Nuts and Shellfish in Shared Food

ICNS has students with severe nut and shellfish allergies. When bringing shared food to school (e.g. food for potlucks, birthday celebration, special treats, etc.), please refrain from bringing food that contains nuts or shellfish of any kind.

Thank you!

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt
ICNS Board President

Recommendations for the ICNS Transition

Dear ICNS Parents,

I just received a letter from Vice Chancellors Relyea and Rue regarding their acceptance of the recommendations made by the ICNS Transition Workgroup.

Many of you have expressed particular concern over whether or not UCSD's new part-time program will accommodate Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedules. I am pleased to learn that the two-day and three-day options will be offered in this new program.

You should receive an invitation letter shortly. In the meantime, I will forward a copy of the letter to you via email.

Best regards,

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt
ICNS Board President

**

September 2008 Newsletter

A Message From the ICNS President

On behalf of the International Cooperative Nursery School Board and staff, I’d like to welcome you and your family to the 2007/2008 school year. We have many wonderful activities, themed learning experiences and get-togethers planned for the coming months. We are so thrilled to have you as part of our ICNS family.

By now you have received a letter about ICNS closing the doors at its current location in March 2009. Should you have any questions or concerns about this transition, please feel free to contact me by email at palomoschmidt@gmail.com. If you are interested in helping us find a new home for ICNS, please contact Christine Dunn (codunn@gmail.com) or Sophie Piconi (sophiepiconi@gmail.com).

Best Regards,

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt

ICNS Board President

CURRICULUM

During September our focus with the children and families begins with the various stages and feelings of separations, new routines and schedules. We move the focus to Self, Families, and Friends as the children become comfortable with the school and the teachers. In October we will learn about Community Helpers fall and the harvest.

For those of you are who are wondering about the “letters and numbers of school”, please be assured that the children work on these skills daily. When the children count their toys, friends, crackers or shovels, they are developing an understanding of each number concept and not just mastering the rote skill of counting. They will need number concepts for future math skills. When the children use play dough or build with Legos or string beads, they are exercising and developing their hand muscles- the very muscles they will need to write words. They are also strengthening their eye-hand coordination, which is also necessary for future writing. Likewise when the children paint or draw they are learning to manipulate and control various writing utensils. Reading to children is the number one motivator for children to read. Reading singing and just talking to children helps them to develop language skills and vocabulary. Both of which plays a large role in reading and reading comprehension. The next time you observe your child at play, look for the many things your child is also learning.

Finally, we will be making a letters and numbers book at school and need lots and lots of cut pictures from magazines and news papers. Thank you in advance for cutting lots of pictures and sending them to school.

TRANSITION UPDATE

Heads up—Very soon you will be receiving an invitation letter to UCSD’s new part time, multi-age program. ICNS families, including community members, will have first right of refusal to join this new program.

Parking Reminder

Please remember that ICNS parking is not permitted in the International Center lot. Please use the ten-minute loading zone when dropping off or picking up your child. If you expect to be at school longer than ten minutes, there are metered parking spots on Myers Drive, in the Gilman lot (located at Gilman and Villa La Jolla), or in the Grove parking lot (located one block South on Gilman).

ESCRIP
If you have not signed up for escrip, please do so today, before you finish reading this newsletter. Help ICNS raise money without having to spending extra money. Register your grocery cards, debit or bank cards today. Its fast, easy and best of all, it is free for you. Each time you use your registered grocery cards, credit cards or debit cards, at participating merchants, ICNS receives cash donations from those merchants.

To sign up for escrip (Von's, Albertson's, debit or credit card etc):

log onto www.escrip.com

1- at the top blue line click on welcome-

2- on the top blue line, click on sign up

3- enter group ID = 139985679

4-click on International Cooperative Nursery School

5- enter the programs you wish to support, ICNS should already be listed

6. You can contribute to up to 3 organizations –please make ICNS one of them.

To register your Ralph's grocery card:

log onto www.Ralphs.com

1.-left side, click on Community Contributions

2. middle of page-Participants-sign up

3. agree/disagree

4. enter NPO number =81733.

5. complete remainder of forms etc .

Thank you ijn advance for your participation

VISIT THE ICNS Blog!

In an effort to improve communication with our families, we have set up an ICNS blog. We hope to update the blog often with up-to-the-minute news, updates, pictures and funny antidotes about the children. Please bookmark http://icnsblog.blogspot.com/ and visit often.

WELCOME POTLUCK

Our Parent Coordinator, Eri Kato is planning at welcome back potluck for Friday, September 19^th from 12:00-2:00. For more details, see the evite that was sent to you by email.

Reminders

• Please be sure to sign your child in when you pick them up and drop them off.
• Remember to clean out your child’s cubby and file folder each day.
• Don’t forget to sign up for your coop days, weekend clean up. The sign up sheet is locate in the sign in binder located by the door.
• If you haven’t signed up for a committee by the middle of the month, a committee will be assigned to you.
  
  

DATES TO REMEMBER

September 19^th – Welcome Back Potluck

October 22^nd and 23^rd – School Photos

November 7^th- Fall Festival

November 26th – Stone Soup

November 27^th & 28^th – Thanksgiving Break

December 19th - Winter Celebration

December 22^nd to January 2^nd – Winter Break

ICNS Yearbook

Dear Fellow I.C.N.S. Families,

Hello everyone! :-) Angie Serrano and I (yearbook committee) are writing to you with an important message about our new school yearbook!

We want to inform you of a last minute decision to raise the price to $10.00.

We advertised a price of $5.00 but really, truly underestimated the cost of producing it. We talked about it a lot and went back and forth, wanting to honor the advertised price and are hoping for your understanding. We know you all signed up for a $5.00 yearbook but we are certain you'll be very pleased with the quality product you are purchasing. A printed copy is now available at the preschool if you'd like to see it before making your decision.

We are including a description of the yearbook and hopefully that will help you make your decision. We want to thank all the parents who shared their pictures with us. We truly appreciate your kindness. Due to some FABULOUS last minute additions..production is slightly behind schedule but we'll be ready to start selling starting Wednesday. We'll be at the school between 12:00 and 1:00 and again at 4:00 starting Wednesday and going until Monday. If you miss us, that's ok....we'll get you your copy! On Wednesday there may be a limited supply but we'll be fully stocked by Thursday. Read all about the yearbook:

2007-2008 I.C.N.S. Yearbook
1. It's a Power Point presentation that you can view on your computer very easily.
2. It's also a DVD. You can see the pictures on your TV with a DVD player....(you'll see all the pages but not as a Power Point).
3. The yearbook has over 50 pages with an average of at least 6 pictures per page...sometimes up to 12 pictures. The pictures begin in Summer of 2007 and go up to the Mother's Day celebration this very last week!
4. EVERY current student and most former students have their picture in the yearbook with their name underneath their picture. This is great because we didn't receive a class composite picture of all the kids at school with our school pictures this year.
5. There are pictures from all the potluck dinners we had this year.
6. There are very beautiful pages with things like the Fall Festival (beautiful costumes), the day the firetruck came, field trips, etc.
7. The yearbook can easily be printed to paper with your own computer or at a print shop like Kinko's.
8. There are indoor and outdoor candid shots showing just how engaged our kids are at preschool. You see how much they are learning and doing!
9. The yearbook pages are in chronological order so that you can see how our kids have grown throughout the year.
10. The beautiful pictures showing all the diverse personalities are saved in jpeg format.

We hope you'll understand our very last minute decision. We are really excited for you to see your yearbooks! Contact us with questions, we'd be very glad to answer them.

Yours truly,
Laura Fisher Semerad (Kaden's mom) and Angie Serrano (Hugo Hidalgo-Serrano's mom)

May Date Night

Dear ICNS Families:

Sign-up for DATE NIGHT this SATURDAY from 3-7pm!!! Look for the sign-up sheet on Wednesday morning. The kids will get to play, make a craft, eat dinner, and watch a movie with popcorn! Children 18 mo. and up are welcome! Sign-up soon LIMITED SPACE...ONLY 10 spots available...See you Saturday!

Cost: $25.00 One Child
$40.00 Two Children

Thanks for you participation!!!
Isa Sabey
ICNS Vice President

Additional Spring Fling Thank Yous

Hello All,
I realized yesterday that in my last e-mail I forgot to thank a few very important people. SO, on behalf of Isa and myself, thank you to the following individuals for donating hand-made items and services to our auction!

Emma Johnson- For the wonderful parent/child and child/child aprons.
Andy Estep- for the homemade "Three Billy Goats Gruff" set.
Chris Augsburger- for the adorable homemade shirts with matching handbags.
Autumn Nelson- for offering a Behind the Scenes Tour of "Lion Camp" at the Wild Animal Park.
Isa Sabey (who insisted I not list her but I can't help it!) - for the beautiful handmade quilt.

Thank You to everyone for helping to make the Spring Fling a success!

Susie Yount

Mandatory Parent Meeting Reminder

This is a reminder of the Mandatory Annual Parent meeting at ICNS on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.

• There will be a s a $50.00 fine assessed for any family not represented at the meeting, so please make every effort to attend.
• Remember that only 1 parent in the family needs to attend the meeting. We prefer to have your presence and voice instead of your money.
• Even if you will not be here next school year, you are vital and very necessary to our continued operation.
• We must approve next years budget and vote on the Board of Directors for next school year and address any other necessary school business.
• Child Care will be available, but we will also need some help form the parents depending upon how many children attend.

Spring Fling Thank You!!!

On behalf of Isa and myself, I would like to send a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who so graciously helped to make a very fun and very successful Spring Fling! Together, we raised money for the school and had a great time doing it!

The Fundraising Committee (who worked for months to get us those great donations!):

Fiona Chatwin
Christine Odegaard
Edwardo Fricovsky
Jacques Verstraete
And although this thank you is on behalf of Isa, I cannot help but thank her personally here, as she so graciously worked for months to compile donation after donation, THANK YOU Isa!

The Social Committee (who planned for months and devoted their entire Saturday to the Spring Fling with smiles on their faces!)

Therese Oppedall
Maureen Feeley
Nina Florholmen


The Babysitters

Miss Sherry
Michelle, Nikki, and Melanie from the Preuss School
Keya Bandyopadhyaya
Ben Sabey

Music

Jude Weirmeir- Thank You to Jude Weirmeir for the very beautiful and very wonderful music!

Others

Billy and Autumn Nelson - A huge thank you for setting up the catering, it was delicious! As well as for all of the help you provided before, during, and after the event.

Eri and Hiro Kato- Thank you for being an extra set of hands before, during, and after the event!

Geir Florholmen- Thank you for so graciously picking up the children's pizza!

Kerstey (Christine Odegaard's friend) for helping at the wrap party!

Again, on behalf of Isa and myself, thank you so very much for helping to make the Spring Fling a successful and enjoyable fundraiser!

Susie (Ella and Maya's mom)

ICNS Gets Some Little Visitors

Brisa's mom, who works at the Wild Animal Park, brought an armadillo and a tarantula into school on Thursday. Here's are some pictures of the big event.

Summer Afternoon Classes Available

Dear Parents,

Please note that afternoon classes will be available for summer classes. The registration form states that separate afternoon classes are not available, but due to the high number of requests for afternoon classes, they will be available. That means you can enroll you child to attend only in the afternoon. Please contact me immediately if you want/need to change your enrollment choices for summer.

Connie Justice

April Date Night Canceled

Due to lack of available staff, there will be no Date Night for the month of April. Date Night for May is tentatively scheduled for May 17th. We’ll have more information as the date nears.

Stephanie Palomo Schmidt
ICNS Board President

April Garden News

APRIL GARDEN NEWS:

Klaus (Lily's father) and Andy (Oscar's father) built a sturdy new fence for the ICNS school garden. It hasn't been painted yet but you can see how nice this will be for our children. Summer plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, and maybe even some flowers will be going into the garden beds over the next few weeks.

Also, we've begun the "smelling garden" in the play area-- herbs and scented plants in containers. We hope to organize more of these small, moveable gardens around sensory themes (like touching, smelling, tasting, colors). We could use donations of pots and/or soil for this endeavor.

Please feel entirely welcome to visit the school gardens, and even bring the children out for simple activities (you can play with animals, sing songs, etc-- it doesn't just have to be gardening!). Also, thanks to all of you who have been using the school composter. We will have some wonderful material with which to enrich our planting beds. When you coop don't forget that all plant materials (like fruit and veggie waste) can go in there, as well as leaves, eggshells, and even paper (ripped into small pieces). Kids should be able to separate out their compostable waste if you tell them what it is!

Happy Spring!
Emma (Oscar's mom), on behalf of the ICNS Garden Committee

ICNS Announcements

• The school photographs are due back to school on Wednesday, April 16, 2008. Please return any unwanted photographs along with payment for wanted photographs today.
• Priority registration for current families will end on Thursday, April 17, 2008. Registration will open to the public and be a first-come, first-serve.
• Register today for Summer and or fall classes.

Sign Up for Spring Fling

Hello ICNS Family,
Just a reminder that I will be outside of ICNS tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16th, from 11:30-1:30pm, to sign up anyone who would like to join us at the Spring Fling! The cost is just $15 per person through April 25th, then $20 at the door on May 3rd. We're going to have delicious Italian food along with a wonderful array of items to bid on at the silent auction so come one, come all! Babysitting is also available during the Spring Fling for $10 for the first child and $5 for each additional child to be paid on the night of the event. Dinner and crafts will be provided for the kids. Just a reminder, the Spring Fling is on Saturday, May 3rd, from 5-8pm. I hope to see you all there!
Susie Yount
ICNS Parent Coordinator

Summer and Fall Registration

Registration Announcement
Registration for summer and/or Fall classes will begin Thursday, April 3, 2008 for families currently enrolled in ICNS. Enrollment will open to families outside of ICNS on Thursday, April 17. 2008

April 3, 2008 Private enrollment only for families currently enrolled in ICNS.

April 17, 2008 Open enrollment for all families; enrollment will be on a first-come, first-served basis until all classes are full.

May 30, 2008 School year ends. Our current school year will end on Friday May 30, 2008 and we will begin a summer program on Monday, June 2, 2008- Friday, August 22, 2008 .

June 2, 2008 Summer sessions begin. The summer will offer 4 separate sessions with each lasting for 3 weeks. You may register for 1, or more summer sessions OR You may register for September classes only, OR you may register for summer and fall classes. Summer dates are listed below.

Session I June 2 – June 20 Session II June 23- July 11:

Session III July 14 – August 1 Session IV August 4-August 22

Sept. 2, 2008 Fall classes begin

If you want your child to continue attending ICNS during the summer and / or in September, please complete a registration form accordingly and, submit it to ICNS with the appropriate registration fees. Registration fees are non refundable.

Open House: April 3rd

The International Cooperative Nursery School, is hosting an Open House on Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m.. We invite new and interested families to come observe the program in action, learn about our philosophy, meet the teachers, and Board Members and decide if this is the right place for your child.

We want to give new and interested families an opportunity to "check us out" before we begin summer and fall registration on April 17, 2008. Feel free to bring your child with you to the Open House so you can see just how your child might interact in our program.

Parking is not available in the ICNS parking lot. For other parking options at UCSD please visit http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,16122,00.html .
.
RSVP, your intentions to attend the Open House to Connie Justice at icns@ucsd.edu or at 858-455-9310. Include your preferred time of 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. in your RSVP. If you are unable to attend the April Open House, let me know and I will notify you of future Open House dates. I look forward to meeting you at the Open House

Sincerely,

Connie S. Justice, Director
International Cooperative Nursery School
858-455-9310

Committee Log

Hello ICNS families!

I hope you are all enjoying a happy and safe spring break. This is just a friendly reminder about your ICNS committee responsibilities and the $20 fine that will be assessed if you do not fulfill these responsibilities. I will be taking down the March Committee Log In at the end of the day on Monday March 31st and anyone who does not have an entry recorded on this chart will be assessed a fine of $20.

That being said, I realize that since we only have one day left in March once we come back from the break, some of you may not have the opportunity to fill in what your contributions have been before the deadline, particularly those of you who attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays or later on in the week. Since March has been cut short for spring break, for this month only I will accept emailed reports of your committee contributions. You may email me at lesliesorensen@gmail.com up until Monday March 31st, midnight.

Thank you to each of you who have contributed to your committees this month and recorded something on the Log In. We have a wonderful school and our children are benefiting from all the great work you do!

Leslie Sorensen, ICNS Recording Secretary

COMMITTEE OPENINGS -- INCLUDING A BRAND NEW COMMITTEE OPPORTUNITY!

Introducing our brand new committee -- The Date Night Committee! ICNS Date Nights are a great fundraiser for our school! Members of the Date Night Committee will help the teacher assistants watch children at the school while parents go out on a date. Having parents serve on this committee will allow for more children to be accommodated on Date Nights, therefore earning more money for our school and giving more parents the opportunity to go out. The plan is to hold Date Nights about once per month.

All committee openings are listed below. If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please let me know. If you are new to the school and have not yet signed up for a committee, you must do so in order to avoid the newly instituted $20/month fine!

• Gardening Committee
• Animal Care Committee (this basically means the fish!)
• Laundry Committee (Mondays)
• Date Night Committee

Leslie Sorensen
Recording Secretary

NEW POLICY REGARDING ICNS COMMITEES

Hello ICNS parents! It's time for another committee update. First of all, thank you so much to each family who has been contributing to their committee and writing down what they did on the Committee Log-In chart, located by the sign in sheets. We really appreciate all you do to help our school run efficiently. Unfortunately, not everyone is doing their committee work. This is a real problem. We are a parent co-operative and therefore dependent upon the work that each of the parents contribute. When parents fail to fulfill committee responsibilities it means that essential tasks are left undone and that other parents, teachers or the director must step in and take over their work.

In an effort to ensure that each family is fulfilling their obligation to complete 3 hours of committee work per month (as stated in the contract each family signed upon enrollment at the school), the Board of Directors voted to establish a fine that must be paid by each family that has not fulfilled their committee obligations for the month. The best way to track if families are contributing to their committees is by what you write down on the Committee Log In. Beginning March 1st I will check the log in at the end of each month, and if there is no entry next to your name, a fine will be assessed. Please log in your committee contributions on this chart to avoid a fine. It was determined that a fine of $20 will be assessed for each month if committee responsibilities are not fulfilled. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Board has determined that this is necessary in order for our school to run as efficiently as possible and to ensure that each of our parents are contributing. Think of the positive environment we will be creating for our children if each parent steps up to fulfill their committee assignments! Thank you so much for your help in this and I sincerely hope that no one incurs this fine!

• Complete your committee work each week/month
• Record your completed work on the Committee Log In sheet
• Ask questions if you are unsure of your committee responsibilities
• Pay a fine if you fail to complete your committee responsibilities

Leslie Sorensen
Recording Secretary

Calling All Musicians!

Dear ICNS Family,
Do you play the piano? Guitar? Or any other
instrument that might be used to make our Spring Fling
Dinner and Silent Auction a success??? We are looking
for two musicians to play "background" music at our
event. We have two time slots, 5-6pm, and 6-7pm. In
return, your family will be admitted to the Spring
Fling for FREE (your child/children will qualify for
FREE childcare at ICNS). If you are interested,
please contact Susie Yount at susieyount@yahoo.com.

Many Thanks!
Susie Yount
ICNS Parent Coordinator

The Importance of Play

Emma Johnson, Oscar's mom, sent along this recent New York Times article about the importance of child's play. Emma writes, "It may be 'preaching to the choir' in a play-based school, but a good reminder that educators (and parents) should be taking play seriously!"

Taking Play Seriously (NYT, February 17. 2008)

We hope you enjoy reading it.

School Closed on Monday

In observance of President's Day, ICNS will be closed Monday, February 18, 2008. Regular school hours will resume on Tuesday.

ICNS Open House

Dear Parents,

The International Cooperative Nursery School, is hosting an Open House on Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m.. We invite you to come observe the program in action, learn about our philosophy, meet the teachers, and Board Members and decide if this is the right place for your child.

You indicated an interest in our Nursery School earlier this school year, and we want to give you and your child an opportunity to "check us out" before we begin summer and fall registration in April. Feel free to bring your child with you to the Open House so you can see just how your child might interact in our program.

Parking is not available in the ICNS parking lot. For other parking options at UCSD please visit http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,16122,00.html .
.
RSVP, your intentions to attend the Open House to Connie Justice at icns@ucsd.edu or at 858-455-9310. Include your preferred time of 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. in your RSVP. If you are unable to attend the February open house, we will notify you of the future March open house. I look forward to meeting you at the Open House

Sincerely,

Connie S. Justice, Director
International Cooperative Nursery School
858-455-9310

Valentine's Day Celebration

Dear Parents,

Valentine's Day this year is Thursday, February 14th. Valentines Day is a day to celebrate friendship and love. Often this done by exchanging Valentine cards. Valentine cards are small note cards with expressions of friendship and love. They can be home-made or they can be purchased at many stores (Target, Walmart, Rite Aide, Longs Drugs, Von's, Ralph's, Albertson's, etc.). We will have a small Valentine’s Day celebration for the children at ICNS on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 AND Thursday, February 14, 2008 during their normal class time.

• Children who will participate in the Valentine Card exchange should bring to school signed Valentine cards, but please do not address them to a specific child, as this will make it easier for the children to pass out.
• 24 cards for the morning classes and 24 for the afternoon classes.
• Children who attend both morning and afternoon classes on one or both days, and are participating in the valentine exchange, should bring in cards for each class
• Each child will have a turn in passing out their valentine cards to the other children in their class.
• Children do not HAVE to bring Valentine Cards to school. They will participate in the celebration as well.

If you have any questions, speak to Ms. Connie or any of our Teachers.

Date Night!

Dear ICNS Parents!

Now is the time to mark your calendars for our February Date Night Fundraiser! Support the school and get some extra time to go shopping, out to a nice meal, or catch a movie with a spouse or friend!

When: Saturday, February 16th from 3-7pm

Who: Miss Sherry and Miss Jennifer (our own wonderful and talented assistants will be tending the children)

What: Drop the kids off at ICNS for dinner, a movie, and craft for the kids!

Cost: First Child $20/Sibling $10 (the sibling must be at least 18 months old). Must pay cash or check at time of drop off.

LOOK FOR THE SIGN-UP SHEET NEXT TO THE ATTENDANCE BINDER...IT WILL BE THERE TOMORROW AFTERNOON! Important to note that we will only have 10 SPOTS AVAILABLE...

Hope to see you there! Please feel free to contact me with further questions...

Isa Sabey
(Chloe's Mom and ICNS Vice President)

Parent Information Night

Due to the large number of new ICNS families, we will be hosting a Parent Information Night at 5:30 on January 31st. Connie and the board will be there to give an overview of the school and answer any questions our families may have. Returning families are also invited to attend. This orientation is an opportunity to help acquaint you with the school and your membership responsibilities, and to meet other families, the teachers and board members.

Limited child care may available.

Laundry Committee Opening

Hello ICNS families! I just wanted to let you know that there are two openings on the Laundry Committee that it would be great to get filled. We need someone who can take the laundry on Mondays and someone who can take it on Thursdays. Word has it from past members of this committee that it is a great committee to belong to! The work is regular and it is easy to just grab the laundry on your way out and then bring it back the next time your child has school. Please let me know if you are interested in signing up for this committee -- it would be greatly appreciated!

-Leslie Sorensen, Recording Secretary

School Closed on Monday

ICNS will be CLOSED
Monday, January 21, 2008
In Observance of
Martin Luther King’s Birthday