Creekwood ECC Chat

We are thrilled that your child and family are a part of CWECC! This has been a great beginning to the year and we are excited to watch your children learn and grow. Our school-wide theme this year is "Team CWECC", and it is a vintage baseball theme. Beginning school is quite an adventure for children and we are thrilled that your child is beginning their school experience here with us!

Creekwood Early Childhood Center (CWECC) serves Broken Arrow’s youngest Tigers through purposeful play centered on students' interests, reading, writing, mathematics, creativity and music. This all-day Pre-K program gives four-year-old students the opportunity to develop social-emotional, early reasoning and problem solving skills that lay a foundation for future learning.

Our goal is to preserve childhood learning experiences and foster the development of self-regulation skills which will help students achieve academic success in core curriculum as they advance through school. The students will progress through the developmental stages at their own rate of growth.

Website: www.baschools.org
Location: 1351 East Albany Street, Broken Arrow, OK, USA
Phone: 918.505.5280

In order to best help your child have success in all areas of school, please practice the following things at home:

Toileting - children should be fully potty trained. They should be able to: identify when they need to use the toilet, enter the restroom, use the toilet, clean themselves, change their own clothes if they have an accident, and wash their hands with minimal assistance from an adult. Our school staff is not allowed to wipe children, change their clothes, or apply pull-ups or diapers (gen-ed). We will walk children through the steps, however, if a child cannot attend to their toileting needs, a parent will be called to assist.

Lunches - practice opening baggies, including commercially prepared snack bags, juice box straws and inserting the straw in the box, cookies, or anything else your child might have to eat during the day. **If you send a food that could potentially be a choking hazard (grapes, blueberries, etc.), please cut them up into small pieces. Grapes should be cut into 1/4ths. We do not have the ability to cut things up for students, so please be sure you do this at home. We cannot heat up foods, or place them in the refrigerator, so please plan lunches accordingly.

Attention - plan purposeful times for your child to complete a task that does not involve technology. Working puzzles, looking at books, lacing cards, and other similar tasks help build your child's attention stamina. Children will not have access to screens while at school, so it is very important that they can regulate themselves without the use of technology.

Following Directions - many young children struggle with following directions and sometimes it is easier to just "do it" for the child, or allow them to have their way (we get it). However, children need to learn that they can do hard things and also that things may not always go their way. Practice at home with giving your child an instruction such as "clean up toys" (often a warning or countdown helps the child prepare), and ensure that they complete the task before moving on to something else. This will help your child adjust to a classroom environment where they are being asked to listen and follow instructions multiple times throughout the day.

Taking Turns - often we see young children struggle to share. We will often use the term "take turns" rather than "share" as it is more concrete and easy for a young child to understand. We teach children who want a toy to ask someone who is playing with it if they can have a turn when s/he is finished with it. This is a skill that teaches social skills, patience, and sharing. Practice at home by role playing. If your child wants something you are playing with, instruct them to ask if they can have a turn once you are finished. Reverse the roles where the parent asks the child for a turn. You will be surprised how quickly your child will catch on and carry this skill to school with them!

Reading to your child - Believe it or not, one of the most important things you can do with your child is read a book to them. So many pre-reading skills are woven in when your child climbs in your lap and you read a book to them. This simple but valuable task can set your child up for later school success, so be sure to build in some reading time with your child every day!

Make plans to join us for back-to-school night on Tuesday, September 1 at 6:00. This event is designed for you to get important information about our school and your child's class. We will begin with a whole-group session in the Multi-Purpose Room, followed by breakout time in your child's classroom where you will hear lots of information about the Pre-K year from your child's teacher. There will be no child care provided, so we ask that only parents attend.

• The arrival window each day is 8:00-8:25.
• Students arriving after 8:25 must be walked in to the office and signed in. A staff member will walk the student to class.
• There is only one lane in the loop. Please remain in the line, even if you have already dropped off your child.
• Pull car as far forward as possible before unloading student.
• Children should be unbuckled and ready to exit the car on the curb side.
• Adults must remain in the car. Teachers are present and ready to help students exit the car and get into the building.
• One inside, there are teachers stationed around the building to assist students in finding their classrooms.
• If your child is struggling to exit the car in a timely manner, you may pull around, park, and walk your child to the front door.
• We must keep our car line moving, so we ask that you do not roll the window down to say another goodbye or take pictures of your child once they have exited the car.
• For the safety of everyone, our car line and parking lots are no phone zones. Please be fully present and aware of small children while in the car loop and/or parking lot.

Soccer Shots is an opotional extracurricular program that is offered right here at CWECC! See the flyer for more information and the QR Code to enroll in the first session, which begins September 2 and will take place after school every Wednesday until October 28. ⚽

Anyone coming into the building at any time other than the pick-up window of 2:10-2:37 must have BOTH the Family ID badge AND a state-issued ID (driver's license, etc.). This includes parents picking up late (after 2:37).

Please utilize the parking lot and do not park or leave your car along the loop curb. This is a fire lane and we cannot have cars parked or standing in a fire lane.

One Friday each month we participate in Freckles Fridays. This is a fundraiser for our school in which the students can have a small treat cup of Freckles Frozen Custard. The cost is $2.00/month, or it can be purchased for the entire year for $20. If you would like to order Freckles, please contact the front office for an order form. All orders must be placed by Tuesday of Freckles Friday week.

**Becuase of allergies, nutritional requirements, etc., we cannot allow any parent in the class or school to purchase Freckles for a child other than their own.**

Every adult entering the building must have a Family ID badge. If someone without a badge is picking up, they will need to stop in the office to scan their driver's license. Family ID badges are only to be used by the person pictured and named on the badge. Family ID badges are not to be shared.

Dismissal concludes at 2:37 and all students should be picked up by that time. If you are running a little late one day, please contact the office to let us know.

Daily outdoor play is part of our Early Childhood curriculum and is an important part of our school day. We will go outside every day, weather permitting. Please be sure your child is dressed for the temperatures each day, including tennis shoes for running and climbing. Before the cold temps arrive, it is a good idea to practice putting on and taking off a jacket with your child so s/he is ready.