First Day of School

Greetings Patti’s Families,

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the Open House. It was wonderful to meet our new families and see how much our returning kiddos have grown over the summer!

We are excited about the first week of school and welcoming everyone to Patti’s!  The first week is a busy one, so I wanted to send some information that will be helpful, as well as some questions that will help our teachers better serve your children. 

There is a lot of first week information so please read through all of it, we want the first week to go smoothly for everyone.

Registration Forms:

Please make sure you have filled out and turned in all the required paperwork. Christine Shackleton, our wonderful parent board president, and interim registrar has been sending email reminders about missing forms. 

Most importantly, we lease our space from Emmanuel Church, and they require the Covid Release Form to be filled out prior to the first day of attendance at Patti’s. I do not want to turn anyone away, so I will have extra copies available at drop-off. 

What to bring the first day:

If your child is in diapers, please bring at least a week’s supply of diapers in a Ziplock labeled with your child’s name. If your child is potty-trained, or in the process, please send a spare set of clothes, ideally two sets of underwear and bottoms. Accidents, or sometimes just toileting mishaps, are common in the first few weeks. We have spare clothes, but children are often more comfortable with their own clothing.

Please label all spare or removable clothing (sweatshirts, sweaters, jackets, hats, etc.)

Parking and drop-off:

Patti’s uses the south parking lot of the Emmanuel Church Campus on 86^th Ave SE. There is a Patti’s placard at the entrance to the parking lot. We share the campus with other organizations and have each been assigned a parking area so please park in our assigned lot. 

Teachers will be outside to start the day at 8:55. We will meet the children at the top of the steps leading to the preschool building. We will have a handwashing station set up each morning. We will greet you, do a quick temperature check and then children will wash hands and line up against the building. When we have a few children, or a lull in arrivals, one teacher will walk the children to the classroom while we wait for the rest of our friends. One teacher will remain outside waiting for any remaining arrivals until 9:10. If you arrive after 9:10 please call the classroom or walk to the window and a teacher will come out to greet your child and bring them to the classroom.

If your child will be absent, please email pattisplaycentermi@gmail.com or call the classroom phone, (206) 232-4453, so the teachers know not to wait for your child.

Pick-Up:

Your children’s artwork (if they chose to do art) will be waiting for you on the clothesline north of the blue doors at the bottom of the ramp. At 12pm we will escort the children down the ramp using a ring-rope and line up by the blue door before releasing students to their pick-up person. We will be teaching the children to keep holding onto their ring all the way down the ramp, then waiting to hear their name before running to their parent. We want to make sure everyone stays with the class until their pick-up person is present, especially during the first weeks while the teachers are still working on matching children and parents/grandparents/nannies. Please let us know if your pick-up person changes.

Lunch Bunch:

We will begin offering lunch bunch on September 13^th if there is enough interest. Please fill out and return the attached questionnaire. Once lunch bunch is established, then drop-ins will be available.

Separation Anxiety:

For many of our students Patti’s is their first group learning experience and separation anxiety is natural for both children and parents and our teachers are experienced with helping with this.  We want to support your family and your child in this new experience and have attached a questionnaire about separation anxiety.

Please feel free to email me at pattisplaycentermi@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.  I would appreciate it if you could complete the attached survey and either email it or bring it with you on your first day at Patti’s.

We can’t wait to see you all at Patti’s Play Center!

Cheers,

Teacher Jennifer–