First Quarter Reflection

Success has many faces every child blooms, and every family succeeds. We envision a community in which every child begins their educational journey with the skills necessary to succeed. We move toward that vision, one child at a time.  Each year, teachers work hard to help measure and impact each child through daily observations and progress reports. While our scholars are busy learning through play and teachers are busy observing and noting their daily observations that tells a story of impact and success on each and every one of our scholars. We are excited as we move past the first quarter of school, to see the development that has occurred thus far. As we prepare for winter break, we look forward to what the new year brings.

In November our leadership team had the opportunity to go to Nashville Tennessee to attend the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference. The keynote speaker Dr. Pryor spoke eloquently regarding his personal early learning experience with a teacher who nourished his gift by giving him 5 minutes at the end of each class to tell his jokes to classmates. Dr. Pryor attributed the teachers actions to him being a successful standup comedian today. After hearing about his experiences with two of his early learning teachers, one who left a negative impact on him and one who empowered him, the room of 7,500 educators was moved to tears. What we do everyday with our little scholars can make or break them as adults and the early learning years of development are crucial to making a positive impact on our scholars.

We thoroughly enjoyed the conference and brought back good information to share and impart to our staff.

Frist Place Holiday Spirit

Hello All,

The month of December was amazing! Our family events entailed giving out cold weather essentials to ones who needed them, thanks to Zumiez for our donation of hats,  gloves, socks, coats and blankets. We greatly appreciate the annual donations so that we can distribute them to the families in our community.

Our little scholars had an winter concert where they presented theme related songs they have been learning in their classrooms. “Winter Wonderland” and “Celebrations Around the World” were the themes this month, our teachers related the themes to the children through songs, stories and skits. They are to be commended for a job well done. We look forward to more exciting activities when we return from winter break, be safe and enjoy your family.

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Culture Night!

Hello Families, the first quarter of the year has been great, our scholars are busy learning and developing. The month of November we had “Culture Night” our first in-person event of the school year. Families came together as their children presented something related to their culture. 

Each child’s teacher had  presentations representing each child’s cultural information. Our families were encouraged to wear clothing representing their culture, and we had a fantastic time.  Thank you all for coming out to make “Culture Night” an enjoyable experience. We learned about the different cultures of families that make up the First Place preschool learning environment. Children and families danced and participated in different activities in their classrooms, then we came together for a delicious gumbo dinner sponsored by chef Eduardo “June Baby”, we were so honored for his generosity to us. Jamaal Jones the owner of Osmosis Media, generously agreed to capture content, footage, and highlights of our family Culture Night event and we appreciated his work.

Welcome to the 2022-23 School Year!

This year at First Place Early Learning Center, our goal is to continue to promote every child's individual development using an appropriate mix of learning activities that possess values that encourage educational excellence. We use a research based curriculum that encourage child lead activities that surrounds themes and studies for them to explore.

As Early Childhood Educators, it is our responsibility to know the stages children go through at different ages. We have had some challenging times our children has faced in the last couple of years, we are going to engage in social emotional activities using the Second Step curriculum to help our children navigate through what they are feeling and going through.

Children grow and develop rapidly in the first five years of life. Every day routines and play times provide rich opportunities for young children to learn. We are here to support our children with  practical and enjoyable ways to help them learn as they play and explore their world. To guide their play and be creative, while growing up healthy, strong, and happy.

We look forward to an amazing school year and will be glad to partner with you as we develop our young brilliant scholars.

-Carolyn Brown, First Place Early Learning Director

Preschool Projects at First Place

First Place Scholars have been busy learning and having fun! During Black History Month, they learned about Black inventors and creating their own inventions. Classroom 3 students created their own inventions using items that could be found around their homes and classrooms. The students were giving the instructions to think of an invention, the purpose of their invention,  and then come up with the name for their invention(s). Here are the results.

Classroom 3, had an experiment using eggshells and liquid then predicting how the liquid would affect the eggshells. The eggshells is an example of how the liquids we drink effect our teeth. They learned the importance of brushing their teeth so that the sugar bugs won’t ruin them.

For Dental Hygiene Month Classroom 1 had an Eating healthy Snacks cooking project, then enjoyed eating after making them.

Wrap around Care is a fun place to be, Mrs. Cheryl is holding up the rear of a train our scholars created.

First Place Fall Activities

The little scholars are busy learning and having fun doing Fall related activities, on “Festive Friday”, We had a pajama party and everyone including teachers wore pajamas for the day.  The adventures class had a “poppin” pajama party with popcorn and a movie, this included dancing with balloon animals along with Ice cream floats and treat bags to take home. They also had a science activity with  growing pets in water and each child named their pet. How exciting!

We’re looking forward to our “Culture Night”, where our teachers are preparing cultural related activities from every family culture in their classroom and families will share something from their culture in a virtual setting for everyone to enjoy. After the “Family Culture” night  scholars are creating thankful trees and sharing how many things they are thankful for.

We are so happy to have such a eager group of scholars that are excited about learning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome Back First Place Families

The beginning of the school year is off to a great start, our first 4 weeks of school were spent introducing classroom rules and routines. While the teaching staff were super excited about heading back to in-person teaching, they also had some apprehensions about how to do it safely.

Mr. Tracy and Ms. Stacy came up with ways that are working great for social distancing while allowing the children to play and stay safe. All of our scholars are busy learning and having fun daily, with all safety procedures in place. Our scholars have adapted to the new procedures like the champs they are! We thank our parents for teaming up with us to make our learning environment healthy and safe.

First Place Preschool Graduation 2021

A word of thanks to our families.

We made it, thanks to you!

This past year has challenged us in ways we never could have imagined. Yet, the commitment of our First Place community to support the education of all students never faltered. Your generous support during distance learning to the First Place teachers helped all students have the best experience possible in these most unusual circumstances as we remained in virtual learning models for this school year.  I can’t thank you enough for partnering to support the learning of our little scholars.

A final word to First Place students: Thank you for all your hard work throughout the school year.  I am so honored you are a part of our Preschool; you made me proud to watch you learn and grow over this school year.  I am grateful for your joy, and amazing eagerness to learn.  Best wishes to our graduating students on their way to kindergarten, whom I will miss greatly—please come back and visit. 

We will continue learning through our summer program, for those who will not be continuing through the summer, have a safe and happy summer break.

Thank you for a wonderful and productive school year. 

Until next school year, here’s wishing you love, laughter, and learning.

Mrs. Carol

Spring Activity Boxes

First Place Preschool would like to thank DEEL for the fun filled learning activity boxes. Our scholars will be learning, exploring and having fun this Spring! We appreciate your partnership.

First Place Distance Learning a Success

Greetings First Place Families,

I hope all is well, during this uncertain time. I want to thank everyone for your support, patience, flexibility, and understanding during this time of distance learning. This school year we embarked on a new journey--Virtual School. Zoom, has become a household name, and the world of video conferencing has been leveraged heavily for our educators to connect with their classes and deliver content to students. This has brought on its own set of challenges for teaching as everyone learns how to operate within this video conferencing world.

First Place educators have established a great learning partnership with all families and we appreciate the sacrifices you have made during this course of this school year.  It brings me great joy observing the Zoom classes every morning, seeing your children develop learn and grow. Our teachers have adjusted from in-person classroom teaching to holding daily virtual learning classes, and I must say they are doing an awesome job! Ms. Stay is the lead teacher for classroom 3, read about her experience below, in her own words.

We look forward to continuing to work together providing distance learning for the duration of this school year.

Carol Brown

Early Learning Director

Ms. Stacy’s Experience (in her own words):

When the pandemic hit as a teacher of young children these thoughts plagued my mind. How can I  continue to reach the children that I have in my class? How am I going to meet their social emotional needs? How can I teach them affectively through a computer screen? How am I going to keep the students and families engaged until this pandemic is over? Here’s the thing I love most about teaching and it’s that even in person you never know what each day will bring even when it’s planned out. I realized I just had to stretch my mind and my other teaching skills to meet the needs of my students and families. The thoughts that plagued me at the beginning of this pandemic I now use as fuel to ensure that each student is still taught based on their individual learning style, in order to meet or exceed their developmental skills levels. I must say that I am having a great time teaching even now. My students are writing their first names, numbers and letter. The students are engaging in the stories that are being read. We are now doing Art, Science and Cooking Projects all virtually. My class is ready and eager to learn daily what more could a teacher teaching virtually ask for?    

“Our strength is greatest in the toughest times if we don’t give up.”

-Stacy Brown (Green)

Holiday Cheer 2020

2020 has been quite a year. We recognize the many unique challenges you’ve overcome with distance learning. And we want to take a moment to tell you how much we appreciate you this year, more than ever.

We’re in this together,  and today we want to spread holiday cheer to our families in our community by giving holiday gifts to celebrate the season.

We’re grateful for you and look forward to serving you in 2021. Stay safe, be well, happy holidays and cheers to a brighter tomorrow!

Best wishes,

Carolyn Brown

Early Learning Director

Activities and Activity Supplies Sent to Student Homes

First Place has prioritized the health and safety of all students and staff with the decision to start the school year with an online only curriculum. The teachers log on each day to interact with their students, and offline the families work to do activities to foster what they’ve learned.

So parents and students don’t have to come into the building, the First Place staff will mail activity packets to student homes each month, and they will also receive additional learning activity supplies, so they have access to similar learning tools as they would if they were going to school onsite.

Thank you to our partners at the City of Seattle Department of Early Learning for helping us supply some of the learning activities to send home.

First Place Preschool goes to the Pumpkin Patch

First Place Preschool staff, spent a day at Remlinger’s Farm. During our visit we had our Zoom classroom session.

Our scholars were able to learn about life on the farm, what animals live on the farm, equipment used such as tractors to cultivate the ground to grow vegetables and fruit. We enjoyed the opportunity for our scholars to help us choose a pumpkin to bring home. We had a great time and was glad our little scholars were able to join us by way of Zoom.

Welcome to a New Year at First Place Preschool

Welcome to First Place Preschool!  We are so happy you are joining our virtual learning community.  The first month of virtual learning has went great!

We appreciate the daily support from our families participating in our daily zoom classroom learning times. This school year is certainly different from what we all have experienced in the past and will require some adjustments but we are confident that we will be able to engage and teach our students and have fun at the same time. 

Here are some pictures of some of our scholars picking up their activity backpacks to learn at home.

Carol

End of the Year Celebration

The last day of school is the closing of one door and the opening of another. Thank you to each child for all of the warm memories, and the learning that we shared this year. To the families we say THANK YOU! This past year has been very challenging and we have grown together, I’m sure this will be  a year that we all remember!

First Place Early Learning celebrated the last day of school by rewarding the children with gift bags and backpacks filled with prizes they can enjoy throughout the summer. We were so happy to see you all come to pick up your goodies and the smile that were on your faces were just priceless! For those who are going to kindergarten: go and be great! For the returning scholars we look forward to seeing you in the Fall!

COVID-19 First Place Closed through April 24th

Hi First Place Families,

Along with the Public and Privates schools across the State, First Place Preschool will be closed until April 24th. At this time we are scheduled to reopen on April 27th, however things may continue to change quickly. Please be on the look out for periodic communications from our staff.

If your family relies on the school’s nutrition program, we can assist during this time by continuing to provide lunch for your student who attends First Place.

If your child needs lunch while school is closed, or you have any questions about this closure, please contact the school Administrator Lois Vaughn by email (lvaughn@fpscholars.org), or by phone 206-629-6288. You can also contact Preschool Director, Carolyn Brown (cbrown@fpscholars.org), 206-629-6287.

Things may change quickly over the next weeks and months to meet local and state requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We will communicate if the date that school reopens, or anything else changes.

COVID - 19 First Place Preschool Closed for a Minimum 14 Days

First Place Families,

In response to COVID-19 we have been following the guidance of Public Health Seattle and King County and implementing preventive strategies. In light of Governor Inslee’s request that all citizens practice measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, First Place Preschool will be closed for the next 14 days.

We know that some families rely on the school’s nutrition program. We can assist during this time by continuing to provide lunch for your student who attends First Place.

If you need assistance with lunch while school is closed, please contact the school Administrator Lois Vaughn by email (lvaughn@fpscholars.org), or by phone 206-629-6288.

Things may change quickly over the next weeks and months to meet local and state requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We will communicate if the date that school reopens or anything else changes.

Apple Tasting Project - By Ms. Stacy in Room 2

Apple Tasting Project

One of the many things that I love about being at First Place Early Learning is the children guide their learning. Our Scholars are very curious and asked many questions. When questions are asked instead of answering them right away, we at first place Early Learning Center find ways to explore and let them find the answers for themselves.

Which brought about our Apple tasting project. So, when a student posed the question do all apples taste alike? We created an apple tasting project. First, we bought five different type of apples which varied in colors. Secondly, we show them to the class naming each one. We then revisited the question do all apples taste alike?

We then began Apple tasting investigation. We sliced the apples and let the children taste each apple. After tasting the five apples the question was posed again do all apples taste alike? While there was a resounding no some still sitting yes. They then decided among themselves which apples they like best.

Which caused us to create an apple graph. The children then found the names or wrote their names under the apples that they liked best. A few children then counted and wrote the numbers below to represent which apples were the favorites.

Ms. Stacy

Our Plan for the Year - a Message from the Early Learning Director

This year at First Place Early Learning Center, our goal is to promote every child's individual development using an appropriate mix of learning activities that possess values that encourage educational excellence. We use a research based curriculum that encourage child lead activities that surrounds themes and studies for them to explore.

 While some children may recite their alphabet at age 2, others may not until age 3. While some children may be drawing pictures of trees and people at age 4, others may not do so until age 5.

Why such discrepancies? The reason is that all children grow and develop, for the most part, in the same order but go through the stages at their own pace.

As Early Childhood Educators, it is our responsibility to know the stages children go through at different ages. 

Children grow and develop rapidly in the first five years of life. Every day routines and play times provide rich opportunities for young children to learn.

We are here to support our children with  practical and enjoyable ways to help them learn as they play and explore their world. To guide their play and be creative, while growing up healthy, strong, and happy.

-Carolyn Brown, First Place Early Learning Director

Thank you Seattle Preschool Program!

Seattle Preschool Program has highlighted First Place Preschool as a place for ‘Crayons, Hugs, and Community’. Please read the wonderful article the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) has posted about First Place.

DEEL and First Place partner to provide high quality affordable early learning to Seattle families. Through this partnership First Place has been able expand our excellent preschool and preK programs.

Read the article:

https://education.seattle.gov/crayons-hugs-and-community-first-place-school/