I bet everyone is ready to enjoy the spring
weather. It is such a wonderful time to
celebrate new beginnings. In the spirit of spring time, I have some very
exciting information to share with you!
Carriage House was awarded a chance to secure a $100,000 Capital Challenge
Grant from an international organization called the Kresge
Foundation. Only seven other
organizations in this region have been awarded a grant from Kresge
in the past decade.
“…Carriage House was
awarded this challenge grant based on its outstanding record and reputation for
quality and its plans to incorporate environmental sustainability in the
facility and programming”.
Rip Rapson, President
Kresge
Foundation
But, this is a challenge grant with a July
2008 deadline. To secure the grant we have to raise the
balance of capital campaign for the renovation, which amounts to $325,000 in
pledges. We are pleased to tell you that
we have already raised $179,000 of this goal.
But we have a long way to go in raising the difference of $145,000 by
July.
Starting next week, Carriage House will be launching
a major community pledge drive. Carriage
House will be asking our parents, grandparents, past parents, community
members, Wightman School Alumni, corporations and foundations to make either
one-time gifts or multi-year pledges. That means Carriage House needs your help. If you know of anyone else that can help,
please let us know.
The money raised will close out the capital
campaign and put our organization in the financial position to put into motion
some very long-awaited plans. These
plans include:
1) a math &
science environmental-based Pre-K curriculum,
2) enhancing our music program,
3) improving compensation packages for teachers, and
4) creating a scholarship program.
Please make a multiple-year pledge in support
of the Kresge Challenge; the sum of which will move
us closer to our challenge goal. (The
pledge card is attached to this email and available in the office).
I know the cost of quality early childcare
can be difficult for our families. But,
like all non-profits, Carriage House must also bring in outside revenues to
support anything aside from daily operations, which is supported by your
tuition payments. That is why any
contribution from you is so greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Natalie
NAEYC Re-Accreditation
Sharon
Amick, Assistant Director
Our
staff is proud to have an accredited program through the National Association
for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) since 1986. This year we are pursuing our seventh
re-accreditation. I would like to share
one facet of this process that teachers are working extremely hard to complete.
Each
classroom is required to develop a Classroom Portfolio, which provides
evidence of how the classroom is meeting the NAEYC standards. The NAEYC standards define what constitutes
quality in child care programs. Working
on the portfolios has been a very intense process. However, it has allowed the
teaching staff to record and demonstrate just how well we meet the standards
and provide a high quality learning experience for your children. We are excited to share these portfolios with
you. Once we receive our site visit by a
NAECY Assessor, we plan to display our portfolios in the lobby for everyone to
view. We hope the portfolios will give
you a better understanding of our educational goals, our curriculum, and the
quality of our program.
Currently
we have submitted our candidacy materials and are waiting to receive a date for
our site visit. We anticipate our visit in May, June or July. We will keep you posted.
Kitchen News: Healthy Diets
Nora Runco, Kitchen Supervisor
Over the last several months we have been working with a Mrs. Moira
Gledhill, a certified nutritionist and parent here at CHCC, to make
improvements in our food program. Moira
has been very helpful in assisting us with making simple changes that will add
fresh and minimally processed foods to our menu. Even our finickiest eaters are enjoying these
changes:
1)
Milk is now from Turner Dairy Farm, which supports
55 local farms and does not use recombinant Bovine Somatotropin
(rBST) growth hormone.
2)
No more canned veggies! All vegetables are either fresh in season or
frozen. Sugar snap peas seem to be a
favorite in the Twos Room where Ari showed them how to open them and find the
peas inside.
3)
No more instant mashed potatoes. Fresh potatoes are used instead.
4)
Whole wheat sandwich bread, hot dog buns, pastas
along with whole grain brown rice are now being used.
Please share any comments or suggestions by stopping in or sending a
note to me in the kitchen.
The Green Note
Bob Michel, Building
Manager
Carriage House will
be submitting our application this month to the US Green Building Council’s
LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Existing
Buildings. We are hoping to receive gold
level certification! Here is a list of our most recent environmental
accomplishments:
1) Don’t
worry about all that salt you saw used in the winter time. It is non-hazardous and is called Greenscapes.
2) Our custodial
staff has been trained on green cleaning and all products used are EPA
approved. 3) All bulbs on the 2nd and 3rd floor are being
replaced by energy efficient lamping.
4) All batteries,
print cartridges, and lamps are being recycled.
5) All office
supplies purchased are now environmentally friendly.
PTO News
The staff
appreciation dinner was a smashing success.
We had a record turnout of parents and staff. Thank you to everyone for your support and
appreciation!
Remember the Plant Sale is taking place. Order forms are due back on April 28th. And, the plant pick-up occurs on May 8th.
Michelle Birkenfeld is
the new coordinator the BOX TOPS for
Education program board. Special thanks to
Keep saving these BOX TOPS...There is an envelope
on the PTO bulletin board where you can deposit them.
School and Activity Calendar
Tuesday, April 22nd – Election Day
Monday, April 28th – Plant sale orders due
Month of May – Year-end conferences, room parties
Tuesday, May 8th - Plant sale
delivery
Monday, May 26th – Memorial Day- Center Closed
Thursday, May 29th – Last Day of Preschool
Friday, May 30th – Transition Preparation – Center Closed
Monday, June 2nd – First Day of Summer Camp
Friday, July 4th –Center Closed
Wednesday, Aug. 27th – Last Day of Summer Camp
Thursday, Aug. 28th – New School Year Prep – Center Closed
Friday, Aug. 29th – Staff Inservice
Day–Center Closed