News from the Director I hope everyone is staying healthy. I know several children have been out sick. Please remember to wash your hands before going to class with soap and water. That is the best way to keep the germs away! Just a reminder that if your child will not be coming to school, please call or email us. We always like to know what is going on when a child is absent. Also, please remember that children need to be 24 hours fever free before coming back to school. Please remember to mark your calendars for FATHER’S DAY. March 18th for The Turtles and all other classes on the 19th. It will be first thing in the morning. We will switch Chapel to the beginning of the day. You will be hearing more about the day from your teacher. Our chapel stories for February and March are Jesus’ Love, Joseph’s New Coat, and Creation. We will spend several weeks on Creation. Please come join us at 11:45 each Thursday. It is a lot of FUN! Reminder there is no school on February 16th due to the celebration of Presidents’ Day. March 9th is a teacher workday and Spring Break begins March 27th – April 5th. Perhaps you have heard this phrase being said in your child’s classroom. . . “Is this helpful or hurtful?” In the CD program, teaching compassion is a big part of our day. The School Family, like a healthy home family, is built on compassion. “When a teacher responds from a compassionate perception, she models that for the children watching. Students then begin to see peers who are having behavior or academic trouble as needing their help. Compassionate classrooms teach and model what helpfulness looks, sounds, and feels like. We are training their eyes to see the call to help others.” In our classrooms you might see helpful boards, helpful books, or even post it notes saying how a child was helpful. Notice also the tree in my office that has helpful apples on it of kind things the staff has done for one another. Even as a staff we are all about caring and being compassionate to one another. TPPK Volume 17, Issue 3 February/March 2015 Special points of interest: Chapel Every Thursday - 11:45 a.m. Staff Appreciation February 9-13 School Holiday February 16 School Tour February 19—9:45 a.m. Teacher Workday March 9—School Closed Fathers’ Day Celebration March 18 & 19 Easter Break March 27—April 5 In This Issue: Director’s Notes 1 CD?Office Notes 2 Try this at home. Notice your child doing something that is helpful and say to them “that Enrollment was helpful, thank you.” Notice when your child’s face is sad. . .say “your face looks sad, like this (make the expression). Tell me about it.” You will be touched to see their little face Open House look at you for love and compassion. I have to say that we need more compassion in our world. I pray that one day we all will make a difference in someone’s life because we cared. TPC Children’s Ministries Wishing you compassion! Nicolette 3 4 5 Fundraising 6 Assisting Schedule 7 Upcoming Events 8 THE SAFE PLACE: Do you need a safe place at times? I know I do. My place is in my coffee room in my red leather chair. I wish I had a place like that when my children were small. Perhaps you have seen the safe place in your child’s classroom. This is a place set aside when children just need to feel safer than in the regular classroom group. They can see and hear what is going on in the classroom while having a place to self-regulate. This is not a “time out”. This is a place that children can be successful and feel safe. If they are upset, sad, mad, crying, or just having a difficult day, they can go to this area. In this area are pictures of the breathing that they have learned in morning meetings, pictures of family, pillows and cuddle toys, books, paper and drawing utensils, and perhaps music. Each safe place is a bit different in the classrooms at TPPK. Because the children have been taught this “center” by their teachers, this time of the year they can self regulate and return to the group. At times, you will find the teacher in the safe place with the child. Sometimes this is needed if the child is in the lower part of their brains and cannot self regulate by themselves and need encouragement and extra love from the teacher. I believe that this place could be created easily in your home. Check out the website at www.consciousdiscipline.com. If I can help you understand further, please let me know! Stay warm!!! I wish you well! Nicolette Office Notes  Tuition: Tuition is due the 1st of each month and is late after the 5th. After the 5th late fees will be assessed to your account. Tuition will be due by Thursday, February 5, 2015.  Lunch Bunch: Reminders—there will be “no lunch bunch” on January 15, 19 & 20. Lunch Bunch for 2's has begun! This program is optional and provides an extra hour of supervised play and of course lunch. Each student brings their own lunch and drink. The cost is $5 per time, payable separate from tuition. Pick up is at 1:15 and late pick up fees do apply. If you have any questions about lunch bunch in general, please contact Miss Linda.  Shutterfly: Please visit http://tppk.shutterfly.com/ where you can share and view pictures that have been taken at TPPK this year.  Scholarship Update—Funds raised and available for 2015-2016: Target GoPlaySave Coupon Book Cookie Dough TPPK Holiday Bazaar 473.71 1010.00 192.00 2500.00 Moe’s Southwest Grill 107.65 Harris Teeter 430.25 Box Tops for Education TOTAL 82.90 $4796.51 2014-2015 Account Balances All student accounts must be paid by March 5, 2015. That is, 2014-2015 registration fees and tuition deposits must be paid in full. Your supply fee is not due until Orientation Night in September. We require this so that we can prepare for staffing for the upcoming school year. Openings for 2015-2016 We have a few openings for the 2015-2016 school year. If you know of families that may be interested, please have them visit our website at www.tppk.org. They can also contact Miss Nicolette at 544-2872 to schedule a tour. TPPK Summer Camp TPPK will offer one week of summer camp the week of June 1-4 for rising 3’s-6 years old for a fee of $125. Full payment is due with the application and is non -refundable. The week of camp needs a minimum enrollment of 12 to be financially feasible. If camp is cancelled due to a lack of minimum enrollment, your registration fee will be refunded. The session will last 4 days. Camp hours will be 9:00AM – 12:00 noon Monday-Thursday with an optional lunch bunch. Campers must be toilet trained. All forms must be in by May 1st. Questions? Please contact Nicolette Granata, Director at 544-2872 or [email protected]. Ongoing Fundraising Programs Go to the “Fundraising Section” of our website at www.tppk.org to easily link your “preferred shopper cards”. This has to be done annually—so don’t wait—link now! Kroger Community Rewards® Giving More Back to the Community! Kroger is committed to helping our communities grow and prosper. Year after year, local schools, churches and other nonprofit organizations will earn millions of dollars through Kroger Community Rewards®. Kroger Community Rewards® makes fund-raising easy...all you have to do is shop at Kroger and swipe your Plus Card! Sign In or Create an Account to Enroll. Once signed in you can enroll or update your Community Rewards under your Account Settings. The TPPK School Number is: 81102 Harris Teeter: You may register on-line or when checking out. To register at the store, tell the cashier you need to link your card. He/She will then ask for the school number. TPPK’s number is 2948. Or, you can link through our website as an easy link has been created. Box Tops for Education: Clip the “Box Top” label. Each label is worth 10¢. Labels can be found on General Mills cereals; Pillsbury refrigerated products, Yoplait, Hamburger Helper, Ziploc, Nature Valley, Old El Paso and many more food products. Visit http://www.boxtops4education.com/clip/ for a complete listing of eligible products. Target Shoppers: If you have a Target guest card or Visa card, please call 1-800-316-6142 and register our school (be sure they know it is Triangle Presbyterian Preschool & Kindergarten in Durham). Target sends the school a check for 1% of purchases for enrolled customers. Our School ID is: 125639. Visit the homepage of our website at www.tppk.org to easily link your “preferred shopper cards”. This has to be done annually—so don’t wait—link now! Volume 17, Issue 3 Page 5 TPPK PARENT ASSISTING SCHEDULE FEBRUARY 2015 ***Birthday Volume 17, Issue 3 Page 6 16 23 Turtles Richardson NO SCHOOL PRESIDENTS’ DAY Turtles Green 9 Monday 2 Turtles Muzyk Ducks Owens Gators England 24 Lambs Schmidt Fish Bolton Frogs Kane Lambs Pease Fish Gsegner*** Frogs Stewart 25 Turtles Langley Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Brunner*** Preston Zhao Fuller Miller*** Lambs Runestad Fish Parks Frogs Wright 26 Gators Akers Kincaid Story Barth Betts*** Clark 19 Vojticek Tito Mazzeo Rodriguez Parsons 12 Gators McLeod Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Thursday 5 Ducks Shearer Lambs Arnold Fish Kennedy Frogs Gusefski 18 Turtles Proudfoot Lambs Thurman Fish Craig*** Frogs Rivas 11 Turtles Hlad Wednesday 4 Turtles Hong*** Ducks Johnson 17 Ducks Paramore Gators Dwyer 10 Ducks Dickinson Gators Thomas Tuesday 3 TPPK PARENT ASSISTING SCHEDULE MARCH 2015 ***Birthday Volume 17, Issue 3 Page 7 23 30 Easter Break NO SCHOOL Turtles Muzyk Turtles Green 16 NO SCHOOL TEACHER WORKDAY 9 Monday 2 Turtles Boyer*** 24 31 Easter Break NO SCHOOL Ducks Johnson Gators England*** Ducks Kenley Gators McLeod 17 18 Lambs Smathers*** Fish Frary Frogs Stewart Lambs Arnold*** Fish Boyer*** Frogs Kim 25 Turtles Hlad*** Turtles Hong Lambs Barth Fish Hudson Frogs Rivas Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Kenley Preston Zhao Parks*** Wright Kincaid Thomas Thurman Gsegner Gardner 26 Lambs Pease Fish Rodriguez Frogs Vojticek 19 Gators Story Wright Tito Mazzeo*** Frary Treible 12 Gators Dwyer Ducks Gators Lambs Fish Frogs Thursday 5 Ducks Paramore 10 Lambs Shaw*** Fish Hlad Frogs Parsons 11 Turtles Choi Wednesday 4 Turtles Glass*** Ducks Dickinson Ducks Vojticek Gators Thomas Tuesday 3 5001 Tudor Place Durham, NC 27713  Phone: 919-544-2872 Fax: 919-361-2782 E-mail: [email protected] To provide a Christian atmosphere where our children can grow and develop at their own level of maturity and ability.  To provide an atmosphere where parents can continue to learn and grow by working with their own and others’ children in the classroom.  To lay a sound foundation for social and spiritual growth.  To foster the development of motor, intellectual, emotional, and social skills, each being equally important.  To foster the development of these skills with a “learning through play and experience” approach. Upcoming Events Easter Break School Closed School Closed Monday, February 16th Wednesday, March 18th Turtles Monday, March 9th Thursday, March 19th Ducks, Lambs, Gators, Fish, Frogs & Bears Friday, March 27— Friday, April 3