June 2015
Play Centers at Grange Elementary School
2000 Church Road
Dundalk, Maryland 21222
410.282.6894 ~ www.playcenters.org
Hours of Operation: 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. / 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
This organization and its materials are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Baltimore County Public Schools, the Superintendent, or this Baltimore County public school or office.
FROM DIANE MELLOTT, CEO
Happy June to all of our Play Centers, Inc. at Grange families!
The end of the school year is right around the corner and we are
all beginning to think about summer plans, outdoor fun, and
summer fun with family and friends. It has been a school year full
of learning and doing new things and full of fun with friends and
teachers. It is with great sadness that after 20 years at Grange
Elementary, we must now close our doors. We have had a
wonderful experience at Grange and have so many warm and
meaningful memories of the children, families, staff, and
members of the entire school community that we grew to know
over that time. We are hopeful that, as Grange Elementary
continues to grow over the next five years, we may have the
opportunity to return to Grange and continue our relationship
there.
Please know that we still would love to hear from you! Feedback
from our families and children is the most critical part of our
quality assessment process. Please take this opportunity to
complete a Parent Survey, and to work with your child to
complete a Participant Survey, both available either from your
Director or via our website home page by clicking “Surveys”,
located under More Information. If you decide that sending us
an email is preferable, you may send it directly to me at
[email protected] or to our Office Manager at
mailto:[email protected]. Feedback is always
welcome and we value the information these communications
provide us. We appreciate hearing your ideas!
Thank you very much for your support over the years and for
making this a memorable 2014-2015 School Year. We look to the
future with high hopes and wish all of you the very best in your
future endeavors and adventures!
Summer Office Hours
June 22, 2015 - July 2, 2015
Monday-Thursday 8 am - 4 pm
Friday 8 am - 2 pm
July 3, 2015 - July 31, 2015
Monday-Thursday 8 am - 4 pm
Friday CLOSED
August 3, 2015
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 8 am - 4 pm
Wednesday 8 am - 5:30 pm
Friday 8 am - 2 pm
FROM THE DIRECTOR
KATY WEINKAM
Happy Father’s Day!
STAFF
Ms. Katy
THEMES
Sand
Surf
Sun
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Jasmyn W. 6/4
FROM ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE (AR)
Questions about your account?
Please contact your personal AR Coordinator, Sharon Gunther,
at 410.307.1426 or 410.296.4880 ext. 106, M-F, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Please contact Subsidy Specialist, Kari Thomas, at 410.307.1424
Please refer to the Financial Policies Binder on the Parent Table for more information!
IMPORTANT DATES:
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Half Day of School - Early Dismissal
Play Centers will be open until 6pm.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Half Day of School - Early Dismissal
Play Centers will be CLOSED!
Need Child Care for the 2015-2016 School Year?
Don’t Wait Till The Last Minute! Spaces Are Limited!
Registrations for the 2015-2016 School Year
are due by Friday, August 7, 2015!
Those children not enrolled by our deadline,
may not start our program until after Labor Day!
Center Directors will not be accepting
Registrations during the first week of school!
Play Centers’ Main Office will be OPEN the week of August 17th.
Please note however, that all departments may not be available due to
preparation for the up coming school year.
***Please be sure to read our AR Page for important information regarding our Financial Policies and Procedures***
June 2015
Play Centers at Grange Elementary School
2000 Church Road
Dundalk, Maryland 21222
410.282.6894 ~ www.playcenters.org
Hours of Operation: 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. / 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
PARENTS’ CORNER
Be Outside (an excerpt)
How do you like to spend your free time? Hanging around with friends? Reading or drawing? Doing things with your family? Playing sports? Watching TV? Playing and exploring outside? As it
turns out, spending time outside is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Parents, teachers,
doctors and others that spend time with students are worried that many of you are not spending
enough time outside. So, what's the big deal about being outside? Let's take a closer look. . . .
Healthy
How can being outside make you healthy? Well, for starters, one of the best things that happen when you are outside is exercise. Being outside
makes you want to run, jump, climb, ride your bike, play and explore. All those things exercise your body. This helps to build strong bones and
muscles. A strong body can help you fight off germs that make you sick. Exercise also helps you stay a healthy weight. When you exercise, your
body uses up the fuel you get from your food. If you do not burn off that fuel, it can build up as fat and you become overweight. Being overweight
is no fun! Extra weight is hard to carry around and you get tired easily. It can interfere with how your body works, causing serious diseases like
diabetes (dia-a-BEE-TEES). Some overweight kids even start having the same kinds of health problems as adults! Being outside is a great way to
make sure that you get the exercise you need to be healthy.
Happy
Spending time outside also makes you feel better about yourself. Have you ever felt sad? Maybe you had to move away from your best friend or
you did not do as well on your math test as you thought. Things like these can make you feel sad and that is normal. Spending some time outside
can help you work through many feelings such as sadness, disappointment or anger. No one is exactly sure how it works, but being outside often
helps us feel better and able to think about what is bothering us. One thing we do know is that being outside helps you relax. When you relax you
are better able to concentrate and think. When you are not relaxed, you feel stress. Remember how you felt right before you had to give a talk in
front of your whole class? Or the way you felt when you were trying out for a part in the school play? Well, that is stress. We get tense, nervous
and worried. Being stressed for a short time is not bad. But if you are stressed out a lot, it can be hard on your body and your mind. Many people
find that a quick walk outdoors or even looking out a window can help them feel less stressed out. Next time you have a big test first thing in the
morning, see if you can walk to school or ride your bike. You might be amazed at how much better you feel about your test when class starts.
Star Light, Star Bright
Perseid Meteor Shower: a meteor shower visible every August
Space is a place that has fascinated us forever and you can explore it right from your own backyard. To observe stars and planets, wait for a clear
night when the moon is a tiny sliver. Find the darkest place in your yard and turn off the lights in the house. Get a lawn chair or just lie on the grass
and look up. Binoculars can be helpful when you are looking at planets and the bigger stars. To help you identify what you see, get a star chart
from your school library or print one off one of the many astronomy sites on the internet. Do some stargazing once a month to see how the
constellations rotate across the sky. Watch the sky during a meteor shower like the Perseid Meteor shower in August or the Leonid Meteor shower
in November. Lunar eclipses are really neat to watch too. During a lunar eclipse, you can see the shadow of the earth as it moves between the sun
and the moon. An eclipse can take awhile so why not get your whole family or some friends in on the fun. Bring sleeping bags and make it a
backyard campout to watch the eclipse or explore the stars.
http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season10/outdoored/facts.cfm
***Please be sure to read our AR Page for important information regarding our Financial Policies and Procedures***