Hello all!

Welcome to the first “real” blog post of the Park Prep Academy 2016-2017 school year! This blog is updated every Friday and recaps the entire previous week of school! Read below to learn about all the learning and fun that took place during “Welcome to P.P.A. Week!”

After an amazing and fun-filled summer, the students of Park Prep Academy returned on Wednesday for the first day of the 2016-2017 school year – and what a day it was! Like the true preschool professionals they are, the older students of Park Prep helped usher in the new wave of “underclassmen”. Throughout the short week, the older students helped the new students get acclimated to school and learn all of the different areas of the classroom. This was particularly helpful during morning stations (i.e. morning small group play areas) and with the daily routine.

The students spent the morning exploring the classroom, learning the daily routine, and of course, doing their morning work. Morning work during “Welcome (back) to PPA Week” included the following projects.

A special sentimental craft was made for all students celebrating their first day at Park Prep Academy – a handprint keepsake page! Some of you may remember this craft from your child’s first day year(s) ago!

Seeing that the returning students were celebrating their first day back at school, the teachers designed a special backpack art project just for them.  The returning students were surely happy to be BACK and ready to take on their new “big kid at school” role!  They even set goals for the 2016-2017 school year ahead!

On Thursday, the students worked together to create a partner-paint! First, the students were grouped in pairs – one new student and one returning student in each pair. Each student introduced him/herself to the partner then selected a color to paint with. Each partner began by painting with the chosen color. After a few minutes, the partners swapped sides and began adding their color to the partner’s painting! In the end, each partner’s painting had a piece of their friend’s artwork too! What a special art project and more importantly, special friendship!

On Friday, the students worked together to measure out and mix together all the ingredients necessary to create the first batches of play-dough of the school year! The students worked together to count out all the right amounts to add to the mix! With a little help from the teachers, the play-dough batches were cooked and set aside to cool! Once all of the batches were created, there was so much play-dough left over that the teachers decided to put a little ball in a baggie along with a recipe for each student to take home! Here they are in action!

During the afternoons of “Welcome (back) to PPA Week”, the students enjoyed music and also discussed “the Rules of PPA”. The rules are as follows…

1. Play Nicely.

2. Be Safe.

3. Share.

4. Listen.

And most importantly…

5. Have Fun!

To help the students remember the rules, the teachers introduced them to two classroom puppets – Oscar the Octopus and Mambo the Bird! The teachers explained that Oscar always did a great job following the rules of school. Mambo, on the other hand, did not always do such a great job following the rules of school.  The students watched as Oscar and Mambo participated in various school scenarios. What fun it was!

After the puppet show, the students participated in music class where they learned some preschool classics including: “Down by the Bay”, “Apples and Bananas”, and “Five Little Ducks”! Once music class had ended on Friday, the teachers took time to congratulate all of the students on such an amazing first week of school. The students were beaming with pride as they headed off to their afternoon stations. Wow! What an amazing week “Welcome to PPA Week” was. The 2016-2017 school year is bound to be the best one yet! As always, thank you for reading. Have a fun and safe weekend!

-PPA

Send in a Family Photo by Wednesday + All About Me Posters are Due Next Week!

Please try to send in the poster as early as possible to ensure that your child has an opportunity to share this poster in front of his/her classmates.

Back to School Night – Thursday, September 22nd

(7:00-8:00 p.m.)

Parents Only Please