September ELC Newsletter

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Our students have been learning all about our daily routines, forming new friendships, and growing through playful experiences in the classroom and on our playground. Classrooms have chosen their areas of study and we couldn't be more excited!

• Our Orange classroom (Ms. Floming) has chosen to study Balls! How the shape of a sphere is used not only in sports, but also in our daily lives and activities.
• Our Grey, Green and Purple classrooms (Ms. Linnenburger, Ms. Edwards, and Ms. FIsher) will be studying Trees! Why are trees important? What do trees do for our environment?
• Our Yellow and Blue classrooms (Ms. Griffith and Ms. McFarland) have chosen Simple Machines as their area of study. Wheels, axles, pulleys and levers are everywhere, and we use them almost every day!

Here is our Family Educator, Lindsey Johanson with a brief description of what our program-wide expectations look like and what you can do at home to continue with these positive routines!

• Our Little Panther Spirit Wear Store is NOW OPEN!!!
• Families can use THIS LINK to access the web-store

Our school implements The Pyramid Model, a framework for supporting the social and emotional development of our children. An important part of our Pyramid Model work includes supporting families and sharing information about promoting social and emotional skills at home.

Get ready to think like a turtle! Here at school, we have introduced Tucker the Turtle, a resource created to help children learn strategies to work through big feelings like anger. Tucker helps children to learn what they can do to calm their body and emotions down. This user-friendly resource helps teach emotional regulation with a few simple steps. Tucker the Turtle promotes emotional literacy, problem-solving, and self-regulation in an engaging way. You can use the scripted story linked below to support your child to "Think like a turtle" at home and to develop strategies for coping with strong feelings.

Use Tucker Turtle at Home, too!

Read this story: Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think at Home

Sing these songs: Tucker Turtle Song and Fingerplay

Check out this video: Tucker Turtle Video

We need your voices!!

Cold weather is coming! Learn more about what you can do INDOORS with your preschooler!

Please join us for our next in-person meeting on Wednesday, November 13th from 10:30am-11:15am

• 9/30--Spirit Wear Store Closes
• 9/17--Developmental Screenings
• 9/25 & 9/26--Dental Bus
• 9/30 - 10/4---Spirit Week
• 10/4--No School/Home Visits
• 10/16--Picture Day
• 10/17--Fall Fest

Do you have younger children? Bring them in for a developmental check-up! Open to EMSD residents with children aged 0-5 years old. Call Pam to schedule an appointment for a screening (now scheduling for September). Currently enrolled students do not need to be screened.

Over the past few years, EMSD37 has used ClassTag/School Status Connect as the communication platform between teachers and families. The District will be moving away from this platform and to a new system called Rooms in 2024-2025. This platform will continue to offer a streamlined way to communicate back and forth with your student's teacher and offer language translations. Access to the platform will open in the fall and will be done through the EMSD37 App (See the image to the right for reference). The app always allows access to the district website as well. Download the app now via the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store to be ready for launch.

Important contacts:

Main Office: 309-865-6900

Pam Webster, Secretary (pwebster@emsd37.org)

Lindsey Johanson, Family Educator (ljohanson@emsd37.org)

Melissa McCullough, Principal (mmccullough@emsd37.org)