May Newsletter
Dear Families,
We have so many activities coming up from now through the end of the school year! Please read on, so you don’t miss anything!
We are so happy to be enjoying the outdoors more and more– we just need the weather to warm up a little bit!
Looking forward to enjoying this month together! You are always welcome at Peppermint Tree!
Warmly,
Miss Val
Valerie Frost-Lewis, MS Ed
Owner/Director
Sharing some insights from our Pyramid Model Implementation
As I hope you know, our center is a Pyramid Model Implementation Site for the State of NJ, partnering with Montclair State University for staff coaching and training. The Pyramid Model approach guides our “way of being” with children, to work to understand them, validate their feelings, teach them about their emotions and how to appropriately communicate them, how to problem solve, and how to be a super friend.
One classroom practice that truly helps children build their analytical thinking skills and the practice of reflection, is our daily question as we regroup at the end of the morning session, “How were you a kind friend today”? They are asked to think back on the morning, and analyze how they behaved toward their classmates. They then can speak up, express what they did that was kind, and feel proud of their kind acts. This is such a positive experience!
This also gets the children to try to complete acts of kindness, so they will have something to share at this morning roundup meeting. This builds the practice of performing proactive kindness behaviors – what an important skill to build! We are seeing kindness grow by leaps and bounds in our classrooms!
Upcoming Family Events in May & June – Mark your calendars!
Budding Artists Gallery – at Toms River Library, exhibit runs through May 2nd (through the end of the Children’s Festival-see below). Peppermint Tree has submitted a selection of our students’ artwork for the show.
Ocean County Children’s Festival “The Wonderful World of Books”: Saturday, May 2nd, 11:00 a.m.– 3:00 p.m., at Toms River Library (both indoors in Mancini Hall, and outdoors in the courtyard)– mark your calendars! This is a rain or shine event. This will be a fabulous free family event including children’s activities, crafts, a children’s art show, and much more! This event is in celebration of the National “Month of the Young Child”. We hope to see you there! Peppermint Tree students’ artwork will be on display in the Children’s Art Show that will be on display in the Children’s Book Department (in TR Library) during the event, and we will also be offering an art activity for the community.
Family Garden Planting Party- Saturday, May 16th, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. - The parent group is planning this fun event, and it is also an integral part of our Earth Friends learning! We emailed a link to an online sheet to sign up to bring something-so lots of families are involved! We could still use more sign ups for volunteers to set up and cleanup.
Toy Swap & Ice Cream Social, Thursday May 28th, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Plan to bring a toy and get a toy at this fun end of the school year celebration!
PreK End of Year Celebration, Wednesday, June 3rd at 10:00 a.m. outdoors at Peppermint Tree (Rain date: Thursday, June 4th) Families of our PreK students (PreK A and PreK D classes will both celebrate together) are invited to celebrate their progress and celebrate the end of the PreK year. (Bring your own folding chairs.)
Calendar Notes:
The last day of school is now Thursday, June 18, 2026
Session 1 of Summer Camp starts on Monday, June 22nd
Friday, June 19 is not included in the school or camp tuition, however, we are offering a “mini-camp” for those who need childcare on that day. Tuition will be charged on a per day basis, for those who need that day. We will offer signups for mini-camp soon.
The last day of camp (last day of Session 3) is Friday, August 21st.
We are closed (no camp, school or childcare) August 24th-September 1st.
We will hold a drop in open house on the morning of September 1st to help the children get ready for school. (More details to follow). We will also hold a parent only orientation for school in late August –(date and details to follow)
The first day of school will be Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026
Registration for Summer Camp 2026 and 2026-27 School Year are now in Full Swing - and we are full for some age groups. If you have not yet registered-please contact the office ASAP to see if we have room in your child’s age group.
If you have not yet registered your child, please call the office before registering, as space is limited, and we are filling up quickly. (Please call first if you are registering – as some groups are full with a waitlist already). When you are ready to register, go to: https://www.pepperminttree.com/registration/
If you have any questions, just call us at 732-929-2500.
A quick reminder about Summer Camp tuition: The Session 1 payment for summer camp is due on June 1, as is your last payment for school tuition (unless you get your security deposit applied).
Some families choose to begin paying for Summer Camp in advance by making partial payments to offset the extra tuition due in June. 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.
We will gladly work out a payment plan that will work for you. Just call the office.
$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!
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.
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.
