Preschool First Day Details

Hello Preschool Families!
We're so excited about the first day of school! We have such a wonderful community of families and teachers, and we're looking forward to a wonderful 2021-22 school year!

Thank you for your patience as I organized this information! Some of what is share below was not mentioned at Parent Orientation so please read the below details carefully. Also, please share this information with anyone who will be involved in getting your children ready for school in the morning, making lunches, dropping off or picking up, etc.

Shoes For Your Child:

It's important that our preschoolers wear sturdy shoes. We ask that you send your child in shoes that are either closed heel or which have a heel strap, and which have either laces or a strap across the top of the foot. Please no shoes that are easily slipped off and on (i.e., Crocs, Tom's, etc.). Remember that your child will be walking to the park, so the shoes should be comfortable and easy to walk in. If you send your children in rain boots (or snow boots in the winter) please also send them with an appropriate pair of indoor shoes to change into once they are at the classroom door.

Drop-Off and Parking (please note that this information is specific for Preschool. Lower and Middle School students have different instructions, so please also read over the documents geared to those groups if you have children in Lower or Middle School):

Please remember that drop-off for preschoolers begins at 9:00 (preschool families will not be invited to enter the building prior to 9:00 so we can limit the number of people on the stairwells, etc.). You will enter the building through the main 9th Street door and use the front stairwell to access the third floor for drop off, and we ask that you also exit the building via this same stairwell (the Middle School students have devotional time in the Fellowship Hall, so we cannot use the back stairwell to access the third floor or to exit the building in the mornings).
If you are driving you may pull up on the 9th street side of the building (at our curbside drop off lane) IF you will be quick with taking your child up to the third floor and signing him/her in. Administrators will be at the 9th street side of the building during drop off which means you may leave any younger children who are secured in their carseats in the car while you quickly take your preschooler up to the third floor and sign him/her in. That said, if you don't want to leave your younger children strapped into their car seats then we ask that you not use the curbside drop off lane (the curbside drop off lane is reserved for parents who can get in and out of the building quickly so they can free up the curbside drop off lane for use by others). If you choose to park somewhere around the school please be mindful of the street parking signs. There is a zone between 8th and 9th on the north side of Maryland Avenue where street cleaning begins on Thursdays at 9:30 and they DO tow!
Please do not pull into the alley behind the building to park or wait, as this blocks access for emergency vehicles and for neighbors who have garages off of the alley, and this can also get us into trouble with the city, including the potential of having our zoning as a school revoked. If you see someone from our community parking in the alley please kindly mention to them that the alley area is a no parking/standing zone.
If you are walking and will have a stroller, you should plan to leave your stroller just inside the door in the hallway. We are asking that parents not take strollers upstairs since they tend to clog the hallways. We always have a staff member stationed near the entrance at drop off, so if your child(ren) are strapped into your stroller and will tolerate you leaving them in the first floor hallway area while you drop your older child off you are welcome to leave your younger child(ren) in the stroller.
Please note that there is roadwork going on near the building (on Maryland Avenue and sometimes even on 9th Street itself). At times, due to this, there will be road closures that could affect you. We encourage parents to get into the habit of checking email prior to leaving for school, as we do our best to warn parents by email when we are privy to things such as road closures, etc. It does look as if the Maryland Avenue work is almost completed, so that's the good news!

Building Safety:

As you know or will soon learn, the door to our building is always locked. You access the building by ringing the bell to the right of the door. The door can be released remotely by admin, but we need you to look toward the doorbell camera so we can see who you are before releasing the door.
Please do not let anyone who is not affiliated with CHLG into the building behind you. Those who occasionally may try to enter at the 9th Street entrance are usually looking for the church office, which is around the corner (the 907 Maryland Avenue entrance). The building manager wants to know who is in the building at all times, and asks that contractors, delivery people, etc. ring the bell at the Maryland Avenue entrance, so please introduce yourself to those who don't have any children with them / who don't look familiar to you, find out who they are, and direct them to the Maryland Avenue entrance. I know this can sometimes be an awkward exchange, but this is not only helpful to the church but, more importantly, is a safety mechanism for our school community.
Remind your children that we use walking feet in the building. They can get excited to get to class and see their buddies, but we don’t want injuries to ruin the day! And if you see another child running please encourage him/her to walk by simply saying "Walking feet, please."

First Day Jitters / Separation Anxiety:

It is perfectly normal for our preschool friends to have a little bit of separation anxiety on the first day (or even first few weeks) of school. For most of them school is a new experience! We have learned from experience that a quick goodbye at the door (where the teacher will be waiting) is best. If we see you struggling to leave your child please don't be offended if we remind you that a quick exit is best (we know it can be easy to think that you'll be able to reason with your child in the moment - but trust us that it pretty much never works ). The best thing for your child is to make sure that he or she knows, in advance, that you will be dropping him/her off in the morning and picking up in the afternoon (I wouldn't say "after lunch", though, since they are eating lunch earlier this year). When you arrive to the classroom door you should sign in and say a quick goodbye and make a quick exit. Don't worry if your child is screaming and grabbing onto you. We will peel them off and get them engaged in something in the classroom. They will calm down much more quickly and easily once you leave. You can also rest assured that we have additional staff on hand on the third floor to help soothe and reassure any children who are having a particularly difficult time.

Lunch:

As we mentioned at orientation, the preschoolers will not be eating a snack this year due to COVID. Instead, they will be eating an early lunch when they go to the park.
For lunch, please remember that we are a tree nut-and peanut-free facility! Please pack a healthy lunch and a water bottle that your child can open and close by him/herself, and please place all the items in a backpack that your child can easily carry (please put the food and water bottle directly into the backpack - not in a lunchbox). Backpacks are easier than lunchboxes for children to carry to the park, and their water bottle can go inside along with the lunch (please no water bottles stuffed in outside pockets as they tend to fall out). We ask that you only send water to drink (no milk or juice) and that you refrain from sending anything that can be easily squeezed and spilled, like yogurt tubes, fruit pouches, drinking yogurt, etc. Our carpet thanks you in advance! We also ask that you avoid sending in sweets (and that includes fruit roll ups and other fruit snacks that contain added sugar). Our teachers thank you in advance for that!

Pick up:

Pick up is between 12:30-12:45 for Preschool classes.
We allow three late pick ups (arriving to the class door after 12:45pm) and after that we will charge, through your FACTS account, $25 for every 15 minutes increment that you are late picking up. I've asked the teachers to highlight the sign in sheet in the section where you sign out once it's past 1:00 to help alert you to the fact that you arrived late.
Please note that administration will not be out front during pick up. You may park in the area along the side of the building if there is space available, but you should turn on your hazard lights to avoid a ticket, and you will have to take all of your children inside with you since no admin staff are stationed outside at pick up time.
Please line up in a distanced manner along the handicapped access ramp and then down the sidewalk toward Maryland Avenue if the line grows longer (we just ask that you stay to one side on the sidewalk so that neighbors can easily pass).
As parents enter we are asking that you give the parent ahead of you a bit of time before you enter as well, to allow for some distance. It's OK to hold the door open while you wait, just be vigilant about not allowing someone in who is not with our group.
Please access the third floor by going through the Fellowship Hall and utilizing the back stairwell. After you've picked up your child you should exit using the front stairwell. Please don't stop to talk with others while in the building. Our goal is to get parents in and out quickly at pick up, with the stairwells and hallways being used in a one way fashion.
Because we need our hallways to be one way we will need parents to leave strollers in the main room on the first floor (please do not take your stoller upstairs). Additionally, you will need to take all of your child(ren) upstairs with you (please don't leave children unattended in strollers on the first floor - we do not have a staff member stationed at the door at pick up time).
Although many of our preschool children don't want to leave at the end of the morning (which does warm our hearts!) we ask that you sign for and take your child as soon as you arrive at the classroom door rather than allowing him or her a bit longer in the classroom, as this will help us to keep things moving (and we also want our students to learn to respect the class end time).
If you also have a Lower School student you and your preschooler may sit and read a book in the main area on the third floor as you wait for your Lower School student to be dismissed at 1:00. Plan to use the back stairwell to access the second floor for Lower School pick up, and then exit out the front stairwell.
If you want to have a conversation with your child's teacher we ask that you either schedule it in advance (in which case you can go into the classroom and wait for the teacher to be free from her responsibilities with the other students) or email your teacher and arrange a time for a phone call).
We know you will be missing opportunities to chat with each other while onsite for pick up (since we are asking people to pick up and immediately exit the building), but for those of you who are new to CHLG many families hang out at nearby Sherwood playground after school, which is between 9th and 10th and F and G, NE. It has a really nice playground and is a great place to spend time with other CHLGers!

I think that’s all for now (and I know it was a lot)! Please reach out with any questions you may have.

Warmly,
Martha