School Pictures

Jen in preschool

In the spirit of school pictures, I thought I would share these little gems with you.  I didn't go to preschool, but I was about 4 in the first picture and my Elton John impersonation at 18 months.  I hope to bring you more staff photos this month. 

School pictures will be taken on Monday, October 11th and Tuesday, October 12th.  Information was sent home this week with a permission form for you to fill out, sign and return to school.  We must have a permission slip for your child in order to have their picture taken.  You will be able to preview the pictures at a later date and decide if you would like to purchase a photo package.  Please return the permission slip even if you don't plan to purchase pictures.  We would like your child's photograph to be in our school composite picture.

October Newsletter

Upcoming Events

October 6         Yellow Day 

October 8         Non-Academic Day (Kindergarten)  

October 11-12   School Pictures

October 20       Fall Fun Day   
October 22       Orange Day
October 27       Harvest Party @ 6:15pm - Trinity Fellowship 

Preschool Themes and Bible Verses

October 4-8        Dance & Physical Fitness                             

October 11-15     Dental Health & Hygiene

October 18-22     Fall Fun

October 25-29     Farm, Food & Harvest

Romans 4:21-22

being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.   This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Preschool and Lamb's Fold Home Visits

Home visits are a Sunshine School tradition and we invite you to participate.  Home visits are designed for your teacher to come and visit your child in his/her home environment.  Visits usually last 15-20 minutes.  For families with multiple children at Sunshine School, we will try and schedule home visits at the same time.  We encourage you to participate if you are interested.  Please see your child's teacher or contact the office if you have any questions. 

Join us for our annual Harvest Party!

Wednesday, October 27 @ 6:15pm

Join Sunshine School, Trinity Fellowship and neighborhood families for activities and fun for the whole family!  Dinner starts at 6:15pm ($1 per child, $2 per adult) Dress in your favorite (non-scary) costume and enjoy a fun, safe evening together. 

Back to School BBQ & Open House

Thank you for coming to the 1st Annual Back to School BBQ and Open House!  We hope the evening was as fun for you and your family as it was for our Sunshine School Staff.  We enjoyed getting to know you better and it was a joy to watch our families interact and get to know each other. 


You recieved some information from your child's teacher regarding Home Visits at the Open House.  Home visits are a long standing tradition at Sunshine School.  It's a fun, unique way for our staff to get to know your family better and a special treat for your child to have their teacher visit them at home.  We want to encourage all families to participate in a home visit, however it's not a requirement.  If you are interested in scheduling a home visit, please talk directly with your child's teachers.  For families with multiple children at Sunshine, we can schedule a time for both teachers to come together.

Atkinson Elementary After School Care Pick Up

Sunshine School is now offering after school pick up from Atkinson Elementary School.  Our After School Teacher, Mallory, takes a van from Sunshine School to Atkinson each afternoon.  We need your help to spread the word about this new service.  If you or someone you know would be interested in sending their K-4th grader to us after school please call the office at 503-775-1533 or send me an email at jennifer@trinity-fellowship.com.  Monthly tuition is $225 and daily tuition is $15.00.   

*Remember there is a $100 referal credit available upon enrollment of a new family. 

Red Day and Back to School BBQ & Open House



Tuesday, September 21st is the beginning of color days at Sunshine School. 

We are starting the year off with RED Day.  Everything will be RED today.

RED clothes, RED art, and even some RED soup. 



Tuesday, September 21st is also the Back to School BBQ and Open House. 
All Sunshine Families are invited to join us for a BBQ dinner anytime between 6-7pm.
Teachers will be in their rooms until 7:45pm.  





picking cucumbers with mrs. jaime. 
we have enjoyed our preschool garden this summer. 
there are a lot of green tomatos that we hope start to turn red soon.



September Menu 2010

It is my desire to offer healthy and kid friendly meals each day at Sunshine School.  We are striving to serve meals made from scratch so that we control the ingredients in all of our meals.  We are also using fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables as much as possible.  Recipes are available for all of our meals if you have any questions or concerns about the ingredients used. 

One significant change is a move to create seasonal menus.  So the menu that you see above will be the menu for September, October and November.  You can download or print this menu if you would like to have a copy of it at home.  I will also put some copies out in the lobby by the preschool cubbies if you would like to pick one up.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding our menu, please let me know.  I hope your child enjoys their dining experience at Sunshine School!   

Frugal Living NW is a website and blog dedicated to letting its readers now about deals and sales throughout the NW.  Their goal is to help families save money on everyday items by using coupons and combines deals at stores all over the Portland area.  The founder from Frugal Living is holding a seminar at Trinity Fellowship on Septermber 29th at 7pm.  Registration isn't required, but is helpful for them to know how many are coming.  If you are interested check out Frugal Living's Blog at www.frugallivingnw.com.  

...monday morning coffee & pastries...

Sometimes it's hard to get up and going on a Monday morning.  Sunshine School would like to give you a little boost with some coffee and pastries.  We will kick off this new tradition tomorrow morning, September 13th.  Enjoy!

September Newsletter

Sunshine School Staff

We are excited to have you at Sunshine School for the 2010-2011 school year. We have a great year planned with lots of learning, activities and events for everyone. We are proud to introduce our outstanding and well-qualified staff:

Administration
Ms. Jen Browning, Director
Ms. Myrna Johnson, Office Administrator

Lamb's Fold
Mrs. Yvonne Brown, Lamb’s Fold Head Teacher
Mrs. Talissyn Quibell, Wobbler Teacher
Miss. Amanda Ford, Wobbler Teacher
Ms. Grace Later, Infant Teacher
Miss. Erika Banke, Infant Teacher
Miss. Amanda Huitt, Lamb’s Fold Assistant

Preschool
Mrs. Sarah Soderberg, Head Preschool Teacher, 2½-3’s Teacher
Mrs. Jaime Phelps, 4’s Teacher
Ms. Traci VanDyken, 4’s & Pre-K Teacher
Ms. Alyssa Gardner, Pre-K Teacher
Mrs. Carolyn Poling, Floater & Afternoon Head Teacher
Ms. Ruth Imig, Preschool Assistant

Kindergarten and After School
Mrs. Tracy Gibbs, Kindergarten Teacher, Behavior Specialist
Mallory Strange, After School Teacher

Ms. Tammy Thompson, Cook

Health and Safety

Because your child’s safety and well being are our primary concerns, we ask that you help with the following:

• Be sure to sign your child IN and OUT every day. We use this roster for our fire drills and emergencies.
• Our teachers will ask for identification if they do not recognize you or someone picking up your child. Please make sure to keep your “authorized to pick up” records with us updated. If someone is not listed or does not have proper identification they will not be able to pick up your child. Please notify the office of any pick up changes in writing.
• Due to our health regulations, we cannot accept food prepared at home. Snacks or treats for birthdays must be in their original packaging from the store. We love healthy snacks!
• Sunshine School is a “”Flip Flop Free Zone”.
• If your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep them home from school: fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (within 24 hours), severe cough or cold, or any other illness or infection that might be spread to other students

Lamb's Fold News

Please join us in welcoming a new teacher to the Wobbler Room. Amanda Ford is a recent graduate of Moody Bible Institute and just moved to Portland a few weeks ago. Amanda comes to us with great experience working one on one with toddlers with special needs. We are also saying goodbye to Ellyn, who graciously filled in this summer at Sunshine School.  Thank you Ellyn!  We are sad to see you go. 

We had a lot of fun playing in the sun this summer, as the weather starts to get cooler, please remember to bring a coat, sweatshirt or sweater each day. We still love to go outside when it’s dry.

Preschool News

Clothing Reminders

• Be sure your child has proper shoes for outdoor play (no flip-flops please)
• It is a good idea to send your child to school in comfortable clothes. Pants with an elastic waist are easiest to manage. Shoes with a soft sole, like tennis shoes, provide good traction.
• As the weather starts to cool off, please make sure that your child has a coat, sweater or sweatshirt. We go outside as much as possible when it’s dry and want to make sure your child stays warm.

Kindergarten News

September Curriculum

September 13-17
  Language Arts: Introduce A, B, C, D, E, F
  Handwriting: Direction, orientation, and tracing.  Visual motor practice and coordination
  Math:  Counting 1-10, Recognition and number concept 1-5, positional words and patterns
  Bible: Creation
  Memory Verse:  Genesis 1:27a

September 20-24
  Language Arts:  Visual Discrimination, Introduce G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R
  Handwriting:  Draw and trace straight line, draw directional lines, write 1, 2
  Math:  Recognition and concept 6-7
  Bible:  Adam and Eve
  Memory Verse:  Romans 3:23

September 27-October 1
  Language Arts:  Listening Comprehension, Introduce S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z; review
  Handwriting: Draw slant lines, directional lines, straight lines, and circles
  Math:  Recognition and concept of 8
  Shapes: Circle and triangle
  Money:  Pennies and the concept of larger, smaller, and same size
  Bible:  Baby Samuel
  Memory Verse: Colossians 3:23

Welcome to Sunshine School

Dear Sunshine Families,

The 2010-2011 school year is off to a great start!  I am thrilled to present the new Sunshine School Blog!  It's my goal to create one location for all newsletters, announcements, upcoming events, and pictures.  I will be posting new information throughout each month, not so much that you feel overwhelmed, but enough to keep you well informed.  

Over the next couple of months, I will send out an email reminder each time I post new information.  The email will provide a link to the Sunshine School Blog.  There are a couple ways you can access this information.  I would encourage option 1, so that you don't miss out on any information.   

1. Become a subscriber of the Sunshine School Blog and an email will be sent to you with every new posting. (This is the best option!!) 
2. Visit http://www.sunshineschoolpdx.blogspot.com/ on a weekly basis.
3. Add the Sunshine School Blog to your Google Reader but entering http://www.sunshineschoolpdx.blogspot.com/

Please let me know if you have questions or trouble accessing the Sunshine School Blog.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this works!

Jen