Goodbyes are never easy...

It is very rare that I post sad blogs on here. Most of my posts are about something wonderful and exciting going on here at Coastal Day School. However, today's post has tears dropping on my keyboard as I type it. If you frequent this blog, you know that I absolutely ADORE my staff. You know that I have said a million times that we are more than co-workers, we are family. A family that walks through life together and celebrates and mourns together. It's with great sadness (and excitement for them) that I inform you that our family is changing and that we will be saying goodbye to some of our amazing teachers and my very dear friends at the end of the school year. 

As most of you know, Miss Pam transitioned into a full time position at the beginning of March because of changes in her husband's job. We are so happy for their family that her husband has found a new job but that job is taking them to Florida. Up until this point, I haven't had to say goodbye to Pam. She has subbed for us a few times since she left, we've attended celebrations together, and we knew she'd be teaching summer preschool. But now the time has come we have to say goodbye. Thankfully, she will be able to attend our graduation ceremony so everyone can get one last Pam hug! Pam was such an asset to our teaching team and will be greatly missed by all.

I wish this post was ending now but unfortunately, I have more to share. Miss Susan, our beloved Bible Buddies teacher has accepted a full time teaching position at a school in Wilmington that her daughter attends. While we are very sad about this, it is an amazing opportunity for their family and we are very happy for them. Her sweetness and fun lessons and songs will be missed so deeply around CDS. She has truly been an answer to prayer and we wish her and her family the absolute best!!

And lastly, Miss Tammy, our amazing Kindergarten teacher also will be moving this summer and starting a new adventure with her family in Alabama. There are so many things I could say about Miss Tammy and how big her part has been at CDS. She has been a constant source of support for me through this journey and I will miss her immensely. Below is a letter Miss Tammy has asked me to share.

"Over the last 5 years, I have been blessed to be part of the Coastal Day School family, as a parent, and as the Kindergarten teacher. My youngest, now 7, started CDS, in the Mommy's Morning Out program, at age 2.  I immediately feel in love with CDS.  Mia adored going to school and I always felt she was loved.  What started as a break for me, turned into an amazing opportunity. I had the desire to go back to teaching, after 6 years as a stay at home mom, yet not wanting to work full time.  When Ashley proposed the idea of starting a half-day Kindergarten at CDS, I was excited and nervous.  Fast forward 3 ½ years and I look back and think about the process.  I have had the privilege of working with an amazing administration, staff, students and parents.  I feel blessed to have had this extraordinary journey.  With that being said, the Kindergarten program, is sort of, my baby.  I developed the program, set the standards, picked the curriculum and got it up and running. After three short years, it is a full program with a waiting list.  I am proud to say I was part of it.

As the school year comes to a close, my family will be relocating to Birmingham, Alabama.   My husband has accepted a job with Southern Nuclear Company.  It's strange how life makes a full circle some times. An opportunity came looking for Randall, and the perks that came along were too good to pass up. For Randall and I, it's like going back home.  We were both born and raised in Alabama.  Though, we will still be a couple of hours from home, we are excited to be closer and have our family be able to attend exciting events the girls participate in.  I will admit, coming in a close second to family, will be experiencing “Alabama Football” weekends with them. 

As I leave with a heavy heart, I am very excited to announce my replacement, Natalie Sasser.  Natalie holds a NC Teaching License, taught Kindergarten at Supply Elementary and is currently working on her Master's Degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Supervision. Natalie has been one of the 4 year old teachers for 2 years and was my sub for Kindergarten the first year.  She has worked with me all year, rotating learning center groups to best benefit our current students.  More importantly, Natalie is an amazing person. Her personality and passion for teaching will only benefit the Kindergarten program  Families moving into kindergarten next year are going to have an amazing year with Mrs. Natalie."

Goodness, we will miss these ladies so much and feel so honored to have been able to work with them. Each of them have had a big part in our little school.

We are in the process of finding new teachers to join our family. Because of the changes, a few of our current teachers will be stepping into new roles as we work to find each of our staff's "sweet spot"! I know that change can sometimes be scary but we feel very confident that we will find the perfect teachers to help us grow, learn, and have fun next school year!!

2016-2017 School Calendar

Dreaming of Bigger and Better

In just six short months we will be celebrating ten years of business. At times, it feels like we just opened our doors yesterday. And yet, at other times, it feels like a lifetime ago when we welcomed our first student. What a whirlwind of an adventure owning Coastal Day School has been! There have been AMAZING moments that I have shared because of this business. Moments I would have never had the honor of being part of if it weren’t for our little school. And of course, there have been downright awful moments that we lived through, not knowing if it was ever going to get better. There were times in the last ten years that I counted pennies to buy groceries for my family, and other times that a family outing or vacation was only possible because of CDS. I’ve spent countless hours praising God for placing me in this position and just as many hours begging Him to make everything better. As I type this, I can truly say, I am grateful for it all. I am grateful for the good times for the obvious reasons but I am equally grateful for the bad times. It is in those times of despair that you find your passion and work hard for what you want. It’s in those times you test the limits of your commitment and truly find out what you are capable of. It is in those moments that the mission of Coastal Day School became clear to me and I decided it was worth everything I had to see our little school change lives.

Our mission at CDS is simple.

We want to provide a learning environment where students feel loved, safe, and respected, and where teachers provide a broad range of activities to help each child learn to the best of their abilities. We work hard to foster independence, growth, and friendships. We also strive to provide parents and staff with a community of adults that care for their family and will support them.

My staff and I work very diligently every day to make sure that we are doing just that. Facilitating a community, a family, that will support each other and grow together. We spend countless hours planning and preparing lesson plans, activities, and events for our families to participate in and enjoy. We spend time together, mentor each other, and help each other become the very best educators we can be. And in our opinion, we are just getting started.

We have dreams for CDS. BIG dreams. Wild, crazy BIG dreams.

We dream of building a facility that will meet the needs of our students and offer our teachers opportunities for growth they couldn’t find anywhere else. We dream of a school that will have spaces for our students to create, explore, and express themselves. We dream of a school that will provide our students with cutting-edge technology to prepare them for the world we live in. A school that has space to accommodate the whole family. A place that our community can utilize. A place that feels like home each time you enter it. A space that doesn’t have a line to get into the bathroom and has more than enough parking spaces :)

Like our success thus far, we can’t do this without your support. We would love your prayers along the way as well as any advice or suggestions you have. If you see a piece of property or building that would work, let us know! We will also be having several fundraisers to help with the crazy costs of everything that it takes to build a building or upfit a new space. Our first fundraiser will be a LuLaRoe Mom’s Night Out on Friday, March 11^th at CDS from 7-9pm. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards our new building fund! It’s going to be a fun night with lots of cute clothing!! Here is the Facebook Event link if you’d like more information!

To everyone that has been there for us over the last ten years, thank you. Thank you for believing in us, trusting us, and encouraging us. Your love and support means more to me than you could possibly know. It is my hope that you feel the same from the entire CDS staff in return. 

With love,

Ashley 



Fun in the Sun! - Summer Programs at CDS

With the amazing weather we are having this week, we can't stop thinking about SUMMER!! Our summer programs here at CDS are full of fun and we would love for your child to join us!! We have a few different programs to choose from and have included information below for each. We will begin accepting registration for our half day Summer Preschool program and our full day Summer Camp program today! All of our spaces are first come, first serve and spaces are limited in each class. We will also be offering Mommy's Morning Out in the summer and will begin registering for that on May 2nd.

Half Day Summer Preschool

Contact: caroline@coastaldayschool.com

Our half day Summer Preschool Program is offered for eight weeks during the summer. We offer two classes that are divided by age. We offer a two/three year old class. Students must turn two by May 31st to join this class. We also offer a four/five year old class. Student must turn four by May 31st to join this class. We have two-day (Tuesdays and Thursdays), three-day (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,) and five-day options available. We will accept 12 students each day. Check out the link below for more information as well as registration forms!

Brochure for Half Day Summer Preschool

Registration Forms for Half Day Summer Preschool

Full Day Summer Camp

Contact: veronnica@coastaldayschool.com

Our full day Summer Camp Program is offered for ten weeks  during the summer. We offer tons of fun activities as well as a field trip every day! Camp is open to all children ages 5-12 years old. Campers must turn five by May 31st to join our camp program. We have two-day (Tuesdays and Thursdays), three-day (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,) and five-day options available. Our camp is limited to 30 campers each day. Check out the link below for more information as well as registration forms!

Brochure for Full Day Summer Camp

Registration Forms for Full Day Summer Camp

We are super excited about all the fun we will have this summer!! Please contact us with any questions you have and enjoy this beautiful weather :)

-Ashley

Our Family is Growing

As most of you know, we just had our Open House last week along with registration for our 2016-2017 school year. We loved meeting our new family members and are so excited to get to know everyone better once our school year starts! I feel like I always tell everyone that we are family around here, but I think it's one of those things you have to experience to really understand. We love these kiddos like they're our own and enjoy chatting with moms and dads every morning and at special events. As a staff, we support each other, help each other, laugh, cry, and pray together! I can't think of any place I'd rather work than right here at CDS! We always joke around about how our staff kids own this place. They LOVE coming to work with their mommies every morning and really enjoy being spoiled with lollipops and other candy after school is over. Just like their moms, they are growing and learning together and they truly love each other. It's our hope that every child that joins our program feels the same comfort and love that our staff kids feel. We love seeing our students come in each morning with a big smile on their face and love how happy they are to see their teachers and friends! We are so excited for next year and all the fun we will have! Welcome to our family!!

Three staff kids having fun after class :)

2016-2017 Enrollment

Here at Coastal Day School we are working hard to prepare everything for our 2016-2017 school year and will start enrolling new students soon! We are so excited to meet all the new families that will soon join our sweet, little community! We know there are many options for preschool and kindergarten out there but we feel like CDS is a great choice with lots to offer your child. We hope that you will join us for our Open House for new families on Wednesday, January 20th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. You will have the opportunity to see our facility, meet our staff, and see if CDS is the perfect fit for your child and family. We will not offer registration at our Open House in order to give everyone time to look around and ask questions.

We will offer registration for new families starting on Thursday, January 21st. We will start enrolling students at 10:30am at our facility. We will not take phone registration that day, it must be done in person on the 21st. Registration will be first come, first serve. We ask that you do not arrive prior to 9:30 that morning to give our current families adequet time to drop off their child for school. Parking is very limited so anyone in the parking lot prior to 9:30 will be asked to leave and return after 9:30. Anyone arriving between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. will be asked to form a line in front of the door on the right side of the front of our building, not our main enterence.

If you would like to look over our Handbook and print our enrollment forms, you can find them here.

If you would like to enroll your child on January 21st you will need to turn in a completed enrollment packet along with the New Student Fee of $125.00 which is non-refundable.

Again, we are looking forward to meeting our new families and growing and learning together next year! See you at the Open House :)

Our Mission at Coastal Day School

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know that my FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR is quickly approaching!!! I am counting down the days until school begins (In case you are wondering-15 and 16 days until New Family Orientation, 21 days until our Open House, and 26 days until the First Day of School!!!) Around this time each year, I begin compiling all of our information for our various staff and parent meetings. Each year I tweak the information to reflect any changes that has happened over the course of the last year. I seriously feel like everything changes every year. As we grow as a company, we realize the way we have been doing things is no longer going to work for us and we have to develop a new, better way. Year after year, we work hard to adapt to the changes in staff, families, curriculum, etc. Throughout the last nine years, we have learned a lot and applied what we have learned to how we operate. However, there is one thing that will always remain the same.

Why I do this.

What I hope to accomplish.

My mission.

Our mission here at CDS is to provide a learning environment where students feel loved, safe, and respected, and where teachers provide a broad range of activities to help each child learn to the best of their abilities. We work hard to foster independence, growth, and friendships. We also strive to provide parents and staff with a community of adults that care for their family and will support them.

We have this amazing family here at CDS and we will always do whatever we need to to keep that the same! Only 26 more days! I hope you are as excited as I am!!

-Ashley