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Message from Leadership

Happy November, Little Cats!

As we begin to approach the midway point for the year, we wanted to share our school-wide goals. This year we have created two W.I.G.s. A W.I.G. is a Leader in Me concept that stands for Wildly Important Goals. Our first school W.I.G. is that Clark ELC will increase our average attendance rate by 10 percentage points by May 2025. We have been tracking attendance data with students and classrooms as whole for the past 8 weeks to support this goal. Thank you for your continued support with getting our Little Cats to school each and every day.

And our second school W.I.G. is that Clark will increase the number of student-led events from zero (0) to two (2) by May 2025. Clark's Fall Fun Night in October was the first of these student-led events. It was wonderful to share this experience with so many of you.

We appreciate all of your help as we tackle these goals during the 2024-2025 school year.

Warmly,

Caitlin Smith + Kerry Lindstrom

🦃 Upcoming Dates:

November 25- Fall Conference Balance Day - No Classes

November 26-29- Thanksgiving Break - No Classes

December 23-January 3- Winter Break - No Classes

Staff Spotlight ⭐

Bailey Allen- School Psychologist Assistant

How many years have you been in education?

3 and a half

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Meteorologist

What is your greatest accomplishment?

Working on my doctorate while having a baby

What makes you smile?

Seeing joy in others

What is your favorite thing about Clark Early Learning Center?

How much everyone cares and how much they love our students

Little Cat Learning ✏️

Math, Science, & Technology Connection- I Spy

Materials: No materials required

Steps:

Explain to children how to play “I Spy” by picking out something in the room and then describing it by saying “I spy something (name a color).” Once children understand how to play, begin by describing a new item by color. If they can’t guess it, then give them another hint by describing the shape. If they need extra hints, narrow down the location by telling them it is on a specific wall. Try to limit the clues to only color and shape so they focus on those two characteristics only.

Take turns with children. Use a variety of different colors and shapes to describe items in the room.

Colors: Red, Purple, White, Orange, Violet, Gray, Yellow, Brown, Violet, Green, Black, Silver, Blue, Pink, Gold

Shapes: Circle, Rectangle, Square, Cone, Triangle, Pyramid, Oval, Cube,

Let children know that this will be the last turn and then bring the activity to a close.

Extension:

Play “I Spy” on one page of a book.
Cut out shapes from colored construction paper and put them around the room. They will be very obvious to you, but the children will still find it fun and challenging to find the shapes you are describing.
This game tries to get children to focus on just two things: color and shape. You
can play using other kinds of attributes, such as height and size.

🍁 Fall Fun Night 🍁

Thank you to all the families who came out to Clark's Fall Fun Night on October 23rd. We had over 120 families in attendance! The night had a fall, literacy focus with student-led activities in each classroom. Families also had the opportunity to move around to stations with different community partners, including- the Springfield Promise Neighborhood, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Springfield Fire Division, and Kids Read Now.

Attendance Corner 📋

Dismissal Procedure at Clark

Clark dismissal times are at 11:00 for an AM half day student and 2:55 for PM half day and full day students. Clark’s policy is that parents must pick up students by the designated dismissal time. It is considered a late pickup if parents:

Pick up a student enrolled in AM half day after 11:30 AM
Pick up a student enrolled in PM half day or full day after 3:16 PM

When picking up a child late, parents will sign the child out.

Late Pick Up Protocol:

Clark ELC’s protocol requires that students must be picked up by the designated dismissal time. When this does not occur, it is documented in our office.

After 3 late pick-up incidents, you will receive a warning letter.
After 5 late pick-up incidents, you will be required to meet with our principal or a member of our leadership team.
After 7 late pick-up incidents, your child will be removed from the preschool program.

Leader in Me 🌳

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind

Have a Plan!

1. I plan ahead and set goals for myself.

2. I am prepared at all times.

3. I think about how the choices I make will affect my future.

4. I think about the positive and negative consequences before I act.

Family Activity:

Use the questions below to write a family mission statement. Then post it somewhere that every family member can see it and read it daily. Preschool suggestion- As a family, cut pictures and words out of magazines to represent things that are important to each member of the family.

What does our family want to be known for?
How do we treat each other?
What big goals do we want to achieve?
What are 5 things we like to do?

The Little Cat Ledger 🐾