We will create a safe environment that prioritizes genuine connections, school-family relationships, and learning through purposeful play.

March 8: ALICE Drill

March 14: Things That Go Literacy Night (5-7pm)

March 15: Fire Drill

March 21: Earthquake Drill

March 22: Mass Screening Day, No School for ECC (different than the rest of the district)

March 25-29: Spring Break

I can't believe it is March! Where has the school year gone? I guess the old addage is right, "Time flies when you're having fun!", and boy do we have fun here at the ECC! Having a play based curriculum makes it very easy to have fun in our classrooms. You may be thinking, "If you have a play based curriculum are kids really learning?". The answer is YES! Hopefully you just attended your child's Winter Parent Teacher Conference and saw your child's developmental growth. Our teachers purposefully plan play to meet 37 different measures for developmental growth. These play experiences are not "one size fits all" as teachers are also scaffolding play to meet the child at their developmental level as well as providing the opportunity for growth. Want to know more? Reach out to your child's teacher!

We had special visitors last week from our friends at the Excelsior Springs Elks Lodge who have partnered with the Early Childhood Center for the past four years with a grant they apply for through the Grand Elks Lodge. Over the years, the Elks Lodge has provided over $15,000 worth of learning materials directly into our classrooms. Each year, Rene Sisk leads her crew on this project. She connects with the ECC to determine the needs of each teacher in the building, we prepare and list and off they go! This year, we had fewer items that were all high quality, expensive materials that will be durable and long lasting in our classrooms. These items directly tie into some professional development we have been working on with well-known child & play advocate, Lisa Murphy. THANK YOU, Excelsior Springs Elks Lodge!

It is time to start thinking about next year! Current students will automatically roll over and do not need to schedule a screening. If you have a younger sibling at home or friends and family, please share this with them!

If you have a child who will be 3 or 4 by July 31st, we would love to schedule a screening at the Early Childhood Center! Our mass screening date is March 22nd, to set up an appointment, please contact Kim Simonitis at 816-630-9297 or ksimonitis@ga.essd40.com.

Completing a screening is the first step to enrolling your child at the ECC! It is not a pass-or-fail test, it is a developmental snapshot of your child. The screening and the information from parents, help us in creating balanced classrooms for a great year! The ECC serves students of all ability levels.

If you are unable to make it that day but need to be screened, please give us a call!

The Early Childhood Center has two programs. Our half-day program serves any Excelsior Springs child who is preschool-age eligible. Our full-day program is our Head Start program. It is a federally funded program that has additional requirements we must adhere to for enrollment. Head Start requires an additional application appointment. Below is an idea of the qualifications, if you are interested in learning more or scheduling your application appointment, please reach out to Chelsea Lane at clane@ga.essd40.com or 630-1484.

We had a great turnout for winter conferences despite the flexibility needed for Chiefs Parade Day! It was a great day of connecting, celebrating, reflecting, and collaborating to meet each child's needs for the rest of the year. We enjoyed a delicious baked potato bar prepared by you all & it was a big hit! We will have one more round of conferences (different than the rest of the district) in May!

Mark your calendar for Thursday, March 14th for a unique and exciting Literacy Night at the ECC! We are welcoming "things that go" to explore outside (police car, fire truck, construction vehicles, farm equipment, etc) face painting & literacy activities all around! The event will run from 5:00-7:00 pm. In the event of inclement weather, we will cancel the outdoor portion and hold the inside events. If you have a vehicle of some kind that you think kids would like to explore, please reach out to Chelsea Lane (clane@ga.essd40.com) for details.

We have been welcoming parents into our classrooms based on information from our parent survey! We look forward to growing and expanding these opportunities and appreciate your willingness to join us!

Below is a reminder of our parent survey in regards to your interests, expertise & more for volunteering in the classrooms! We are looking forward to offering meaningful ways for parents to be present in our classrooms. You can find the survey here: https://forms.gle/9rfbGU2dKJgdMYFeA

If you have questions, please contact Chelsea Lane at clane@ga.essd40.com or on LG!

If your student is sick with vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, please keep your student home for a full 24 hours with no medication and no symptoms before they return to school.

Does your child need a dentist? Call 816-321-3241 to set up an appointment! This dentist office is located right inside the Early Childhood Center!

Swope participates with most all major dental insurance companies and is a medicaid provider. A sliding scale can also be used as a payment option.

Attention all Tiger families: Please note that school will now be in session on April 15, 2024, a change from the previously scheduled day off. This day was originally scheduled as a day off and a potential make-up day for staff professional development. However, due to the "Red Snow Day" we utilized to allow our community to participate in the Chiefs Super Bowl Celebration, we find it necessary to make up these instructional hours.

This adjustment ensures we meet our state required 1044 instructional hours and supports our students' learning needs during this crucial time of the year. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and flexibility. For any concerns, please contact the school administration. Thank you for your cooperation!

The Tier 1 team is working to solidify our building matrix and working on getting banners ordered and hung throughout the building. Discussions about how to make this work on the playground has also been in the works. With the help from our Maintenance Dept. we are hoping to hand weather resistant boards outside that will have matrix and various playground expectations. We are looking forward to presenting at the PBIS Summer Institute.

It is the expectation of the Excelsior Springs School District that all children that enter Kindergarten be potty trained. We want to share this expectation now so that families can begin planning on how they may transition their child to meet this expectation if they are not already potty trained. Potty training is the job of the family, although we at the ECC will do our best to support families as we are able.

The ECC is a community partner and strongly believes in a school-family relationship. We are committed to working as a team to help support the whole child. We create a safe and loving environment that allows for genuine connections that support children in their educational experiences to be their authentic selves. Children learn through purposeful play by exploring with a variety of experiences that inspire questions and wonderings that are relevant to the world around them. Teachers facilitate meaningful opportunities that reflect children’s needs and desires, while fostering children’s self-confidence and independence. We at the ECC are committed to seeing the best in each other, our students and their families. We’re glad you’re here!

Contact the ECC at 816-630-9297 or visit www.essd40.com for building and district information