Open House

The GPPSS District Open House will take place on Sunday October 20, 2019 from 1:00pm-3:00pm. All schools will be open including The Barnes Early Childhood Center! No appointment is necessary if you would like to come tour our building and learn more about our programs!

See you there!

Summer

Our summer session is in full swing! We are enjoying the outdoors as much as possible this summer with sprinkler days and playground fun. The fresh air and large open spaces provide great fun, and great opportunities for physical development. The last day for summer preschool is Thursday August 22. We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

End of the School Year Wrap Up

3 weeks are left in our 2018-2019 school year. We know they are going to fly right by! This school year has been a great adventure in play, exploring, problem solving and acquiring new skills. Our 10 week summer program begins on June 17th and runs through August 22nd. Our summer will be spent enjoying water days, outdoor experiences and play based learning. Thank you for a wonderful school year!

Music Class

Once a week, our music teacher Ms. Christine, visits the full day early childhood classrooms at Barnes, Trombly, Monteith and Ferry. The children love when she plays the ukulele! Children have opportunities to explore vocal pitch, rhythm, speed, and a variety of musical genres. Music can bring together children and adults of all developmental levels and ages. Music supports many areas of our curriculum including giving children confidence in moving through space, gaining control over their bodies, and the ability to keep a steady beat. It exposes them to aspects of language such as rhymes and alliterations, and gives them opportunities to express themselves and build a strong sense of self. Music and movement activities support Bilateral Coordination which helps children use both sides of their body together. This coordination supports skills needed for reading and writing. We are so fortunate to have this special weekly music time in addition to the music and movement our classroom teachers are providing each day! 

Having fun!

Here is a look at some of the things we have been up to already in 2019! Learning every day and having fun while doing it!

2019!

Happy New Year! We are looking forward to great 2019!

Upcoming News:

• Enrollment for new students for the 2019-2020 school year is taking place now through January 31, 2019. Please visit our website for an online application.
• All programs will be closed on Monday January 21st in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Representatives from our program will be at the Preschool Fair on Wednesday February 6, from 6:00pm-8:00pm at the GP Library. 
• Mid Winter Break Camp for Pre-K students is February 19-22 at Trombly Elementary School. 

Enrollment Information

We will be accepting applications for the GPPSS Child Development and Preschool Program 2019-2020 school year starting on January 2, 2019 and ending on January 31, 2019. Families on our current waiting list for 2018-2019 will need to re-apply to be considered for 2019-2020.

Visit our website here: https://mi01000971.schoolwires.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=960

Application Process:

Online applications will be accepted starting on January 2, 2019. Applications will be collected until
January 31, 2019. If there are more requests for admission than space available, a lottery will be held.
If your name is pulled in the lottery, you will receive notification of your placement. Applications are
located on the preschool website, under each specific age group/program. Please schedule a tour prior
to January 31, 2019 if you would like to visit the center. Tours will not be offered during the time of the
lottery due to time constraints and the high volume of requests.

Deposit:

There is no deposit required to apply. If you are selected for a spot, you will be responsible for a
non-refundable registration fee. The registration fee for full day programs is $100.00, and $75.00 for half
day programs. Tuition pricing is available online.

Program Locations:

Programs will be offered at the Barnes Early Childhood Center, Ferry Elementary School, Monteith Elementary
School, Richard Elementary School and Trombly Elementary School. Please visit our website for the hours
and ages of each location. Offerings vary per location.

Pumpkin Auction

It is time for the annual Barnes Pumpkin Auction! We love seeing the creative pumpkins available year after year! Each child gets a token to cast a vote for their favorite pumpkin. Then the pumpkins go up for auction!! Who will take home their favorite pumpkin this year? All of the proceeds benefit the Barnes Early Childhood Program.

Happy Halloween!

Miss Wayne County

Yesterday, Miss Wayne County visited our Monteith program to talk about STEM and make slime with the students. The children helped measure ingredients and stir the mixture together. They discussed how it was changing properties, and what it felt like. This visit supported our math and science curriculum objectives with hands on learning.

They also had the opportunity to hold Miss Wayne County's crown, and try it on. Miss Wayne County is a scholarship program affiliated with the Miss America Organization. Each representative chooses a cause close to their heart and dedicates their year of service to supporting that cause. Shelby's cause is STEM, and she believes it is important for all ages to have experiences in Science. Technology, Engineering and Math.

STEM

Yesterday, we were honored to have a visit from Miss St. Clair Shores, Shelby McPherson. Shelby is a graduate from Lawrence Technological University where she studied Architecture and Construction Management. She shared with the students her passion and involvement with STEM. She linked their current experiences- drawing pictures, constructing with legos, to STEM.

She led the students through two activities. The first was building with toothpicks, marshmallows and gum drops. The students constructed various configurations, and shapes. Shelby talked about how making a strong base would allow their structures to grow taller.

Second, the students did an experiment with Chromatography. They saw how one color is made up of many colors. They colored with a single color on a coffee filter and observed the colors separate in water.

We really enjoyed our visit from Miss St. Clair Shores! We wish her the best as she continues to grow in STEM!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Wow! What a week we've had! We are so grateful to the generous parents who spoiled us this past week! They brought in so many delicious goodies for themed lunches and snacks each day. We have awesome parents in our program who help support our amazing staff.

On behalf of the preschool leadership, we want to thank all of our teachers and caregivers who are the heart beat of this program. We appreciate all that you do each and every day for your students and the whole program. Thank you! #thankateacher

For bios and pictures of our wonderful staff, please visit our website!

#WOYC18 Wrap Up

Wow! We had a super fun week celebrating the National Week of the Young Child. The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, and families. Each day had a different theme with plenty of fun to go around! Here is a picture review of our week:

Music Monday:

Tasty Tuesday:

Work Together Wednesday:

Artsy Thursday:

Family Friday:

#woyc18

Today begins the National Week of the Young Child 2018! This annual celebration is hosted by the National Associate for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Our classes have different activities planned for each day. Teachers will also be sending home some activity ideas for home, and informational articles from NAEYC. Check back at the end of the week to see pictures!

Music Monday

Tasty Tuesday

Work Together Wednesday

Artsy Thursday

Family Friday

Mid Winter Break Camp

Last week, Trombly Elementary School hosted our pre-k students for Mid Winter Break Camp! Students and staff enjoyed meeting new friends from different elementary school locations. Special events were planned for break camp including an art class and a bounce house. We hope everyone enjoyed the week!

Taco Thomas

Taco Thomas is the newest addition to the Barnes Pre-K Family! Our Pre-K teacher, Ms. Danielle, was awarded a grant to support a classroom pet! He is a bearded dragon and his name was selected by the students.

This is such an enriching learning opportunity for the class. Children will learn responsibility in helping to care for Thomas. They will learn science and math information about what he eats, or what his habitat is like. They are learning new vocabulary words, and enjoying new dragon based stories.

We hope Taco Thomas is enjoying his new life in Pre-K!

September

We can't believe September is almost over! Our first month of school has flown by!! Take a look at some of the things we have been up to:

Professional Development

Our teachers are required to attend 16 hours of professional development each calendar year. This includes a variety of safety trainings (CPR, First Aid) and early childhood trainings (workshops, and conferences). Before the first day of school, our teachers participated in a few team building activities, shared music and movement activities and learned policy updates. These opportunities are so important! Our next professional development day is Tuesday November 7, 2017. All programs will be closed for students with staff still reporting. We look forward to learning new ideas and enhancing our skills.

Rosco the Clown

Today we had a visit from Rosco the Clown! We enjoyed his silly magic show.

Rosco pulled bananas out from behind our ears, chickens out of hats and read us a few silly stories! He even turned our Preschool Prep teacher, Ms. Kim, into a bunny!! Thank you Rosco for sharing your joy and laughter with us this morning!

Summer

The Summer Program at the Barnes Early Childhood is in full swing! Our students have been busy playing and learning both inside and outside!  Weekly water days are enjoyed by all ages. Our summer program runs through August 24, 2017.

Last Days of School

Goodbye 2016-2017 school year! You flew by! We can't believe today is the last day for our elementary programs, and tomorrow is the last day for our Barnes program. What an awesome school year! Thanks for learning and laughing with us.

For those joining us in the summer, we will see you on Monday June 19th at the Barnes Early Childhood Center. Our program hours will remain the same, 7:15am-6:00pm. We are looking forward to soaking up the sun with you this summer.