Dear Parents,

I am posting this newsletter early because we have a very busy week for the first week of December, and with Thanksgiving so late, I wanted to make sure everyone has a chance to read our newsletter and mark your calendars. I hope all of our families and staff have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your families. As a reminder, we will be closed on Thursday and Friday, 11/28 & 11/29 for Thanksgiving. I also want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to our families who will be celebrating the “Festival of Lights” this week.

Peppermint Tree Secret Holiday Gift Shop, December 2-6 , 2013

When we return on Monday 12/2/13, please be sure your child comes to school with their shopping list and a little spending money to participate in our “Peppermint Tree Secret Holiday Workshop”. The shop will be open (in our school office) all week to allow the children to pick out inexpensive gifts for their immediate family and pets. You should have received the notice and shopping list by now in your child’s backpack.

This is an opportunity for your child to participate in giving gifts this holiday season – not just receiving. They will also experience the process of shopping (counting money out and receiving change, and working within a budget).

For the holiday shop, we have purchased a quantity of small, inexpensive gifts suitable for immediate family members, grandparents and dog and/or cat pets, ranging in price from $1.25 to $3.00. If you wish your child to participate, send in whatever you deem suitable in a sealed envelope with the completed form. On your child’s regularly scheduled day, he/she will “shop” with their class for each person listed on their form. This will be an exercise in decision making and money handling. We will also be discussing the concept of thinking about others. All gifts will come home wrapped and tagged. Wrapping paper will be made by children.

If you have extra clean plastic grocery bags, please send some in, as we use these to send home all the wrapped gifts from the shop.

Pajama Days for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Thursday and Friday, 12/5 & 12/6

On Thursday and Friday, 12/5 & 12/6 your children are invited to wear their pajamas to school in honor of children with Leukemia and Lymphoma, who are stuck in their PJ’s day after day because they are sick. We will be teaching the children about the importance of giving to those who are in need. If you are able to send in a small donation, please explain that you are doing so to your child, so they can feel proud that their family is helping out the sick children. No donation is too small. I will email to all parents a letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All checks are to be made out to: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Thank you for supporting the many opportunities we provide our children and families during this season of giving!

Pajama Night on Friday, 12/6 is full to capacity–However, we will take names for a waiting list if you did not yet respond.

This is a very popular event with limited space. We do keep a waiting list, and ask if anyone has signed up and changes their plans to please let us know so we can contact a child on the waiting list.

LAST CHANCE to order – APPAREL SALE-Get your Peppermint Tree Stuff!

Our sale of Peppermint Tree T-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. is coming to a close. All orders should be in to us by NOVEMBER 27th, in order to assure items arrive in time for the holidays. (However, we will extend to the first couple of days in December—so get your orders in please!!!) 100% of the proceeds go to materials and enrichment activities for the children. Thanks for your support!!! And, thanks to parent volunteer Karen Donohue and local business Farro’s Tees (Fischer Blvd.) for partnering with us on this!

Kindergarten Class Sing Along – Wednesday, December 18th at 10:30 a.m.

Mrs. Sullivan’s Kindergarten class will be holding a holiday sing along event for the children and parents of that class. Please mark your calendars and watch for an invitation in your Kindergarten child’s backpack soon.

Thank you! We donated 71 pounds of food to the Monmouth/Ocean Food Bank!

I am sure we helped many families have a plentiful holiday. Thanks for all your generous donations.

Annual Flu Shots:

As per the State of New Jersey requirements, all children who attend Peppermint Tree who are under 5 years of age, must get an annual Flu shot, before December 31. Please send in proof of this vaccination for your child’s file.

Buy a Mr. Scott the Music Man’ CD or DVD for your child for the holidays!

Your children know and enjoy many of the songs when Mr. Scott visits The Peppermint Tree each month, and they can enjoy his music at home, too! His music get’s kids off the couch and movin’ & groovin’…just perfect for cold days when the kids are stuck inside.

We have the CD’s on sale at The Peppermint Tree at a special price of $10.00 each, and the DVD is $15.00. If you would like to order, just write me a note or send an email, call me, or stop in the office. You can pay in cash or by check made out to “The Peppermint Tree”. We will send you the CD or DVD home the next day. (We will wrap it up and sneak it into your child’s backpack if it is a surprise…just let me know if it is.) You can visit Mr. Scott’s website to listen to samples of the music and to decide which one you might like to purchase. www.mrscottmusicman.com

Our next Strengthening Families Group Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Please join us to plan family friendly activities, like the Thanksgiving Feast we all enjoyed this past month! All parents/guardians and staff are welcome. Child Care is provided at no charge during the one hour meeting.

Class Lists

At the request of many parents, beginning in January we will publish a class list for each classroom, sharing the phone number and an email address of all those who would like to share this information with other families in your child’s class. This will help facilitate play dates and informal meet ups at playgrounds, etc. We will send home a permission slip for the class list participation soon. Please watch your child’s back pack for it.

Calendar Notes

We will be open for child care only during the winter break, Monday, December 23, Thursday and Friday December 26th & 27th and Monday December 31st. We will be closed for all children and staff on Tuesday, December 24th, Wednesday December 25th, and Wednesday, January 1st. If your child follows our Peppermint Tree calendar, the child care days are included in your monthly tuition. If your child follows the Toms River Schools calendar, and you need child care during this week, please let the office know so we may save a space for your child, and adjust your bill for the additional day(s).

Inclement Weather

In case of snowy or icy conditions, please check our website announcement on the home page, or your email box for updates about school opening on these days. We also provide this information to WOBM radio “Storm Watch” and change our outgoing phone message. We make every effort to be open, however the safety of our staff and families are our first concern. As a guideline, if The Toms River Public Schools have a delayed opening or are closed due to inclement weather, the earliest we will open is 8:30 a.m. This will give us time to get our driveway and walkways plowed, salted and sanded and determine if we will delay further or have to close for the day. There are no refunds or credits for inclement weather closings.

For safety on the playground: Please no hats with long scarves attached.

We have noticed a number of very adorable hats this year that have long scarves attached on each side, and some have mittens at the bottom. We do not allow scarves at all on the playground, as they are hazardous on playground equipment. (Can get caught in the swings, or wrapped around a child’s neck.) So, I am sorry to say that we need to ask you to send a different hat, if your child has been wearing one of the hats with the attached scarves. Thanks for your understanding.

Parent Reminders:

• Label Everything. If item is not labeled, we may label it for you. This includes lunchboxes, jackets, sweaters, mittens, hats!
• Mittens ONLY/ no gloves, no scarves.
• No strings on jackets or hoodies.
• Dress your child in layers. We go outside every day that it is 32 degrees or higher, and not precipitating.
• All children must go outside with their group. If a child is too sick to play outside, then they should stay home from school to rest.
• Please observe our “No Parking” zones: At the foot of our driveway and along the yellow curb in front of the school. Even if it is not a school bus stop time, we do not want to have cars parked in front of the school, because cars come around the Princess Street corner very quickly, and could swing too wide and hit a car parked there. And, at the foot of our driveway, there is not enough room for a parked car and cars to go by in two directions. Also, cars swinging into the driveway do not have enough room to avoid a possible collision with a parked car there. THANK YOU!! This is for everyone’s safety!