Welcome to Preschool!
We are so happy to be back at school! All registration and PS tuition fees will be paid at the front office. Ms. Amelia will be happy to help if you have questions. All PK students are funded through UPK Colorado, for 15 hpw.
Springfield Preschool is a Nationally Accredited Early Childhood Program through NAEYC, and a Level 4 Program rated through Colorado Shines! We are dedicated to providing high quality early childhood services for you and your children! Our goal this year is to earn 5 stars!
We are all happy to have 33 students in preschool! We teachers want to genuinely thank each of you for allowing us a porch visit, to meet your child at his/her comfort zone. The investment is as helpful as we get to know each of your children. We have made it to almost everyone and we had such a delightful visits!
For this first month, would you please send a change of clothes in your child’s backpack? A parent already asked about parties…. PARTIES: The teaching team does not plan holiday parties. Parents are more than welcome to initiate parties throughout the year and encouraged to work with the classroom teachers when planning and organizing parties.
Party sign up lists will be in the vestibule, near the sign in book, NOT on social media. Teachers will host Christmas activities with 1st Semester Culmination Day. There will not be an additional party day.
Birthday invitations may only be given out in the Preschool Express (or at Preschool) IF THE ENTIRE CLASS IS TO RECEIVE AN INVITATION. Children LOVE mail!
*Preschool Pictures–SEPTEMBER 9, WEDNESDAY–Photographer will start at 8:30 in the Red White and Blue Gym, on the stage. You may bring your own child, or we will take those who need help.
Preschool Parent Orientation Meeting—We shared our curriculum at Open House last month. We opened again last Thursday, September 3 @ 5:00. If you are interested there is a binder at the front desk for parents that couldn’t come to the orientation meeting. It has all the information we shared. Please read and sign.
Preschool Express--The envelope you received this letter in is called the “Preschool Express”. Here at the preschool we only send it home once a month, unlike the elementary who sends it once a week. From this point forward we will send it home the FIRST week of the month. Please read what is in it, sign and date the outside of the envelope, and return it to preschool the next time you come. Leave anything we need back IN the Preschool Express. Thanks!
Snack-- Preschool snack is provided daily between 8:30 & 9:30 for morning classes, and between 3:00 & 3:45 for afternoon classes. This year PreK is having lunch at 11:15! It has been so good! Many thanks to Ms. Sheila and her crew for feeding us so well. Our menu will be the same as the big kids. We have enclosed the September snack menu for your benefit. There will not be any additional cost to you.
Clock--Thanks also for respecting the clock. We will remind you all year that drop off/pick up times are specific, not approximate. *8:30 to 11:00 for PRESCHOOL TEAMS. PREK 8:00-11:45 BLUE Team & 11:00 to 4:00 YELLOW Team. Our building is open daily 7:45-4:30.
Zones of Regulation —each day a teacher will ask each child upon arrival what zone they are in. This self-regulating tool helps students learn how to self-regulate, the zones of regulation creates a system to categorize how the body feels and emotions into four colored zones with which the students can easily identify.
General Health Appraisals—every child attending SPS is required to have a current general health appraisal. We have 30 days from enrollment to collect all of them! Please help us. Thanks so much—we already have a bunch…. of healthy kids!
General Health Appraisals, completed by your child’s primary care physician are due 9-24-26!
Scholastic Book Orders—each month you will have a Scholastic Book Order in the Preschool Express. You are welcome to order inexpensive books for your child throughout the year. This month’s book order will be submitted on 9/17/26. All orders must be made online at clubs.scholastic.com Use our code: GRXZC or just search for Springfield Preschool &/or Debbie Sharpe.
Sign In/Out--Please check your child in daily in the Sign in/Out book on the counter in the vestibule, below the TV. We will help check your child’s cubby each day too. Our daily routine is posted in all classrooms. Upon arrival all children and adults wash hands, get a drink so we can think, and apply sunscreen when necessary. We use Rocky Mountain Sunscreen SPF 30.
School Nurse—Delilah Myers, RN, is our school nurse. She will be on campus full time. She may be calling you if your child has any health concerns, medicine, or allergies, or will be needing a health care plan! She will be finishing up our PS hearing and vision screenings this month.
SUPPORT—Our Elementary PTO is called SUPPORT. The preschool is included in the elementary, so YOU are invited to participate in SUPPORT! Please get involved!
Curriculum—High/Scope daily routine & plan/do/review. Heggerty Early Literacy is our nursery rhyme/literacy sticks. “Get Set for School” – is the early childhood companion to Leader in Me –is the program we used to teach our students essential leadership and life skills, and to foster a school culture that raises academic achievement! Handwriting without Tears- and we use flips and our Green Books twice a week. The Great Body Shop is our health and safety curriculum—we use the Big Book and puppets every Monday. We use the Pyramid Plus Social/Emotional learning model complete with Tucker Turtle and 10 solutions for joining, taking turns and resolving conflict daily, along with several social stories as we learn to work in groups and get a long with peers. We also use the ‘Zones of Regulation’ to support children as they learn to regulate their emotions and take responsibility for their learning. The ongoing authentic assessment system we use to measure growth and document present levels is called Smart Teach from Teaching Strategies Gold, or TS Gold.
PLAYGROUND USAGE: The Little Longhorns playground is closed to the public. All Spre4 playgrounds are intended for children during school hours. The public is welcome to use the community playground located on Tipton Street. Please keep the pea gravel in the barrier!
Teams—Deb Sharpe will lead PRE-K BLUE & YELLOW Teams with help from Ms. Kris and Mr. Andrew.
Kristen Schmidt will lead PS RED & WHITE Teams. Mr. Andrew will assist. Ms. Deb will provide resource support.
Volunteers--Ms. Dottie Thompson will be our volunteer Grandma again this year. We are expecting another outstanding year at SPS! We are pleased to have 100% returning staff!
We are growing our Preschool Team. Stay tuned!
What we are doing:
*Blue Team— Show and Tell will be for PRE-K on Wednesdays! This first week Show and Tell will be ``Something BLUE” at the beginning of the week Ms. Deb will have it on a whiteboard by the ZONES desk.
Learning our classmates by name and establishing our daily routines has been the priority. We have done our pre-testing to build our baseline. We have new Nursery Rhymes each week. Feel free to practice them at home.
We will also work on self-help skills. “Do not do for a child, what he can do for himself”. We have and will continue PBS (Positive Behavior Supports) HORNS. We like routines and rituals—We are carving out new ones this year!
*Red Team & White Team— establishing our daily routines and learning how to do family style dining at the snack table. We will have a new Nursery Rhyme each week. The color of the month is BLUE.
Links Home--Instead of asking your kids “What did you do at preschool today?” or “Did you have fun?” Try these terms to get their story started: “Where did you work today?” “What song did you pick?” “Who was the leader?” “Did you work in the art area?....... block area/house area/art area/ quiet area?” TALK WITH YOUR CHILD DAILY! Shut the SCREENS!
Things to Remember: *Preschool will NOT have Student Contact on Fridays. On those occasional Fridays that the public school does have student contact, preschool will not. The teachers will be cleaning toys, making home visits, training and/or having a work day.
*Speech and Motor services from SEBOCES are already up and going. Ms. Tiffany will be here for a speech every day. Ms. Thompson will be here for motor groups each week as well.
*Front Door--Students need to enter and exit through the Little Longhorns entrance. The doors are working! That is a great win for the D wing! Only bus students enter from the bus run and come down the hallway through the elementary. This is for safety. Adults open and shut doors—for safety and security. You are always welcome.
* Student Insurance The public school does NOT provide student insurance for accidents that occur at school. So happy that most of our preschoolers are insured this year, whether it be private insurance, CHP+, or Medicaid. We expect 100% of our students to be insured.
Many Thanks:
To each of you for allowing us to visit your child at home.
Kevin Larson repaired all of our John Deere Trikes in August!
Dollar General (Kent Schmidt) for Child Find Balloons!
Pastor Rowe is our custodian—he will be keeping the D wing sparkling clean!
Dates to Remember:
9/9/26 Wednesday Preschool School Picture Day.
9/17/26 Thursday Scholastic Book Orders are due.
Welcome to Springfield Preschool!
Ms. Debbie Ms. Kristen Mr. Andrew
Favorite Recipes from our kitchen:
Playdough
2 cups flour 1 cup salt Mix all ingredients. Cook over medium heat,
2 cups water 2 Tbsp. oil stirring constantly. Dough will pull away from pan
1 Tbsp. Cream of Tarter Food Coloring when ready. Remove from heat. Cool. Knead with
flour if sticky. Store in a Zip Lock Bag!