Welcome Back to School! It is hard to believe another summer has flown away.

This fall the Acorns explored All About Me. They put pictures of their families on our new bulletin board and engaged in conversations about smiles and noses. They learned how to ride in the carts and use their walking feet to get to places like the playground, the field and the SCLA.

The Willows began their year talking about Things That Go. The Willows (who are definitely things that go themselves!) loved exploring the characteristics of different vehicles. They made art by speeding paint-dipped cars over paper and transformed a box into a fire engine.

As part of their popular Boston unit, the Maples viewed the city from the top of the Prudential! They decorated shoe boxes to look like their homes, made a replica of everyone’s favorite ballpark and had their own Boston Tea Party, complete with Maple-made Boston Crème Pie!

The Oaks have been studying Community Helpers, from fire fighters and police officers to veterinarians and doctors. They mailed a letter home on a visit to the Post Office. They also brainstormed ways they can be community helpers themselves.

The fall is underway at Spruce in earnest as teachers, students and parents get accustomed to the new and the familiar once again. Whatever else is happening in the world, the start of a new school year is a poignant reminder of the power of beginnings.

Yours always,

Christie

Spruce Street Nursery School Newsletter

FALL 2011VOLUME 16

Welcome to School!The community at Spruce Street is one of

the most compelling aspects of our school—a central reason that families choose Spruce. Although nursery school’s position is paramount when our child is small, it is a discreet chapter in our child’s educational life. Families stay at Spruce on average just three years. When you consider that only 9 of our current families were here even 5 years ago, it is extraordinary that this sense of continuity prevails. So how does it sustain? How is the community such an integral part of the Spruce experience that it defines our school?

While many families do leave each year, they often return with younger children, sometimes after as many as 4 years. Teachers leave and return as parents or stay on and become parents in the school. Average teacher tenure at Spruce has increased from three to five years over the past few years, meaning continuity of curriculum and implementation.

Connections here are kept vital in other ways as well. This newsletter, produced by volunteers, connects families across years and miles. Events that reunite us, like skating parties and reunions, provide us with opportunities to delight in remembering our beginnings.

The very thing that brings parents together—the volunteer work they do at the school—also serves to provide

continuity. From the auction to technology improvements, the legacy of parent efforts lives on in a myriad of ways.

Our leadership, too, has the capacity to transcend the temporal nature of the nursery school years. This year our Board of Directors has three members whose children are not current students. Additionally, Annual Fund gifts from alumni increase each year. We are so humbled by alumni families’ ongoing support, even when their children are not directly benefitting from their efforts.

It is extraordinary the impact that these three short years have on the lives of children and families. It is also remarkable the impact that committed volunteers and supporters have on our organization. This central element of the Spruce experience, the very reason families choose Spruce, exists through the continued participation of alumni and current families. I am so honored to be a part of this enduring legacy, the Spruce Street community.

our community iS our GreateSt reSource

Eliza Hoover is celebrating her tenth year as a teacher at Spruce Street! She began in the Willow Room in 2002. While at Spruce Street, Eliza has completed her Master’s in Creative Arts and Learning at Lesley University, married Joe Skokowski, taken over the Extended Day and Summer Program Coor-dinator roles and become Mom to the adorable So-phie Skokows-ki! We are hon-ored that Eliza has chosen to spend the last decade with the children, families and staff of SSNS!!!

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thank you Spruce Families!Thanks to all who contributed to the 2010-2011 Annual Fund. It was an amazing year! We raised over $168,000. Even more importantly, over 93% of our current families, as well as 33 alumni and friends, participated in last year’s Fund. Thank you for your extraordinary generosity! The 2011-2012 Annual Fund is off and running. Our goal, as always, is to achieve 100% participation, so please consider a gift of any size. To capitalize on tax benefits for the current year, please submit gifts by December 31st. Thank you again!

Teacher UpdatesThis fall we have welcomed three new members

to our staff, but just one is a new face at the school!

Al Hogan, who is pursuing her Masters in Education at U Mass, joins us as our Float Teacher after working for the Winter family for the past two years and at the Dever School in Boston. Marybeth Miller, who completed her Masters in Education this past spring and has previously taught at the Josiah Quincy School, has joined Christine and Mary in the Willow Room after working for the Nordhaus-Curry family. And Maya Shugart is the new face at the front desk. Maya is a graduate of Emerson with a degree in writing and publishing and has worked with a writing and tutoring center in Roxbury for children 6-18. Welcome Al, Marybeth and Maya!

SAVE THE DATESaturday, october 29th admissions open house

thursday & Friday november 3rd & 4th

Parent teacher conferences

november 23rd - 25ththanksgiving Break

Saturday, December 3rdholiday Party

December 21st - January 3rdholiday Break

Wednesday, January 4thclasses resume

Spend the Day at Extended Day!Extended Day is a wonderful opportunity for

your child to make new friends and build on previously established relationships. It revolves around many fun and interesting two-week-long themes. The upcoming themes will be:• 10/24-11/11Scienceanddiscovery• 11/14-12/2 Lords,ladiesanddragons• 12/5-12/20 Artprojects

Sign up your child for any desired day in the Extended Day book located in the elevator foyer. Try to plan ahead as there is an enrollment limit of nine children per day on a first-come, first-served basis.

Congratulations Chelsea and AdamAlmost seven years after their fairy tale first

encounter, Acorn teacher Chelsea Holmes married Adam Riccio this past summer. Chelsea reports: “Adam and I met in a castle in the Netherlands while studying abroad in college. After almost 7 years together, we finally tied the knot on July 4th up in New Hampshire surrounded by our wonderful family and friends. We are incredibly excited for this next adventure!” Best wishes to Chelsea and Adam from the entire Spruce community!

Heard on Spruce StreetThe Maples recently welcomed Officer Paul, a former Massachusetts State Trooper, into their classroom to discuss safety and the job of a police officer. Officer Paul had no trouble keeping the Maples’ attention, unlike the title character in one of their favorite books, Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. After Officer Paul’s visit, the Maples offered up the following safety tips:

Wally: Four legs on the floorloch: Keep your body saferuby: Don’t step on soap

eva: Wear a seatbeltlouisa: Stay sitting in a moving caremma: Never cross the street without a grownup

nicky: Keep soap out of your eyesmillie: Keep fingers out of your nosecharlie: Always wear a helmet on your bikechloe: Keep your seatbelt on a planetess: Do not stand on a swivel chairPhoebe: Wear your pinny with schoolGrayson: If the stove is hot, stay away

ALUMNI FAMILY TREE

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Send your Alumni Updates to sprucestreet@rcn.com

G’Day, Mates!! The Madisons just relocated to Sydney, Australia where Jack ’04 is in 7th grade, tommy ’06 is in 4th grade, and Jamie ’09 is in 2nd grade at The Scots Col-lege, an all-boys prep school. Surfing is one

of our new favor-ite after-school activities! Jack is on the tennis and skiing team. Tom-my is on the swim and sailing team, and Jamie is play-ing basketball and rugby. We miss Boston and all our friends there–and

would love visitors any time!

Attached is a photo of aris Baltatzidis ’10 skateboarding, his new favorite passion! He is enjoying first grade at BB&N and loves his science and computer classes. He also loves taking Tae Kwon Do af-ter school and skateboarding on the Common.

noah Kumin ‘10 is enjoying his pre-K year at the Teddy Bear Club, especially now that his brother Jesse has started there. He loves

living in Newton, playing in the yard and riding his bike around the neighborhood to visit friends. He still fondly remembers all his Acorn teachers and friends.

elisabeth clagett ’03 and laura murphy ’03 are together again, now at Dana Hall School in 7th grade. They both play on the A Soccer team. Here are pictures from last Satur-day’s Dana Hall vs Newton Country Day homecoming, where Dana Hall won 1-0. Elisabeth is also on the Dana Hall Riding Team and keeping busy as always!

“All is well with the Heintz clan,” writes Grace. “casey ’10, now in Kindergarten, and Stuart ’07, now in 2nd grade, are both loving Shady

Hill where they get to spend time with fellow Spruce alumni including the Van Ogtrops, Crow-leys, Carsons and Trotskys! I am still at Bain and Grover at Loomis, so not much has changed.

We miss our Spruce friends and send a spe-cial shout out to Christie, Leslie, Eliza and Chelsea!”

Jack martel ’09 is in 2nd grade now. He is enjoying playing baseball and soccer. He re-cently broke his foot playing football, but it healed very quickly. This summer he did baseball camp with Trevor McCormack, art camp with Katherine White and also visited Scarlett Bridgen in Rhode Island. Ben ’04 is in the 7th grade and is busy with soccer and lots of homework! Old Spruce Street classmates con-nor and Parker James have visited from London. Big brother Sam is very busy being a teenager in high school!

haleigh Jacobs ’09 is a first grader and abby ’11 is in Pre-K at The Chestnut Hill

School. Both girls love CHS and are having a ball play-ing sports with friends and taking violin and piano lessons. Haleigh ran her first 5k road race this fall to help raise money for a school in Guatemala City (see photo). She was the youngest race participant

and managed to fin-ish with her mom well behind! We spent time at a ranch this summer, and the girls enjoyed horse-back riding, rock climbing, waterskiing and helping the wranglers put the horses out at the end of the day. We’re always ex-cited when we bump into Spruce friends in the neighborhood!

The Myers Family is happily living in Weston, MA. Sam ’10 started Kinder-garten at Weston public schools and is thrilled to be taking the school bus each day! Ben ’10 is back at Gan

Elohim Nursery School in Wellesley, MA for a second year and is a very happy, outgoing little guy. Josh is now a big boy, two years old, and just started in the Toddler Room at Gan Elohim. Big hugs to all of our Spruce Street friends and faculty!

Four Spruce Alumni and good friends have been reunited on the Hill House Galaxy soc-cer team. Pictured from the left, Sophia Panayotou ‘10, tessa lewis ‘11, cole oberg ‘11 and charlie crowley ‘10.

Former Acorn teacher Jessica niessink Pratt married Chris Pratt on July 31, 2011. Jessica writes: The wedding was amazing, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was 78 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! It took place at the Wychmere Harbor Club

in Harwich Port, MA. I had such a won-derful time c e l e b r a t i n g with my clos-est friends and family—and because I married my

best friend! I’m definitely missing everyone at Spruce! Stay in touch! 265 King Street, Cohasset, MA 02025.

nathan Greene ’03 is officially a teenager and in eighth grade at Brimmer and May. He loves sports, comput-ers and video games. He still lives on Beacon Hill and enjoys running into fellow alumni in the neighborhood.

Spruce Street Nursery School 5 Avery Place Boston, MA 02111 617-482-5252

FamilyPot luck

2011

SPruce Street nurSery School’SSixth annual alumni and all-School

ice Skating Party

old and new friends Pizza and drinks

Steriti memorial rink561 commercial Street

Boston’s north end

Saturday, march 3rd

4 to 6 pm

Skate & crate rentals availablehockey sticks welcome