Welcome to PreK
Welcome to PreK!
I am looking forward to meeting you and your child. The next 9 months will focus on strengthening skills and preparing your child for Kindergarten! Throughout the day in PreK, a variety of developmentally appropriate experiences are offered. These experiences will contribute to your child’s intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development.
My primary goals for your child this year will be strengthening fine motor skills, listening skills, and social interactions as well as helping your child develop his/her self-confidence.
The Investigator Club and Frog Street are the programs implemented throughout the school year. Using components of these systems, your child will be exposed to opening and closing class meetings, small group and whole group instruction, learning centers, investigation stations, child initiated and teacher instructed lessons and much, much more!
The main focus of the pre-kindergarten curriculum, however, includes play! During inside time, play centers are prepared so children are challenged and encouraged to work at their own pace, make and correct their own mistakes, and learn by doing. When these basic skills are developed, the child will be prepared to face challenges that will arise and in turn will contribute to success in their academic future.
The following topics will be helpful to you in preparing for the school year.
Open House
You are invited to our classroom (room 1– main school building) on Wednesday, September 6 for open house. Please enter the main school through the main office and remain in the lobby. We will be there to greet you and bring you to the classroom. You should attend the open house according to the following times. This will allow us to interact with everyone.
last name beginning with A - Mc ( 9 – 9:30 AM)
last name beginning with Mo - Z (10 – 10:30 AM)
This is a chance for you and your child to visit the classroom and meet me and my aides, Mrs. Dawn Madaffari and Miss Catey Nunnari. You should bring school supplies on this day. Your child will be able to locate his/her cubby and put their belongings there. Your child does not need to wear a uniform on this day but may if he/she would like. Please limit your visit to parents and PreK child only.
Information Sheet / email sheet
Please fill out the EMAIL SHEET on the classroom website under the heading "email sheet /attendance". Please click "submit" when it is complete. It will send an automatic email to me. No need to print. If you have twins coming to PreK, you only need to submit one.
Please fill out the INFORMATION SHEET on the classroom website under the heading "information sheet". Please click "submit" when it is complete. It will send an automatic email to me. No need to print. This sheet will be helpful to me as the year goes on. If you have twins coming to PreK, please fill out one for each child. This sheet will not be posted until we meet at PreK Back to School night on Wed Sept 6.
Playground Night
There will be one playground night this summer for PreKindergarten students that will be attending Saint Philip Neri in September. Playground night will be held on the playground at St. Philip Neri School.
Tuesday, August 29– (6 – 7 PM) - PreK children and parents
PreKindergarten teachers will be there but you MUST remain at the playground with your child. Please keep in mind that this is a night for PreKindergarteners. Please make other arrangements for siblings. Don't forget to use the bathroom before leaving home. There will be no access to bathrooms on playground night. In the event that it rains, playground night will be canceled and not rescheduled. Please check your email in the case that it is raining. Thank you for your understanding.
First Day
PreK girls will have school on Thursday, September 7 from 8 - 11:30 AM. Your preschooler will arrive at school in the PreK car line and be dismissed from the school gym at 11:30 AM. Your daughter will NOT have school on Friday, September 8. Your preschooler should have a small snack and water in his/her lunchbox on this day.
PreK boys will have school on Friday, September 8 from 8 - 11:30 AM. Your son will arrive at school in the PreK car line and be dismissed from the school gym at 11:30 AM. Your son will NOT have school on Thursday, September 7. Your preschooler should have a small snack and water in his/her lunchbox on this day.
All PreK boys and girls will begin their regular preschool schedule on Monday, September 11. AM and PM children should have a small snack and water every day. PM children should have a lunch every day in addition to their snack.
AM drop-off - When dropping your child off each morning, you should enter from Chestnut Street only (this is a new routine and will be discussed at PreK Back to School night). Follow down the driveway past the convent and turn right. You may pull just past the door labeled "School Hall". By doing this, we are able to unload about 4 or 5 cars at a time. Please do not unload more than that as the school buses need to use this driveway as well. Please help your child out of the car and then keep moving. It would be helpful if your child could exit from the driver side. You should then exit on Germantown Pike. Please give hugs and kisses goodbye at home and have your child prepared to exit the car on the driver side. Please be patient and proceed as the car line proceeds. It is not safe to jump out of the car line and around the cars or buses in front of you. This system is set up for the safety of your children. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
DISMISSAL routine for Thursday, September 7 and Friday, September 8
Cars should enter the school grounds from Ridge Pike. Follow around the circle and stay to the right. Follow around the back of the parking lot between the school and convent. Follow the line of cars and pull up as far as you can. The line will be pulled up around the corner to the end of the school building at the stop sign. We will load about 15 cars at a time so please remain in your car until you see your child. After the first 15 cars move on, we will move the rest of the car line up to the end of the school building and load more. Mrs. Madaffari, Miss Nunnari, and I plus the Kindergarten teachers will be there to guide you. Please remain in your car. You may get out to greet your child once you see him/her but please stay at your car and not walking around.
Beginning Monday, September 11, all AM preschoolers will be dismissed from the classroom. You should enter the school grounds from Chestnut Street only. About half way down the street from either direction, there is a driveway to the school. Turn down that driveway (convent will be on your left) and make a right. The children will be dismissed from the old original entrance to the school. You should park your car and wait for your child. We can visit this car line routine on PreK Back to School night. This will be your normal pick-up routine for your AM child.
Beginning Monday, September 11, all PM preschoolers will have the option to dismiss at 2:45 PM in a PreK only car line OR the regular school car line at 3 PM. More information will be discussed at PreK Back to School night. This system will be set up for the safety of your children. Please be considerate at dismissal time by arriving for pick-up no later than 2:45 PM or 3:00 PM. School dismisses at 3 PM. If you are not going to be here for pick up by 3 PM, you should register your child for the CARES program and he/she will be sent there each day.
***If you will be using the 3 PM regular school car line, please make a placard for your dashboard before school begins. On an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white paper, please write your last name with a thick, black marker. This placard should be placed on your dashboard each day in the PM car line. This will help make it easy for us until we get to know your car. Thank you.
If you have registered your child for the after school CARES program, they will be walked to the CARES room at dismissal time. The CARES program will begin Monday, September 11.
Preschoolers are not eligible to ride the school bus or walk home. All PM preschoolers must be picked up in the school car line unless they will attend the after school program.
Snack/Lunch
I encourage healthy eating, in particular, fruits and vegetables. I encourage you to send fruits and/or vegetables every day. Please limit the junk food that you send to school. If you send too much junk food for your child, I will limit it for them in the classroom but it will make it much easier for me if you do it before sending it to school. We have a prize chart and children will earn credit for each day they bring and eat fruits and vegetables. After so many days, they will earn prizes. The amount of days will increase as the year goes on and healthy eating becomes a habit.
Your child should also have a snack and lunch in one lunchbox each day. Gatorade, juice, milk, and soda should not be sent to school. Your preschooler should bring water to school each day. I would suggest one refillable bottle. We have a filtered system at school to refill as needed. They will learn to do this. Not only is water a healthy alternative but in the last few years with an increase in the number of preschoolers in the classroom, I have noticed a difference in behavior in the class overall. When there are spills (and there are many!), water makes for a very easy cleanup and no stickiness, etc. Thank you for helping to make healthy eating and drinking a habit for your child.
ALLERGIES - As allergies change from year to year, so must the rules in the classroom to keep everyone as safe as possible. At this time, there are no limitations on food that can be sent to school. Please note that as I receive information on students, this may change. I appreciate your understanding in this matter and thank you for giving the same respect to any family that would be given to you.
Uniforms / Clothing
PreK children are required to wear a uniform. Children will wear gym uniforms all year. Please label all clothing that can be removed with your child’s name.
As a summer uniform, the children must wear navy mesh shorts with school logo and grey t-shirt with school logo. Children must wear white socks and predominantly white sneakers. The summer uniform can be worn from the opening of school until November 1 and from April 15 to the close of school in June.
As a winter uniform, the children must wear navy sweatpants with the school logo, grey t-shirt with school logo, and navy sweatshirt with the school logo. Children must wear white socks and predominantly white sneakers. The winter uniform must be worn from November 1 - April 15.
Uniforms can be ordered from Flocco's in Conshohocken and/or Flynn and O'Hara. Gymwear is the only category you need to be aware of for PreK children. Please be sure to tell them your child goes to St. Philip Neri - Lafayette Hill. We also have a uniform closet here at school. Uniforms are kept in good condition and you are more than welcome to add to and take from the closet so you are not always purchasing uniforms. The closet is located under the stairwell in the rear of the cafeteria in the main school building.
Scholastic Book Orders
Sometimes the right book is all it takes to nurture a child's love of reading. That's why I'm pleased that our class will be participating in Scholastic Book Clubs this school year. You can jump start by registering online this summer before the school year gets going and your life becomes very busy!
Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
register an email and password
click "parents" in the top left corner
add your child to Miss Tomczak's list
make sure you are registered to Miss Tomczak by using activation code M3R8Z
You will be ready for ordering in September!
Each and every time you order, the classroom earns points. I use those points throughout the year to order classroom books, stories on CD, and other materials for the classroom. I'll let you know when the first order is available for ordering. Thank you for helping grow your child's love of reading and for supporting our classroom!
Absences / Arrival / Dismissal
If your child will be absent, you MUST call the school office (610-828-3082) in the morning to explain the absence OR send an email to Mrs. Mesunas at mesunasb@spnschool.org. Please cc me on that email. All notes must be kept on file in the classroom until the end of the school year and email is the best way to organize it all. The school day begins at 8:10 AM. Please have your child here no later than 8:00 AM. If you are late, you need to go to the main office and get a late slip. Please try to get into the habit of being on time right from the start. It not only is a disruption to the classroom but a distraction to the beginning of your child’s day. Thank you!
I know the first day will probably be overwhelming for you and your child. Please make every attempt to attend the playground night and the open house before school begins.
The school day ends at 12:00 PM for half day children and 2:45 / 3:00 PM for full day children. Please be prompt at dismissal time. If your child needs to leave school early on any given day, you MUST send me an email by 7 AM that morning. If the change happens after that time, you may email me but please also contact the main office to request the change. I try to check email before dismissal for any last minute dismissal changes but it is not always possible. When you come to school to pick up your child for dismissal at any other times than dismissal times, you should go to the main office and sign your child out and pick up.
Folders
You will receive a plastic folder from me at the PreK Back to School night. That plastic folder should remain in your child's schoolbag at all times. Please check this folder daily. Projects and/or information may come home on a daily basis and this will help you when you discuss your child’s day. Any correspondence should be sent to school in the folder. Your child will be responsible for any correspondence that is sent to school. Please help them learn to be responsible by always placing correspondence in the folder only! I will not check any other pockets in your child’s schoolbag. Any money that is sent to school should be sent in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and what the money is for. The exception to the envelope rule will be tag days. You can just place the $1 in your child's folder. I need to keep track of 26 students and your cooperation will be extremely helpful. Thank you in advance!
Communication
Although some correspondence will come home as hard copies, my main source of communication to parents will be via email and classroom website. Please check your email daily. Weekly sheets will be sent home at the end of each week via email that will include goals for the week, optional home extensions, dates, and reminders. Please check the dates and reminder section very carefully each week and mark down any important dates, times, and information on your personal calendars.
C.A.R.E.S - after school program
If you will be taking advantage of our before and after school program at any time this school year, you will have to register. In order to do so, please follow the instructions below.
Go to www.spnschool.org
Go to ....
"parents"
"CARES"
"CARES program handbook" and "CARES registration form"
Read through the handbook and then print out the registration form.
Fill out ALL pages completely and return those sheets and registration payment to the SPN school main office this summer or on the first day of school. Your child cannot attend the CARES program without these papers.
More information about CARES will be given to you at Back to School night.
I will need an email stating when your child will be going to CARES. If your child will be going regularly, please send one email letting me know which days he/she should go to CARES. If you will take advantage of this service only every now and then, you should send me an email before that date or the morning of. Please let me know of any changes as the year goes on. I cannot assume where your child is supposed to be. Thanks.
Scrip Program
The St. Philip Neri scrip program benefits the parish and you! Please visit the school website under "parents" and "SCRIP" to find out how you can receive tuition credit for your family and benefit the parish and school at the same time. You can jump start by registering online this summer before the school year gets going and your life becomes very busy! You can even begin earning credit right away!
Last Words
I hope you find this information helpful and a start to the beginning of the year. More information will be given at PreK Back to School night at 7 PM on Wed September 6. You can report directly to the PreK classroom through the main entrance of the main school building at this time. If you are attending the new parent orientation at 6 PM that night, Mrs. Veneziale and/or Mrs. Mesunas will direct you to the classroom. In the meantime if you need to contact me, you may do so by emailing me at tomczakl@spnschool.org. Again, I am excited to meet you and look forward to a great year! Enjoy the rest of your summer!