Unity Preschool News

Dear Preschool Families,

It has been exciting to experience a winter with snow in South Carolina! My family (including my mom) enjoyed a snow day together building a snowman. Thank you for your patience as we managed the preschool closures.

Thank you for the many Valentine treats that you sent for our Isaiah 117 House/York County DSS treat bag gift. We are grateful to Jamie George, Ashley Hutchins, Ashley Jones, and Chelsea Whitten for their help in assembling our treat bags. Several of our Preschool Staff will be distributing them next Tuesday, February 10, after Preschool at the DSS office in Rock Hill.

Just a reminder that we will not have preschool February 16-19 because the FMSD will be closed for Winter Break.

Much love,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

Our next Color Day and Spirit Day is Thursday, February 12 and it will be PINK DAY! We are looking forward to celebrating Valentine's Day in our classrooms. Your student's teacher will send additional information via SeeSaw.

Ms. Jane, our storyteller, teaches science classes to our Four's students once a month. In January, we combined our Four's classes because of the snow days and learned about magnets. The children loved the hands-on, engaging activities. Ms. Jane's goal is for the children to gain knowledge through observation, experimentation, and play. Other lessons include leaves, apples, measurement, trees, construction, insects, plants and birds. Our Three's classes also enjoyed a fall science lesson about pumpkins and will have a spring lesson about frogs. We are so grateful for Ms. Jane and her gift for nurturing our future scientists.

This month, we feature our Fours (Fish) class teachers: Ms. Maureen and Ms. Kellie.

Ms. Maureen Nolin is serving her seventh year at Unity Preschool. She currently is our Lead Teacher in the Fours (Fish) class. This is her sixth year working with our Fours classes. She was previously our Lead Teacher in our Threes class. Ms. Maureen is a former Kindergarten teacher when she lived in New York. Ms. Maureen and her husband, Tim, have three daughters: Ellie and Bailey (students at Fort Mill High School), and Colleen (a student at Pleasant Knoll Middle School). Ms. Maureen and her family are active members of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Fort Mill.

Here are a few of Ms. Maureen's favorites:

Favorite Foods: Seafood, BBQ, and Chocolate!

Favorite Music: Country Music

Favorite Book: "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae. Gerald the giraffe learns that "we can all dance when we find music that we love." This is a great motto to teach and to live by.

Favorite Movie: “Grease”

Favorite Activities: Spending time with my family and going to the beach!

Ms. Kellie Ellis is celebrating her tenth year at Unity Preschool and her sixth year with Ms. Maureen. She currently assists Ms. Maureen in our Four's (Fish) class and serves on the Preschool Advisory Board. This is her seventh year working with our Fours classes. She previously worked in both Twos and Threes classes at Unity and other preschools. Ms. Kellie and her husband, Jeff, have two children: Ainsley, a recent Clemson graduate, and Ryan, a Sophomore at Clemson, and a beloved dog, Savvy.

Here are a few of Ms. Kellie's favorites:

Favorite Foods: Guacamole, tacos, and Korean food ("bulgogi and kimchi are amazing!")

Favorite Music: All music but country. Ms. Kellie loves going to concerts, especially with her daughter.

Favorite Book: "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. Ms. Kellie says "I think everyone should read this book so they can learn about humility, acceptance, and inclusion."

Favorite Movies: Action/adventure with a good "chick flick" sprinkled in once in a while.

Favorite Activities: Clemson football games, playing cards (Wipeout and Seven), traveling, and riding rollercoasters.

Did you know that Unity Preschool has a Team of volunteers who help us in the classrooms and behind the scenes? Ms. Dannie is one of our special VIPs (Volunteers Impacting Preschool) who has been helping us for the past seven years. Ms. Dannie is a weekly classroom helper who assists with Center Time in our Fish class every Wednesday. Ms. Dannie has been a member of Unity for over 50 years. She is a retired school librarian and worked for 40 years in various school districts. She loves the Clemson Tigers, her dog (Shadow) and volunteering at Unity Preschool!

Conferences for Ms. Kristen Owl's class will be March 3 and 4 and conferences for Ms. Maureen's Fish class will be March 18 and 19. An email with more details and a sign-up genius link will be sent later this month.

Another one of our tools that we use in our Threes and Fours classrooms is our Light Table. The light table is a fantastic way to entice young children to play. It engages their sense of sight, makes regular activities more fun, and can be used in many different ways. Often, we think of the sandbox or the sensory table as the only sensory resources. The sense of sight is just as important as the sense of touch. In addition to the sensory experience, children can work on: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, cooperation, sharing space and materials, oral language, math concepts, problem-solving, creativity, and much more.

We had a successful registration in January and we are full in our Four's class with a wait list. We have a one opening in our Older Two's class and a few openings in our Three's classes. Please let your neighbors and friends know - we love referrals.

If you registered your child or a sibling for next year, check your child's folder for any additional information we need. Ms. Linda sent home reminders today if we are still missing documents. Several Tuition Authorization forms were sent home. Even if you do not plan to change your account information for next year, we need a new form for 2026-27 that reflects proper withdrawal dates. We only need immunization records for new siblings enrolled, not for current students. We will send an email in May with fall date information.

*Preschool Closed:

Winter Break: Monday, February 16 - Friday, February 20

Spring Break: Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10

*Warm Jackets and Hats: We go outside if the temperature is above freezing and it is not rainy or too wet. Please send your child in warm jackets, hats and mittens. They need and enjoy fresh air and exercise!

*Folder Reminder: Please remember to empty your child's folder at least every week!

*Tuition Withdrawal: Our next tuition withdrawal date will be Tuesday, March 3.

Front Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Maureen and Ms. Kellie (Fours - Fish)

Ms. Kristen and Ms. Alison (Fours - Owls)

Back Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Carolyn (Librarian/Tues & Thurs Helper/First Call Sub

Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Meghan (Older Twos - Bees)

Ms. Becca and Ms. Sarah (Threes - Monkeys)

Ms. Brandi and Ms. Laura (Threes - Frogs)

Ms. Linda (Director)

Unity Preschool does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and other school-administered programs.

Email: preschoolatunity@gmail.com
Website: https://www.preschoolatunity.com/
Location: 303 Tom Hall Street, Fort Mill, SC, USA
Phone: 803-396-8454