Newsletter: June 7

Good Morning Everyone!

We have some important news for summer activities and supplies as well as transitions! Please read below.

Transitions and CAMP

This week we had a lot of changes, and we apologize for clumsily sharing the plan! In an effort to improve for next week, we have the following changes:

Bubble Buddies: 6 weeks to 14 months - NO CHANGES
- Teachers: Miss Nana, Miss Marita, and Miss Susie
Little Penguins: 8 months to 19 months - NO CHANGES
- Teachers: Miss Patty, Miss Huihui, and Miss Gitti
Playful Pandas: 15 to 28 months - NO CHANGES
- Teachers: Miss Pinky, Miss Simi (on vacation until 7/7/22), and Miss Samra
Dancing Monkeys: 2 to 3.5 years - Staff Transitions
- Teachers: Miss Petty, Miss Delia, and Miss Kisha
  - Miss Petty and Miss Kisha will be joining Miss Delia for the summer! Miss Kristel will be moving up to work with older kids in the final months of her pregnancy as she prepares for maternity leave
Rising Stars: Preschool 3-4.5 year olds - student transitions
- the older half of the group who will be 4 by 11/30/2022 have moved into Miss Adella’s Busy Bees Classroom this week!
- the younger half will be moving into Miss Yolanda’s Love Bugs! This will be a 3-4 year old preschool classroom, where children will stay in this classroom for the entirety of the next school year!
Love Bugs: Preschool 3-4.5 year olds - student and staff transitions
- Teachers: Miss Yolanda, Miss Celestine, and Miss Kristel
  - The 3 year olds who will turn 4 on or after 12/1/2022 will be joining the Love Bugs classroom for the summer and will continue in this class in the fall
  - Miss Kristel is joining this class for the summer before she goes out on maternity leave
Busy Bees: Preschool 4-5.5 year olds - student transitions
- Teachers: Miss Adella and Mr. Zach
  - the children from Rising Stars who will turn 4 by 11/30/2022 will join the 4 year olds who do not turn 5 before 9/30/2022 be in the Busy Bees for the summer.
CAMP: School Aged Program, must be 5 by 9/30/2022 - summer begins!

Hello Summer BBQ is Friday, June 10th!

ON FRIDAY, JUNE 10TH, WE WILL BE HAVING A BBQ TO CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER!

It will be from 4:30PM-6:30PM in the grassy area by the swings.

We are providing Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chips, Water, Gatorade, and Lemonade!

PLEASE RSVP - It is not required to attend, but it really helps us!

We want to know how many people are coming so that we can purchase the right amount of food!

Let’s get together, eat a bunch of food under a blue sky, and enjoy each other’s company.

Summer is Here! Supplies, Suggestions, and Safety Tips!

Now that it’s summer time we will be doing even more outdoor activities than before! We have water play for all the classrooms and swimming for kids 3 and up! Kids need to be outside. The pandemic has made daily outside time essential to health and safety, but daily outside time has been shown to increase attention spans, self-regulation, physical fitness, and mood while helping to decrease sensory issues, anxiety, and inner-ear weakness. It’s also just fun! Recess is essential for growth.

We are aware that it gets hot and steamy outside! We have heat index and heat codes hanging up in each classroom, and regulate outside time based on that.

We also have recommendations for summer attire and gear to keep your kids safe, comfortable, and happy:

Our Skin Care Product Form: We have sent out our new updated Skin Care Forms to all of our families via adobesign. If you have not received it, please let us know! We provide sunscreen, bugspray, aveeno, and aquafor and apply as needed. If you choose to opt out and to provide your own items, let us know so that we can send a different non-rx skin care form.
Water comfortable shoes: Crocs, Keens, jellies, and other shoes like this, are amazing for summer! Kids can play in the sprinkler and then quickly dry off without having wet socks all day. No flip flops please! The kids need to be able to safely play on playground equipment as well
Pool Time: For our older kids, we will have scheduled pool time! We will let you know in advance, of course! Please send with your children: Towel, Swimsuit, Wet bag, and goggles and toys are optional but allowed.
A Sun Hat and a Sun Shirt are recommended for kiddos who burn really easily! We apply sunscreen frequently, but extra protection is always advised
A Water Bottle: We require a water bottle all year, but it is especially important during the summer! We supply gatorade and water all day, but the kids need to be able to have water with them at all times to keep them hydrated.

Graduation Recap

Our graduating kids and teachers worked so hard to get to graduation last Friday, and it really showed. We want to personally thank Ms. Yolanda, Ms. Adella, Ms. Janette, Mr. Zach, Ms. Celestine, Mr. Josh, and everyone who has worked with our students this year to get them through the last year! Your kids are resilient, kind, brave, smart, hard-working, and HILARIOUS. Sometimes we go into those classes just for a hug or a pick-me-up. When we need the reminder that, despite all trials and tribulations, we WILL get back up again, we can turn to any bee, bug, or jellyfish in the place and know that they will help us shine brighter.

Learning begins at birth at Common Ground. It begins with cuddles and smiles, it begins with assurances and loving voices.
We got choked up seeing all of our baby teachers watching the ceremony, all the teachers that came before leaning over the fences to see the kids they helped grow up move on to better things. So thank you, to ALL of those teachers, who helped the kiddos from the start. Every single person at Common Ground has loved our children. That is a humbling feeling that we will carry too.

Lastly, THANK YOU to parents for helping us set up and clean up! For signing endless forms and celebrating Trunk or Treat. For laughing and crying with us, for learning about the planets with us, for watching our Common Ground Story Time Show and singing “The Goldfish” one more time. You are just as integral a part of our team, and we couldn’t be more grateful that we had you with us every step of the way.