This month's newsletter topics

March – Themes This Month – The week of St. Patrick’s Day is color week! –  Tax Time – Fall Preschool and Summer Camps – Visitors and Afterschool Classes – New Substitute Teacher

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March

March is an exciting month!  It is starting to feel like spring and we are enjoying our time outside on the playground.  Our class will start learning about plants and insects and we will start our own seeds inside the classroom.  We also have many fun visitors to the class this month.  We start off March with an 8 week program from Northwest Children’s Theater, and have a group of students from Japan visiting our classroom next week.  Plus we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
 

Themes this Month

• Plants
• Weather
• Bugs
• Colors
• Art and stories by Eric Carle
• Spring Vacation is March 27-31—No School, enjoy your week off.

The week of St. Patrick’s Day is color week!

Dress in these colors on these days:

Monday dress in RED

Tuesday dress in BLUE

Wednesday dress in YELLOW

Thursday dress in PURPLE and ORANGE

Friday dress in GREEN

Tax Time

 
To help you with your taxes here is our official name and tax ID number:
Hands On Art & Play Inc.
EIN # is 20-5503578

Fall Preschool and Summer Camps

Thank you Hands On families for choosing our school! Your children are a joy to see each day! Our summer camps and fall preschool classes are filling up. Here is more information about our summer camps:
Hands On summer camps are open to all preschool children and siblings in kindergarten are welcome to join. You may sign up for as many camp days as you like. You may add days or sign up during the summer, so long as there is still space available. Each day is $40; siblings that attend together will receive a discount. Summer camps are available 1,2,3 or 4 days a week. No cancelations after June 1. If you need to switch your days during camp week, you can, as long as space is available.
 

Visitors and After School Classes

We are very excited to have Northwest Children’s Theater join us again this spring. They will join our class beginning March 1st and alternate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over the next few months. We will also be partnering with them for two of our summer camps.
Next Tuesday, March 7th, We will have students from Senzok Junior College of Childhood Education in Kanagawa prefecture, which is close to Tokyo. The Japanese students are learning early childhood education in college and they also have on-the-job training at local kindergartens and daycare centers.
Their visit provides our students with a wonderful opportunity to participate in singing, dancing and story-telling with young people from another culture. We are delighted to have this cross-cultural exchange. It is a unique time for both children and students
They will visit us in the morning and if you would like to be a part of this experience and join us that day, please let me know.
Our after-school classes have been so successful this year, and many are nearly full. Teacher Rachel is beginning to enroll children for spring dance classes and, if there is enough interest, she may add a Monday class. Please let us know if your child would be interested in attending that class.
 

New Substitute Teacher

You may have met Teacher Samantha, our Wednesday Spanish teacher from Portland Early Learning. Samantha also has substituted in our classroom a few times this last month. Let me introduce her to you if you haven’t had a chance to meet:
Samantha Ramirez was born in Portland, Oregon. She received an undergraduate degree in Family and Human Services from the University of Oregon, focusing on early childhood education. While in Eugene, Samantha interned for non-profit organizations that worked with Latino families, toddlers and homeless/runaway youth as well as children from Early Head Start. She also worked in Yellowstone National Park and traveled to Mexico and Ecuador visiting family and friends. Upon graduating from U of O, she continued her work in education at St Ignatius School. She lives with her husband Austin, baby boy, Noam and two cats Meiko and Nala.