East Early Childhood Center

Welcome to (or Back to) Early Childhood! This has been the BEST start of the school year yet! Thank you all for working through all of the new school year things with us!

We are having a very successful first two weeks of school! I know that it's hard on our kiddos and on their parents during this time, and we do see some sad students, but please know this is normal and after the first few weeks this typically subsides. It has been so lovely visiting all of the classrooms and seeing your children playing, singing, dancing, and really learning how to be a student in school.

I'll also take a moment to introduce myself. I am Brooke Uchtman, and I am excited to be entering my sixth year with the Jackson R-2 School District as the Director at East Elementary Early Childhood Center. This is my 19th year in education. Previously, I have worked for the Pattonville School District where I taught kindergarten for eight years and third grade for one year. I also taught Early Childhood majors and supervised student teachers at Southeast Missouri State University for four years . My husband, Matt, and I have been married for 16 years. We have three children Madison (15), Avery (13) and Griffin (5).

This year we will focus on taking our professional learning community to the next level. We have worked as a team to revisit and recreate our mission, vision and our collective commitments. They state:

Mission Statement: We strive to ensure a safe, inclusive environment that promotes growth and learning for all students and staff through collaboration and research-based practices.

Vision Statement: In order to achieve our mission we will commit to the following...

• Work together with mutual respect to foster a positive environment
• Provide a safe inclusive environment by prioritizing developmentally appropriate practice for all learners
• Use data-based decision making to promote growth for all students through monitoring on a frequent basis

Collective Commitments

Interactions with others:

We will assume positive intentions and have mutual respect as we work together as a cohesive team.

Collaboration:

We will be respectful by having active participation, graciously taking feedback, and following norms while using the four corollary questions to guide our collaborative work.

Instruction:

We will use developmentally appropriate research based practices.

We will use intentional planning to provide purposeful, engaging learning environments.

Data:

We will consistently reflect on data to drive instruction for ALL learners.

Core Beliefs:

We will maintain high expectations for ALL learners.

Our next goal this school year will be to work on our commitments and goals. Our teachers will continue to work in collaborative teams to plan, teach/assess, study the results, and then act. Four questions will guide our work to ensure high levels of learning for all:

• What do we want students to know and be able to do?
• How will we know if they have learned it?
• How will we respond when some students do not learn?
• How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient?

These questions have never been so important as they are this year. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email or call. Here's to a great year!

• Please continue to provide ID when picking up your child. (We may have subs that will need to verify your identity)
• No parking in the bus lanes, we want all of our children and their families to be safe! Thank you for doing this already!
• AM Classes are 8:00-11:00
• PM Classes are 12:00-3:15
• Please let us know by 10:00 (AM Students) or 2:00 (PM Students) about any changes to your child's transportation.
• The Extended Day students are picked up by the K-1 Playground exit at 2:50- 3:00
• Payments for our Little Indians and Extended Day programs are due on the 1st. Late fees are assessed on the 10th of each month. If payments are not made your child may not be eligible to continue in their programming.
• Please make sure you register in EZChildTrack for Little Indians and/or Extended Day Link is below. You may pay through EZChildTrack or bring a check to the office, but it all must go through the EZChildTrack system. THANK YOU for working through this new system with us

Just in case you missed it... This newsletter contains the handbook, supply lists, drop off and pick up procedures and soo much more. Feel free to check it out again!

At this time with our in our Infinite Campus we are working through absences for our students. These absences will NOT count against your child in any negative way. While the classroom portion of the day should be corrected soon, we have to count our kiddos in Extended Day absent if they do not attend (even if they are scheduled to not attend on certain days). I apologize, but please note again, this does not count against them, we just have to have an accurate count of students in our building. Please give us a call at 573-243-5347 if you have any questions. Thank you for your understanding!

Just a clarification, If you chose to Opt Out of pictures with the school district, this means that at this time there will be no photos of your child on Facebook, Seesaw, or in any pictures with our school. I will call any families that chose this to make sure this is still what you wish to select.

We would like to introduce our nursing staff here at East Elementary Early Childhood Center:

Theresa Stearns, RN: This is Theresa’s first year as a school nurse (she previously worked in the NICU at St.Francis). Theresa has taken the place of Angie Boss and will be in the early childhood area. Theresa will be working full-time for preschool but will also be working with the K-4 students. She has 4 children (Wyatt, Charlotte, Elsie, and Weston). She is married to Tyler Stearns. Theresa is very excited to be a part of the East Elementary school.

Tosha Borgfield, BSN, RN: This is Tosha’s 24th year as a school nurse and 5th year as the district’s lead nurse. Tosha is also a part of the coaching staff for the High School Varsity Dance Teams as well as the Varsity Competition Cheer Team. She has 3 children (Ava, Grant, and Grady) and will be celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary to Brad Borgfield in October. Tosha’s office is on the main level and she tends to the K-4th grade students and then to the PK students as needed.

When emailing nurses please include both Theresa Stearns (tstearns@jr2mail.org) and Tosha Borgfield (tborgfield@jr2mail.org). There may be times that only one nurse is covering all of Early Childhood and K-4.

Reminders and Important Dates:

• Keep your child home if they have symptoms of illness. This is the best way to STOP THE SPREAD! If your child has a fever 100.1 or higher keep them home. They need to be fever free for at least 24 hours without medication. If your child is vomiting or has diarrhea they need to be at home for at least 24 hours after the last episode. If you have questions of when to keep your child home you can call the nurses at 573-243-5347 (EC). We are available M-F 8:00-3:00pm.

• Dental Screenings and Varnish will be on Wednesday, September 25th!! Every student will be screened for tooth decay and major concerns. If your child has a dental concern that needs to be followed up by a dentist it will be indicated on the letter that goes home with them. ONLY the students that have a consent for fluoride varnish will receive fluoride varnish. The consent in the fall covers the 1st and 2nd applications. If your child is absent for the first varnish application they will not be able to get the application in the spring. It is recommended that all children get varnish applied to their teeth twice a year to help prevent tooth decay. This is a free service for your child. Consents will go home approximately 1- 2 weeks before Sept. 25th.

• Interested in getting your child a Flu Shot while they are at school for 2024/25? The Cape Girardeau Health Department will be at East Elementary on October 2nd for anyone that wants their child to get the flu shot. Consents will go out a couple of weeks before CCHD is here (last year they were online consents). Preschoolers will be required to have an adult present with them. CCHD typically starts at 8:00am (located upstairs in main office) and they will start with PK then do K-4th graders. Please note: Flu shots will ONLY be given to PK students who arrive WITH their parent/guardian/adult.

Here is to the start of a healthy year at East Elementary! Thank you for taking the time to read,

Nurse Theresa Stearns, RN and Nurse Tosha Borgfield, BSN-RN

Hello! My name is ‘Ms. Jill’ Hadler and I am the School Counselor at the Early Childhood Center. I am looking forward to working with you and your child(ren) this year! This is my 28th year in education and my 22nd year as a school counselor. In the evenings, I also work as a parent educator in the Jackson R-2 Parents as Teachers (PAT) program. I love working with children and families!

My husband, Tom, and I live in Jackson and have one daughter, Claire, who lives on the island of Oahu, Hawaii! I enjoy baking, walking my dog, and working in my flower garden.

I am so excited to be working in the Early Childhood Center. I look forward to meeting all of you and being a resource for your family!

What does the Early Childhood School Counselor do?

The primary goal of the school counseling program is to assist in the promotion of student success through academic, personal/social development, and career development.

In order to achieve this goal, I will be in the classroom during center time as a center activity. During that time, the focus will be learning about emotions (managing and expressing our emotions), working cooperatively with others, developing friendship skills (how to initiate play, playing fairly, and resolving conflicts with others), ways to be a successful learner (listening skills, following rules, managing daily routines), and basic career awareness.

In addition to counseling centers, I will meet with small groups and individual students, with parent permission. You will probably also find me on the playground and visiting classrooms as often as possible.

How can the School Counselor help my child and/or my family?

*Parent Workshops

*Connect families with resources

*Provide home/school connections

*I would love to be a resource for your family!

NEED TO CONTACT THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR?

Email: jhadler@jr2mail.org

Phone: (573) 243-4323

PTO MEETING TIME!

I am so excited that we have already had interest in joining our PTO! Last year was our first year as an Early Childhood PTO and we completed all of our goals! We are excited to meet for our first time in our department in our Pond on Tuesday, September 10th at 5:30 in our Early Childhood Pond. We are working on providing child care as well. I'll send out a reminder this week and to let you know if this is an option too!

Our PTO Fundraisers for the Year

• Kid Perfect Dance A Thon Dude Perfect is coming soon! September 16th-September 27th (more information coming very soon)
• World's Best Chocolate Bar Sales-November 6th-17th
• Spring Fundraiser TBD

We will offer our East Early Childhood T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts to students and parents again this year. We have a variety of designs available. The order form was sent home last week and orders are due on September 13th. Thanks for showing your support!

Power Packs is a program provided to many families each week. The packs include food items to help give students and their family nutritious, kid-friendly foods to help get them through the weekend. Some food items include cereal, canned soups, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, and other similar items. By clicking this link, filling out the information requested, and submitting the form, your child can begin receiving these packs each Friday. For further questions, contact Morgan Hoffman, school social worker at 573-243-5271

September 2 - NO SCHOOL - Labor Day

September 10 - PTO Meeting @ 5:30 p.m.

September 13 - Early Childhood Spirit Wear T-shirt Orders Due

September 16-September 27-Kid Perfect Dance a Thon Fundraiser

September 24- Fall Picture Day

September 30-Professional Development-NO SCHOOL

Email: buchtman@jr2mail.org
Website: https://jacksonees.ss12.sharpschool.com/early_childhood
Location: 455 North Lacey Street, Jackson, MO, USA
Phone: 573-243-5347