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.

Submit your child’s medical forms, including flu shot records. Allergy and asthma documentation must also be provided, if applicable.
Complete your background check and fingerprinting.
Set up your Brightwheel billing and fill in all information in the Personal Info and Address section of your child’s page.
Sign and return the Parent Permission Form (on the website)
Sign and return the Family Handbook, photo release form, discipline policy, and Co-Op Participation Agreement, once they are made available
Ready your child’s school supplies!
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):

Indoor shoes
Nut-free snack
A water bottle
Appropriate outerwear, including outdoor shoes, and play clothing
An extra set of clothes in a labeled bag
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:

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.
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).
Please send your child to school with a labeled water bottle that they can open and close on their own.
Please pack snack separate from lunch.
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