February Newsletter

Dear Families,

IT IS TIME… to register now (if you have  not already done so) for the 2026 – 2027 school year, and for Summer Camp 2026.  

(Camp is full for some age groups already at this point-so please call ASAP if you have not yet registered, to see if we can save a spot for your child!) We have received so many registrations that we are still working on processing them to fit as many children in as we can.  Now that the in-house priority period is over, please be patient in waiting for your registration confirmation. 

All currently attending children, who registered during the in-house priority period(through 1/16 for the next school year and through 1/31 for Summer camp), are guaranteed a spot in school or camp to continue at Peppermint Tree.

Registrations for the 2026-2027 School Year and Summer Camp 2026 are coming in from the general public for both programs now.  (In House Priority registration periods have ended.)  It is first come first serve, and space is limited. 

If you have not done so already, please fill out your child’s registration form on-line at our website: https://www.pepperminttree.com/registration/, (There are two buttons on this page: one for “New Families” and one for “Current and Returning Families”) There is a non-refundable $150.00 family registration fee for school and $100 for Camp. Fee is non refundable for those who are placed in school or camp.  If you are waitlisted, the fee is refunded if you are not placed.

And, as a reminder, you can either register online at the above link or by requesting a paper form from the office.  

The Peppermint Tree Summer Camp program is available to children who are 2.5 years old through fifth grade graduates.  We are planning lots of fun activities, so we hope you will join us.

As always, if you have any questions about the programs we are offering, please call (732) 929-2500.

Valerie Frost-Lewis, MS Ed.
Owner/Director

Free Zoom Parent Workshop: Monday, February 9th at 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.: “Guiding Big Feelings in Little Kids” Presented by Peppermint Tree Parent, Christina Michnea, LCSW and Dr. Ericka Santiago Diaz, LCSW, Ed.D., who are both Affiliated with the New Jersey Children’s System of Care.

Please join us for a Free Zoom delivered workshop created especially for you, Peppermint Tree families, by community experts in the field of child social emotional development.  Let’s all learn together how we can support our little ones with big emotions!  The Zoom link will be sent home separately by email.

Valentines Day 2026 at Peppermint Tree

We welcome you to send in Valentines for your child’s classmates.  To make distribution easiest, please sign them from your child (or if your child can write their name, have them sign them), but do not address them to specific children in the class.  We will give one to each child in the class.  Some families like to send in a treat or “goodie bag” during the week of Valentine’s Day.   Please make sure anything sent in is individually wrapped (if a food item), and not home baked.  Please limit sweets! You can ask your child’s teacher how many children to send in for-for their class.  Each classroom is planning their own Valentine’s themed activities, as well, so don’t feel obligated to send something in.

Toms River School Holiday in February: Monday, February 16th (President’s Day)- No classes at Peppermint Tree

Just a reminder that we do not hold our regular classes when Toms River Schools are closed, however we do provide child care.  Those children who follow the Toms River Schools calendar with us are not expected to attend on this day.  However, if you need care you can arrange with the office to add 2/16 to your child’s schedule on a space available basis. Those children who follow our full Peppermint Tree Calendar will be on our list to attend on these days, so no need to arrange in advance for those families.  If your child follows the Peppermint Tree calendar, and will NOT be attending, kindly let us know so we can plan accordingly.

Our next Parent Group meeting will gather over Zoom on Thursday, February 19, at 8:00 p.m.

We hope you will join us as we connect and plan for community activities at the school.  We are now working on our Family Carnival Event, which will be held the morning of Saturday, April 18th!  Zoom link for the meeting is sent out via email. 

We are partnering with Monmouth University to provide free speech-language screening for all enrolled children (with permission from parents/guardians).

We are excited to share that a group of graduate students and licensed speech-language pathologists from Monmouth University will be offering speech-language screenings in January-February: 1/30, 2/4, 2/13, 2/18 (& 2/20 as a make up day if needed)

What is a speech-language screening?

A speech and language screening consists of a short assessment of your child’s speech (how they

pronounce sounds) and language (following directions, answering questions, processing information, naming vocabulary, etc.), observing play and social interactions, as well as reading and writing abilities, if appropriate for your child’s age. This allows the therapist to gather an initial impression of your child’s abilities and to make further recommendations for a full evaluation, if needed.  Each family will get a report on your child’s results of the screening. If you would like your child to participate, please complete and return the permission slip, if you have not yet done so. 

2025 Tax Statements

You may print out a statement of your 2025 Child Care expenses, to use while preparing your tax return, from your account on our Parent Portal.  Go to MyProcare.com on a web browser, where you can view all your payment and billing history.  (NOT on the Procare app that we use for checking in and out of school).

The Fun Bus is extending and offering a new session on Tuesday afternoons.

The first session is extending due to two missed days.  There will be a new form sent home with adjusted dates.

The Pyramid Model In Action at Peppermint Tree

In this section of our Newsletter, we review various aspects of the Pyramid Model, which we implement in all classrooms in partnership with Montclair State University. The Pyramid Model is an approach to help us to build children’s social-emotional skills and capacities.

Each day during our whole group time, we review with the children our “Overall Expectations”:

• We are Kind

• We are Safe

• We are Respectful

• We are Problem Solvers

These are foundational ways of being, that will help our students learn to be good members of the classroom community.  These are traits that will help them not only in school, but also on sports teams, at a job or any community they choose to join in the future.

And we also review our classroom rules each day.  The rules each tie back to our center’s “Overall Expectations” (listed above).  While each classroom has their own set of rules, they are similar to one another, and look something like these examples:

• We share our materials because we are kind

• We use our walking feet because we are safe

• We use our listening ears because we are respectful

• We work things out together because we are problem solvers

The rules and expectations are presented with photos of the children in the classroom illustrating them, so the teachers and children can refer to them throughout the day and the children can understand and truly “own” them.

We hope you are hearing your children echo the language of our community at home!  We would love to hear back from you about how you may see these overall expectations show in your children’s way of being at home.  

And, when you catch your child being kind, safe, respectful or being a problem solver at home – snap a quick picture and email it to Miss Val.  We’d love to make a bulletin board featuring the Pyramid Model in action at home.  We feel this would be great consistency for the children to see- to have photos from home also illustrating the expectations.  Thanks for your help with this!

Our Exciting New Outdoor Centers: We are seeking donations and assistance from families to support this new effort

Miss Janna, the creator of the Earth Friends program, Peppermint Tree parent, and now Teacher and Outdoor Educator at Peppermint Tree is coordinating the addition of open-ended learning materials to our outdoor playground.  They are being organized into Interest Areas (or Centers) just like in the classroom.

Here is a list of things we are looking for-please bring in to the school any donations you may have to help with this exciting new venture:

LIBRARY:

• Books: on the subjects of nature, animals, plants, gardening, flowers, weather, homes, building, friendship, our planet, neighborhoods, stars, seasons, food, music, science, colors

• Storage: We will need to build or acquire an outdoor library to house the books and keep them safe from the elements. This will be something simple with preferably 3 shelves, made of wood, (such as a shed made from 3 old doors) or something similar.

• Seats: We are looking for a few weather-resistant kid-sized chairs and a bench. 

MUSIC WALL

• Stainless steel pots & pans & bowls (all sizes)

• hubcaps

• spoons

• wooden spoons

• 1 xylophone (with the hollow metal bars)

• 1 triangle (instrument)

• 1 cymbal

• 2 5-gallon buckets

• 1 3.5-gallon bucket

• 1 7-gallon bucket

ART STATION

• oversized chalkboard

• small chalkboards

• 8x10 (or larger) pieces of slate (for water painting)

• plexiglass easels (like this one!)

• a loom

SMALL LOOSE PARTS

• marbles

• crystal rocks

• glass pebbles

• buttons

• pearls

• seashells

• wooden spools

• balls

• keys (all sizes)

• bangle bracelets

• nuts

• bolts

• washers

• clothes pins

• figurines (animals, people, dinos, mystical)

• yarn

• scarves

LARGE LOOSE PARTS

• logs

• PVC pipe

• bricks

• wooden planks 

• tires

• milk crates

• 5-gallon buckets

• Spools

• Rope

• Pool noodles

 Thank you for your partnership in this exciting opportunity for our children to extend their learning outdoors!

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

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, and their registration is confirmed, we credit your account $25.00.  There is no limit to the number of credits you can earn! (Please make sure your friends mention your name!)

Winter Weather Reminder

We will announce our delays and closings via the ProCare App, email, on our phone message, and on njstormwatch.com (which is a service of WOBM and other media outlets.)

Please stay tuned to your email/texts on snowy or icy mornings.

Save these Dates:

• Thursday, 3/26/26, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. - Parent Workshop (via Zoom), “Kindergarten Readiness”, given by Miss Val, Miss Caren, Mrs. Hamilton and Miss Liz

• Saturday, 4/18/26, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. - Family Carnival (This is a Parent Group sponsored event: watch for more details – each group of classroom parent volunteers will be asked to work together to create a fun zone/game on the playground for this event.)

• Saturday, 5/2/26, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  - Ocean County Children’s Festival (at Toms River Library) This is a fabulous day of activities for the children, resources for families, and entertainment, sponsored by the Ocean Chapter of the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children.  Miss Val is the event chairperson, and many of our staff will be helping to help make this a fun day for all!

• Saturday, 5/16/26, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Family Garden Planting Party- This will be the day we plant our vegetable gardens (the plants that need to wait until after the last frost), and we invite our families to join us for this kickoff for the season. 

• Thursday, 5/28/25, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (in person at Peppermint Tree) - Family Toy Swap, Ice Cream Social, and Mr. Scott the Music Man. This is a fun and fabulous end of the school year celebration!  Bring a Toy – Get a Toy!  Eat Ice Cream!  Enjoy some musical fun!!

• Wednesday, 6/3/26, 10:00 a.m. (outdoors at Peppermint Tree) - PreK End of Year Ceremony (Rain date: Wednesday, Thursday 6/4/26)

 Parent Reminders:

• Label all pieces of clothing, backpacks and lunch boxes.

• Please be sure your child has a warm coat, mittens and a hat so they stay warm while we play outdoors.  Please send mittens and NOT gloves.  We play outside as long as it is not precipitating, and the temperature is 32 degrees or higher. The children can not wait to get back outdoors!

• Please limit sugar when packing your child’s lunch.  For Early Learners and Preschool, it is naptime right after lunch.  Too much sugar may make it hard for them to relax for rest time. We would like all children to have a healthy lunch including all the food groups: protein, grain, fruit, vegetable, and we serve milk.  This will help them to develop and grow stronger and will feed their brains for better learning.

• Please consider sending your child in clothes they can easily remove to use the bathroom.  Elastic waistbands on pants that can be pulled up and down are best to encourage children to be independent.  And, for those in diapers, it helps our staff to have easy on and off clothing.  Thank you!

• Afternoon Snack:  Some of our full day children come to the end of the day and find they have nothing left in their lunch box by the 2:30 p.m. snack time, and the 5:30 p.m. snack time.   Please send in a labeled snack meant for the afternoon, or two afternoon snacks if your child is here after 5:00 p.m.  Label it “Afternoon Snack”.  Please remember that a healthy snack includes two food groups, so whole grain crackers and peanut butter, or apple slices and cheese, for example would constitute a healthy and complete snack.