What a wonderful time everyone had at the Get Acquainted Potluck! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. I want to thank everyone who came and shared a dish. It is always exciting to see the dad’s at the preschool! We have some dishes in the office that are unclaimed. Please stop by and pick it up if you are missing one.

The classrooms are transforming as we speak, getting ready for that special day at the end of October. We have a Halloween Parade on October 30, and 31 around 9:20 a.m. Please, no masks if you choose to have your child dress up. Mrs. Keri’s friends do not participate in the parade. Ask your child’s teacher about their procedure for this event. You are invited to stay and take pictures.

Northminster’s Parent Group is starting up the popular fund raiser we call ‘Pizza Day’. Once or twice a month you can sign your child up to stay for lunch bunch and they are served pizza and carrots and ranch dressing. Please make sure you sign-up for lunch bunch if you participate on Pizza Day and remember, we charge for lunch bunch. This is a fund raiser for the parent group but I still have to pay the staff for working lunch bunch.

Our open house will be on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity to see what your children have been doing in preschool since September. We hope to see you all there!

I have been asked by a few parents to remind everyone about parking lot safety. Please, Please, Please drive slowly when you enter and exit the parking lot. We have up to 95 children being dropped off or picked up on any given day. It would be tragic beyond anyone’s comprehension if a child were to dart out in front of a car going too fast in the parking lot.

I also would like to remind parents to sign-in and out every day. This is a state requirement as well as how we do our billing system. Please also remember at the end of the month, Korin and I read 140+ time sheets. Please make sure the times are legible and correct. We can only go by what we see on the sheet for billing purposes.

In regards to billing, we do not print out statements every month, in order to save paper. If you ever want a print out of your bill, or if you have a question about your bill, please stop by the office. We are always happy and willing to print a bill or show you the sign-out book in regards to your extended care total. If there is a mistake, we want to make sure to correct it right away.

We had a great Innisbrook fund raiser and it looks like the preschool profit will be a little over $1800.00. Thank you to everyone who participated in this fund raiser. I believe the orders should be back around Thanksgiving. School pictures should be back around that time as well.

I have seen a lot of donations coming in for the Carnival already. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The classroom bins for the silent auction baskets are in front of the classrooms with the theme attached. Your donations will help create a beautiful classroom basket to be auctioned off at the Carnival on November 15, 2008. Please have any donated items in the bins by Friday, October 31, 2008. The carnival committee is also looking for gift cards for the raffle on Carnival day. If you have a business or know of a business that would contribute a gift card or you would like to donate one, please stop by the office. We will give you a non-profit letter to take to the business as they can write the donation off. If you would like to sponsor a booth, we have those forms in the office as well. Thank you to those of you who have sponsored a booth already. We still have booths available if you are interested in sponsoring one.

As I walk around the school each day, I am reminded of all the efforts past and present that the parents have done to help make Northminster Preschool one of the best in this area. It is because of parents like you that we are able to look at our school both inside and out and be proud of both the physical plant and the teachers and staff who make it special. I am extremely grateful to be the Director of Northminster Preschool. We have an amazing group of parents, children and staff here. We are so blessed! Thank you for all you do as parents to make it a pleasure to do my job.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please stop by the office. If not, you can still stop by and say hello!