SM Early Childhood Education Center

Carla Heintz, Principal, Early Childhood Education Center

Tracy Smarr-Dolezal, Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator

Thank you to all of you who took the time to attend conferences and share your child's story with their teacher. We so appreciate the opportunity you give us to collaborate with you and your child! It was great to see you in the building then, and many of you again the next week for our Valentine's day parties!! I hope you enjoyed the events of the day with your child! I was so impressed by how all of the students came back after our extended snow break. They were so excited to be here and we were happy to see them all again!!

Please note a few things coming up in March below. We do have picture retakes on March 5th. If your child was absent or hadn't started school when we did our pictures in January, now is the the time to capture their beautiful smiles!! If the original picture you purchased was not what you wanted, please return them and let your child's teacher know you would like retakes on the 5th.

We also have our Parent/Child learning night coming up on March 13th from 6-7. I hope you all will come out and learn along with your child during our come and go activities!

March 5- Picture Retakes

March 13- End of 3rd Quarter- Parent/Child Learning Night

March 17-21- Spring Break

March 25- Progress Reports Come Home

March 27- Grades are posted in Skyward

With the exception of Fridays, our school follows the district calendar. You can access it here for additional information.

Please join us on Thursday, March 13th for our parent/child learning night. Hang out with us and play as you learn fun and exciting ways to keep the learning happening at home, now and over the summer!! I hope to see you all there!!

Just a few reminders to help pick up and drop off so smoothly. Make sure you are parking in the parking lot on the Northwest side of the building. Please use the side walk and pedestrian crossing to support the flow of traffic. If you do not have another child in your car, do not park along the curb. Those spots are reserved for parents with younger children so they do not have to get them in and out of their car seats when dropping off or picking up. Extra cars along the curb prevent smooth traffic flow. Having your child's sign at pick up, helps the process to go faster, especially if I am not available.

Thank you for helping us all be safer throughout this process.

With the start of a new semester, all families are encouraged to review and update their emergency contact information in the Skyward Student Information System. Parents/guardians should contact the school office if there are any changes or updates. It is a best practice to have more than one contact listed in the event of an emergency outside of the parents/guardians. We always contact parents/guardians first, but additional contacts are helpful.

Students at Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Education Center do not need to enroll for the upcoming school year, regardless of if your child is moving to Kindergarten, staying at SMECEC or recieving services in another building for PreK. We will roll your enrollment over for the upcoming year and transfer it to the appropriate school if needed. The one exception to this, are those peers who are wanting to move to a district PreK for the year, you will need to complete the PreK online enrollment. Everyone will need to complete online verification once again in August. If you have questions, please reach out, our office is glad to help you navigate this.

Have a child transitioning to Kindergarten for the 25/26 school year at your neighborhood school? Please save the date for your child's school's Kick Off and plan to attend. You do not need to take enrollment documents with you or enroll while there, we will transfer your child's enrollment to the appropriate school.

Find those dates here

Children learn academics best in their natural environment and through activities they do daily with you. As you take them shopping notice the letters on the WalMart or Target signs, have them pick the corn from the grocery shelf and notice the letter C for Corn and provide the first sound in the word corn. Start with things that have meaning to them such as the letters in their name, or those of family members. Play games in the car with letter sounds and finding real and made up words that start with that sound. For those who are non-verbal matching games can help them show what they know. For some other fun and easy at home ideas, see below for some that have been adapted from the Reading Rockets website

• Make letter sounds and have them match to letters they see.
• Play word games that connect sounds with syllables and words (for example, sounding out each letter in a simple word such as pen “p-e-n” spell pen )
• Write letters on cards. Hold up the cards one at a time and have your children say the sounds (for example, the /d/ sound for the letter d).
• Teach your children to match the letters in their names with the sounds in their names.
• Point out words that begin with the same letter as your children’s names (for example, John and jump). Talk about how the beginning sounds of the words are alike.
• Use alphabet books and guessing games to give your children practice in matching letters and sounds. A good example is the game, “I am thinking of something that starts with /t/.”
• Write letters on pieces of paper and put them in a paper bag. Let your children reach into the bag and take out letters. Have them say the sounds that match the letters.
• Take a letter and hide it in your hand. Let your children guess in which hand is the letter. Then show the letter and have your children say the letter name and make the sound (for example, the letter m matches the /m/ sound as in man).
• Make letter-sounds and ask your children to draw the matching letters in cornmeal or sand.
• Take egg cartons and put a paper letter in each slot until you have all the letters of the alphabet in order. Say letter-sounds and ask your children to pick out the letters that match those sounds.

Spring is just around the corner. New blooms, green grass and birds chirping… It's such an uplifting time of year. A warm welcome to March! I imagine the kids are looking forward to more outdoor recess and so am I. As always, don’t hesitate to visit, call or email (913-993-2627 michellevandoren@smsd.org).

Helpful Links

With spring comes a shift in our wardrobe essentials, don't forget our SMAC PTA Clothing Exchange is a good place to obtain free gently used clothing and shoes for those within the Shawnee Mission School District boundaries. Make note of their schedule for January - May 2025.

As you venture outside to enjoy the warmer weather, here is a list of Inclusive Playgrounds in our area. Also, the Johnson County Museum hosts Sensory Friendly Mondays on the first Monday of each month 9am – noon. This is a comfortable, low-sensory environment designed specifically for children with sensory processing differences and Autism Spectrum Disorders, and their families. Visitors of all abilities and museum experience are welcomed.

Looking for topics to help you become a better/more confident caregiver? Hear from experts in their field to help you fill your toolbox. SOAR Care Givers 411, meets via Zoom monthly, is FREE and open to all parents and caregivers of individuals with special needs or disabilities of any age.

Social Emotional Tips for Families of Toddlers 5 one-page posters with strategies to use during daily routines

Center on the and Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning Is a great family resource that provides parent manuals supporting social emotional learning.

A Parent’s Guide to Evidence-Based Practice And Autism discusses the complexity of diagnostic evaluations for children on the autism spectrum, identifies and describes effective treatments, and outlines the importance of professional judgment and using data to guide treatment decisions.

Parents we are running low on treats. All time favorites include Kirkland Cookies from Costco, Variety Chip Packs, Popcorners, and full size candy bars. Anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated!! Every Tuesday I like to treat the staff to a special snack between sessions. This is a much anticipated activity, and much appreciated event! I would love your help to keep it stocked throughout the year. If you would like to help in this way, please drop your donations off in the office or hand them to me at car line!

We are looking for items such as:

• Full Size Candy Bars
• Individual Snack Bags of Chips- Baked and Regular
• Individual Snack Bags of Popcorn
• Single servings or individual bags of Cookies- Kirkland Chocolate Chip is a favorite!
• Granola Bars
• Individual bags of snack crackers (pretzels, ritz bitz with cheese, etc)
• Any other kind of individually wrapped snack you think staff might like!

We have a new Facebook page for our school. Please use the QR code to like and follow us.

You can also follow us on X- Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Education Center @theSMECEC

Want to know if your child's bus is running on time?? To keep on top of what is happening with your child's bus, I would highly recommend you sign up for TextCaster. Once signed up, you will receive text messages regarding the buses if they are running late or have another problem arise. Click the box by the bus number(s) your child rides under early childhood to be sure you have all of the most up to the minute information. You can sign up here

Our school along with the district are working to improve attendance for all students. I encourage you all to do all you can to get your child to school on time (and we will continue to work with the buses for the same) and to have them here each day we are in session. As a reminder our school times are 8:10-10:55 and 12:25-3:10. We do open the doors 5 minutes before school starts to get students in their classrooms before the official start of the day. Tardies do add up to absences, 10 tardies equals a full day absence. If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home and if they are going to be absent due to illness or other reasons, please call our attendance line 913-993-2688. If your child is a bus rider, please call D.S. as well at 913-384-1190 to let them know your child will not be riding.

Food service offers breakfast and lunch for our students

Prices will be as follows:

Elementary Breakfast: $1.55

Reduced $0.30

Elementary Lunch: $2.85

Reduced: $0.40

Families can complete a child nutrition meal benefit application to see if they qualify for free for reduced meal prices after July 1, 2024. The information and link will be on the Food Service web page after July 1 and families are encouraged to apply as soon as it is available so that any benefits the family may receive are processed prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year.

Breakfast

Breakfast is available each school day. The breakfast menu includes an entrée, grain, fruit and milk. Students are served all items to receive a full breakfast; including the required ½ cup of fruit.

Lunch

Lunch includes an entrée, grain, fruit, vegetable and milk. Students are served all of these five components on their lunch tray, including the required ½ cup fruit and/or vegetable.

Food Services has updated the School Meal Information flyer for parents. It is available on the main page of the Food Service web page and linked here for you convenience.

The “pig” symbol on the menu means that the item contains pork.

Menus, nutritional and allergy information are available online at https://www.schoolcafe.com/SHAWNEEMISSION

Special Diet

If you have an allergy or specific dietary concerns, contact your school nurse for a medical form to be filled out by your doctor.

Food service information is available on the district’s web site at www.smsd.org/about/departments/food-service or you can call the Food Service office at 913-993-9710.

SMSD offers an early childhood developmental screening which includes the areas of vision, hearing, problem-solving, personal-social development, gross/fine motor skills, and speech/language skills. The purpose of the screening is to identify children who may have substantial developmental delays and who may be eligible for special education services. SMSD’s Early Childhood Screening (ECS) is appropriate for children ages 2 years 9 months to 5 years old who reside within the Shawnee Mission School District boundaries.

How often are screenings offered?

Screenings for 2024-2025 occur monthly on a Friday morning and are by appointment only. Parent or other legal guardian must complete a request for screening and submit the required documents before an appointment is offered.

How do I request a screening for my child?

More information about the ECS program can be found on the district’s Early Childhood Special Education home page under Early Childhood Screening.

We have new social media sites this year! Please feel free to follow us and like us!!

X: @theSMECEC

Facebook: Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Education Center

Or search for #EarlyEDSMSD to see what's happening district wide in PreK!

Email: carlaheintz@smsd.org
Website: earlychildcenter.smsd.org
Location: 6701 West 83 Street, Overland Park, KS, 6USA
Phone: (913)993-2600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shawnee-Mission-Early-Childhood-Education-Center-101802735143826
Twitter: @theSMECEC