Weekday Preschool Newsletter August/September 2004

Parent Information Board: In each classroom there is a bulletin board right inside the front door that has important information for parents posed on it. There is a monthly calendar for each class, the sign-up sheets for snacks and for field trips when we have one. If you want to sign up to bring snack for your child’s class, please be sure to sign up on the correct sheet. All you need to bring is the snack item and 1 gallon of either juice or milk. Westminster Preschool will provide the glasses, napkins, (plates and silverware if needed) for all snacks. Suggestions of snack items are listed in the handbook. Please bring enough snack for 25 children (27 if your child is in the MWF morning class!!).

Birthdays: We will reserve a date for your child to bring snack when it is their birthday. We will send home a notice of the date we have signed you up for. We do this to insure that all children celebrating their birthday can be guaranteed a date to bring a snack on their special day. We will also take a picture of your child and make them a birthday crown and they will get to pick a toy out of our birthday box. Summer birthdays will be celebrated as % birthday, special days in January, February and March.

Drop-Off Service: From 8:55 til 9:05 am and from 12:25 to 12:35 pm each day, we will provide a drop-off service for parents. A teacher will come out to your car and unbuckle your child and take them out of your car and walk with them into the building, enabling you to continue on without parking and coming inside with your child. We like to have parents bring their children into the classroom, but realize for both convenience and safety reasons this drop-off service may be preferable for you. Until South Street construction is finished, we will be taking children out of cars in the circle drive of the parking lot so please do not park there when bringing your child inside. Once the South Street construction is completed, we will use the north drive for our drop-off service. You can drive down the driveway between the building and South Street (heading east toward 27th Street) and stop by the north door outside the hallway where the front (east) doors of the classrooms are. Please have their backpacks and lunches ready for them to take when they get out of the car. A teacher at the doorway to the classroom will make sure they get their coats and backpacks hung up and sign them into the sign in/out book.

Tuition and Extended Care Billings: Preschool tuition is due by the 1st of each month beginning in September. There are nine equal monthly payments for preschool (regardless of how many days of preschool there are in each month). You will not receive any bill or notice for your preschool tuition. Payments are late after the 10th of each month, and a late fee may be assessed. Extended care bills will be prepared every two weeks and a bill will be placed in your child’s cubbie on Monday or Tuesday after each two week period if you child stayed in the extended care program. A receipt is always written for cash payments, but if you would Ilk, a receipt far your payments made by check, pleaae let me know. I can also sign for reimbursements from your employer for child care payments that are taken Qut pre-tax.

Book Orders: Each month I will send home a Scholastic book order (sometimes two different order forms) with your newsletter. If you would like to place an order, please return the order from by the 10th of the month. Include your cash or check payment with checks made out to Scholastic. I will prepare and send in a group order and sort the books and give them to you or place them in your child’s cubbie. You do not need to feel obligated to order any books and may simply throw the order form away.

Chapel Chat: Susan Mayer, the Director of Children’s Ministries for Westminster Church will lead Chapel Chat each week. The MWF and MTWThF classes will go to Chapel Chat every Monday and the T-Th classes will go every other week on Tuesday. Parents are always welcome to join us at Chapel Chat for a bible story, some songs and a prayer. The morning classes go at 11 am and the afternoon classes at 1 pm.

Show 'N Tell: You will also see Show ‘N Tell on your-monthly-calendars beginning in September. Each child may bring one item of their choice to show to the other children and talk about. Please limit your child’s Show ‘N Tell to just one thing so we have time for all the children to participate. It helps the children to become more confident talking in front of the rest of the class and is also good practice for the other children to "listen" to the child who is up in front.

Parent Advisory Board: On the second Monday of each month, the Preschool Parent Advisory Board meets from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm. This is a group of parents who volunteer to meet with me to offer advice and suggestions and to be my "sounding  board" for ideas or plans. I like to have at least I or 2 parents from each class, but more are always welcome too!  If you would be interested in serving on this board, please let me know. Child care will be provided during the meetings.

Family Carnival: We are planning our first "family event" for Sunday, September 19th from 1:30 to 4:30 pm. Each of the preschool teachers will be hosting a "booth" with some type of fun activity for the preschool children and their siblings to participate in. It is a chance for families to meet one another and to meet all the teachers too!! Mark your calendar now and a flier with all the details and specific times for your child’s class will be sent home closer to the actual event.

The following is the tentative dates for the other family events throughout the year.

As an event nears, you will receive additional information and the specifics about each event. Mark your calendars now!!

Field Trip: We are working on setting up a field trip for the end of September while the weather is nice. We do not have all the details arranged at this time, so I will send home a note when it is finalized. A sign-up sheet for drivers to go along and help supervise for each class will be posted on the Parent Information Board. Please sign up to drive and let us know how many car seats you can place in your vehicle. We try to go on 3 or 4 field trips each year. If you have a suggestion or work at a place that would be interesting and educational for the children to visit, please talk to me.

We are looking forward to the beginning of another fun year. We realize that it is often difficult for children to come and be left at preschool if this is their first experience away from their primary caregiver (parents, child care provider or grandparents). There may be some apprehension and crying, this is normal. We will work with you to reassure the child and most children are fine within a minute or two. We will always contact you if they do not settle down. Please talk to me or one of the teachers if you have questions or concerns about this matter.

Thank you for choosing to have your child attend Westminster Preschool. I know they wi~J~hav~ a wonderful time and will grow and develop in so many ways in the months to come! Welcome!!
                                                   --- Jo Beil

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Meet the Westminster Preschool Teachers

Sherry Cederberg - (T-Th morning class)
     Sherry was born in Germany and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. This will be Sherry’s fifth year teaching at Westminster Preschool. She lives in northeast Lincoln with her husband, Chad, and their two sons, Jacob who is 6 years old and Colton who is 1 year old.  Sherry has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from UNL and a Master’s Degree in School Psychology from UNO.  She enjoys swimming and has worked teaching preschool and school age children YMCA swimming lessons. She also worked in child care programs at both the YMCA and Trinity Child Care Center. Sherry and her family enjoy camping, swimming and spending time outside. They have a dog named Cricket and a cat named Jasper.

Jean Gardner - (MTWThF morning and T-Th and MWF afternoon classes)
     Jean was born and raised in Lincoln. She attended Lincoln High School and the Lincoln School of Commerce. She and her husband Michael have been married 29 years. They have two children, a married daughter, Megan, who is 28 years old and a married son, Tony, who is 24 years old. She also has a new grandson, Jaxson, born in March, 2004. Jean had a home daycare and then worked at First Plymouth Parent’s Day Out program for 16 years. She was the director for 9 years. This is Jean’s sixth year at Westminster Preschool. She enjoys working with preschool age children. She also enjoys flower gardening, taking care of the fishpond in her backyard and taking walks with her dog, Daytona, going to sprint car races, and playing with her new grandson!!

Deb Gearhart - (MTWThF & MWF afternoon classes, and T-Th (pm) Extended Care)
     This year will be Deb’s third year on staff at Westminster. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in early Childhood & Elementary Education. She has been married to Ivan for 21 years and they have three children. Cassandra is 18 years old and off to college this year!! Brandon is 13 years old and Adam is 8 years old. Deb enjoys camping, boating, dancing, decorating and Husker Football!! Deb brings lots of experience and knowledge to our preschool program.

Melissa Johnson - (All four T-Th and MWF classes and "before" Extended Care)
     Melissa is starting her fourth year as a teacher at Westminster Preschool. She has an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Development from Central Community College in Hastings, NE.  Melissa is married to Ryan and they both grew up in Deshler, NE. and their families still live there. Melissa enjoys walking and both Ryan and Melissa enjoy going to the movies, and outdoor recreation activities and spending time with family and friends. Melissa will be teaching in all four of the MWF and T-Th classes (both mornings and afternoons). She will also be opening the Extended Care (before preschool) at 7:30 am each day with Jennifer Riffle.

Judy Nyhof - (T-Th morning & afternoon classes)
     This is Judy’s fourth year at Westminster, after teaching 3 years at another preschool in Lincoln. She was born in Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Grand Valley State College in Michigan. She was a substitute teacher for 5 years. She has been married to Ed for 33 years and they have 3 children and 7 grandchildren. One of Judy’s grandchildren, Cassie Nash, will be in the T-Th (am) class with Grandma!! Judy has lived in Lincoln for 16 years and enjoys scrap booking, reading and doing activities with her family. She also enjoys watching all sports, especially "Michigan football"??!! Judy has a delightful wit and sense of humor!!

Darcy Jo Pearcy - (MWF morning class)
     This is Darcy’s fifth year teaching at Westminster Preschool after teaching preschool here from 1984 to 1987.  Darcy is married to Marvin, and they have an 11 year old son Kyle. Darcy attended both Union College and UNL and received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music education, vocal performance and special education. Darcy taught K-6th grade vocal music for the Omaha Public Schools for several years. Kyle attends Helen Hyatt Elementary School. Darcy enjoys music, teaches private voice lessons and leads the children in lots of fun, special music activities. Even though Darcy is rather quiet and soft-spoken, she has a beautiful solo singing voice!!

Jennifer Riffle - (MTWThF class and "before" Extended Care)
     Jennifer is a new teacher to join our staff this year. She is originally from Port Angeles, Washington. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Jennifer is married to Chris, who is attending graduate school at UNL. They have one daughter, Emma Claire, who is 15 months old, and the "joy of their lives". Jen and Chris lived in Crowley, Louisiana for 4 years while they both taught in the Teach for America program. Jen has taught special education and recently worked full-time in a childcare center for Cedars here in Lincoln. Jen enjoys scrap booking, rubber stamping, outdoor activities and spending time with her husband and daughter. Jen is excited about becoming part of the Westminster Preschool family and working part-time so she can spend afternoons with her daughter.

Margaret Foster - (Extended Care - MTWThF)
     Marge has lived in Lincoln all her life and has been married to Gary for 36 years. She is the mother of 3 sons, Troy, Aaron and Eric and is a "new" grandmother to Van, who is four months old. She worked at First Plymouth Parents Day Out program for 9 years before coming to Westminster Preschool five years ago. She is active in her church and enjoys reading, music, drawing and traveling. She is very artistic and often makes great drawings/pictures for the children to enjoy.

Susan Martin - (Extended Care - MWF)
     Susan is the other new teacher at Westminster Preschool this year!! She "retired" from teaching elementary school after 32 years, 25 of those years in North Platte, NE. Susan has both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in elementary education from UNL at Kearney. She has been married to Doug for 39 years and they have 3 children, Mall and his wife, Michelle, Jennifer, and Mike. Susan and Doug moved to Lincoln after they retired to be near their two granddaughters, Jocelyn and Reese. Doug works as an administrative assistant in the Track & Field office at UNL. Susan enjoys taking care of her granddaughters two mornings a week, sporting events, reading (especially to children), music, her church and family activities. Susan brings a lifetime of teaching experience and knowledge with her and we’re glad she has joined our teaching team!

Jo BeiI - (MWF morning class)
     Jo is a native Lincolnite who grew up in Bethany and graduated from Northeast High School. She attended UNL and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology in Child Development. She has been a preschool teacher and/or director for 19 years. She joined the Westminster Preschool staff in August, 2000 after directing the preschool at the Northeast YMCA for 14 years. She is married to Kim, a civil engineer for HWS, Inc. They have two children, Katrina, 25 years old, who is married to Justin Pryor and teaches first grade at Holmes School in Lincoln, and a son, Andrew, who is 23 years did and is also a civil engineer for HWS, Inc. in Lincoln. Jo enjoys reading and being active in her church.