Dear TECEC families,
What an exciting week it's been for our children and team at TECEC! This Tuesday, we had a special visit from the Long Hill and Trumbull Center Fire Departments as part of our community helpers unit, focusing on fire safety. The children were thrilled to witness two firetrucks and firefighters in their protective gear, all under the backdrop of beautiful weather. Later in this newsletter, you'll see some delightful photos capturing how much fun the children had while learning invaluable safety tips. A big thank you to the Long Hill and Trumbull Center Fire Departments for making this experience so memorable!
A few tips that were shared with us that can be focused on at home include:
- Install smoke alarms on every floor of your home and test them regularly.
- Create a fire escape plan and practice it with your child. Ensure they know two ways out of every room.
- Keep matches and lighters out of reach of children.
- Store flammable materials in a safe place, away from heat sources.
- Install child proof covers on electrical outlets.
- Teach your child how to dial 911 in case of an emergency and make sure they know their home address.
If you have any questions or need more information about fire safety, please don't hesitate to reach out to us or one of our wonderful town fire departments. Your child's safety is of utmost importance to us, and we are here to support you in any way we can.
Last call.... if you did not have an opportunity to sign up for a parent-teacher conference, please use the following link by Friday, October 11 so that a mutually agreeable time can be arranged for you to hear the progress your child has made this year: https://tecec.schoolappointments.com
Respectfully,
Principal
It is hard to believe that the first month of school has passed. In September our students worked very hard learning our school rules and about their classroom routines. They had lots of new faces and names to learn and are gaining more and more independence every day. Our classrooms are full of laughter and learning!
We are excited about fall! October is a month full of hands-on experiences and fun activities. We will be visited by the Long HIll fire department, experience making apple cider with a traditional cider press, have school photos taken, participate in our district-wide Read Aloud event where people from within the community go into classrooms to read, and our TECEC Halloween parade! In our classrooms we are learning about and exploring apples, pumpkins, leaves, and discussing fall activities and clothing. Please update your child’s extra clothing with weather appropriate long sleeve shirts and pants. As always, we cannot stress enough how important it is to send your child to school in appropriate footwear. Our new playground is wonderful and provides lots of opportunities to climb and move but safety is always our number one priority.
Well September has quickly come and gone! And today it actually feels like Fall! For those of you that I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Gabrielle Ballatore, aka “Miss Gabby,” and I am the music teacher here at TECEC. I am very excited to share my special love of music with your children for what is my 20th year.
The last few weeks of September we enjoyed much dancing and movement to instrumental music using paper plates, clapping them together and patting our bodies to the beat of the music. The children had a blast! We also followed patterns of dots and played our claves. The children are really enjoying a variety of ways to create rhythm and sounds with various kinds of materials and visuals. It is really keeping them engaged and while having fun, and they do not realize they are learning.
Our TECEC school song is slowly coming along, and hopefully in the near future I will have a recording to share with you so you can practice it at home with your children. We have sung a variety of songs related to body parts such as, I Have Two Thumbs, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (variations), Dancing Face, and Top to Bottom to name a few. We also sang songs about our five senses such as, I’ve Got Five Senses, and a couple others. When the theme of apples started we learned a few songs like, Way Up High in the Apple Tree, The Worm Went Through the Apple (To the tune of: For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow), and A-P-P-L-E (To the tune of BINGO), which brings us to Fire Prevention Week. This week we will be learning a lot of songs about fire safety, which will include Fire Drill, When the Smoke Alarm Goes Off, Stop Drop and Roll, Firefighter’s March, Crawling Low in Smoke, The Stove is Hot, Mr. Smoke Detector, Stay Low and Go, 911 and more. As the month goes on we will be singing songs about the color orange, pumpkins and Halloween. I will include these songs in my ClassDojo Link that I send out schoolwide.
I believe music to be a universal language that breaks through every barrier, and I witness it every day. I see the joy that music brings to the hearts of your children, and it touches my heart in return. I look forward to meeting all of you!
Happy Fall to everyone!
Miss Gabby 😊
Our annual Halloween parade will take place on Tuesday, October 29th. The parade will take place around the outside perimeter of our school beginning at 11:00 AM & 2:30 PM. Visitors will not be able to enter the building after the parade. If the weather does not cooperate, the parade will take place on Wednesday, October 30th. If we experience inclement weather on October 30th, the parade will be held inside for the children. I am sorry, adults will not be able to view the parade indoors if we have inclement weather.
TECEC's school pictures will take place on Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th. Your child's classroom teacher will inform you which day their class will have the photos taken. The packages can be viewed here: https://www.roberttaylorphotography.com/preschool
Use this link to order pictures:TECEC Prepay deal until October 30
TECEC's inclement weather and adjusted schedules can be viewed: here.
Our arrival and dismissal procedures were developed to keep the children, you and our team safe. Please review the following guidelines that your adherence is critical to assure everyone arrives and leaves TECEC safely. One particular highlight is that vehicles must only enter the TECEC driveway by taking a right from Middlebrooks Ave. into the parking lot from 8:20-3:30. Attempting to access Middlebrooks Ave. via Church Hill Road and trying to take a left into TECEC creates an unsafe traffic pattern and should be avoided. Our arrival and dismissal procedures can be found here.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
One of the hallmarks of our program is parent and community involvement. Your child’s teacher will be reaching out to you with the best ways to engage with their education. We also encourage you to take the time to fill out the TPS volunteer form for the 2024-2025 school year. For most individuals, you will only need to complete part one (Tier one). This will permit you to volunteer in the school while in the presence of a staff member. Part two (Tier two) is for those who will be working with children not in the presence of a school employee. Since every volunteer will be in the presence of a TECEC staff member, there will not be a need to complete that section, unless you plan on volunteering in another school. This form has to be completed annually as mandated by the state guidelines for school volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, the form can be found here and dropped off at TECEC so it can be processed. All submitted forms need to have an original signature, therefore a form with an e-signature will not be accepted.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 9, for our Head Start Parent Policy Committee meeting at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held in person at TECEC beginning at 6:00 PM. For those who would like to join virtually, please click meet.google.com/idi-sypb-cyz.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 9, for our next PTO meeting. The meeting will be held in person at TECEC beginning at 7:00 PM. For those who would like to join virtually, the link is: PTO Meeting
The TECEC Father's Club is recruiting new members. Please note that you can join as a mom, aunt, uncle, grandparent or any family member that would like to support the children, teachers and each other. Their next meeting will take place this Thursday, October 10th at 7:00 PM at Brewport in Bridgeport.
EVERY THURSDAY IS SPIRIT WEAR DAY!
Every Thursday is spirit wear day! Since many of our children do not attend school on Fridays, we thought it would be fun to have “TECEC Thursday” each week where everyone is encouraged to wear school spirit wear. If you don't have any TECEC spirit wear, feel free to wear our school color which is blue. You can also purchase spirit wear here: https://tecec.ptboard.com/
