Welcome toPine Island Panther Preschool

Helpful Information for Parents

Community Education Administrative Staff

Kara Cordes, Community Education Coordinator

kcordes@pineisland.k12.mn.us

507-256-8876

Deb Kaye, Administrative Assistant

dkaye@pineisland.k12.mn.us

507-356-8876

Kelly Barker, Early Childhood Director/Parent Education/Birth to Three

kbarker@pineisland.k12.mn.us

507-356-8876

Teaching Staff

Liz Boehmke

eboehmke@pineIsland.k12.mn.us

Miss Liz Boehmke Miss Katrina

Kenworthy Miss Kelly Barker

Kelly Barker

kbarker@pineisland.k12.mn.us

Katrina Kenworthykatrina.kenworthy@pineisland.k12.mn

Teacher Bios

Miss Katrina bio

Miss Katrina

Miss Kelly bio

Miss Kelly

Miss Liz bio

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1S3Gs14RJq4g1JbSiyG_u-vvjUrPqjFiSfK5hz1t9EFQ/edit?usp=sharing

Preschool Options for Fall of 2022Thrilled to be Three- for children age 3 by Sept. 1

-2 to 3 mornings or afternoons per week

Fabulous Fours - School Readiness- for children age 4 by Sept.1

-2 to 5 mornings or afternoons per week

Early Childhood Family Education Classes (parents and children age birth to five)

Parent Cafe - Work and play with your preschoolers and enjoy parenting time with others. Fridays 8:30-9:30am

Toddler Gym Time - Trikes, wagons, balls, and more! Fridays 10:00-11:00am

Class Options3 year olds

-2 day Tue/Thur AM 8:30-11:00

-2 day Mon/Wed AM 8:30-11:00

-3 day Mon/Wed/Fri AM 8:30-11:00

4 year olds

-2 day Tue/Thur AM 8:30-11:00

-2 day Tue/Thur PM 12:30-3:00

-3 day Mon/Wed/Fri PM 12:30-3:00

-5 day Mon-Fri AM 8:30-11:00

-5 day Mon-Fri PM 12:30-3:00

About our Classrooms

Each classroom is staff with one licensed early childhood teacher and one paraprofessional classroom assistant.

Our ratios:

-3 year olds is 1 adult to 7 children

-4 year olds is 1 adult to 8 children

Preschool Locations & Times

Saint Paul Lutheran Church

214 3rd St SW, Pine Island, MN 55963

We are currently located in two locations. We have two classroom at the Pine Island Elementary School and one classroom at Saint Paul Lutheran Church.

We plan to relocate to our new Early Childhood Building by December 2022.

Pine Island Elementary

8749 Cty 5 NW, Pine Island MN 55963

Located across from the library and 5-12 school.Morning Class Time: 8:30 am-11:00 am

Afternoon Class Time: 12:30 pm-3:00 pm

Preschool Tuition CostsPreschool Tuition costs are as follows:

Classes that meet 2x per week- $112 per month

Classes that meet 3x per week- $147

Classes that meet 5x per week- $259 per month

ECFE Early Childhood Family Ed Classes $70 per year or $35 for a half year.

If tuition is a hardship for your family, please request a pathway scholarship form. Thes forms are also available on the Families First of MN website. If you fill one out, please let us know.

We can also implement a sliding fee scale, if necessary.

All Preschool classes have a $25 registration fee. (excluding ECFE)

How to make preschool paymentsThere are three easy ways to make a preschool payment:

1. Online: a. Go to the PI school website. www.pineisland.k12.mn.us a. Make sure you use chrome as your browser and use a PC. The

site doesn’t always work on phones or when using Safari as your browser. b. Click on the Community Education tab c. Click on Online Payments tab d. It will then take you to a new screen where you can click on “My Account”. You will either log into your current account

or set up a new account. e. If you have any questions or issues please contact the office at 356-8876

2. Set up automatic payment online in “My account”.3. Check: send a check made out to School Readiness in your childs take home folder. 4. Call the Community Education office and make a payment over the phone.

Registration Process - Registration begins March 1st Please follow the following steps when registering your child for preschool:

1. Go to our website to find the registration forms.

a. www.pineisland.k12.mn.us, click on Community Education Tab, click on preschool

b. Print and complete the forms.

2. Mail or drop off completed forms along with the $25 non-refundable fee to the Community Education Office.

a. Address: 223 1st Ave SE, Pine Island, MN 55963

b. Drop off at the office during business hours. We are located in the 5-12 building. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:00-3:30pm.

After March 1st, we will begin to fill class rosters by your first and second choices from your completed registration forms. We will notify families of

finalized class placement and teacher information by July 2022.

Please note that the preschool locations will vary next year due to our new building project. As we start the year, two preschool classrooms will be

held at the K-4 building and one at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Upon completion of our building, all preschool classrooms will be held at our new

facility. Our projected completion date is sometime in December 2022.

Pine Island Preschool Curriculum At Pine Island Preschool we have developed a customized curriculum based upon the Early Childhood Indicators of

Progress, The Learn Everyday Curriculum, and close alignment with our Kindergarten standards.

We feel that exploration and discovery are key components of the early childhood learning process.

We focus on all of the early childhood domains.

Physical Communication Socioemotional Adaptive Cognitive

Daily Schedule -Arrival/handwashing

-Circle time and welcome

-Centers (table work, play dough, free choice art, dramatic play, puzzles, books, legos, dollhouse, science, sensory table, and

more)

-Bathroom/hand washing

-Snack

-Storytime

-Large motor outside or inside

-Pass out take home folders/dismissal

Examples of our Classroom Experiences

Parent Teacher Conferences and Communication

Conferences

-School Readiness Students (4 year olds) are held twice per year during the regularly scheduled K-4 conference times.

-Conferences for 3 year old students are offered upon request on an as needed basis.

*Teachers are ALWAYS happy to conference with parents at anytime.

Communication

-Each week our teachers will email parents the “Peeks of the Week”. This email will contain the weekly theme, letters

of the week, and information about our weekly activities or important information.

-Teachers will also post classroom photos for parents to enjoy via emails, facebook groups, etc. .

-We will use email, the Community Ed Facebook group, and Seesaw for most communication.

Transportation

Pine Island Preschool does not provide transportation to and from

preschool.

If you are in need of transportation, please contact:

Hiawathaland Transit

866-623-7505

This transit service is available to Pine Island Residents for $1.75 per ride.

This service is not a part of Pine Island School. Tokens are available for

purchase at Pine Island City Hall.

Please contact them PROMPTLY to make sure you get on one of the routes.

Snacks and Lunch

Our preschool students have snack time during class. Parents provide bulk packages of snacks

periodically throughout the school year and snacks are shared between the students each day.

Children who attend the Childcare at the Panther Cub Program may eat lunch at Panther Cubs. School

lunch is available for purchase at Panther Cubs or sack lunch can be brought from home.

You will receive information regarding lunch accounts from the Panther Cubs director when you enroll.

Preschool Supply List

-1 large backpack

-3 pack container of Clorox wipes

-1 box of Kleenex

-1 package of napkins

-1 package of Elmer’s glue sticks

-1 box of 8 Crayola Classic Markers (Washable)

-1 box of 5 oz. dixie cups

-extra set of clothes for any accidents

How can I best prepare my child for Preschool?Practicing the following will benefit your child:

-sharing, taking turns, listening quietly to one and two step directions

-waiting patiently and using words to communicate needs or wants

-using the toilet independently (not a requirement for Pre K, but very helpful)

-dressing, including beginning to put on winter gear independently

-naming the letters in the alphabet, especially the ones in their name

-beginning to know concepts like, shapes, colors, and numbers 0-20

-positional words (up, down, under, over)

-beginning to print their name the Kindergarten way (first letter uppercase, the rest lowercase)

-separating from parents with minimal stress

Childcare Information-Panther Cubs Our program is divided into three age groups.

Panther Cubs - Pre-K (33 months-5 years), Panther Pals - K-1, Cool School - grades 2nd and up

Hours: Monday-Friday 6am-6pm. (Open during the school year, non school days, snow days and summer)

Location: Cool School and Panther Pals are located at the K-4 building. Panther Cubs is held at Saint Paul Lutheran Church.

Cost:

Panther Cubs preschool day=$25 non preschool day=$30 summer= $33 (4 hours or more), $19 (up to 4 hours)

Panther Pals/Cool School $5.00 per hour before and after school care and $31 for non school days

$31 summer care (4 hours or more), $17 (up to 4 hours)

Forms/Registration

Step 1 Complete and return the "Interest Form" to Jennie Barker off the Childcare Tab on the Community Ed website.

Step 2 Jennie will contact you with official registration forms and start date.

Step 3 Complete registration forms at least 1 week prior to start date.

Chidcare (Panther Cubs) Staff

Jennie Barker, Directorjennie.barker@pineisland.k12.mn.us

Lori Hoffman, Lead Teacherlori.hoffman@pineisland.k12.mn.us

Chelsey Haugen, Lead Teacherchaugen@pineisland.k12.mn.us

Early Childhood Screening

When you enroll in preschool, you will be asked if your child has been through the early childhood screening

process. This is a one time screening that can be completed in October, after they start preschool. We also

have screening in March that you can attend prior to preschool. Screening is required within 90 days of

enrollment in preschool.

If your child was screened in another district, please ask that district to send the screening records to Pine

Island Community Education, attn Deb Kaye.

dkaye@pineisland.k12.mn.us

Or if they want to fax them, our district fax number is 507-356-8827

Additional information:You can find more information on our school website

www.pineisland.k12.mn.us

Facebook:

Pine Island Panther Preschool

Pine Island Community Education

Thank you !

Thank you for our interest in our early childhood programming!

We looking forward to meeting your family!

Please reach out to us with any questions :)