Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Past, Present, and Future

As I was planning my blog post for our upcoming enrollment, I realized that it's been MONTHS since our last post so I thought I would just fill you all in on the last few months, what's going on now, and what's coming in the near future!

Summer 2017 was a blast! We expanded or summer camp program which meant lots of new faces and more fun than ever!! Miss Veronnica planned a summer full of fun activities and amazing field trips! Some of our favorite field trips were to Myrtle Waves, Wonderworks, museums, the movies, the beach, and the pool every week! Lots of wonderful friendships were formed and it was so wonderful watching campers conquer fears and grow in many ways. I'm so grateful for a summer camp staff that is so committed to making sure our campers are safe and having the best possible time! I've attached a few pictures below of our summer!















While our campers were super busy having fun this summer, we we were busy doing some improvements around our school! Our two year old classroom got new flooring and cabinets for the school year which was super exciting and looks beautiful!! Here are pictures of the completed project in the two year old classroom.





We also put beautiful new cabinets in our Little Learners/Three Year Old Classroom along with a new table for easier group lessons, and lots of new toys and equipment! We love how it turned out and our sweet, little students are enjoying it! Here are pictures of the classroom!





Lastly, our biggest project of the summer was expanding Miss Autumn's four year old classroom which was a huge undertaking but it turned out amazing and we LOVE IT! Miss Autumn is also loving having Miss Maggie in her classroom this year :) Here's a few pictures of the process and the completed classroom!!

 Here's a before picture :)




Our new school year kicked off on September 5th and it has been such an amazing year so far! We have such a sweet group of students and as always, an extremely supportive and generous group of parents that we are so thankful for!! Our staff continues to amaze me with their fun ideas and the loving environments they create for our students. We are only a few months in and we have already seen so much growth and learning! We welcomed one new teacher this year. We love having Miss Anna as the assistant in our two year old class! She fits right in with our family!! We are also so thankful to have welcomed Miss Shelley back this year as an assistant in our four year old class!

Last week we had our annual Christmas Program! Our students were so cute and did such an amazing job on stage!! Miss Michelle worked very hard to make sure it was wonderful and she did a great job! I've included a pictures below of our kiddos on stage. 






















I'm always amazed how quickly the first half of our year goes by and how fast new enrollment sneaks up on us! Preparations for next school year have begun and we will be staying in our current location for at least another year, possibly longer. I am quickly realizing that everything I want, we can't afford, and what we can afford, I don't want. Why is everything so expensive?! We will continue to keep our eyes open for an amazing space/property with a price tag we can afford but for the time being, we are happy to be in a building that we can continue to learn, grown, and have fun in!! While we will continue to battle the space and parking issues, we are learning how to make the space work for our needs and are loving the new improvements this year and are excited for our projects we will be doing this summer! 

We will be opening enrollment soon for our 2018-2019 school year! If your family previously attended Coastal Day School for an entire academic year and would like to return (yay!), we will have a special enrollment time for your family January 16-19, 2018. Just stop by any day that week (except Monday-we are closed) between 10am and noon to drop off paperwork and the $150 new student fee. Here is a link to our handbook which includes all the paperwork we need turned in. 

If you are a new family wishing to enroll here at CDS for the 2018-2019 school year, we will open enrollment on Thursday, February 1, 2018. We will post a link here on our blog at 8am and will share the post on our Facebook page as well. All submissions will be time stamped and you will be notified within 48 hours of submitting the form if you have received a space or have been put on our waiting list. Filling out the form online does not guarantee a space in our program. All spaces are first come, first serve and we will go in the order the submissions came in.

If you are new to our program and would like to meet our staff and see our facility, we will be holding an Open House on Thursday, January 18, 2018 from 6:30pm until 7:30pm. Children are welcome to attend :) We are looking forward to meeting all of you and answering any questions you may have!

I'm so thankful and honored to be planning another school year! I can't even express how amazing it is being part of this supportive and kind community. Every day I am blown away by how generous and encouraging our parents are, how unbelievably sweet our students are, and how amazing our staff is!!! I am so lucky to get to say that I'm living my dream and LOVE that I get to live this dream with all of you as a big part of it! I realize that none of this would be possible without all of you!!!

Ashley :)

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Growing up in a Preschool


        

This month marks a bittersweet end for our family, as our daughter Katie will be graduating from Coastal Day School, and is going on to join her big brothers at the local charter school!  Not long after I became pregnant with Katie, I transitioned from the Mommy’s Morning Out teacher to the Financial Director and then a few years later, became the Program Director.  Ashley and I shared what is now a supply closet, as our office, with barely enough room for two people to work, but we have a lot of great memories of that time.  Ashley loves to share the story of, when I was 9 months pregnant, and I leaned down to pick something up off the office floor, and I fell on my back and couldn’t get up.  We couldn’t stop laughing! (I was okay by the way 😊).  I consider working at Coastal Day School to be one of the biggest blessings my family has experienced.  Not only do I get to come to a job I love each day, but my children have been able to come with me, and have the most amazing preschool experience, with the BEST teachers! 

        


Katie has been coming to work with me since she was three weeks old (we started with one day a week and slowly worked up to five days).  Coastal Day School has been her home away from home.  The office Ashley and I shared soon became too small for all the baby gear and we moved into what is now our teachers’ lounge.  It was complete with a pack-n-play, bouncy seat, swing, etc.  You might be surprised what I am able to accomplish with a baby in my arms!  While it was challenging at times I would not have traded that time for anything!
When Katie turned one, she started in our Mommy’s Morning Out program and soon had her teachers wrapped around her little finger!  She was very ready for all the fun that they have in that room, especially the art projects, specifically painting.  She did not miss being in the office with her Mommy.  She was also the messiest child in that class and was often covered in paint or dirt.  I soon learned that she could only go to school in clothes that I did not care about. 
In the two-year-old class, Katie was so excited to learn her name, and her letters and numbers.  My husband and I were excited that she learned to use the potty!  Katie’s teachers took such good care of her always giving her plenty of cuddles.  It’s really exciting to walk into your two-year old’s classroom and watch her fully engaged in learning as she plays.

We had the pleasure of having Miss Kalyn and Ms. Pam in the three-year-old class.  Ms. Pam and Miss Kalyn were such a great team.  Ms. Pam spoke Katie’s language, always singing and dancing and using her imagination!  Miss Kalyn is such a gifted teacher as well.  She excels at teaching three-year olds to do things independently.  She taught Katie to put on her own jacket and backpack, how to open her lunch containers and packages, how to clean up after herself, how to use the bathroom independently, and how to ask for help when she needs it.  As a mom, this was so helpful to me as I watched my daughter become more independent!

After the three-year-old class, Katie should have moved into the four-year-old class, however, because she had already started reading, we felt that she was ready for the challenge of our kindergarten class.  This was one of the best decisions that we made, as Katie took off with her reading and writing. Katie has absolutely loved being in Ms. Natalie’s class.  She has made some wonderful friends and has grown so much!  She has received the perfect preparation to go on to elementary school!
Not only has Katie enjoyed an amazing education but she has become a part of the Coastal Day School family with a building full of “aunts” who spoil her rotten at the end of each school day with candy and cuddles. (Ms. Veronnica is the usual suspect for handing out candy to staff kids.  You will hear several little voices saying, “Where’s Ms. Ronnica?”).  Katie, who only has brothers, has also had a taste of what it’s like to have sisters with the other staff girls.  And that is thankfully something that will never change, because once you are a part of the Coastal Day School family, you are a member for life!!!
     

-Caroline