Graduation Ceremony & End-of-the-Year Celebration -
Friday, May 17th @ Cabbagetown Park:
The Graduation Ceremony and the End-of-the-year Celebration are both scheduled for Friday, May17th at the Cabbagetown Park. This is a family event for both campuses and we would love to see you all there.
The Graduation Ceremony will begin at 9:30am at the Amphitheater in the Cabbagetown Park. All children and families from both multiage classes are invited to participate in the ceremony. The ceremony will take approximately one hour.
Following the Graduation Ceremony, all children and families from the Cats and Ladybugs classes will join us for the End-Of-The-Year Celebration at 10:45am in the same place. The Celebration will begin promptly at 11:00am at the Amphitheater. Both events will end with a picnic lunch under “Mulberry”. Cake and drinks will be provided by the school. Each family will bring their own picnic lunch.
Early arrival will be offered at the Cabbagetown Campus for ALL children from both campuses. Melissa will be at CT to welcome the children arriving between 8 and 9am. If you are planning to participate in the End of the Year Celebration and your schedule permits, please join us at the designated starting time as stated above. If you need your child to be at school at 9am, please drop your child off at the CT campus. Classroom educators from both campuses will be there to welcome your children. ALL children from both campuses will be at the CT campus on this day. Pick-up at 1:00pm will be at Cabbagetown Park. If your child is staying for Extended Day, educators will transport them back to their respective campuses. Please talk with your classroom educator to discuss your plan for that day.
Specific details about the flow of the day for your child’s class will be coming out soon from your educators.
Rain Plan for Graduation Ceremony: in the event of rain, we will proceed with the plans for the Graduation Ceremony in the Sanctuary at St. Paul United Methodist Church. The children and families from both multiage classes will meet at the Grant Park Campus at 9:00am. The ceremony will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 followed by cake and ice cream on the side of the Sanctuary.
Rain Plan for end-of-the-year Celebration: in the event of rain the plans for the celebration will be replaced by a special lunch in your child’s classroom. In this case it will be a regular school day for Cats and Ladybugs at their respective campus.
Farm to Preschool – Warm Meals:
As I shared in my March letter, we have begun a pilot program to launch warm meals at GPCP. So far we have been practicing in the Swans class, with Ellie’s expertise and knowledge. In the last few weeks, we have also made some strides with the pilot program, setting up school-made warm lunches at GP campus. Children from the Swans class are sharing positive feedback, showing an encouraging reception of this new endeavor from the children and parents points of view. We are also creating a committee to support us with the implementation of this program. If you are interested in joining the committee, please email us at . The first meeting for the Farm to School committee will take place on Tuesday, May 14th from 1:30 to 2:30pm at the GP campus.
Ellie’s letter below gives you a glimpse of what we have been doing:
“I want to start by thanking you all for all the questions and feedback about hot lunches. The more feedback we get the more we know how to accommodate the food interests of the children. It seems like everyone loves the beans the most. We have had several parents ask for the recipe and I am so excited for you all to make the beans at home because they are so easy! I just cook them over night in a Crockpot and I use Rapunzel seasoning. You can find it at the DeKalb Farmer’s Market, Wholefoods market, or Sevananda. I usually season the vegetables and starch with a combination of coconut oil and Herbamare seasoning (which you can find at the same locations above). I use these seasonings because I believe they really enhance the flavor of the vegetables instead of mask them. I am so excited to see the children trying all the new foods and they have been very open about what they like most.
Next year we hope to serve hot lunch five days a week. In the spirit of a cooperative we want to invite parents to join the farm to school committee where we can discuss farm to table and farm to school opportunities. We would also love for parents to start compiling some simple recipes we could follow in class such as quinoa salads, vegan coleslaws, and curries. As we get more into cooking we will keep you updated on what the children are eating and what their favorites are. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns and please consider joining the farm to school committee so that we can advance our programming.
Thank you! Ellie Martin, Naturalist”
Educators Exchange Day - Thursday, April 26th
Last week, our school hosted an Educator Exchange Day at the Cabbagetown Campus to share some of our work from this year. The experiences shared through the presentations are a good summary of our work this year, in connection to our Declaration of Intent and our school-wide focus as collaboratively developed during the annual retreat at the end of last summer. Looking at the presentations, I felt proud of the experiences that take place at our school every day and I am very appreciative of the efforts and dedication on behalf of our educators.
The exchange was well attended and we received positive and encouraging feedback from the educators who participated in the event, as well as constructive criticism. The educators who attended the event came from different schools, including Druid Hills United Methodist School, The Preschool at All Saints, Peachtree Presbyterian, Highland Plaza UM Preschool, Turning Sun School, Westminster Pres. Day School, The Nest, St. Anne’s, a student from Oglethorpe University and two professors from Georgia State.
Here are some of the reflections shared by our colleagues from other schools:
“Your sense of belonging is evident and the strong relationships you value and are constantly building is both inspiring and impressive.”
“Thank you goes to all the educators from both campuses on the professional way they interacted with all the visitors. You should be so proud of the aesthetics of Cabbagetown Campus! It was clear that hard work and interesting work and thinking are happening here.”
“Thank you so much for a delightful day! The presentations were strong, the school well organized and welcoming, and educators kind and open to sharing. Loved parents ‘voice’ in presentation and panel.
Strong use of children’s voices and strong images in presentations. The gifts were lovely!”
“Thank you for sharing your space and for having such a strong image of the child.”
Sharing our work with educators from other schools is a positive and powerful strategy that keeps us motivated and supports our professional growth. We feel empowered and re-energized to continue with our work. We also feel hopeful about continuing to make a change in early childhood education. As I often say, “let’s keep pushing up” and continue to fight against the pressure that comes from above J.
Open Chair and Board Positions:
GPCP is looking for parents to fill some open chair and board positions for the 2013-2014 school year. To learn more about the open positions and or to express your interest in joining the board, please emailour Board President, Rebecca Wallace at or stop by to see me.
Kindergarten Visits:
Each year we visit the neighborhood schools our children will be attending as they move on to Kindergarten in the fall. A small group of children attending each school, an educator and I will visit each school, together with those parents who are able to join us. On Tuesday, May 7th we will visit the Neighborhood Charter School and we will go to Parkside on Tuesday, May 14th. We will notify you as soon as we schedule the visit to Wesley, This is a strategy that supports the transition for our oldest children as they move onto this new and important chapter in their lives.
CALENDAR
Graduation Ceremony: Friday, May 17th at 9:30 a.m. at Cabbagetown Park amphitheater
End of the Year Celebration: Friday, May 17th at 11:00 a.m. at Cabbagetown Park amphitheater
Last Day of School for Children: Wednesday, May 22
Post-Planning day for educators: Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24
School Closed: Week of May 27 through 31
Summer Camp Mini Session @ CT Campus: Week of June 3 to 7
Summer Camp at GP campus and CT campus begins: June 10