Hello from our Lower School Librarians

Welcome to the Watt Library!  I am Allison Williams, the head librarian in the Lower School. Many of your children will have already met me if they attended Cubs Camp or Getting Ready for JK this summer. I will be working with your children in the library this year, along with my colleague Susan Overton.  

We like to think the Watt Library is at the heart of the school and also an extension of what goes on in your child’s classroom. We will be sharing stories and songs with your children as part of their regular schedule. Each student at Collegiate has his or her own library card, and soon after the beginning of school your child will begin to check out a library book to take home.  Caring for the book and returning it on time is part of a Junior Kindergartner’s responsibility. To help them in this task, each child has a Paw Pouch in which to keep their books. 

I know that Collegiate families are reading families, and I encourage you to share this pleasure throughout the year.

I look forward to meeting you all on Parent's Night when the Watt Library hosts a Book Sale of new books for our collection.  

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Allison Williams 
Susan Overton

Hello from Academic Services

Hi, and welcome to the Collegiate community!  

My name is LaNessa West, and I am the Co-Chair of Academic Services: Differentiation / Literacy Specialist.  I am delighted that your precious "babies" will be joining us this year in our Lower School.

I serve as a point guard for students, teachers, parents and the Lower School Academic Services Department.  I am dedicated to meeting the needs of ALL students, especially those needing extra support with literacy.  Assisting in developing a plan for instruction and suggesting strategies to help students work toward their academic potential is my "claim to fame"!  I love seeing their smiling faces as they enter our buildings!  I already consider it a privilege to be even a small part of one of the most important milestones of your little one's life.

I would also like to ask that you join me in welcoming the newest member to our Academic Services Team, Cathy Gregory. Cathy will serve as the Co-Chair of Academic Services: Learning Specialist. Cathy will also be dedicated to meeting the needs of ALL students, especially those with learning differences. She will assist classroom teachers, parents and the Lower School Academic Service Department with developing a plan for instruction, and suggesting strategies to help students work toward their academic potential. I know she is eager and excited to join the Collegiate community and to be a new COUGAR just like your sweet cherubs!

Please feel free to email me with any questions at lwest@collegiate-va.org or stop by anytime just to say hello and introduce yourself.  I hope to meet as many of you as possible over the course of the school year!

Sincerely,

LaNessa West

Lower School Co-Chair Academic Services

 Hello everyone.  It's so hard for me to believe it's August!  I hope you are having a wonderful summer.  

I wanted to introduce you to several resource teachers who will work with your children during their JK year.  We are so blessed at Collegiate to have such wonderful faculty to love and care for our children.  I'll start with Christine Hoffman, one of our fantastic music teachers who will work with our littlest Cougars!

Anne Bruce


Hello Junior Kindergartners and Parents,

My name is Christine Hoffman, and I will teach Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade music this year.  I am excited to meet you at the end of August!

In my music room, we will explore ourselves, our community, and our world through music. We will sing, play instruments, dance, and play lots of games. I believe in four stages of music learning, taken from the Orff Schulwerk approach to music education:  imitation, exploration, improvisation, and composition.  We will use our voices, bodies, unpitched percussion instruments (such as drums, triangles, maracas, wood blocks, guiros, tambourines, etc.) and pitched barred instruments (such as xylophones, glockenspiels, and metallophones) to move through these four stages.  I believe in creating a comfortable and respectful environment in my classroom that allows for mistakes and promotes creativity.  

I maintain a website throughout the school year with pictures and videos from class, as well as information about my curriculum, upcoming performances, and other information that I hope you find to be useful.  Please check my website for updates throughout the year. 

http://musicwithmrshoffman.weebly.com

I'm looking forward to a wonderful year together.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Christine Hoffman
christine_hoffman@collegiate-va.org

Hello from your JK Team!

“It’s almost time for school!  Can’t you just feel it?”

I welcome this opportunity to say “hello” from all of the Junior Kindergarten teachers.  My name is Eileen Beane, and I am thrilled to be a part of the Junior Kindergarten team.  We are anxiously awaiting the first day of school when we will meet the young members of the class of 2029 and will finally be able put names with faces. This year will be a magical journey for all of us as, through purposeful play, our days will be filled with exploration, wonder and discovery.  Our classrooms will come alive with the excitement of busy children learning to solve problems, work collaboratively, and develop independence and a love of learning.

2015 marks the year of Collegiate’s Centennial Celebration and how fitting it is to be making history already for the next 100 years! We look forward to embracing your young children as they enter our learning community and to providing them a strong foundation as their educational journey begins.  

Below you will see the teams of JK co-teachers for each classroom.  This structure will provide two co-teachers in each classroom throughout the day.

Co-Teacher Structure in each classroom:
     One teacher: all day
     One teacher: morning to 1:15
     One teacher: 12:45 to end of school day, transition to KinderQuest and stay til 6 pm

Our JK Teams: 
Eileen Beane, Rives Barksdale and Kelly Givens
Ann Woods Cutchins, Tia Owen and Paige Archer
Wendy Wilson, Nicole Ligon, Kim Turner 

Below you'll find a few photos from our "Get Ready for JK" Summer Quest camp.  We look forward to doing more fun things with all of your children this fall!  It is an honor indeed to be a part of this new, exciting endeavor. 

Sincerely,

                               

Eileen Beane and the Junior Kindergarten Team

Hello from Martha Proutt, your Parents' Association JK Representative

Hi, and welcome to the Collegiate community!

My name is Martha Proutt, and I am the Collegiate Junior Kindergarten New Families Representative this school year.  My daughter Betsy is a rising JK student, and I have two other children – Robert, a rising 2nd Grader, and Ford, who is in pre-school.  I am here to assist with questions that you may have during the year, as well as to provide you with brief reminders for fun school events.  Much of the information may be familiar to parents of current Collegiate students, but may still be helpful reminders.

I know it is still July, but the start of school is just around the corner and our little ones will be off to start their "school career"!  In their sweet little minds and lives, this is probably one of the biggest events thus far.  You have prepared them for this amazing journey they are about to embark on, so hopefully I can provide information to better prepare you…..

Speaking of starting school, here are some helpful reminders -

•   Collegiate tote bags are provided in lieu of backpacks for all JK students. Most of you picked up your child's tote at the spring play date; if you did not, you may pick it up anytime in the LS Admission Office.  If you gave your child's tote to the Cougar Shop to be monogrammed, you may pick it up after Aug. 17 from the Cougar Shop.

•    Be on the lookout for any Collegiate emails from the Business Office regarding forms you have yet to complete (i.e. lunch order form, health forms etc.) and other pertinent information.  Also, the Back to School Website will launch soon and will be sent to you directly via email.  It's got lots of good information, so be sure to read through it. 

•    Classroom assignments will be distributed mid-August!

Now, let's have our kiddos meet again to get to know each other more - if your fun summer plans allow, as well as if the weather permits, please join us at First Presbyterian Church’s playground Thursday, July 30, from 4-6 pm.  I sent an email invitation to everyone, I hope you got it!  Also, be on the lookout for a Mom's Night Out evite in August and Parents Social in the fall.

So, for now, I urge you to explore the Collegiate website, enjoy your summer and contact me with any questions. Please feel free to email me with any questions at marthaproutt@gmail.com.   Otherwise, see you soon!  Until then, I hope you and your children enjoy these remaining long, hot, lazy days of Summer.

Best,
Martha Proutt

Hello from Kathryn Heidt, our new Lower School Nurse

Hello to all of our newest Cougars!  My name is Kathryn Heidt, and for those of you who don’t know me, I am the Lower School nurse and new to Collegiate as well. After working for six years as an Itinerant RN in schools all over Henrico County, I am happy to be back at my alma mater. I am here every day during the school year from 7:45 - 3:30. My office is just down the hall from the Lower School front desk.  Please stop by and say hello! 

Just a couple of reminders as you complete your checklists over the summer.  I know sometimes all the forms and paperwork can be overwhelming!

Regarding Health Forms:  All parents of Junior Kindergarten students need to have completed two different health forms --

• The online "student health update" that was sent to you via email --- this form is completed by all parents annually.

• The four-page state health form that includes immunizations, child physical and a pediatrician's signature.  This form is available on our website under Lower School Health And Counseling. It is required no later than the first day of school by state law.

Please refer to the Collegiate website under LS Health and Counseling here for suggestions about when to keep a child home, medical action plans and health policies. Collegiate does enforce a 24-hour fever free policy. There will also be a great deal of information in the Lower School Handbook and on our Back to School website.

Some other basics:  Any medication, prescription or OTC, must be given to me in the original container...no "loose" pills can be administered.  Medicine permission forms are required for children receiving medication at school.  Action plans (signed by an MD) are required of students with diabetes, seizure disorder, food allergy or asthma, and are available on our website. Students who have life-threatening allergies must have an EpiPen or Auvi-Q, as well as, a food allergy action plan on file each year.  Please be sure you touch base with me if your child has any of these health concerns, or if you have any questions at all. I can be reached at 741-9787 or via email: kathryn_heidt@collegiate-va.org. 

I look forward to meeting you and taking care of all of your children!

Best,
Kathryn

I wanted to let you know that all new parents (those of you who are brand new to Collegiate this fall) have now been assigned a "Parent Log-In" to access the "Parents" section of the Collegiate School website.  

Here’s what you do:

• Click here to go to the Parents section of the website. 

• In the top left corner, click Login to enter your username and password. Your username is your REAL first name (as you submitted it to Collegiate) + your last name, and it is case sensitive. So Peggy Smith would be MargaretSmith ... Cathy Wall would be CatherineWall, etc. After you've entered your user name, click "Log in help" to get your temporary password. 

• The user name for any parent who is ALSO an alum of Collegiate will contain your class year at the end: for example, AndrewMiller91.

If you have any trouble or questions, please email Dianne Carter in the Communications office at dcarter@collegiate-va.org, and she will help you out!

Enjoy the Parents section of the website.  I encourage each of you, new or "old," to peruse the website occasionally over the summer....it's chock full of great information and is updated constantly with current news, reflections, and summer faculty activity.

As always, please let me know if I can answer any questions for you!

Anne Bruce