A Note From Mrs. Roma

2010 ended with a flurry of activity for the 3’s class. We had fun learning about Thanksgiving and Christmas and making art projects to go along with those holidays. We enjoyed having our grandparents join us in school in early December. Thank you to all the grandparents for arranging your schedules so you could visit with us.

In January, we welcomed a new student in each of our classes. I am proud of the way the children have welcomed and helped these new friends! The children continue to use good manners, take turns and share with each other.

In the coming weeks we will learn about winter weather and animals in winter. In February we will be learning about the groundhog, mailing letters, bears, and taking care of our teeth. We will be reading books by two of my favorite children’s author’s, Jan Brett and Karma Wilson. Each week we will complete a page for our shape book, work together as a class to make a shape creature and do special activities related to that week’s shape.

Information about hat day, exchanging Valentines, and a teddy bear picnic will be coming home soon. Your children have grown so much and I am looking forward to the second half of the school year and talking with you about your child’s progress during our conference in March.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. Mrs. Noska and I love working with them each day.

New Faces at BCPWe thank Mrs. Carol Gehman for taking over as the preschool teacher in January. Miss Dawn Choiniere is the new classroom assistant for the 4's who began on January 3. We also have two new Board members, Gordon Groff and Heidi Hochstetler. Welcome to all!

Dates to Remember

~ Monday, January 17 No School ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Day~ Wednesday, February 2 Mom’s Morning Out ~ 9:15-10:15 AM~ Sunday, February 13 - Open House From 2-4 PM ~ Please spread the word!~ February 25 & 28 Play & Learn classes for 2-year-olds begin~ Saturday, February 26 ~ 4:30-7:00 PM 5th Annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser More information on the following page.~ Wednesday, March 2 Mom’s Morning Out ~ 9:15-10:15 AM~ Week of March 7 ~ Spring Conferences~ Friday, April 1 ~ 2011-2012 Registration is open to the community~ Wednesday, April 6 Mom’s Morning Out ~ 9:15-10:15 AM~ April 20-25 ~ No School Easter Holiday

Winter WeatherBCP will be closed if the Boyertown School District is closed. BCP will open at the regular time if the Boyertown School District has weather-related two-hour delay. Please travel only if you are comfortable when the weather is questionable.

Please be sure your child has a warm coat, hat and gloves. We try to take the children out for a short time each day. Also make sure your child's change of clothing in their backpack is appropriate for the season.

Volume 4 Issue 2 - Winter 2010

“A quality Christian preschool education for the Bally Community and beyond.”

BCP News & Notes

Bally Community PreschoolPO Box 498 Bally, PA 19503610-845-1600

5th Annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser ~ Saturday, February 26th from 4:30 - 7 PMThese dinners are a lot of fun and have been a very successful way to support our school. The evening will include a delicious meal (take-out will be available), homemade desserts, a photo-gallery slide show of our preschool, and tour of the classrooms. Please plan to attend and invite your family, friends, and neighbors to join us. The event is organized by the BCP Board of Directors and Glenn and Sharon Bechtel, but we are counting on the help of school parents and church attenders. We will need greeters, help with setting up, serving, clean-up, baking, etc. This is a great way to support the preschool, meet other parents, and to interact with other families in the community. There will be sheets in the classroom giving you an opportunity to sign-up to help. Please check it out! We really appreciate your assistance and look forward to working with you.

Thank You and Goodbye It has been such a pleasure to work with the Pre-K class the past months.I feel very blessed to have spent my mornings with your lovely children. This fall we learned about apples at the Fox family orchard and how they are processed at the Bauman's Apple Butter Factory. We also learned about fire safety and had a visit from Mr. Soffa of the Bally Fire Company. Thanks Ryan, for sharing your Dad!

We had an eventful Thanksgiving which included learning about Native Americans and an exciting

visit to Mr. and Mrs. Noska's teepee. We also enjoyed our classroom friendship feast. It was fun to prepare our own lunch. Our ABC journals are filling up as we work on the letter of the week. Thanks parents, for helping your children work on their page each week and get them back to us. Show and Tell is also a high-light. Please check the snack calendar for your child's turn. Everyone is doing a great job! December was a busy month as we celebrated Jesus' birth. It was lovely to welcome our grandparents to our school at the beginning of the month. We worked on the pages of our Christmas Counting Book every day as well as gifts for our families and other Christmas projects. Thanks for coming out to our Christmas program! I feel really loved and appreciated by all of you: children, families, and staff. Bally Community Preschool has been a big part of my life for the past years and I will really miss my work here, the relationships we have developed, and especially the children. Thank you for the flowers, gifts, and the special farewell party. I am very touched and grateful. I am so pleased that Mrs. Gehman will

continue the work with our class and I know that you will all continue to have a great year. My husband and I have an agreement on a house in Ohio and will be staying with my parents for a few months until the extensive renovations are completed. Our address will be 11881 Lisbon Rd. Salem, Ohio 44460. Many blessings in the New Year. You will be in my prayers.

Love, Mrs. Ellen Bowman

Music & Spanish Classes~ Mrs. Heather Martin

Happy New Year – ¡Prospero Año y Felizidad! I am so excited to get started on the many new things we

will be learning and doing in the Music and Spanish room. For the next several weeks our music classes will be including some new concepts. First, we will start looking at “musical opposites” – loud and soft, high and low, fast and slow. Following that, we will take a look at our “musical families” – percussion, string, wind, and keyboard. In Spanish class, we are beginning our unit on colors, which is always a lot of fun. After that comes numbers and finally shapes. It is so delightful to watch the children grasp the new words each week, and I’m always surprised to see how much they remember. Thank you again for sharing your children with me!

Four-Year-Old Class~ Mrs. Carol Gehman We've started the new year with one new staff person and another switching positions. However, the children are doing a great job of accommodating. They came back full of energy and a renewed enthusiasm for all that the classroom has to offer. I'm very impressed with the way they have picked

up Miss Choiniere's name. We are very happy to have her helping in our room.

Our first week back took a look at the New Year 2011 and Chinese New Year with fireworks. The children had fun making mittens and mice for Mm week. The themes for the month are winter and snow so we will be talking about that too. Other things coming up this month include Bb, Ii, and Dd weeks along with a visit from Pastor Klaudia and learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The month of February brings

with it themes of love, dental health, and presidents. We will have a visit from a postal worker and enjoy fun crafts for letter of the week Ll, Vv, Oo, and Gg. As always, we are grateful for all of you. You bring your children to preschool, provide healthy snacks, and are very supportive. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your child's life!

Play & Learn Class~ Mrs. Ann Longacre I am eagerly looking forward to the spring session of Play & Learn in a few weeks. It is so much fun to see how grown up the four year-olds are and to think back when they started in the Play & Learn class as two year-olds. So much learning, growing and changing occurs during these early years and it is gratifying to be a part of your child’s life during this formative time. We have a lot of fun projects and activities planned for the spring, and it will be fun to meet some new children and families as we welcome back those who started with us this past fall. Be sure to tell your friends, families and neighbors about our program. See you soon!

Fundraiser InformationThank you for showing your support! Our fall Vendor Fair resulted in over $950! We also collected 63 cans of soup for Boyertown Multi-Service.