Celebrating 80 years of excellent early childhood education!

 

This year we welcomed 28 new families into our CSDC community.  We know from experience that the children aren’t the only ones going through an important transition. If you are a returning family, please take the time to reach out to other parents and help them feel at home.  One helpful source of information is our Family Handbook that is now available on our website. Many thanks go to the “veteran” CSDC parents who called our new families during the summer to welcome them to the community.  I have had the opportunity to meet many families, but do not hesitate to pop in to my office or email me to say “hello” and share your thoughts. We also brought on board many new UNH interns and teaching assistants who will add so much to the quality of our programs.

 

As part of the welcoming process we will be holding our annual Harvest Festival from 3:15-5pm on Wednesday September 23^rd here at CSDC. This is a joyous event for all families (including alums) in which we celebrate our hard work and play in the CSDC gardens and outdoors with scavenger hunts, music, hayrides, taste-testing, and a variety of fun activities. Come early as the parking will stretch all the way to the horse barns! This year we will be beginning with our Community Sing – so be ready to join in. Part-time families and alums are always welcome.

 

This summer we were able to have a couple of important facility improvements completed at CSDC. I can’t believe I was so excited about a new driveway and parking lot for CSDC! The work completed by UNH Facilities added some additional parking spaces, widened the driveway for buses, and solved a number of drainage problems. In addition, work was completed on the conversion of part of the nursery classroom into a confidential conference space we have dubbed the “studio.” The room will provide us with a private space for parent-teacher conferences and IEP meetings, as well as a place for visiting classes and tour groups. We also plan to use the space as a studio for small groups of children working on focused art projects.  Finally I want to thank the parents who helped after hours this summer to paint the CSDC hallway (David & Deb Bronson), nursery classroom (Trina & Erich Ingelfinger), and playground equipment (Trent Cavicchi).  Special thanks go to Dave Gagnon (Tracy’s husband) who helped on a variety of projects.

 

 After a year of discussions, including community meetings with parents, staff and other stakeholders, Warrenstreet Architects completed their work on a feasibility study for a new and expanded CSDC facility that would increase our child care capacity and move our work in the areas of teaching, research, and inclusive education to a whole new level. The study examined a number of potential building locations, explored our vision for a new center, and developed conceptual design ideas to assist with future fund raising. The proposed center would be located near the current site, include a renovation of the historic O’Kane farm house as an art studio and adult classroom, preserve the new playgrounds, and almost double our size.  Of course, the purpose of this report and the design materials is to begin the process of securing funds in the coming years – not an easy task given the current economic climate. My thanks go to those of you who contributed your feedback. There will be further opportunities to share your ideas in the future as we draw closer to making this vision a reality.  

 

 

After a successful year with our Early Sprouts nutrition research project in three of our classrooms last year, we have secured funding to continue the project in our full-time preschool 2 and kindergarten classrooms this year.  This project is a collaboration with the Health Sciences department and Child Study Center at Keene State College which involves weekly plant exploration and cooking activities with the goal of increasing enjoyment of eating vegetables. While the project focuses on two of our classrooms, the impact is being felt in our curriculum as a center as we expand our cooking repertoire and ideas for engaging children in projects with a nutrition focus.

 

The CSDC staff recently met at the UNH New England Center for our summer retreat to discuss and reach consensus on our annual goals for the year. These opportunities to spend time together as a staff are so important to being able to deliver a truly excellent program.  Our focus this year was on re-visiting some of the underlying core ideas about early childhood education, including our value of children’s play and the significance of the design of our indoor environments. We watched and discussed the new film: “Where do the children play?” which examines the growing over-scheduling of children’s time and a resulting de-valuing of extended time to engage in child-initiated play.   We plan to engage parents in this dialogue at our Fall Curriculum Night for all parents/guardians on October 27^th.

 

During the academic year the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meets monthly (Fridays from 8am-9am) to share feedback and ideas with Laurie and me.  I look to the committee for advice on a wide range of CSDC policies and share information about upcoming initiatives. Each of our eight programs has one or two representatives on the committee and I encourage you to participate.  After some “retirements” last year we have a great need of parent representatives from all the nursery programs and the infant classroom.  Additional reps from each of the classrooms is always appreciated too! Please let me or one of your teachers know if you are interested.  Even if you are not a representative you are always welcome to attend.           

 

I want to ensure you all that the CSDC is well-informed and prepared with regard to precautions and required responses related to H1N1 and seasonal flu. Expect to see an update in the next week. We also need your assistance with keeping your children safe while at CSDC. First, no engine idling or unattended parking is permitted at any time in our yellow fire lane at the front of the building. Nursery parents are permitted to park here for arrival and departure only, but must not leave their vehicle. Second, CSDC is a peanut and tree nut restricted environment because of the prevalence of life threatening allergies. Please check the family handbook or your teacher for further information on this policy.  Finally, please do not allow your children (including older siblings) to open any of our playground gates or the front door.  While we encourage independence at CSDC we really don’t want children to be encouraged to open our “child-proof locks”. Thank you for your assistance!

 

 

Harvest Festival: Wednesday Sept 23^rd, 3:15pm-5pm (Beginning with Community Sing on the front lawn)

Parent Advisory Committee: Friday September 25^th and October 23^rd, 8am-9am (all welcome)

Center-Wide Parent Curriculum Night: Tuesday October 27^th, 7-8:30pm (Child Care available)