Enhancing Equity in Classroom Participation

Dear CNS Families,

I hope this email finds you well. We are truly grateful for your enthusiasm and dedication to our cooperative model. The level of parent participation this year has been extraordinary, and it speaks volumes about the commitment of our community. However, this positive engagement has highlighted a few areas we need to address to ensure the process remains equitable and supportive for all families and children.

Participation Equity

As outlined in our Co-Op Member Requirements, each family is asked to participate in the classroom twice from October to January and twice from February to June. Some families have already signed up for more than the required two days this fall, which has created a few unexpected challenges:

  • Equity Among Families: Extra sign-ups can limit availability for other families to select dates, potentially causing frustration or missed opportunities.

  • Equity for Children: Seeing some parents more frequently in the classroom may lead to questions or concerns from children whose parents participate less often.

  • Developmental Impact: Increased participation by a single parent can sometimes lead to separation challenges, limiting a child's opportunity to develop independence.

  • Legal Considerations: Volunteers who exceed 12 visits in a school year could be subject to regulatory requirements that treat them as staff members, leading to additional administrative processes.

Updated Guidelines for Participation

To ensure fairness and address the concerns mentioned, we are implementing slight adjustments to the participation process moving forward:

  • Initial Sign-Ups: Each family may sign up for a maximum of two classroom days from October to January and two days from February to June, meeting the required four total days for the school year.

  • Additional Opportunities: Once all families have fulfilled their initial two-day requirement for each period, additional slots will open for those wishing to participate more. At that time, families may sign up for up to two additional classroom days from October to January and two additional classroom days from February to June. This would total four days per period and a maximum of eight participation days for the entire school year.

  • Monthly Limit: To ensure balanced opportunities, family participation is limited to one day per month (per child), regardless of the number of classes or programs your child is enrolled in or the number or family members participating.

We will continue to monitor the participation list to ensure availability is equitable and aligned with the Co-Op Member Requirements.

Evolving Model

This is our second school year using our new participation model. We appreciate your feedback and cooperation as we strive to improve this process moving forward. Being a cooperative is an integral part of our mission, and our goal is to execute this model fairly, equitably, and in the best interests of the children. 

Next Steps

If you have already signed up for more than the required two days for this period, we kindly ask you to review the schedule and adjust your sign-ups to align with the updated guidelines. For any questions or assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to racheldanielscns@gmail.com.

Thank you for your understanding and for continuing to make CNS such a special place. Your participation not only enriches your own child’s experience but also strengthens our entire community.

Warm regards,
CNS Board

2025-2026 Enrollment Forms

Dear families,

We're excited to share our CNS programming updates for the 2025-2026 school year, reflecting our commitment to meeting our community's evolving educational needs.

This year we're introducing a Transitional Kindergarten program, designed to bridge the gap between preschool and traditional kindergarten, in response to Connecticut's recent kindergarten age cut-off changes. This program provides a tailored learning experience for children at this critical developmental stage.

Based on your valuable feedback from our recent programming survey, we've expanded PreK 3 program options, offering more flexible day-of-week combinations to better support your family's scheduling needs.

To sustain our mission of providing high-quality, equitable early childhood education, we've implemented a modest tuition adjustment. This increase ensures we can continue fairly compensating our dedicated teachers and supporting our financial aid initiatives, ultimately enhancing the educational experience for all children.

Enrollment for current students opens January 1, 2025. Enrollment forms and financial aid applications can be submitted to Rachel Daniels. Rachel is available to assist you with any questions or support you may need during this process

We look forward to another enriching year of playing, learning and growing together.

Sincerely,

The CNS Board

CNS October 2024 Newsletter

Dear CNS Families,

Classroom participation is off to a fantastic start! We’ve had 44 classroom helpers so far and we are only at the end of October! It is such a positive experience for our little ones to share their school day with us, introduce their friends and routine, and show off their caregiver. This also helps out our teachers, an extra set of hands and eyes goes a long way! You can sign up for up to 4 days between now and January (you only need 2 to fill your quota) and there will be opportunities for 2-4 more days available in the spring. Also, a reminder that the new check in is very easy with the QR code option!

Sign up for additional days here!

Daniella Hernandez, Parent Participation Coordinator

What’s New

CNS Welcomes Literary Consultant

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jen Scoggin as a literacy consultant this year. It is really exciting to have someone of her caliber working with the school, as most preschools do not have this level of support. Dr. Scoggin will be coming in to observe teachers, give feedback, and run parent workshops. Please stay tuned for more details!


Workshop 1 (date TBD): As parents, often one of our greatest joys is sharing books with our children.  Children’s positive experiences with text from a young age have the power to set the stage for future confident literacy success.  In this first workshop, we will explore the connections between emotions and reading, the importance of staying child-centered and what it means to start to build an identity as a reader. In addition, tips for feedback, addressing mistakes and setting up literacy opportunities in your home will be shared.

Raise Craze is Coming!

Raise Craze is our largest fundraiser of the year, dedicated to promoting kindness and supporting our mission. One of the best things about CNS is we feel very strongly that teachers should not need to buy supplies out of pocket. Our goal for Raise Craze 2024 is to raise $9,000 as a community—enough to cover all school supplies and educational materials for the school year!

Raise Craze is not just about fundraising; it's also about fostering kindness. Families are encouraged to not only make a donation but also to pay forward an act of kindness. In addition, students will participate in activities that promote kindness both in the classroom and the wider community.

Mark your calendars! Raise Craze will take place from November 4-17. Stay tuned for more information.

November Grounds Clean-up

CNS’s fall grounds clean-up will be happening in November, and we need your help! CNS is a licensed facility, and in order to keep our license we must maintain a certain standard of cleanliness on our school grounds. Three times a year, families organize to rake or blow leaves, remove vines from the fence, and otherwise tidy up the grounds. This saves us thousands a year in landscaping fees. 

All families must send one parent to one school clean up per year, equal to four hours of work. If you are unable to make a clean up, there are tasks that can be done on alternate days.

More information will be sent as we get closer to the clean-up date.

CNS on the Guilford Green

CNS helped Guilford get in the Halloween spirit! We contributed a witch to the Scarecrows on the Green contest, with a recipe for "CNS Children." Don't worry; she's a good witch, so she's making them, not cooking them. 😉

Across the street, CNS painted an enchanting window display showcasing the witch from "Room on the Broom," a children's book that teaches friendship and generosity.

Huge thanks to our town event coordinator Melissa Reiner, Dan Reiner, Lindsay Hendrix, and Lindsay’s daughter for putting it all together. They look fantastic!

Parking Lot Reminder

We have so many wonderful families at our preschool co-op that the parking lot can get a bit busy during pick up and drop off time. You can help everyone stay safe and organized with the following reminders:

  • Park close to other cars. Until the new parking lines are painted in August, please pretend they are there and park a reasonable distance from other cars. This will help everyone fit into the space we have.

  • Keep parking lot conversations to a minimum. We love chatting and connecting with other families! Please hold conversations on the grass or on the front playground if it's available. This will free up space for cars to enter and leave.

  • Be considerate when leaving cars. Many of us add extra layers to our kids in the parking lot. Please take those layers out of your car, close your car door, and dress your child in the space in front or behind your own car, leaving space to the sides of each car to allow other families to park and leave.

Thank you for your help in making our parking lot a safe and organized place for everyone! We appreciate your consideration during this busy time.

Family Spotlight

The Marrs

Bonnie and Nick Marr are parents to Lucy (4.5 yrs) and Scott (2.5 yrs). Lucy is in the 4’s and the Nature School program, both with Mrs. Cruz and Mrs. Bober. Lucy started at CNS in the toddler program when she was 18 months old. Scott is currently enjoying the 2’s and Nature Explorers programming with Ms. Sullivan.

Bonnie is originally from Upstate NY, and Nick is from New Fairfield, CT. They met at Quinnipiac University during undergrad which is what prompted them to now reside in Branford. They moved there in 2019 after living in the Boston area for several years and have been enjoying the Shoreline ever since.

Nick is the Pharmaceutical Sector Lead for Aggreko, a global provider of mobile modular power, temperature control and energy services. Bonnie is a former Sr. Marketing Manager and is now home full time caring for the family.

Lucy enjoys creating art and crafting while Scott enjoys riding his bike and all things engines. As a family they love enjoying what the current season has to offer. Most of all, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and hiking, boating and swimming in the summer!

Classroom Corner

Did you know a play-based curriculum is incredibly intentional? It IS! During free explore the space is set up for opportunities across all content areas. This is how we meet all of our learning goals through play!

Rachel Daniels, CNS Director

Upcoming Events

Featured
Local Author Visit - Sara Levine

Past News & Announcements

Welcome 2024-2025 Families!

Hello Cooperative Families,

I hope you are all having an amazing summer! We are so excited to start a new school year with you and your child. 

Over the summer there are several important things that need to be done before your child can begin school in September. 

  1. Submit your child’s medical forms, including flu shot records. Allergy and asthma documentation must also be provided, if applicable.

  2. Complete your background check and fingerprinting.

  3. Set up your Brightwheel billing and fill in all information in the Personal Info and Address section of your child’s page.

  4. Sign and return the Parent Permission Form (on the website)

  5. Sign and return the Family Handbook, photo release form, discipline policy, and Co-Op Participation Agreement, once they are made available 

  6. Ready your child’s school supplies!

  7. Ready your CHILD! 😊


Medical Forms

Before the start of school I will need an updated medical form for every child. Your child's pediatrician has the form, but for reference, here is the form

  • The first page is for parents/guardians to fill out, sign and date. The remaining pages are for the physician to fill out and the immunization record must be attached. 

  • If your child has asthma/allergies I will also need additional forms,please let me know so I can make sure you have the correct paperwork.  

 

A few additional details about immunizations.

Flu shots are required for children in preschool. Your child will need a flu shot by 12/31/24 to return to school in the new year. A reminder that there is no longer a religious exemption for vaccines, only approved medical exemptions. If your child has been vaccinated for COVID (not required) please be sure that is indicated on the immunization record. 

Background Checks/Fingerprinting

The state requires all family members participating in a preschool classroom to be background checked and fingerprinted. If you completed this already at CNS, please check the site to make sure you are still current. Background checks are good for several years, but please make sure you are listed as current. 

https://bcis.oec.ct.gov/auth/login

There will be a communication coming asking for your full name, DOB, zip code, and preferred email address. After you provide that information, we can check to see if you are in the system. If you are, GREAT! If you are not, we will use that email address to invite you to begin the background check process. The co-op field guide sent by the board has a great step by step explanation of the process.

 

School Calendar, Parent Permission Form & Portal

  • All forms are located on the website, all must be completed before the start of school.

  • School calendar is located on the website!

  • There is a Family Portal on the CNS website with all the forms and links, and the password is loveschool.

 

Billing & Brightwheel

At this point everyone should have received an invitation to join Brightwheel, our online platform for communication, billing, etc.  If you have not, please respond to this email with the best email address to send the invite. 

  • Once you are in Brightwheel, please fill out your child's personal information and address section. When you set up billing, please check to make sure that registration fee and Sept. tuition was paid. If you paid a security deposit you should see that reflected in September’s tuition.

  • If you are setting up payment plans and do not have a preference between credit card and ACH transfer, please consider using ACH transfer as it saves our school a significant amount of money in absorbed fees.  Thank you!

School Communication

Please like and follow our school Instagram and Facebook page. We also have Private Facebook Group for current families. Families should use and interact with the private group as much as possible! This is a great way to coordinate and get to know one another. 

Nearly all of the communication from the school will be done over Brightwheel, this is one of the few emails you will receive from me this year! 

However, the majority of school activities are organized by parents and families. They will mostly use email to communicate with our school community. Please add theboard@guilfordcns.org and community@guilfordcns.org to your contacts to avoid emails going to spam. 

 

School Supplies

For the first day of school, please make sure your child has the following (all labeled with the child’s name):

  1. Indoor shoes

  2. Nut-free snack

  3. A water bottle

  4. Appropriate outerwear, including outdoor shoes, and play clothing

  5. An extra set of clothes in a labeled bag

  6. Lunch, if staying for enrichment or a lunch program

A cubby bag will be provided at meet and greet.

If you need labels, please purchase them via Mabel’s Labels as a portion of the proceeds goes to CNS.

 

Clothes 

Clothes should be school clothes. By which I mean play clothes. Play clothes need to be items that will get paint, dirt, water, and food all over them. Every day. Children are meant to explore and investigate the world around them, and clothes need to make that possible, not be a barrier to that experience. Many of the art supplies we use are washable. Some are not. Some claim to be washable, but are not (I am looking at you, blue liquid watercolor). Please send your child to school in clothes that will allow them to have messy, sensory, and independent experiences. And that might mean you send them in high-end couture. That's fine!  Just as long as you are comfortable with it coming home covered in mud, paint, shaving cream, and every messy item under the sun.

 

Shoes

The children will be wearing indoor shoes inside the building. These are soft soled shoes/slippers that they can put on themselves. This keeps our school cleaner, quieter, and helps foster independence and responsibility. Outdoor shoes need to be safe for climbing and playing outside. Rain and snow boots should be worn when the weather calls for it, as we do go outside in nearly all weather. 

A few links for indoor shoes:

 

Accessories 

Please limit the number of accessories worn to school. They can be distracting, lost, and sometimes hazardous. 

 

Toys from Home

The best place to keep toys from home is at home. Please do not send your child to school with toys or other items that can be lost or distracting. If you think that there is a special item (small stuffed animal, family photo) that might help your child with separation challenges please discuss this with your child’s teacher; this is something we can easily and happily accommodate.


Outerwear

Children spend time outside EVERYDAY. Unless the weather is dangerous, they will be outside. Time outdoors in nature is core to our mission, and children thrive in all weather. Please send your child with clothes appropriate for the temperature and predicted precipitation. Please label all outerwear! 

 

Bathrooms

Children must be comfortable using the bathroom at school. If your child is resistant to using the bathroom outside of the home, please make sure that you spend some time this summer getting them used to using the bathroom at other places. Try the library or a restaurant to get them used to the idea. We are very understanding of children’s potty training journeys; the ups and downs and regressions; but children must be willing to try and use the bathroom at school.

 

Snack

All children eat snack at school, and snack is not provided by the school. A couple of pieces of advice:

  1. Snack should be small! One or two items only. A granola bar. Strawberries and a string cheese. Fifteen course snacks are more than children can eat at that time. 

  2. We are fostering independence in our children. Snacks that they can open themselves are best. Many parents "start" the snack for their children (example: tearing the corner of the granola bar wrapper so a child can open it themselves). 

  3. Please send your child to school with a labeled water bottle that they can open and close on their own.  

  4. Please pack snack separate from lunch.

  5. Our school is nut-free.


Lunch

If your child will be eating lunch at school, much of the same advice applies. Containers or packing that the child can open themselves (although teachers will always help!) Lunches are not refrigerated so cold packs work well if necessary.

 

Cubby Bags

At CNS we use cubby bags. This is a tote that will be given to your child so that they can carry everything that they need to and from school; their snack, lunchbox, water bottle, and artwork and projects home. Cubby bags foster independence as your child can pack, carry, and unpack them by themselves. Your child will receive their bag at the meet and greet.

 

Talk to your child about the preschool year ahead!

Preschool is exciting! And with exciting often comes a lot of big emotions. Speak positively about the start of school. We encourage all families to come up with a goodbye routine for drop off. This can be a special hug, fist bump – whatever feels right to you and your child! But practice it over the summer so they know what the goodbye will look like at school. When you leave your child confidently they know you feel safe doing so – and that is important to communicate.

PLEASE take some time to read over all the information coming your way!! It is a lot but it is all SO helpful. Please read the communications from the board, and familiarize yourself with the field guide, it was created by our previous board president and it is pure gold! Everything you need to know about participating at CNS! More forms, handbooks, and communications to come, including meet and greet invites with teacher assignments. Remember that I am always available if there is anything you want to discuss ahead of the school year. I want to hear your questions or concerns, so please do not hesitate to reach out.

Enjoy the rest of your summer with your children! Remember to play! 

Rachel

Important Dates:

Teacher Meet and Greets – 9/3 and 9/4. Invites coming soon!

First Day of School – 9/5 and 9/6

CNS July 2024 Message from the Board

Hi CNS Families,

I’d like to start off with a HUGE welcome to all our new and returning families! I’m Taryn Kelly-Doran, and I’m honored to be your board president for the 2024-2025 school year.

We joined the CNS community last year, and this year we will have our son, Beckett, in Nature Kindergarten, and our daughter, Louisa, in the 3s program. There is so much to love about CNS, but one of the school’s greatest strengths is its community! Our cooperative model empowers all of us to participate in shaping the educational experience we want for our children during these crucial formative years.

Through our collective efforts, we can ensure the continued growth and success of CNS. There are plenty of opportunities to join committees, volunteer, or participate in school activities. Your involvement is key to our community's success.

As we approach the fall, we would love to have you join our end-of-summer events, such as CNS Kickball, or create one of your own! Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, or even just to say hi!

Additionally, be sure to check out our school website and newsletters for updates and resources available to you.

Taryn Kelly-Doran, Board President

Choose Your Co-Op Participation Role

All families are required to choose one co-operative role from the spreadsheet.

To sign up for a role, place your name in Column G and your email or phone number in Column H.

Some of the roles are high priority as indicated in column D and those roles must be filled for the start of school; we will make every effort to keep families in the roles that they select.

These roles are crucial to the school's functioning and improve the experience for all of us here at CNS. The best part is that these tasks can be easily scheduled around your availability, allowing us to make connections with other families as we work together to administer the school.

What's New

As we gear up for fall, we're excited to share the 2024-2025 academic calendar, available on the CNS Family Portal (password loveschool). The Family Handbook is still going through its annual revisions and will be released in August. Please be on the lookout for emails from Rachel Daniels, CNS Director, regarding required paperwork for the start of school.

Save The Dates

  • Sept. 3 & 4: Meet & Greets

  • Sept. 5 & 6: First Day of School

  • Sept. 21: Guilford Fair Parade

Board Meeting Minutes

Board meeting minutes are on the Family Portal.

Newsletter Idea or Suggestion?

Email theboard@guilfordcns.org

Upcoming Events

***Reminder*** Please email your events to webmaster and parent Jeff so that they can be added to the website and published in the newsletter!

Featured
Local Author Visit - Sara Levine

Purchase CNS T-Shirts

All new CNS 3 & 4 students will receive a free t-shirt from the school. Adults should order their t-shirts online (they are needed for community events such as Little Folks Fair.

Past News & Announcements

Spring Clean Up Sign Up Information

The second School Clean-Up is scheduled for Sunday, April 21st @ 10:00am-2:00pm. There are 25 family slots available for this clean-up. If this date/time works for your family please sign up (one slot/family) using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848ABAE2DA1FBC25-48721720-cnsspring 

Each family is required to send one parent to one school clean-up this year, unless your co-op job requires extra clean-up attendance. There will be other clean-up opportunities. This event is child-friendly, it can be a great opportunity for us to model for our children a community at work. Please keep in mind if you do decide to bring your children that you are responsible for keeping an eye on your child and ensuring their safety during the clean-up!

As we get closer to the date I will send out a Google Doc sign up to the 25 families that have signed up for this clean up. This Google Doc will list the tasks that we plan to complete during the clean up, as well as the tools/equipment we will need you to bring for each task. If you sign-up for this clean up, please look out for that email prior to the cleanup date.  

Thank you! 

Carly Wysoczanski (Luke's Mom) 

P.S. This email address is a shared account to send all-school emails. If you would like to reply to me, email Carly.wysoczanski@gmail.com