Dear Families,

How is it April 1st already?! Time flies when you’re having fun!

April is National Month of the Young Child, and we will be celebrating at the Ocean County Children’s Festival at Toms River Library on April 9th, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Peppermint Tree students’ artwork will be on display in the Children’s Art Show that will be on display in Mancini Hall (in TR Library) during the event, and we will also be offering a craft activity for community children.  Mr. Scott the Music Man will be performing at 2:15 p.m.- so please mark your calendar and don’t miss all the fun!

Miss Val is the chairperson running this community event- and our staff members are volunteering to make it a success.  So, we really hope we will see you there!!

We have lots of activities coming up, so please read on…

Happy Spring to all!

Sincerely,

Miss Val

Parent Group Meeting – via Zoom- Tuesday, April 5th, 8:00 p.m. – All Welcome. Please join in! (Note: Second meeting set for  April 28th at 8:00 p.m. to plan our May 14 Garden Planting Party.)

Let’s plan to connect together as we welcome spring, and take the opportunity to discuss how we can best meet your needs.  We are finalizing our plans for our “Crafty Recycling Night”, and we will also be introducing a self care opportunity, offered to Peppermint Tree parents by parent and Yoga instructor, Janna Hockenjos.   If you have any questions, ideas, or topics for discussion you’d like to submit in advance, send them my way: val@pepperminttree.com.  We will send a Zoom ink out by email before the meeting.

Please Plan to Come: Family Crafty Recycling Night – Monday, April 11th: 5:00 pm-5:45 pm for Miss Alyssa’s and Miss Liz’s classes; and 6:00 pm-6:45 pm for Mrs. Hamilton’s and Miss Caren’s/Miss Elexis’ classes- And please collect recyclables!

The whole family is invited to work together to create “your favorite thing from nature” out of recyclable items.  This is a great opportunity for creativity, engineering, and fun!  It’s also great for the Earth to reuse items, rather than throw them out – as we learn in our “Reuse, Reduce Recycle” study!  Please save items like paper towel rolls, bottle caps, boxes, etc., and bring them with you to add to our collection.  You can also drop them off earlier that day or the Friday before the event.  Peppermint Tree will provide duct tape, yarn, crayons and markers for the fun.   The event will be held outdoors on the playground.  We will announce a rain date if it’s rainy.

Spring Break: We are CLOSED Friday, April 15, and we are open for Childcare only (no classes), April 18-22, for those following the Peppermint Tree Calendar in Miss Liz and Mrs. Hamilton’s classes.

Spring Break is coming, and we are all hoping for some wonderful weather!  Please note we are CLOSED on Friday, April 15th (no childcare or classes).  The following week, 4/18-4/22, is not included in the tuition for those following the Toms River Schools calendar, so we are only expecting those children who follow the Peppermint Tree calendar in Miss Liz’s Preschool class and Mrs. Hamilton’s PreK class.  If your child follows the Toms River Schools calendar, and is in Miss Liz’s Preschool class or Mrs. Hamilton’s PreK class, and you need child care, please call the office to schedule an extra day(s) for your child.  The Early Learners class and Miss Caren’s/Miss Elexis’ PreK classes are closed.  There is also no school age child care during Spring Break.

Mr. Scott the Music Man  – The Silliest One in the Land!

Mr. Scott the Music Man will be continuing to visit to share his love of Music and Movement with each classroom.  His upcoming visit will be on Thursday, April 28th.  (And don’t miss his Free Mancini Hall performance at Toms River Library – fun for the whole family, on Saturday April 9th, at 2:15 p.m., as the finale to The Ocean County Children’s Festival.)

Family Garden Planting Party, Saturday May 14th – Please Mark your calendar, and watch for more details.

Families are invited to help us plant and launch our gardens.  Each classroom will have their own assigned time to come in and plant together.  Thank you to parents Janna and Chad Hockenjos for donating all our seeds and seedlings this year!!

Mark your calendars: Pre-K End of Year Celebrations – Tuesday, June 14, 2022: 10:00 a.m. for Mrs Hamilton’s Class & 11:00 a.m. for Miss Caren’s/Miss Elexis’ Class

This year we will be holding our end-of-year celebrations for Pre-K, outdoors in our parking lot.  Children will present a musical program and the children will receive a certificate of completion.  We will hold a separate celebration for each classroom.  Families are invited.  Please mark your calendars.  Since it is an outdoor event, we will plan a rain date for Wednesday, June 15.

Registration for Summer Camp and the 2022-23  School Year

We are just about fully booked for Summer camp!  We hope everyone that wanted a spot has already registered!  If you have not yet registered, and want a spot, we recommend that you call the office to see if there is room in your child’s age group, and then, to get onto the waitlist, register online at  https://www.pepperminttree.com/registration/

After you click “submit”, don’t pay the camp registration fee when it takes you to PayPal (if we can not offer a spot in camp at this time).   We will send you an email regarding your place on the waitlist for camp.

Space is still available for the 2022-23 school year.  If you have not yet reserved your child’s place in school for next year, please register now, so we can be sure to meet your scheduling needs.  Use the same registration link, and pay the $150.00 registration fee via PayPal after submitting your form.  https://www.pepperminttree.com/registration/

$25.00 Referral Tuition Credit – for each family you refer to Peppermint Tree (once they register)

Is your family enjoying all of The Peppermint Tree activities?  Is your child benefiting from the loving care and enriching education we offer?  If so, please spread the word about Peppermint Tree!  We will reward you, if you do!

“Word of Mouth” is our best form of advertising!  And, we truly appreciate your spreading the word about Peppermint Tree to your friends, family and neighbors.  We offer all of our current families a tuition credit of $25.00 for each new family you refer to Peppermint Tree.  Once they pay their registration fee, we credit your account $25.00.  There is no limit to the number of credits you can earn!

Payment for Session 1 of camp and the final school year payment are both due on June 1st.

We wanted to bring your attention to the fact that payment for the first session of camp is due on June 1st, when the last school payment is also due.  For budgetary reasons, many families plan ahead for this by starting to make payments toward camp early.   You may feel free to make early payments, even if with a partial payment.  As with the school payment, there is a grace period until the 15th of the month before a late fee is assessed.  You may wish to pay the school payment on June 1st and the camp payment by June 15th – that is also acceptable.

Calendar Notes: The last day of school is Wednesday, June 22, 2022

• Since we were closed for two snow days, the last day of school has been pushed back to June 22, 2022. (Our School Age Before and After School students had a third snow day, so their last day is Thursday, June 23.)
• Session 1 of Summer Camp starts  on Monday, June 27th.
• Thursday, June 23 and Friday June 24 are not included in the school or camp tuition, however, we are offering a “mini-camp” for those who need childcare on those days.  Tuition will be charged on a per day basis, for those who need those days.  We will offer signups for mini camp soon.
• The last day of camp (last day of Session 3) is Friday, August 26th.
• We are closed (no camp, school or child care) August 29th-September 5th.
• The first day of school will be Tuesday, September 6th, 2022

Family Reminders:

• If your child is here after 2:00 p.m., please be sure to pack an afternoon snack, and if your child is here after 5:00 p.m., pack a second afternoon snack.  School Age After children also need to pack an afternoon snack.
• Please do not send in candy – we do not serve candy to the children at Peppermint Tree. Please save that for home.
• No sippy cups – children may send in a water bottle, but other than that we use disposable open cups.  Sippy cups tend to harbor too many germs so we do not permit them.
• Please do not park at the front of our driveway, forward of the school.  There is not enough room at the end of the driveway to allow others to safely pass.  Pull in, go around the circle and pull up as far as the front edge of the building, to drop off at the front doors.  Thank you!

As always, I want to thank you for spending this school year with us.  If you ever have any questions about the school or camp, your schedule, etc., please feel free to call the office at 732-929-2500.  You can contact your child’s teacher directly with any classroom-related questions.   Enjoy the Spring weather!

Sincerely,

Miss Val

Valerie Frost-Lewis, MS Ed.

Owner/Director

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