Dear Families,
It's hard to believe we are finishing up our first month of the school year. The students have worked really hard to develop their classroom communities. It is rewarding to see how far the students have come with their independence and it's only been a month. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we get through the first six weeks of school. A big thank you to our Pre-K staff and families for a smooth early release day. We will follow the same schedule and routine for all subsequent early release days.
Just a reminder we are closed for Labor Day on Monday, September 2.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Principal Garland
Parent Coffee Chat - College Heights Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Overview
DATE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
TIME: 8:30 AM
Join us for a casual conversation about your child's learning journey here at College Heights.
- Come learn how our intentional instruction and assessment practices support your child's growth and learning.
- Discover the role of oral language skills in building a strong foundation for reading.
- Understand the importance of play in fostering cognitive, social, and emotional development.
We hope to see you there!
Meet our Music Teacher
We are excited to begin our weekly music classes (Toddler-Pre-K classrooms). Lauren Bock is a musician and educator who lives with her husband and two daughters in Medlock Park. She’s been rocking out with Atlanta and Decatur children and families for the past 11 years as a lead preschool teacher, as a music enrichment teacher, teaching family music classes for Music Together of Decatur. She also owns her own music lesson studio called Rock with Bock where she teaches ukulele, guitar, singing, and songwriting. Lauren loves musical instruments and has a big collection she can’t wait to share while singing, dancing, jamming, and learning with the budding rockstars at College Heights!
Meet our Zumba Teacher
We are excited to begin our weekly Zumba classes with all of our Pre-K students. Rosalie Ezekiel, founder of To The Beat Studio in Decatur, is a dancer at heart. She was classically trained in ballet from a young age and has performed and taught most types of dance, including ballet, modern, contemporary, world rhythms, and folk dance. After working as a professional ballet dancer with the Atlanta Ballet, Rosalie became an architect in New York City and eventually opened her own practice in the Atlanta area. Rosalie started teaching Zumba Kids in 2017 at College Heights, where she developed dance fitness routines by incorporating contemporary dance, world rhythms and hip hop moves to inspire kids of all abilities to get up and dance! During the pandemic Rosalie taught Zumba Kids to over 1,000 kids worldwide via Outschool’s online platform. Rosalie continues to teach yoga, Pilates, and dance to kids and adults both online and at her studio in Decatur, www.tothebeatstudio.com.
Meet our Spanish Teacher
We are excited to begin our preschool and Pre-K weekly Spanish classes with Linda Fabel Duque, a.k.a Lita. Lita has dedicated more than three decades to mastering the art of teaching foreign languages to young children. This is her 6th year at CHECLC teaching Spanish to the Preschool and Pre-K students. Her professional trajectory spans from teaching English as a foreign language in a full immersion International School in Cali, Colombia, from 1984 to 2006 to teaching K-3 Spanish at Winnona Park Elementary for ten years until her retirement in 2015. She resided in Costa Rica and Colombia for 30 years, where she not only perfected her Spanish, but also absorbed the nuances of Latin culture. She and her Colombian spouse raised three awesome, multicultural, bilingual children there.
Media Center this week
This week was the first week of classes in the library. On Monday, Pre-K students heard Loren Long's beautiful new book, The Yellow Bus. Ask your Pre-K student about the surprise ending; the bus ends up in a very unexpected place. One-year-olds, two-year-olds, and preschool classes visited the library on Tuesday. Students heard several stories (see below) and practiced how to enter and exit the library and how and where to sit during story time. They did a great job!
We are in the process of confirming a very special author/illustrator visit for Pre-K students in early October...more details are coming soon!
Birthday books for summer birthdays will come home in the next few days. Look for an email from me (Leslie Joiner) with a photo of your student and their book. More information about the birthday book program can be found here. Thanks for your support!
Read alouds for the week of August 26:
The Yellow Bus by Loren Long (Pre-K)
Just a Story by Jeff Mack (preschool)
Go and Get with Rex by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka (preschool)
Bear's New Friend by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (one and two year olds)
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall (one year olds)
I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems (two year olds)
