Inside This Issue:Inside This Issue:

B ig Night may be over, but there’s still plenty of fun at preschool! As we move into November,

there will be lots of Thanks-giving-themed projects and curriculum the kids will be en-joying in the classrooms. We’ll also have individual pictures on November 5 and 6, and our Barn Candle fundraiser will wrap up with a final due date on November 14. More

information on all of these can be found inside this newsletter.

Remember that there will be no school on Tuesday, November 11 to honor Veterans Day, or on November 27 and 28 for Thanksgiving vacation.

We give thanks for the won-derful children and families

that attend Highlands Pre-school. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Bounty of Fun

Highlands HighlightsHighlands Highlights

Big Night Wrap Up 2

It’s Getting Cold! 2

Barn Candle Orders Due 2

Fire Safety Curriculum 3

Look Ahead 3

Student Directory Coming 2

November Calendar 4

November 2008 Since 1953

Precious Preschool Portraits S ay cheese! Creative Images will be

at Highlands Preschool on Wedne-say, November 5 (for M/T/W

classes) and Thursday, November 6 (for Th/F classes) to take individual portraits during regular classroom hours.

Our teachers curtail messy activities on pic-ture days so you can feel free to send your child to school in the clothes of your choice without worrying about ruining them!

You do not need to pay anything ahead of time, and there is no obligation to pur-chase pictures. Proof samples will be available within two weeks, and you can

take them home and choose from the

different shots taken. Order forms and a due date for orders will be in-cluded with your proof.

Rather than printing out portraits and throwing away the ones you don’t pur-chase, Creative Images uses the proof

program to save re-sources! In addi-

tion, each child will receive a

free “Safe STEP” ID card for their parents to keep. The back of the card offers a place for par-ents to record emergency and medical information.

Creative Images will return in March to take class pictures and individual spring pictures.

Highlands PreschoolHighlands Preschool AssociationAssociation

Staff: Teachers

Kathee Baylis Linda Helt

Shannon MacGillivray Hillary Morris Connie White

Registrar Karen Short

Bookkeeper Elizabeth Dompier

Board of Directors: President

Gabrielle Statkus

Vice President Melanie Gallagher

Page 2 November 2008

R emember to return Barn Candle order forms to your teacher by

Wednesday, November 12, for M/T/W classes, and Friday, No-vember 14 for Th/F classes. You can share this fundraiser with your family and friends by telling them to go to barnfund-raiser.com to place their order. Be sure to have them fill in your child’s name and “Highlands Preschool” when prompted to ensure that proper credit is given. You are also welcome to order online and have your items shipped directly to you. For all other orders, pick-up will be on December 10 and 11.

A special thank you to eve-ryone who joined us for our Big Night Book Fair

Safari and Open House! We hope you enjoyed your journey through your child's class-room, exploring their projects and visiting with their teachers. Many thanks to Clifford the Big Red Dog and our Board President, Gabrielle Statkus, for entertaining us with several Clifford tales during story time in the Big Room. We're so glad you joined us, Clifford! Thanks to the support of our families we were able to fulfill our Teacher's Wish Lists and Scholastic will donate 92 books to children in need on be-half of Highlands Preschool through their One for Books program. And, we're thrilled to have exceeded our goal of selling 400 books—we could-n't have done it without you! Thanks to all of our teachers, staff and parent volunteers for making it

such a memorable evening for every-one who attended!

Finally, a special thanks to Carrie Mu-rayama, Samantha

Kunkel and Jennifer Browning for taking on the

responsibility of the Scholastic Book Fair and doing such a terrific job!

Barn Candle Orders Due

Thanks for Joining Us on Safari!

Student Directory Coming

W e will be publishing and distributing a complimen-tary school directory, list-

ing students by class and alphabetically later this month.

This directory is meant to help you as a means for identify-ing children in class pictures, set-ting up play dates, and arranging

birthday parties and other events outside of preschool.

If you marked “yes” on your Direc-tory Release, your child’s

information will be included. If you marked “no” or did

not return your form, your child’s name will be listed without contact information.

It’s Getting Cold!

CC old weather is upon us, so please remember to send your child

to school with a warm jacket and appropriate clothing. The children will continue to play outside every day, weather permitting. Also remember to label all coats with your child’s name. Each year we end up donating lost and unclaimed items to charity.

H ighlands Preschool will be holding a Cookie Lee Jew-elry fundraiser

on Tuesday, November 18 and Friday, Novem-ber 21 from 10:30 am to 1 pm in our Big Room. It is a perfect time to do your holiday shopping or buy something for yourself. You can stop by before you pick up your children or after

you drop them off — feel free to bring a friend.

The Cookie Lee Con-sultant is donating 50% of her profits to the preschool! The

jewelry is beautiful and afford-able; you can look at the catalog on line at www.cookielee.biz/kellywilkinson. If she does not have what you want, it can be or-

dered and shipped to your home. She also has a lot more jewelry than is in the catalog. This is a great way to help support our school, and you get to walk away with a wonderful new piece of jewelry. We look forward to seeing you there! Thank you for your sup-port.

D uring this month, we will be introducing Fire Safety as part of our curriculum in each class.

In keeping with our motto, “A Child Learns by Doing,” the age-appropriate Fire Safety curriculum will include such activities as songs, games, fingerplays, and a practice fire drill (as well as an earthquake drill).

Fire Drill Prior to the fire drill, we will take a few days to discuss fire drill proce-dures and ex-pectations. We will also prepare the children for the sound of the smoke detector alarm, so that they are not frightened by it. The drill will take place when we feel that all children are comfortable and ready for the practice.

Fire Safety Tips This is a good opportunity to discuss fire safety at home, as well. Here are some fire safety tips from the United States Fire Safety Admini-stration:

• Make sure everyone in your family knows and practices escape routes from every room in your home.

• Remember to escape first, know how to notify the fire department, and when to call for help.

• Never open doors that are hot to the touch.

• Teach your family to stop, drop to the ground, and roll if their clothes catch fire.

• Designate a meeting place outside. Try to make it a location away from your

home, but not necessarily across the street.

• Teach your family to never re-enter a burning building.

Fire Safety Curriculum

November 2008 Page 3

• No Board meeting in December, but we may have an informal Board holiday potluck party.

• We’ll have a Holiday Food Drive in December to help re-store the local food bank sup-plies, and the church usually supplies a Giving Tree for local foster kids by the front door in December that we are invited to participate in. Look for more information on both events in our December newsletter.

• Our Winter Holiday Celebra-tions will be held on Wednesday, December 13 for M-W classes and Friday, December 15 for Th/F classes.

• Winter Break is scheduled for December 18-January 1. There will be NO SCHOOL during these two weeks. School will resume on Tuesday, January 2.

Look Ahead

Jewelry Fundraiser

MonMon TueTue WedWed ThuThu FriFri 3 4 5 6 7

10 11 12 13 14

17 18 19 20 21

24 25 26 27 28

• November 3 — November tuition due • November 5 — M/T/W Picture Day • November 6 — Th/F Picture Day • November 6 — Audit Committee Mtg, 7 pm, Big Room • November 11 — NO SCHOOL; Veterans Day • November 12 — M/T/W Barn Candle Orders Due • November 13 — Board Meeting, 7 pm • November 14 — Th/F Barn Candle Orders Due • November 18— M/T/W Jewelry fundraiser, 10:30 am-1 pm, Big Room • November 21 — Th/F Jewelry fundraiser, 10:30 am-1 pm, Big Room • November 27-28 — NO SCHOOL; Thanksgiving Vacation

*Please remember that dates and times are subject to change after printing. Please confirm events with your teacher.

Schedule of EventsSchedule of Events

Page 4 November 2008

November 2008November 2008

425-255-9422 www.highlandspreschool.com

701 Monroe Ave. NE Renton, WA 98056

Since 1953

Nov. tuition due

Board Meeting, 7 pm

NO SCHOOL — Veterans

Day

NO SCHOOL — Thanksgiving Vacation

Audit Committee Meeting, 7 pm

Also this month: Fire & earthquake drills, Student directories

M/T/W Picture Day

Th/F Picture Day

M/T/W Barn Candle Orders Due

Th/F Barn Candle Orders Due

Cookie Lee Jew-elry Fundraiser, 10:30-1:00, Big Room

Cookie Lee Jew-elry Fundraiser, 10:30-1:00, Big Room

M/T/W Th/F

ClassroomClassroom NewsNews

What’s Happening for Preschool 2 & 3 in November

Dear Parents,

N ovember, al-ready! The last two months have run

very smoothly. The children are doing wonder-fully on name and color rec-ognition. This month we begin a new

challenge— letter and

number rec-ognition! November’s activities,

stories, songs and art will revolve around leaves and trees, bears, and the Thanksgiving holi-day. We will discuss why some trees turn colors and lose

their leaves and others stay green. We will explore winter

animal habitats and hiber-nation, and

different types of bears. We will end the month with talking about Thanks-giving and sharing. Get ready for student pictures on November 5 and 6. You may dress your child how-ever you wish; we will not do anything messy on

those days. A great big wonderful thank-you to all our parents. Big Night was a

huge success; your support of the preschool is greatly appreciated. We hope you have enjoyed all of the projects and ac-

tivities that your chil-dren have brought

home and hope-fully talked to you about. If

you have any concerns or just need to talk, please don’t hesitate to contact your teacher. Here’s to another success-ful month! Sincerely, Mrs. Mac and Mrs. White

Dear Parents,

N ovember is here! This month, we will cele-

brate fall and the Thanksgiving season. We will have student pic-

tures taken this month on November 5 and 6. Feel free to dress your child however you wish —

we will not have any messy art projects

on those days. However, we will still go outside to play if the weather is nice, so non-slippery shoes are best (remember that portraits are only head shots; feet won’t show). As we look towards Thanksgiving, our Novem-

ClassroomClassroom NewsNews

What’s Happening for Preschool 1 in November

ber curriculum will focus on pilgrims, turkeys, and our

families. Our let-ters that we will intro-

duce through our art projects are L, R, O, Y,

S and B.

November is the beginning of cold and flu season, and children at all schools are susceptible due to the close contact in which we all come. We know that your child loves school; however, if you notice yel-lowy nasal discharge

and/or a cough, PLEASE keep your child at home until it is gone. If your child vomits or has a fe-ver, they need to stay home for 24 hours; this is to ensure good health for

everyone. Also, please make sure your child has a jacket every day — we will play outside in cold weather

unless it is raining. Wishing you a Thanks-giving filled with happy family times. Sincerely, Kathee Baylis, Linda Helt and Hillary Morris