Grange - Play Centers, Inc.
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***
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