News You Can Use 1.13.2019

News You Can Use 5.31.2022

May 31, 2022 By Communications Coordinator

Hello Wonderful Patti’s Families,

Happy Memorial Day and June Happenings!

I hope you are all having a fun three day weekend, even if the weather isn’t cooperating! At least we had a lovely day we on Friday with extra playground time to enjoy the sun.

We hope you all enjoy the extra day off while Patti’s is closed for Memorial Day on May 30th.

Thank you to all the families who were able to attend our Paint-a-Pot evening last Thursday. After over two years it was so nice to have families back in the classroom! We know some families could not attend and also appreciate the families who contributed to our fundraiser by purchasing take home Paint-a-Pot kits – all proceeds will go to the Patti’s Play Center Scholarship fund. An extra-big thank you to Patti’s Parent Board President, Christine Shakleton, who put this fun event together!

Next Saturday, June 4th, Patti’s will be holding a playground playdate for current families and an Open House for new & prospective families. Please join us from 10-12 on the playground and pass the invitation, along with the attached Patt’s flyer , on to friends and neighbors with kiddos who will be 2 & 3 in September!.

June 4th is also the Youth Theatre Northwest Spring Carnival at Rotary Park from 10-2. YTN has extended a special discount to Patti’s families for $5 off carnival tickets, Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Our last day of school is Friday, June 17th. All of our Patti’s Play Center families are invited to join us on the playground for an end of year celebration! There will not be a lunch bunch on the last day of school and pick up will be from the playground. We will have food, drinks and special treats. A sign-up sheet will be sent out next week – we hope everyone can join us and participate!

Cheers,
Jennifer

News You Can Use 5.17.2022

May 31, 2022 By Communications Coordinator

Happy Spring to all our Patti’s Families,

It is hard to believe we are counting down the last five weeks of the school year! We are excited to be able to bring back our Spring Paint a Pot community event and fundraiser and hope you can join us on May 26th from 5:30-7 for a crafty potluck! There have not been many opportunities for our Patti’s Families to come together the past two years and we look forward to bringing back this fun evening. All funds raised will be added to the Patti’s Play Center Scholarship Fund. The $15 per child registration fee also includes all supplies. Siblings are welcome, but space is limited so please sign up soon! Here is a link to the Google form that Patti’s President, Christine Shakleton, created for the event: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRT9yrBL4UH44Syzt3Zc49ONWFkRpI0oVl12_NXMYfY/edit#gid=0. Payments can be made in cash, by check to MIPCP, or by venmo to @Christine Shakleton.

We also have a Playground Playdate and Open House scheduled for Saturday June 4th from 10-12 and would love for you to join us. Patti’s still has some space open Tuesday-Friday for the fall, and as we will be doing classroom tours and providing registration information for the 2022/2023 school year, please help us by telling any families you know with Patti’s aged kiddos about the Open House. You can also forward the attached flyer to any local friends or groups who might have kiddos who would be interested in learning about Patti’s Play Center.

You may know that we share our campus with Youth Theatre Northwest (YTN) and they are holding their Spring Carnival from 10-2 on June 4th at Rotary Park, so you can drop by Patti’s Open House and then stroll over for some Carnival fun with YTN! https://youththeatre.org/on-stage/spring-carnival/?preview=true

Patti’s End of Year Celebration will be held on the playground after the last day of school on June 17th from 12-1. We will have snacks and treats and hope to see all our Patti’s families, including those who do not attend on Fridays.

A Housekeeping note: At the beginning of June you will receive an invoice that includes both May and June. We need to have any lunch bunch requests for June by May 25th, We will not be able to accept any lunch bunch or drop-in requests after that date. If your child is on our weekly lunch bunch list we will not be able to refund any schedule changes after May 25th.

We enjoyed the spring sunshine on the playground yesterday and today – it made a lovely change from the rain we had last week! We hope to have more sunny days over the next weeks, but given the frequent weather changes please make sure your child comes to school with a jacket that can withstand playing in light rain. We get outside as much as possible, and some days the weather changes abruptly while we are out on the playground. We do not want anyone to be uncomfortable when those raindrops start to fall!

Thank you all for being a part of the Patti’s Play Center Classroom Community!

Cheers,

Jennifer Cathey-RobertsDirector, Patti’s Play Center

News You Can Use 04.29.2022

April 29, 2022 By Communications Coordinator

Hello Wonderful Patti’s Play Center Families,
We hope you all enjoyed spring break, it has been wonderful seeing how excited our friends were to return to the classroom this week! There is a lot going on over the next few weeks so I wanted to provide some news about changes and opportunities.
Some of our Wednesday families had the opportunity to meet our Teacher Neng who joined our Patti’s Team this week. Teacher Neng will be joining Teacher Dezreen and Teacher Jennifer on Wednesdays, please join us in welcoming her to our Patti’s Classroom Community!

As of this week, masks are now optional at drop-off and pick-up, provided you are only in the Patti’s Play Center entrance area or on the playground end of the parking lot. Masks are still required in the building hallways and in the spaces we share with EDS (between the school building and the playground). Masks are also now optional on the playground for teachers and EDS students. EDS has also made masks optional in their classrooms for children and teachers. At the current time Patti’s teachers are continuing to mask during most classroom activities. I will be removing my mask for circle time, it has been very helpful already this week for demonstrating some of our calm breathing activities and with our songs and stories about feelings and how our faces show our feelings. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about masking policies.
This Saturday, April 23rd, is Patti’s Parking Lot Yard Sale, the proceeds will be used to set up a scholarship fund for Patti’s! Our wonderful Parent Board President, Christine Shakleton, has been collecting donations for the yard sale. If you still have something you would like to donate please email Christine at pattispresident@gmail.com. To help make the yard sale a success we also would love for you to volunteer some time on the day as well as spread the word about the sale. Christine has created a SignUpGenius form for volunteers:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0845abac2da2f94-pattis We also hope our families will all come and shop! We have had lots of wonderful donations big and small for both kids and adults!
Patti’s Play Center is currently looking for Parent Board Members for the 2022/2023 school year! Returning families as well as alumni families are welcome to join. This is a fun way to make a big impact on Patti’s Play Center by committing a small amount of time, there are many roles available. It is also a good way to get to know other Patti’s Play Center Parents. Please reach out to Christine (pattispresident@gmail.com) if you have any questions about serving on the Patti’s Play Center!
A request from the Patti’s Classroom: We need a few extra pairs of 3T/4T pull-on pants for our spare clothes bins, well-worn and stained are fine, we want things that kiddos won’t want to keep.

We also can always use plastic target or grocery store bags for diaper changes, they are getting hard to find! If you have some sitting around please send them in. Thank you!
The MIPA Circus is back on April 30th! This fun event is being held at the Mercer Island Community Center from 10am-2pm with fun activities and entertainment for all ages, there is even a petting zoo! Patti’s is hosting a booth to share some sensory activities our kiddos always enjoy! One of our Patti’s Parents, Christine Christenson, is coordinating volunteers for the event and sent this information:
Volunteer link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448abad28a5ff2-mipa4

COME ONE, COME ALL TO MERCER ISLAND PRESCHOOL ASSOCIATION’S 54TH ANNUAL CIRCUS!!

SATURDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2022 10 AM – 2 PM

Join us April 30th from 10am-2pm at the MI Community & Events Center for a day of games and fun! Enjoy the entertainment and games with your kids, visit the petting zoo, and then grab a bite to eat at the food trucks. This will be an indoor and outdoor event, weather permitting.

We can’t wait to clown around with you!

What Circus is all about:

Connection

Being a parent is hard. Being a parent throughout a pandemic is harder. Our goal for Circus is to reconnect with & celebrate our MIPA community.

Support

They say “it takes a village” and, this year, we learned how true that is. We hope you’ll leave Circus feeling supported by fellow parents, preschools, and island businesses who care about our kids.

Joy

We want you to leave smiling. We plan to give you moments of playful connection that will have your family giggling.

Wonder

A good magician never reveals his tricks. We’ve all got different ideas & experiences up our sleeve, and Circus gives us an opportunity to marvel at all that we can accomplish together.

Entertainment Schedule:

10:30 am Nancy Stewart

10:45 am Bubble Man

11:15 am Creation Dance Studio

11:30 am Mercer Island Martial Arts

11:45 am Dani & the Bee

12:45 pm Reptile Man

We’ve got more in store for everyone!

Be sure to check back soon for more updates from your Ringmasters!

Ticket information:

All ages are welcome, tickets are required for kids ages 2 through 11. Adults and kids 12+ are free.

MIPA Members: $15

Non-MIPA Members: $18

Want the member discount ticket price, but not a MIPA member yet? Not a problem! It’s not too late to join and have your membership count through next year! Join on the membership page.

Petting zoo tickets are $5 per child, ages 1 and up.

MIPA Member Circus Tickets

Non-MIPA Member Circus Tickets

Parking will be limited at the Community Center. Please plan accordingly.Coming up in May we will also be holding another Saturday Playground Open House as well as bringing back one of our traditional family events: Paint a Pot. More details on dates and times will be coming soon!
Thank you to all of our families for your support and for sharing your wonderful children with our classroom community!

Cheers, Jennifer
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News You Can Use 02.19.2022

March 7, 2022 By Communications Coordinator

Hello Lovely Patti’s Families,

Patti’s will be closed the week of February 21-25 for mid-winter break.

Teacher Michelle, Teacher Rosey and I hope that our Patti’s friends all have a wonderful week with their families and we look forward to welcoming everyone back when we reopen on February 28 for our Dr. Seuss Week!

After wrapping up our Zoo theme (have you heard your kiddos singing about the Crocodile and the Orangutan?), we celebrated friendship and kindness, as well as Valentine’s day. We have talked about being a good friend and about sharing, giving everyone space, and using gentle hands. We have read lots of stories about our favorite friends, including Maisy, Elmer and Llama Llama.

Our friends also did a mosaic art project celebrating a special artist during Black History Month. I have attached a picture from that art project, our special Valentine snack and our rainbow water bead sensory table. Please also see more info about the artist whose work we honored, Alma Thomas.

On Saturday March 5th from 10-12 Patti’s Play Center will be hosting a Registration Open House and Playground Playdate. We will be gathering on Patti’s playground and offering tours of the classroom for families interested in joining us for the 2022/2023 school year.

We would love to have some of our current families join us as well, and would appreciate it very much if you could help spread the word to your friends and neighbors!

Have a wonderful week!
Cheers,
Jennifer

Alma Thomas (1891 – 1978) was an African-American expressionist abstract painter and art educator. Miss Thomas was an Art teacher at a Washington D.C. Junior High School for 35 years. After retirement, Miss Thomas fully dedicated her time to her painting. She debuted her abstract work in an exhibition at Howard University 1966, at the age of 75. For this exhibition, she created Earth Paintings, a series of nature-inspired abstract works. Miss Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972 at the age of 81, and she exhibited her paintings at the White House three times.

We celebrate Ms. Thomas and her joyful, colorful abstract expression!

New You Can Use 2.03.2022

February 4, 2022 By Communications Coordinator

February Greetings Patti’s Families,

January was a busy month at Patti’s. Our kiddos came back to snow and winter themed activities and then moved into our dinosaur theme, which is always a favorite! We read about different dinosaur sounds and features, as well as some silly dino stories, and created different dino art and even created our own fossils. This week we have moved into our Zoo Theme, but also celebrated the Lunar New Year with a story at circle time as well as by making mosaic lanterns and Year of the Tiger crafts. Zoo theme will continue next week and then we will celebrate kindness and friendship for Valentine’s week before Mid-Winter Break.

2022/2023 registration is now open at Patti’s Play Center! If you are interested in enrolling for next year please return your Reservation Request Form soon, our priority registration period has ended and we have already received a lot of new family requests. Sunnybeam and other area preschools are accepting dual reservations for 2022/2023 which gives families more options. Please reach out with any registration questions.

Mid-Winter Break is coming up and Patti’s will be closed from February 21-25. If your family will be away before or after Mid-Winter Break please let us know.

Patti’s is currently at full enrollment on all days and we have many requests from families to drop in an extra day. It helps us and your fellow classmates if we know when children will not be attending and can open a drop in for another family. It is also very helpful for us to know who not to expect at drop-off in the morning.

If you have heard your kiddo talking about circles or spots it may be because Patti’s Play Center received a fantastic donation this month. We were gifted a new rug which is helping our friends find good spots to sit at circle time (pun intended). Ask your kiddo what color they sat on at circle time! We want to encourage them to choose a spot and stay there during stories so everyone has room. Rest assured our stories are brief and we incorporate movement into all our circle times. I have attached a picture of our new rug (modeled by my 2nd grader) and one in action during circle time with Teacher Rosey.

Mercer Island Preschool Association did not hold their traditional Preschool Fair this year and has instead asked area schools to provide a current parent who is willing to serve as a liaison for interested new families who may have questions. Please let me know if you would be open to be our parent representative for MIPA, it would be most appreciated!

Cheers, Jennifer

Phone: 206-232-4453