Creekwood ECC Chat

The fall will bring cooler weather and more opportunities for learning. Children will be participating in many wonderful fall activities in their classes. October will be busy with a book fair, parent/teacher conferences, and fall break.

Ashley Nix - Mrs. Ashley Nix is the Registered Nurse assigned to all three of the Early Childhood Centers. Nurse Nix travels around to all ECCs and is usually at Creekwood ECC 2-3 days per week, but she is always available if we need her.

Brandi Perry - Mrs. Brandi Perry is the Health Aide on site daily here at CWECC. She loves seeing and taking care of your littles everyday.

Vicki Yarnell - Ms. Vicki Yarnell is our building custodian. She keeps our building clean and ready for learning each day. Ms. Vicki is loved by our students and staff and we appreciate her hard work!

Our fall book fair will be held Oct 6-9 in our front hallway entrance. The book fair is only open during student dismissal AND from 4-7 during our October 7 parent-teacher conference night. We can accept cash, checks, and cards at the book fair.

Fall parent-teacher conferences will take place on Tuesday, October 7 and Monday, October 13 from 3:15-7pm. You will sign up for conferences with your child's teacher. This dedicated time is so you can come visit with your child's teacher about their progress so far this school year. We ask that you make every effort to attend conferences.

On Friday, October 31, students will be allowed to dress as a book character for school! Your child may bring the book where their chosen character is found. For safety reasons, no masks and no props that are violent in nature will be allowed at school.

Outdoor play is built in to our daily routines, and our outdoor spaces are designed to be extensions of our indoor classrooms. It is very important for young children to experience play outside as well as inside, therefore we will go out if at all possible. Unless the weather is severe, too wet, or too hot or cold, the children will be outside. As the weather is becoming cooler, your child may need a jacket for outdoor play. Please prepare to send outdoor wear with your child to school in the very near future. You may also want to switch out their extra clothes with fall weather clothes so they have something appropriate to put on if they need to change during the day. ALL CLOTHING (SHIRTS, PANTS, SHOES, JACKETS, HATS, GLOVES/MITTENS, COATS, HOODIES, ETC.) SHOULD BE LABELED WITH CHILD'S NAME.

Fall break is October 15-17. There will be no school during these days. Enjoy the fall weather and some fun activities with your child! There are some links for ideas below.

October 28 is the date for any necessary individual picture retakes as well as class pictures.

This year, your child is using an online program during the school day called Waterford SmartStart. Waterford SmartStart is a research-based, comprehensive preschool software curriculum designed especially for Pre-K. The program provides individualized instruction and is interactive with stories and songs. Waterford SmartStart complements the existing curriculum and helps teach early reading, math, science, and social studies concepts as well as executive function, creative arts, and health and physical development. This program can be accessed from both home and school. Just log in to your child’s Clever account. For students to get the maximum benefit from the program, we ask that you have your child log in at home 1-3 times per week. Your child will need your assistance getting started and staying on track for approximately 15 minutes. The program will guide you. We ask that you do not help your child with their work, as the program places them at the appropriate level based on your child’s knowledge and understanding.

Make plans to attend this parent information session and learn about the online program your child uses at school and can also access at home. Scan the QR code on the flyer to reserve your seat!

Thank you for your support of our only fundraiser! Every item sold helps fund activities, events, and items for our school. Online sales will close October 7. If your child has any tickets to redeem, be sure to send them in ASAP so they can collect prizes!

Products will be delivered to the school 3-5 weeks following the close of all sales. Customers who chose to have products shipped to them will pay shipping fees.

In order to protect the safety of all students and staff, no animals will be allowed in the school building. This includes dogs, cats, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, etc. Please leave pets at home during pick-up and office/classroom visits.

We realize our parking lot is very small and hard to maneuver. And we know it can be frustrating, especially when you are in a hurry. But please remember to be patient when entering, driving through, and exiting our lot. There are lots of small children walking in the lot during drop-off and dismissal.

• Do NOT ever block any parking spots.
• Stay alert and avoid distractions such as cell phones, etc.
• Cars parked in handicapped spaces MUST have proper documentation displayed.
• Turn right at the light to exit the lot when possible. This helps clear our car line and lot more quickly and efficiently.
• When dropping off a student in the car line, pull vehicle as far forward as possible before stopping to unload. This allows us to unload more cars at a time.
• The front loop curb is painted red because it is a fire lane and therefore a NO STANDING/NO PARKING ZONE. The only time the loop may be used by standing cars is during morning drop-off. At all other times of the day, the front loop fire lane may not be used to drop off students, pick up students, run into the office, etc., even if a driver remains in the car. Please utilize the parking lot spots at all times of the day other than morning student drop-off.

Our October Distance Learning Day will take place on October 10. Your child's teacher will notify you about the activities your child will be assigned for the day. We are required to take attendance every day, including on Distance Learning days. Be sure to check in with your child's teacher so your child is counted 'present' for the day. Contact the teacher if you have questions about this process.

Each year our teachers take a close look at student data and we work together to determine learning goals for students. We are currently working on these things: identifying the four basic shapes and counting words in short (3-4 word sentences). Our beginning of the year data indicated that our students need a little extra help in these areas, so we are working hard to achieve our first academic goals.

You can help at home! Here are some ideas...

Some fun activities at home to learn circle, square, triangle, and rectangle are: making the shapes with playdough, finding things around the house, during a drive, and/or in nature that have these shapes, and drawing the shapes.

Ways to help learn counting words in short sentences include: clapping one time for each word spoken (ex: The boy ran. The frog is green.), pushing an item such as a penny, an M&M, or a small block forward for each word spoken, and/or jumping up one time for each word in the sentence.

We know our students can quickly achieve these goals with your help at home. Once they meet these goals, we will move on to more difficult ones. We will update you on our progress each month!

Be sure to follow our school on Facebook! We post lots of reminders, pictures, and notifications for families throughout the year!