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Volume 10, Issue 9, April 2010 |
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March Scenes
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In This Issue
March Scenes
Thoughts from the Prez
Mandatory Meeting Reminder
Spring Festival/Trike-A-Thon
Parenting from the Heart
Pre-K Update
Summer Camp 2010
Musical Matters
Important Dates
April 5-9: Spring Break
April 13: Picture Day 9:30am
April 16: Chancy & Bruce
April 21: Mandatory General Meeting & Board Elections 7pm
April 24: Cleanup Day
April 27: Restaurant Night at Round Table/Dippin' Dots
Full Year Calendar available at: www.hilltoppreschool.com/Calendar |
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Thoughts from the Prez
Greetings Hilltop families!
Spring is in the air! The weather is warmer and our children have ditched their sweatshirts for short sleeve shirts and shorts; the days are longer; and there is definitely a "new energy" buzzing around that comes with a change of season.
We have lots of springtime activities to look forward to:
• Spring Break - Monday, April 5th through Friday April 8th: Enjoy springtime fun with your family spending days at the peach, parks, swimming, camping, etc. We'd love to hear all about it from the children when they return to school.
• Picture Day - Tuesday, April 13th: Dress your little ones in their springtime best and no worries...there will be no painting on this day! If Tuesday is not your child's regular day of school, the class picture and their individual pictures will be taken first. Gratefully a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to Hilltop.
• Mandatory General Meeting & Board elections - Wednesday, April 21st: Election time is here...please consider this opportunity to serve on the Hilltop Board! This really may be the only time where you get an up close glimpse into your child's schooling. You actually are part of the discussion and of the planning for the school year. And besides...it looks good on a resume!
• Spring Festival/Trike-a-thon - Saturday, May 1st: a must attend event! This event is a Hilltop tradition with the headliner event being the Trike-a-thon where the children collect pledges and zip around the bike bath to raise funds for the school. Probably the second biggest draw is the Cake Walk, yum!! This event is truly a fun-filled family carnival.
• Amtrak Field Trip to San Juan Capistrano - Thursday, May 27th: Yet another cherished Hilltop tradition! Trust me; your children will love it! We take a train from the Santa Ana train station to San Juan Capistrano. We then take a short walk to Zoomars, a petting zoo with pony and train rides (or if you can convince them, there's lots of shopping downtown, good luck with that one...). Bring a lunch or there's a Ruby's right near the train station.
Just a reminder that fundraising is a part of the whole school experience, especially more pronounced in a parent participation school. Our tuition at Hilltop is comparatively modest but we will be experiencing a 1550% rent increase in the upcoming months. Yes, tuition will need to be adjusted (to be discussed at the Mandatory meeting on April 21st); however the burden will also be shifted to our fundraising efforts. Remember that currently fundraising dollars contribute to 20-30% of our operating income. Shona has put out an IMPRESSIVE list of fundraisers and it's so important that we participate. And NO, the fundraising money does not need to just come from your pockets. Tell your family, friends, neighbors, child's teammates, co-workers, etc. Every little bit helps and is much needed to sustain our wonderfully unique program. Just as important is that these events offer us opportunities to meld together as a community.
With that said, we'll see you all at the Spring Festival/Trike-a-thon on May 1st, our last big fundraiser of the year and this event will be the last opportunity to fulfill your Ways and Means obligations.
HAPPY SPRING everyone!
Love,
Lisa |
Pre-K Update
Sara  P.’s dad, Mr. Paul came to visit and talk with us about raindrops, where they go and about our water channel behind the school. The children showed off their knowledge of the water cycle and learned about how Mother Nature cleans the water for us. Check out the documentation in our exploring our surroundings book for the discovery that followed.
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Mandatory Meeting Reminder
Reminder: The April General Meeting is Mandatory - All Families Are Required to Attend
When: Wednesday,
April 21, 2010
7:00pm – 9:00pm
2010-2011 Board Elections
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Spring Festival & Trike-A-Thon
Our annual Spring Festival will be here before you know it! This FUNdraising event will take place on Saturday, May 1st from 11am to 2pm at Hilltop. There will be games, face painting, arts and crafts, raffles, lots of good things to eat and drink, in addition to our exciting Trike-a-thon event! You are welcome to invite your friends and family members to join us that day!
For the Trike-a-thon event, you will receive two forms – a permission slip and a pledge form. Please return the signed permission slip to Shona by April 30th. Every child needs a signed permission slip in order to participate in the Trike-A-Thon. When you and your child(ren) are asking for sponsors, please remember that the Trike-A-Thon is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. Family, friends, and neighbors can sponsor your child(ren). You will collect all the donations before the Trike-A-Thon, and the pledges will be due in to Shona by the day of the event.
The children will have time slots in which to complete their laps, with just a few children cycling at one time. The Trike-A-Thon cycling sign-up sheet will be posted onto the bulletin board during the week before the event so you can schedule your child(ren)’s laps. Please remember - this the 2nd of only two mandatory fundraising events. 100% participation is required.
Thanks for your support of this FUNdraiser!
Thanks,
Shona |
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Parenting from the Heart
As you may recall, Lynette and Alissa recently became certified "Parenting from the Heart" instructors and are now ready to teach their first course here at Hilltop! This course is based on the work of Ty and Linda Hatfield and centers on the belief that parenting is supposed to be fun. During this six week course, Alissa and Lynette will share many fun and uplifting parenting skills that will create powerful changes in your family.
This inaugural course will run six Fridays from April 16th to May 28th (skipping May 7th) from 6:30 to 9:30pm at Hilltop. The cost is $295 tuition for one, or $395 for two people. The tuition includes all supporting course material.
To sign up, please fill out the enrollment form available at Hilltop at the sign-in station. |
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Summer Camp 2010
 Our Summer Camp program is back for 2010! The summer program will run for five weeks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 A.M.- 1:00 P.M. Each week of the camp will have a different theme:
- June 29,30 July 1 - Nature
- July 6,7, 8 - Art Week
- July 13,14, 15 -Cooking
- July 20,21, 22 - Sports
- July 27,28, 29 - Green Week
This is a non co-op program and will be mixed age grouping with eligible children from 2 years 9 months
(potty trained) to 6 years. Parents who do wish to co-op are eligible for a discount of $30 per day (some
limitations apply). There will be up to four co-op spots available per day.
Registration for current families will begin Wednesday, April 21 at the mandatory General Meeting.
At that time you will be able to sign up for any two weeks of your choice and you will
also be able to sign up to co-op the same days. We are limiting the initial sign ups to
two weeks so that everyone has the opportunity to participate. If there are still open spots
after May 19th (the May General Meeting), you may sign up for as many weeks as you would like.
 Sign ups for future Hilltop families will begin on May 5th; the same two week limit applies
to new families as well. New parents cannot co-op until you have attended a parent in-service
but you can always stay with your child if you would like. If you are a new family, please pick up
an enrollment packet and have it completed by the week of June 1 (or download it from the Hilltop website).
- Fees: All fees are due by June 4, 2010 in the folder marked Summer School or send to PO Box 8847, Fountain Valley, CA 92728-8847
- Cost per week : $90
- 30 slots available per week
- Co-oping parents get a discount of $30 each day you work.
- Complete enrollment packets are necessary for summer camp.
If you have any questions feel free to
speak to any one of us. We are looking forward to fun in the sun!
-Lynette, Sara B, Malia, Sara P, Alissa, and Jennie
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Musical Notes
Hello Everybody,
 Happy Spring! Now that spring had sprung, we’ve started doing the ‘Green and Blue’ chant in class. Have your children been “boinging” around the house? The first line of this chant: ‘Smells so green and skies so blue” – of course did not fit the first time we did it; the skies were gray. So we improvised: ‘Smells so green and skies so gray, Spring has sprung, hip hip hooray!”
Speaking of improvisation, your children are masters of improv. Given the opportunity, they are eager to add verses and even make up their own songs! Some of the songs we’ve done lately that have brought out LOTS of suggestions:
- One Little Owl – the children prefer a STRONG oak tree to an OLD oak tree
and they love putting all sorts of things in it!
- Good News – the cat, the dog, the train, the bunny and the purple polka-dot
puppy named Sunshine are all coming!
- Tingalayo – We’ve done this song over the past two weeks. Try singing it with
your children and ad libbing about the animal friends you know…
Pumpkin and Coco, come little guinea pigs come!
Cozzie and Persie, come little dog and cat come!
My guinea pigs squeak, my guinea pigs hide
My doggie barks and my kitty hides
These wonderful improvisations are just one way your children are demonstrating their developing musical skills. I hope you will join in with them, and try some of your own.
Have a wonderful Spring Break! I look forward to seeing you all in two weeks.
Keepin’ if Musical!
Ms. Kindel
P.S. – A few families have asked about Music Together Parent & Child classes. Registration for our Spring semester is now open. Visit my website at www.beachmesamusictogether.com for class schedules and registration information.
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