Summer Quarterly Newsletter
Notes from the Classroom
Summer is kicking off to a great start! Our Small Sprouts garden is already bursting with veggies, and we have had a number of volunteers join us, such as staff from Surfing Hydrangea to plant a tree on Earth Day, and a friend from Moors End to plant morning glories and sunflowers. Please read on to find out what is happening in our classrooms.
The Pollywogs spent some time this Spring learning about transportation. Amongst other projects, they used their fine motor skills and creativity to paint with trucks. They then focused on ducks and ponds, creating beautiful artwork which incorporated both. They will soon be investigating bugs!
The Scallops are sad to say goodbye to SteevyAnn but wish her well. We are delighted to welcome Dana as the new Head Teacher, Anne as Teacher, and Andrea as afternoon Teaching Assistant. The Scallops have recently begun a unit on Ocean Life and will be focusing greatly on literacy, fingerplays, and rhymes.
This spring, the Starfish learned much about plants, flowers, nature, and bugs during their Springtime unit. They also spent time learning about families- the characteristics and members of their own families, as well as the differences in all families, discussing the notions of families with two homes, adoption, and so on. The Starfish are now exploring Ocean Life and plan to take a field trip to the beach soon.
After the Bluefish finished their Spring unit, they moved on to exploring the solar system, a subject in which the children have shown great interest. The Bluefish have investigated stars, planets, and comets, and their classroom has even transformed into a solar system! Soon the class will be creating their very own constellation telescopes.
The Dragonfly classroom recently wrapped up a unit on nursery rhymes, which was tons of fun and great skill practice in the literacy and language domain. They put on a wonderful play of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and had a dress-up day! They are currently learning about the zoo and will soon be exploring bugs.
The After-School Program will be breaking for summer soon. This wonderful program has a few spots available for the next school year. Please see me for further information.
I am pleased to announce that Val Dountcheva, former Scallop teaching assistant, has joined us full-time as a permanent substitute, or “floater. She and Jackie provide consistency and stability to children throughout the Small Friends program as well as extra one on one instruction in the classrooms.
We look forward to a great summer!
Sincerely, Thayer Laffey, Program Director
Notes from the PTN
Adventure Saturdays were a huge success- Thank you to all those who joined us!
The Heritage Potluck Dinner will be taking place Friday, June 18th at 5:00pm in the Great Room. We hope to see you there for fun, dining, live music, and the celebration of our families’ cultures.
Terri Dion and Thayer Laffey,Co-Chairs
Notes from the Office
Summer is around the corner and we welcome the change in the weather. We have experienced an exceptionally warm spring and our children are enjoying their time outside the classrooms.
Since our last letter we had our first fundraising event of the year. The fourth annual Small Friends on Nantucket Spring Down the House was one of the premier events of Daffodil Weekend. With three dozen business sponsors and over two hundred individuals in attendance the evening of fabulous food and non-stop dancing highlighted a glorious Nantucket day.
We are currently hard at work preparing for our second and largest fundraising event of the year. The Nantucket Folk Art and Artisan Show is a juried show that brings together over 50 nationally and locally recognized artisans. The show features an unparalleled selection of pottery, textiles, carvings, handcrafted furniture, tin ware, folk art and many one-of-a-kind masterworks created by today’s most celebrated artisans and craftspeople. The “Event Under the Tent” preview party opens the show and is a wonderful opportunity to meet the artists, have first pick of their beautiful wares and enjoy a cocktail with friends.
We saw three long serving members of the Board of Directors leave this year after their terms expired. A special note of thanks to Joan Ottinger, Kathy Butterworth and Barbara Varbalow for their dedication and countless hours of hard work over the years.
As we said goodbye to our departing members we said hello to three new members who graciously accepted appointment to the board. We are fortunate to have Susan Dragon, Betsy Braun and Kelly John join us immediately. We look forward to adding their fresh ideas and thoughts to the evolving challenges in the future.
In closing, we share with you the good news that our matching grant obligation has been met and we are overwhelmed with gratitude for all those who gave so generously. Our thanks to all those who continue to support what we do at Small Friends. We could not provide the services to so many Nantucket families without you.
Steve McCluskey, Executive Director
Box 2826 : Nantucket, MA 02584 : 508-228-6769 : 19 Nobadeer Farm Road : smallfriends@verizon.net : sitemap : built by learnerdesign.com