everyone has had a wonderful and relaxing summer! I am so excited about starting the school year. We will have a lot of fun projects in art this year. I am looking forward to getting the kids’ creative juices flowing and seeing what wonderful pieces they create. We also got a brand new computer lab over the summer! We have all new touch-screen computers which run Windows 8. The kids are going to love how easy they are to use! I’m looking forward to a wonderful, exciting, and creative year with the children. Ms. Hanna Art and Technology
AFTER SCHOOL CARE I am excited for the new school year to begin. ASC received a makeover this summer - see the pictures for a sneak peek of our beautiful new furniture. If you are new to St. James, After School Care starts at 3:30 and ends at 6 p.m. each day. Children must have a reservation to attend the program. The primary children use the school lunch room area and the toddlers will be in the Mother’s Day Out room. I request that parents do not enter the ASC area. I will have a table by the lunch room doors and we will bring your child to that area when you arrive. The table will have an iPad that we will use to sign your children out of school for the day. A typical day in ASC begins with a snack. The snack menu for the week will be posted on the bulletin board outside of the school lunch room. The primary children will have outside playtime after snack and the toddlers will clean their snack area, diaper change and play inside. At 4:30 the primary will come inside and the toddler children will go outside to play. If it is raining, too hot, or too cold we will utilize the space in the Parish Hall. If your child will be in ASC and they are in the toddler or MDO program, please bring 1 change of clothes and ten diapers to the school office (please do not drop off in their classroom). If you have any questions please feel free to contact me: 214-348-1349 or lisawilson@stjamesdallas.org Looking forward to a great school year! Lisa Wilson ASC