Greetings from the Office

September 17, 2009

Dear Joyce Families,

To those of you whom I haven't had a chance to greet personally, please let me do so now. We are so happy to welcome the return of so many of our families and get to know our new families. The school is once again filled with sounds of children learning, singing, playing! It's wonderful.

I have lots of news for you. First of all, we are very excited and proud to have recently received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children! This great achievement of Joyce Preschool reflects the high quality nature of the program and staff. It is the culmination of three years of intensive program evaluation and improvement. Program staff spent countless hours in documenting and assessing the program and receiving training in areas where we perceived the need.

Other exciting news is that we are fortunate to welcome Natalie Ehalt as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member of our staff. She will be with us full-time this year and is working on strengthening our curriculum documentation and volunteer systems. Natalie will make sure that all of you receive staff support next time you volunteer in the classroom. We are also very fortunate to have four Cristo Rey high school interns with us this year. Please say hi to Lupe, Moises, Josephine, and Mariah! What's really extraordinary is that Moises and Lupe are both Joyce graduates! We're so proud of them!  

Finally, a word about the H1N1 flu. Staff have really ramped up our cleaning regimen, but no matter how much we clean, preschoolers are still apt to stick their hands in their mouths, cough without covering, and occasionally pick their noses! The end result is that, like all schools this year, we will most likely be dealing with influenzain all its forms throughout this fall and winter. What can we all do? At school we will continue to put extra efforts in cleaning and communicating with you about confirmed cases. Families can help by keeping children with cough, fever, or other questionable symptoms at home. National recommendations include not returning to school for 7 days after a probable case.  

Again, we're looking forward to a great year with all of you. Thank you for entrusting your precious children in our care. It is our honor to care for and learn alongside your children everyday!

Sincerely,

Laura Johansson
Executive Director