Hello Families,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year. We are very excited to continue to grow independent, self-regulated young learners that are curious about their world and to partner with you in your child’s education!
We have many exciting things planned for the year including the continuation of our “Try-Day” food program, growing foods and plants at school, and visiting the Auerfarm 4-H center on a regular basis. We are appreciative of the CT Grown for CT Kids grant opportunity that was awarded to us last year and has again been awarded to us this year. This grant has been imperative in the expansion of our farm to school curriculum, partnership with Auerfarm and nutrition initiatives.
Our school grounds now host garden beds outside of classrooms and on the playground. A sunflower circle with wooden seating is located in the grassed area of the bus circle and a kid (and pollinator) friendly courtyard is located at the heart of the building. The courtyard has developed over the past two years into an outdoor learning space with a working garden bed. In this garden bed we embarked on the journey of growing our own food for our “Try Day” program. This space also has a play hut, mud kitchen, sensory path and a log turning area for finding bugs. Additionally, our visits to Auerfarm have broadened as we have a plot of land that we now grow on (and maintain with help from our favorite farmers)!
Inside school we have been enhancing our existing kid’s kitchen with new materials, recipes based on our “Try Day” foods, and equipment such as blenders and dehydrators. Children use this space to try foods, cook, prep and explore nutrition. Daily living, social/emotional learning, language, literacy and math naturally find their way into this work too! We read recipes, order steps, find ingredients, count scoops, make predictions, measure time, listen to and follow directions, try new things and share with others.
Finally, this year on the playground we will be participating in design research with our good friends at Community Playthings – we are a test site for their model playhouse!
As we progress through the year our highly qualified dedicated staff and I are always here to support you, your child and family. Let the fun begin as play and learning collide in your child’s early education at Wintonbury!
Sincerely,
Samantha Straker, Principal
Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School
Check this out! Wintonbury educators and parents (along with other selected early childhood educators and parents) collaborated with Ross Green in the video “CPS with Young Kids.” https://livesinthebalance.org/cps-with-young-kids/
Not familiar with CPS (Collaborative Proactive Solution)…..read more here https://livesinthebalance.org/