September 25, 2025

Dear Families,

 

To coordinate with our All About Me Books, we are asking families to do a project at home. You will find a piece of construction paper and a glue stick in your child’s bag. Please make a collage about your child. You may include photos of your child and family members, and or pictures of your child’s favorite things. Images can be photographs, drawings, or cut out from magazines and glued onto the paper. We will laminate them and make a book at school. Feel free to email me a few pictures that you’d like to put in the collage if you do not have a printer. 

We have begun lessons from the Bridges PreK Math Program. Bridges is the same math program that is used by the other grades in our school. In the first unit during September, students have been focusing on sorting, counting, patterning, graphing, and comparing. We have made calendar markers, participated in counting games, and started exploring the math manipulatives we’ll be using this year. 

This month we have been learning about the life cycle of an apple. We have been reading many books including fiction and nonfiction titles, including: Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins, Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss, and My Apple by Kaye Davies and Wendy Oldfield. We made a graph comparing our favorite color apples and we have been  playing counting and sorting games about apples. At the end of this week we will be comparing apples in math and doing a class cooking project and making a book about it. Please send in an apple by Friday, 9/26 for your child to contribute. 

This year, our class is reading with Scholastic Book Clubs! You’ll have access to expertly curated, affordable books that help boost your child’s reading skills, build your home library, and maybe even create moments of quality time you can share together. The first order is due 10/3/25.

 

Plus place an order of $25 or more and you can pick a FREE $5 book (use code READS at checkout).

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/K3677

Shop Flyers: https://clubs.scholastic.com/all-flyers

 

Invite relatives and friends to help your child discover the joy of reading when you share our class page link. Every order benefits our classroom, helping us earn FREE books and resources that every child can enjoy.

 

Thanks so much for your support!

Thank you, 

Ms. Zayas

IMPORTANT DATES

10/10 NO SCHOOL - HSD In-Service

10/13 NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples’ Day 

10/15 School Picture Day

10/20 NO PreK ECP In-Service

11/3 Early Release @12:30 PTC

11/4 NO SCHOOL - PTC

11/11 NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day 

 September 12, 2025

Hello PreK Families, 

We are settling into our school routines and making new friends in PreK. All of the students have already made great strides and are happy at school. We are starting our classroom jobs as well. Students love having a task to do in the classroom. Each week on Monday we change jobs. 

The students are really enjoying their related arts classes each day. The schedule is as follows: 

Monday- PE with Mr. Ballou

Tuesday - Performing Arts with Ms. Frost

Wednesday - Art with Ms. Blair 

Thursday -  Art with Ms. Blair & Library with Ms. Grady 

Friday - PE with Mr. Ballou

Each month we usually cover two units of study that are related to the season or holidays in that month. Sometimes we also study topics because we have a high interest in a topic. This month, we will be made All About Me books and have begun learning about the life cycle of an apple. During each unit we read many books, do projects, have discussions, sing songs, and participate in other learning activities to build connections on a topic.

In our class, we use direct instruction to teach students to make good choices about their behavior. Social development is an integral part of PreK and school and affects all areas of learning. One of our main goals for students is to be happy, confident learners who can solve problems and work collaboratively with others. Being able to make good choices when they are alone and interacting with others is a BIG part of that.  In our classroom we have started learning about good choices to support their social-emotional behavior. We review the expected behaviors in all settings (school, home, community) and across the day. Clear, consistent expectations are paired with visual supports, and expectations are almost always stated positively. We also teach lessons from Second Step. This is a social emotional learning program used int he district that teaches concepts with puppets, story cards, songs, and role playing activities. Each week, we cover a new idea. 

Please make sure that you or your child’s caregiver give a wave or communicate with a staff member when your child is picked up from the playground. We want to make sure that all of our students get to the right place safely. 

Once a month on the late start days, PreK students DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL. The Early Childhood Program has In-Service for the PreK teams on those days. The dates for this year are as follows: 9/15, 10/20, 11/17, 12/15, 2/16, 3/30, 4/13 & 5/18. 

Thank you, 

Ms. Zayas

IMPORTANT DATES

9/15 NO PreK  - ECP In-Service

10/10 NO SCHOOL - HSD In-Service

10/13 NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples’ Day 

10/15 Picture Day

10/20 No PreK - ECP In-Service

May Newsletter

 May 12, 2025

Dear PreK Families, 

We have all been enjoying the sunshine this week after all that rain a week ago.

Although the variety was good for our science unit on weather. We did several science experiments, made weather observations, and read books on the topic. We read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw, Clouds and Rain by Marion Dane Bauer, Shapes in the Sky: A Book About Clouds by Josepha Sherman, Weather by Catriona Clarke, Rain, Rain, Everywhere by Christina Leeson,

and Rain by Manya Stojic. 

Our Teddy Bear visit with the HATC students was so fun and informative. All of our students had healthy stuffed animals. 

We have finished learning how to write all of the uppercase letters and have been practicing writing our names in a variety of ways. 

In math, we worked on an insect unit to explore symmetry; sequence events; order numbers; compare sets; create different combinations of 4, 5, and 6; and practice addition doubles.

Friday, May 16th is Walk to School Day. PreK students can participate with a parent or guardian who will accompany them to school. 

Next Tuesday, 5/20/25 there is NO PreK for teacher training. It is also the Kindergarten Screening Day from 8:30 to 9:30. Please let Ms. Cooney know if you will be attending with your child. 

Recently, a flyer for Camp Invention went home. Students who are entering Kindergarten next year are eligible for the fun camp that will be held at WRS this summer. Scholarships are available on a first come basis. 

You will receive more information soon about the special events happening at the end of the school year. 

Thank you, 

Amy 

IMPORTANT DATES

5/16 Walk to School Day 

5/20 ECP  NO PreK - ECP In-Service

5/20 Kindergarten Visit 8:30 - 9:30

5/26 NO SCHOOL Memorial Day 

6/6 ALL SCHOOL  Mountain Day 

6/17 ALL SCHOOL Field Day 

6/18 Last Day of School 

April News

April 9, 2025

Dear PreK Families, 

We have been busy in class. In March, we did an author study on Dr. Seuss, reading several of his popular books including: The Cat in the Hat, Fox in Socks, The Lorax, The Many Colored Days, and Green Eggs and Ham. We even made some green eggs and ham and ate them for snack. 

Students had fun during our dinosaur study. We read several nonfiction library books to learn facts about dinosaurs. We also made some projects, including: creating our own shapeasaurus dinos, making fossils out of dino tracks or mini dinos, and opening mini dino eggs. 

 

The students enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day in the classroom. We even had some leprechauns visit and make some mischief when we were out of the room. 

We also learned about owls. We read several great books including Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, Owls by Gail Gibbons, Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, and Baby Owls by Christina Leaf. We also  had our third visit from Miss Laurie, our nature teacher from VINS. 

Currently,we are working on a unit on communities. We discussed things that were important in a community too, such as homes, schools, roads, playgrounds and parks, rivers, police stations, hospitals, and stores. Then we made maps of our bedrooms, our school and we made a big map of our community. As a class we have discussed jobs and how people do work in the community. Then students will think about what jobs they want to do when they get older. During this unit, we read many books including: My Map Book by Sara Fanelli, Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney,   Where Are You Going Manyoni? by Catherine Stock, Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann, and Guess Who? by Margaret Miller. 

In math, we finished working on a robot unit in which we learned about shapes, sorting, patterning, counting, solving story problems, and collecting data. The students played many math games, worked with partners, read stories, and had discussions about these topics. 

Thank you, 

Amy 

IMPORTANT DATES

4/14-4/18 Spring Break- NO SCHOOL

5/20 ECP  NO PreK - ECP In-Service

 January 21, 2024

Dear PreK Families, 

We have been working hard on writing the numbers 1-10 and are finishing with our number books. You should see them come home in your child’s backpack soon. We have begun writing uppercase letters this week. We will work on about 2-3 a week and we will finish by April. 

We began the month learning about the season of winter and snow. We did many hands-on activities, craft projects, open art time, and science experiments about snow. We read many books, including: The Little Snowflake by Steve Metzger, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tressalt, Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman, Snowman’s Big Job by Janet Kusmierski, Snow by Cynthia Rylant. Next, we will be studying animals in winter. 

Today, we read All Are Welcome by Aexandra Penfold in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Then the students reflected on their dreams for the future. 

Your child will have received a Passport to Winter Fun  booklet by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. If you would like to participate in the program, you can fill in the booklet with the winter activities that your child does and then return it to school.  If you have an older child at WRS, the older child got the booklet and you can fill it out as a family. 

Next month, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day in our class on February 14th. We will have a card exchange and a special snack. Please prepare cards at home for your child to pass out to classmates. There are 12 students and 3 teachers. You can just have your child sign their name if they know how to do so, or an adult can write for them. You do not need to label them with each person’s name. 

Thank you, 

Amy 

IMPORTANT DATES

1/24 NO SCHOOL - Teacher In-Service

2/4 NO PreK - ECP In-Service

2/14 Valentine’s Day - Card Party

2/17-2/21 Winter Break- NO SCHOOL