Spring Newsletter
Dear Families,
I am reaching out with a Spring Newsletter here, that covers from now through the end of the school year, because it seems like once we get to April – it just totally flies! And we have a lot of things coming up, so I want to make sure you all mark your calendars so you don’t miss anything. Happy Spring everyone! We can’t wait for the warmer weather!!
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Chick Hatching Event starting May 2nd!
On Monday, May 2nd, we will begin our Chick Hatching event right here on-site at Peppermint Tree. The farmer leaves us with 12 eggs in an incubator…then the children will see the eggs hatch and the baby chicks entering the world right before their eyes! A most exciting experience! (We’ll be hatching some baby “Earth Friends!)
Earth Friends Continues Each Week
I hope by now you have seen our emails and heard your children talk about our Earth Friends lessons with Miss Janna (in the Preschool and PreK classrooms). “Miss Janna” is Janna Hockenjos, a Peppermint Tree parent who has a passion for our planet and for young children – and she has developed a curriculum to teach our young learners all about Earth, its inhabitants and to care for them with love. She is piloting the curriculum here at Peppermint Tree and the children are just soaking it all up! She is coordinating our gardening program with the curriculum so the Earth Friends learning will culminate with the hands-on experience of caring for the garden and growing food. How wonderful is that?! Thank you, Janna!
To add to our emphasis on learning about the earth, we have now also added an outdoor classroom space, on the side section of the property – check it out!
Mr. Scott the Music Man – The Silliest One in the Land!
Mr. Scott the Music Man will be visiting each month to share his love of Music and Movement with each classroom. His next visit will be on Friday, April 12th. He will also be here on Monday, May 13th in the evening for our family celebration that includes a Toy Swap and ice cream! His last visit for the school year will be on Tuesday, June 4th. Mr. Scott now has his first episode of a new TV Show available. It can be found on his website, along with the “Earth Friends” song (lyrics by Janna Hockenjos) Go to: https://www.mrscottmusicman.com/
Closed for Memorial Day, May 27th, 2024
The Peppermint Tree will be closed for all students and staff on Monday, May 27th, 2024 in observance of Memorial day.
June Payment Information: Payment for Session 1 of camp and the final school year payment are both due on June 1st.
We wanted to bring your attention to the fact that payment for the first session of camp is due on June 1st, when the last school payment is also due. For budgetary reasons, many families plan ahead for this by starting to make payments toward camp early. You may feel free to make early payments, even if with a partial payment. As with the school payment, there is a grace period until the 15th of the month before a late fee is assessed. You may wish to pay the school payment on June 1st and the camp payment by June 15th – that is also acceptable.
As a reminder, our school year tuition is annual, broken up into ten equal monthly payments (September through June). So, please remember that on June 1st, you still pay a full school payment, even though school ends on June 13. You benefited from this when there were five weeks in a month and your tuition did not go up. This allows both you and the school to budget an even amount each month for tuition. Any students not returning will have their security deposit subtracted from their June bill. Quarter Day students were required to prepay the June payment, so there will be no payment due in June if you prepaid it.
Listing of all our Family Events:
Kindergarten Readiness Parent Workshop via Zoom, Wednesday, April 17th at 8:00 p.m. via Zoom - this is a chance to learn how to best help your child feel ready to start kindergarten.
Ocean County Children’s Festival, Saturday, April 20th 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Toms River Library, both inside the library and outdoors at the Courtyard. Theme is “What a Wonderful World”.
Peppermint Tree will be offering an “Earth Friends” related activity along with Janna Hockenjos – we will be offering a seed planting opportunity-for the children to plant and take home! We will also have children’s art on display – including the children of The Peppermint Tree. Children will also be able to make a musical instrument to take home and to use in the finale performance which will be a family sing along at 2:30 p.m. inside the library. There will be LOTS of activities! Miss Val is the community chairperson for the Children’s Festival event- please mark your calendars and help us celebrate young children and have a blast together!!
Please help us to collect recyclables to make the musical instruments and send them in, clean and dry to the school before April 16th:
1. Plastic bottles
2. Bottle caps
3. Jar lids
4. Cardboard tubes
5. Formula canisters
6. Coffee cans (with no sharp edges )
7. Tissue boxes
8. Buttons
Thank you!
Parent Group Meeting – via Zoom- Tuesday, April 23rd, 7:30 p.m. – All Welcome. Please join in! (Please note date change)
Let’s plan to connect together as we welcome spring, and take the opportunity to discuss how we can best meet your needs. We are finalizing our plans for our “Family Gardening Party”. We will send a Zoom ink out by email before the meeting.
Family Garden Planting Party, April 27th , 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Open House- come any time during the party to plant with your child.
Families are invited to help us plant and launch our gardens. Thank you to parents Janna and Chad Hockenjos for donating all our seeds and seedlings this year!! Sarah Strazzella is organizing snack and other party needs donations. See our email with the link to sign up to bring something. Thank you to our helpful parents!!
Toy Swap, Ice Cream Social and Mr. Scott the Music Man show, Monday May 13th, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. This will be a celebration for the end of the school year and a culmination of our Earth Friends curriculum. Bring one clean and lightly used toy – and each child can pick a different one out to take home! This is better than buying one – it’s free and each child gets to try a new toy! More details to follow!
Multicultural Morning Fair, Saturday morning, June 1st, outdoors on the Peppermint Tree playground. The parent group will be planning this event to allow us to share our many rich cultural backgrounds. Families can share foods, music, make a cultural display, or share any tradition or cultural activity with our community. More information will follow!
Pre-K End of Year Celebrations – Thursday, June 6, 2024: 10:00 a.m. outdoor ceremony for both Mrs. Hamilton’s Class & Miss Kelly’s Class
This year we will be holding our end-of-year celebrations for Pre-K, outdoors in our parking lot. Children will present a musical program and the children will receive a certificate of completion. Families are invited. Please mark your calendars. Since it is an outdoor event, we will plan a rain date for Friday, June 7th. (Bring your own folding chairs)
Calendar Notes: The last day of school is Friday June 13, 2024 (we added one day to make up for the snow day)– Please read all of the below for more calendar information
· Session 1 of Summer Camp starts on Monday, June 24th.
· The days between the last day of school and the first day of camp are not included in the school or camp tuition, however, we are offering a “mini-camp” for those who need childcare on those days. Tuition will be charged on a per day basis, for those who need those days. We will offer signups for “mini-camp” soon.
· Camp is CLOSED on Thursday, July 4th.
· The last day of camp (last day of Session 3) is Friday, August 23rd.
· We are closed (no camp, school or child care) August 23rd-September 4th.
· The first day of the 2024-25 school year will be Thursday, September 5th, 2024. (Same day as Toms River Public Schools’ first day of school)
Family Reminders:
· If your child is here after 2:00 p.m., please be sure to pack an afternoon snack, and if your child is here after 5:00 p.m., pack a second afternoon snack. School Age After children also need to pack an afternoon snack.
· Please do not send in candy – we do not serve candy to the children at Peppermint Tree. Please save that for home.
· Please do not park at the front of our driveway, forward of the school. There is not enough room at the end of the driveway to allow others to safely pass. Pull in, go around the circle and pull up as far as the front edge of the building, to drop off at the front doors. Thank you!
As always, I want to thank you for spending this school year with us. If you ever have any questions about the school or camp, your schedule, etc., please feel free to call the office at 732-929-2500. You can contact your child’s teacher directly with any classroom-related questions. Enjoy the Spring weather!
Sincerely,
Miss Val
Valerie Frost-Lewis, MS Ed.
Owner/Director
