HOME ABOUT EARLY LEARNING HOUSING DONATE December 2, 2021 First Place Fall Activities The little scholars are busy learning and having fun doing Fall related activities, on “Festive Friday”, We had a pajama party and everyone including teachers wore pajamas for the day. The adventures class had a “poppin” pajama party with popcorn and a movie, this included dancing with balloon animals along with Ice cream floats and treat bags to take home. They also had a science activity with growing pets in water and each child named their pet. How exciting! We’re looking forward to our “Culture Night”, where our teachers are preparing cultural related activities from every family culture in their classroom and families will share something from their culture in a virtual setting for everyone to enjoy. After the “Family Culture” night scholars are creating thankful trees and sharing how many things they are thankful for. We are so happy to have such a eager group of scholars that are excited about learning. Happy Thanksgiving! October 14, 2021 Welcome Back First Place Families The beginning of the school year is off to a great start, our first 4 weeks of school were spent introducing classroom rules and routines. While the teaching staff were super excited about heading back to in-person teaching, they also had some apprehensions about how to do it safely. Mr. Tracy and Ms. Stacy came up with ways that are working great for social distancing while allowing the children to play and stay safe. All of our scholars are busy learning and having fun daily, with all safety procedures in place. Our scholars have adapted to the new procedures like the champs they are! We thank our parents for teaming up with us to make our learning environment healthy and safe. June 19, 2021 First Place Preschool Graduation 2021 A word of thanks to our families. We made it, thanks to you! This past year has challenged us in ways we never could have imagined. Yet, the commitment of our First Place community to support the education of all students never faltered. Your generous support during distance learning to the First Place teachers helped all students have the best experience possible in these most unusual circumstances as we remained in virtual learning models for this school year. I can’t thank you enough for partnering to support the learning of our little scholars. A final word to First Place students: Thank you for all your hard work throughout the school year. I am so honored you are a part of our Preschool; you made me proud to watch you learn and grow over this school year. I am grateful for your joy, and amazing eagerness to learn. Best wishes to our graduating students on their way to kindergarten, whom I will miss greatly—please come back and visit. We will continue learning through our summer program, for those who will not be continuing through the summer, have a safe and happy summer break. Thank you for a wonderful and productive school year. Until next school year, here’s wishing you love, laughter, and learning. Mrs. Carol April 12, 2021 Spring Activity Boxes First Place Preschool would like to thank DEEL for the fun filled learning activity boxes. Our scholars will be learning, exploring and having fun this Spring! We appreciate your partnership. April 1, 2021 First Place Distance Learning a Success Greetings First Place Families, I hope all is well, during this uncertain time. I want to thank everyone for your support, patience, flexibility, and understanding during this time of distance learning. This school year we embarked on a new journey--Virtual School. Zoom, has become a household name, and the world of video conferencing has been leveraged heavily for our educators to connect with their classes and deliver content to students. This has brought on its own set of challenges for teaching as everyone learns how to operate within this video conferencing world. First Place educators have established a great learning partnership with all families and we appreciate the sacrifices you have made during this course of this school year. It brings me great joy observing the Zoom classes every morning, seeing your children develop learn and grow. Our teachers have adjusted from in-person classroom teaching to holding daily virtual learning classes, and I must say they are doing an awesome job! Ms. Stay is the lead teacher for classroom 3, read about her experience below, in her own words. We look forward to continuing to work together providing distance learning for the duration of this school year. Carol Brown Early Learning Director Ms. Stacy’s Experience (in her own words): When the pandemic hit as a teacher of young children these thoughts plagued my mind. How can I continue to reach the children that I have in my class? How am I going to meet their social emotional needs? How can I teach them affectively through a computer screen? How am I going to keep the students and families engaged until this pandemic is over? Here’s the thing I love most about teaching and it’s that even in person you never know what each day will bring even when it’s planned out. I realized I just had to stretch my mind and my other teaching skills to meet the needs of my students and families. The thoughts that plagued me at the beginning of this pandemic I now use as fuel to ensure that each student is still taught based on their individual learning style, in order to meet or exceed their developmental skills levels. I must say that I am having a great time teaching even now. My students are writing their first names, numbers and letter. The students are engaging in the stories that are being read. We are now doing Art, Science and Cooking Projects all virtually. My class is ready and eager to learn daily what more could a teacher teaching virtually ask for? “Our strength is greatest in the toughest times if we don’t give up.” -Stacy Brown (Green) December 16, 2020 Holiday Cheer 2020 2020 has been quite a year. We recognize the many unique challenges you’ve overcome with distance learning. And we want to take a moment to tell you how much we appreciate you this year, more than ever. We’re in this together, and today we want to spread holiday cheer to our families in our community by giving holiday gifts to celebrate the season. We’re grateful for you and look forward to serving you in 2021. Stay safe, be well, happy holidays and cheers to a brighter tomorrow! Best wishes, Carolyn Brown Early Learning Director October 30, 2020 Activities and Activity Supplies Sent to Student Homes First Place has prioritized the health and safety of all students and staff with the decision to start the school year with an online only curriculum. The teachers log on each day to interact with their students, and offline the families work to do activities to foster what they’ve learned. So parents and students don’t have to come into the building, the First Place staff will mail activity packets to student homes each month, and they will also receive additional learning activity supplies, so they have access to similar learning tools as they would if they were going to school onsite. Thank you to our partners at the City of Seattle Department of Early Learning for helping us supply some of the learning activities to send home. October 23, 2020 First Place Preschool goes to the Pumpkin Patch First Place Preschool staff, spent a day at Remlinger’s Farm. During our visit we had our Zoom classroom session. Our scholars were able to learn about life on the farm, what animals live on the farm, equipment used such as tractors to cultivate the ground to grow vegetables and fruit. We enjoyed the opportunity for our scholars to help us choose a pumpkin to bring home. We had a great time and was glad our little scholars were able to join us by way of Zoom. October 20, 2020 Welcome to a New Year at First Place Preschool Welcome to First Place Preschool! We are so happy you are joining our virtual learning community. The first month of virtual learning has went great! We appreciate the daily support from our families participating in our daily zoom classroom learning times. This school year is certainly different from what we all have experienced in the past and will require some adjustments but we are confident that we will be able to engage and teach our students and have fun at the same time. Here are some pictures of some of our scholars picking up their activity backpacks to learn at home. Carol July 1, 2020 End of the Year Celebration The last day of school is the closing of one door and the opening of another. Thank you to each child for all of the warm memories, and the learning that we shared this year. To the families we say THANK YOU! This past year has been very challenging and we have grown together, I’m sure this will be a year that we all remember! First Place Early Learning celebrated the last day of school by rewarding the children with gift bags and backpacks filled with prizes they can enjoy throughout the summer. We were so happy to see you all come to pick up your goodies and the smile that were on your faces were just priceless! For those who are going to kindergarten: go and be great! For the returning scholars we look forward to seeing you in the Fall! March 14, 2020 COVID-19 First Place Closed through April 24th Hi First Place Families, Along with the Public and Privates schools across the State, First Place Preschool will be closed until April 24th. At this time we are scheduled to reopen on April 27th, however things may continue to change quickly. Please be on the look out for periodic communications from our staff. If your family relies on the school’s nutrition program, we can assist during this time by continuing to provide lunch for your student who attends First Place. If your child needs lunch while school is closed, or you have any questions about this closure, please contact the school Administrator Lois Vaughn by email (lvaughn@fpscholars.org), or by phone 206-629-6288. You can also contact Preschool Director, Carolyn Brown (cbrown@fpscholars.org), 206-629-6287. Things may change quickly over the next weeks and months to meet local and state requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We will communicate if the date that school reopens, or anything else changes. March 11, 2020 COVID - 19 First Place Preschool Closed for a Minimum 14 Days First Place Families, In response to COVID-19 we have been following the guidance of Public Health Seattle and King County and implementing preventive strategies. In light of Governor Inslee’s request that all citizens practice measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, First Place Preschool will be closed for the next 14 days. We know that some families rely on the school’s nutrition program. We can assist during this time by continuing to provide lunch for your student who attends First Place. If you need assistance with lunch while school is closed, please contact the school Administrator Lois Vaughn by email (lvaughn@fpscholars.org), or by phone 206-629-6288. Things may change quickly over the next weeks and months to meet local and state requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We will communicate if the date that school reopens or anything else changes. November 4, 2019 Apple Tasting Project - By Ms. Stacy in Room 2 Apple Tasting Project One of the many things that I love about being at First Place Early Learning is the children guide their learning. Our Scholars are very curious and asked many questions. When questions are asked instead of answering them right away, we at first place Early Learning Center find ways to explore and let them find the answers for themselves. Which brought about our Apple tasting project. So, when a student posed the question do all apples taste alike? We created an apple tasting project. First, we bought five different type of apples which varied in colors. Secondly, we show them to the class naming each one. We then revisited the question do all apples taste alike? We then began Apple tasting investigation. We sliced the apples and let the children taste each apple. After tasting the five apples the question was posed again do all apples taste alike? While there was a resounding no some still sitting yes. They then decided among themselves which apples they like best. Which caused us to create an apple graph. The children then found the names or wrote their names under the apples that they liked best. A few children then counted and wrote the numbers below to represent which apples were the favorites. Ms. Stacy September 28, 2019 Our Plan for the Year - a Message from the Early Learning Director This year at First Place Early Learning Center, our goal is to promote every child's individual development using an appropriate mix of learning activities that possess values that encourage educational excellence. We use a research based curriculum that encourage child lead activities that surrounds themes and studies for them to explore. While some children may recite their alphabet at age 2, others may not until age 3. While some children may be drawing pictures of trees and people at age 4, others may not do so until age 5. Why such discrepancies? The reason is that all children grow and develop, for the most part, in the same order but go through the stages at their own pace. As Early Childhood Educators, it is our responsibility to know the stages children go through at different ages. Children grow and develop rapidly in the first five years of life. Every day routines and play times provide rich opportunities for young children to learn. We are here to support our children with practical and enjoyable ways to help them learn as they play and explore their world. To guide their play and be creative, while growing up healthy, strong, and happy. -Carolyn Brown, First Place Early Learning Director September 19, 2019 Thank you Seattle Preschool Program! Seattle Preschool Program has highlighted First Place Preschool as a place for ‘Crayons, Hugs, and Community’. Please read the wonderful article the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) has posted about First Place. DEEL and First Place partner to provide high quality affordable early learning to Seattle families. Through this partnership First Place has been able expand our excellent preschool and preK programs. Read the article: https://education.seattle.gov/crayons-hugs-and-community-first-place-school/ September 10, 2018 First Day of School @ First Place Preschool It's fall, and It's the first day of school again. This year the students were greeted with some exciting changes to the Preschool. Additions have been made to the outdoor play area in the back, and a newly created outdoor play area in the front. The front play area is surrounded by a fun and colored pencily style fence to keep the kids safe and happy. In the back play area, there is a newly added basketball hoop at the perfect height for the students, ands and storage areas in the shape of trains for all of their outdoor play equipement. According to the Preschool Director, Ms. Carol, the kids are 'loving it!'. May 5, 2018 Jacobson Family Classroom Dedication - May 23rd Come join First Place Students, Staff, Family and Friends as we dedicate Classroom #2 as the 'Jacobson Family Classroom', Stu, Sandra, and the entire Jacobson family have been generous supporters of First Place for many years, and we're taking this time to celebrate them, and what they've allowed us to accomplish at First Place. We'd love to see you here on May 23rd @ 3:30 Pm for the dedication ceremony. May 23rd is also Multicultural Night. This is a time for us to celebrate the diversity and backgrounds of the Preschool students and families. What: Classroom Dedication When: May 23rd, 2018 at 3:30 PM Where: First Place, 172 20th Ave (enter on Spruce Street) For more information contact: canderson@firstplaceschool.org February 23, 2018 Students Present at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute The Doreen Cato Early Learning students performed at the 5th Annual 2018 State of Africatown event at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, on Saturday February 17th. The State of Africatown covers the accomplishments of the year, as well as the changes facing the African American and African Diaspora community. As an African American run preschool, the Doreen Cato Early Learning Center at First Place is one of the accomplishments of this community. The students sang a tribute song to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and individually said what their dream is for the future. Watch the video recording of the State of Africatown Event on the Seattle Channel. The student's performance is about 24 minutes into the recording. October 26, 2017 Pumpkin Carving at Doreen Cato Early Learning Center The first Family Friday event of the new school year was on October 13th. The students and families had fun participating in pumpkin carving. It was a group effort and we ended up with some awesome and creative Jack O' Lanterns. October 6, 2017 It's Fall.... Fall is here, and the Doreen Cato Early Learning Center is incorporating the season into our curriculum. The children are beginning to study trees. The'll be observing and comparing trees to learn about what lives in them, what they’re made from, and who cares for them. We hope that this study will help children explore and appreciate nature. This week the children took a nature walk on a beautiful fall day to collect and investigate the parts of trees that have fallen, like leaves, bark, acorns, twigs, flowers, fruit, or cones. As they study trees, we will use literacy, math, the arts, and technology to explore the topicsin depth. We will learn important social studies and scientific concepts through firsthand investigations. Older Posts Powered by Squarespace