NEWS
May
11, 2012
If you ordered pictures from Spoiled Rotten Photography, your orders are in my office to be picked up!
Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
May
9, 2012
If you have any donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, please turn those into the box in the front lobby today. Thank you!
Reminder for Explorers and Preschool: Mother’s Day Store
is Thursday, May 10. Gifts are $2 each. Please turn in money to your
child’s
teacher and indicate on an envelope who they will be buying for. Thanks!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
May 7, 2012
If you have not turned in your donations to St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital, you may do so through Wednesday of this
week. Please drop all donations in the silver box in the front lobby.
Thank
you so much for your support of this great cause!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
25, 2012
Due to a number of negative responses about our cool down area, we have discontinued use of this practice. We were trying to create an area where the children were not hurting themselves or others while they gained control. Previously, children had been brought into our offices where there were many things that could harm them. We were trying to use some behavior modification tools to help these children regain self-control. The children were being talked to very kindly and told very often that we were right there and were ready to talk to them when they calmed down. The perception we were hearing from some parents was very disturbing and we wanted to let you all know that at no time was any child mistreated. Since we will no longer be using this method, we are going to need the parents’ full cooperation when we do have a child that is unable to gain control. In the future, when we have to remove a child from a classroom for either non-compliance, disruptive or destructive behavior, we will be calling the parent to come to the center if we are unable to return the child to the classroom within a reasonable amount of time. When a parent is called our expectation is for the parent to arrive within 30 minutes of the phone call. If this happens several times in one day, we may ask for the child to be removed for the day. We may also request a parent conference. This is all covered in our operating policies.
Our annual Trike-A-Thon will take place tomorrow beginning at 9:00am!! We will be using the front parking lot, so please make plans to drop your child off and have your car removed from the front parking lot no later than 8:45am. Preschool classes may drop their tricycles & helmets off in the front grassy areas. Preschool C will be riding from 9:00am-9:30am, Preschool B 9:45am-10:15am and Preschool A from 10:30am-11:00am. Please come to cheer them on!! Everyone else who is bringing a riding toy, you may drop those off on your child’s playground.
We are having a wedding shower for Miranda M. on Friday
May 4th from 12:00pm-2:00pm in the library. Miranda has substituted
for us for many years, and has been taking Lauren J.’s place
in the Toddler B room for the past several months. Sadly, Miranda will
be leaving us after she gets married and will be moving to Texas with
her new husband. Miranda is registered at Target, Belk and Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
We would love for you to join us!
Hope your week is going well!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
20, 2012
Please join us today in the library anytime between 12pm
to 2pm to help celebrate the new addition to Randie S.'s family. Randie
is registered at Babies R Us and is having a boy.
Today is your last chance to get a ticket for the Belk charity sale taking place tomorrow! Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the front desk. All proceeds go to MCDC and you save money to boot! We will have them until 5:45pm today.
Have a great weekend!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
18, 2012
Scholastic book orders are due tomorrow Thursday April 19th. Please place orders in the blue box located on the table in the front lobby.
Thank you does not cover that amount of gratitude that I have for those families that were able to join us on Saturday April 14th. We had 14 parents join 18 staff members, and we flew through the list of items to be done. Only thing left to do is wash a few windows. We could not have done it without your support!
We recently had three computers refreshed in our Preschool B class and are waiting to have two computers refreshed in our Preschool A class. We are so grateful to have these new computers, but they run on Windows 7 and our current computer games are not compatible. If anyone has any computer games that will run on Windows 7 that you would like to donate to the center, we would love to have them. Remember any donation to the center is tax deductible. Just ask us for a receipt.
Thank you!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
18, 2012
We want to thank all of you who participated in the election of the new MCDC Board members by voting or attending the open forum today. We especially want to thank those members who ran for positions. Your commitment and willingness to serve is deeply appreciated.
The results of today’s election are as follows (terms begin in June):
President: Kris McDougal
Vice President: Heather Koehler
Registrar: Rosalind Cylar
Secretary: Callie McKelvey
Member-at-Large, Enrolled: Jennifer Bradley
Member-at-Large, Waiting List: Larry Ziegler
We also want to say thank you to our outgoing Board members, Lisa Watson-Morgan and Patrick Fulda. These individuals will be missed. We look forward to working with you all as we serve MCDC and its membership.
Thanks again,
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
17, 2012
Please review the bios for the
candidates running for
the MCDC Board of Directors and join us at the Open Forum on Wednesday
April 18th at 11:00am building 4203/2002 for the vote. We
must have a 10% quorum of the membership in attendance. There is one
vote per family by the voting member. Absentee ballots will be available
in the front lobby of MCDC and can be placed in the red box when completed.
For those candidates running unopposed, there will be the option on
the ballot to write in a candidate.
Please let me know if you have
any questions.
Thank you!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
12, 2012
MCDC Board elections are Wednesday, April 18th. We are sad to announce that our Vice President had to resign. As such, we are now accepting bios for a one year Vice President term and Secretary. Heather Koehler was running unopposed as Secretary, but has requested to be repositioned running for Vice President.
If you are interested in serving for one of these Board
positions, please send your bio to me, Lisa
Watson-Morgan, by Monday 5pm April 16th. I will compile and send
them to the membership by the morning of the 17th.
The Spring Open Forum is April 18th, 11am – 12 pm in
building 4203 room 2002 and will include the vote. Absentee ballots
may be found by the tuition box in the lobby the day before the vote.
The current candidates are listed here.
For more information on the duties, please see read the
Board of Directors page and review the MCDC Bylaws and the MCDC Operating Policy. The Director and Assistant Director are part of the Board of
Directors, just not voting members.
Serving on the Board is excellent way to understand more of the operations of the MCDC. If you want to serve and have the time to commit, then this is a great opportunity for you. Terms will begin June 1, 2012.
Lisa Watson-Morgan
MCDC Board President
April
12, 2012
Reminder about pictures Friday:
- Creeper A & B
- Toddler B
- Explorer A & B
- Preschool A
Those scheduled for today will be taken on Monday:
- Infant A & B
- Toddler A
- Preschool B & C
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
11, 2012
Don't forget individual and class pictures
are tomorrow for:
- Infant A (Lisa, Donna) & B (Janice,
Jadena)
- Toddler A (Sharon, Sybil)
- Preschool B (Cathy, Tara) & C (Gouri,
Betsy)
Can't wait to see those pretty smiles!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
11, 2012
MCDC Workday is Saturday April
14th from 8:00am - 12:00pm.
We asked the teachers to put together lists in order of priority for their individual
rooms. You may download those
lists. These will also be posted in the lobby
the day of the workday and we will mark off items as they are completed.
If you cannot make it on Saturday, but have an opportunity to complete
some items before then, please talk to the teachers to coordinate times.
Some helpful items for the workday would be: pressure washer(s), cleaning
products (window cleaners need to be ammonia free), buckets, rags,
scrub brushes, general tools (hammers, screwdrivers, drills)
Hope to see you on Saturday!
Thank you!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April 10, 2012
We have posted the bios for the
candidates running for
the MCDC Board of Directors. Please review these and join us at the
Open Forum on Wednesday April 18th at 11:00am building 4203/2002 for
the vote. We must have a 10% quorum of the membership in attendance.
There is one vote per family by the voting member. If you are unsure
who is the voting member is in your family, please contact our registrar
Rosalind Cylar at Rosalind.G.Cylar@nasa.gov. Absentee ballots will
be available in the front lobby of MCDC and can be placed in the red
box when completed. For those candidates running unopposed, there will
be the option on the ballot to write in a candidate.
Please let me know
if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April 9, 2012
Melissa Tash with Spoiled Rotten Photography will be
visiting us this week. She will be doing individual photos as well
as class pictures. These pictures will be taken outside on the playground.
Thursday
the 12th we will be doing Infant A, Infant B, Toddler A, Preschool
B and Preschool C. Friday the 13th we will be doing Creeper A, Creeper
B, Toddler B, Explorer A, Explorer B, and Preschool A.
Please let me
know if you have any questions!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
April
6, 2012
Reminder:
Bios to run for the MCDC Board of Directors are due by
10am on April 9th.
See April 2nd post below for details.
Lisa Watson-Morgan
MCDC Board President
April 2, 2012
It is time for the MCDC Board elections.
This memo serves as the call for Board nominations, which starts today,
April 2nd and closes April 9th. If you are interested in serving on
the Board, please send your bio to me, Lisa Watson-Morgan, by 10am
April 9th. I will compile and send them to the membership by close
of business on April 9th. There will be a Spring Open Forum on April
18th, 11am – 12 pm in building 4203 room 2002 to hold the vote. Absentee
ballots may be found by the tuition box in the lobby the week before
the vote.
The positions that are open this year are President (MSFC
civil servant, 2 year position), Secretary (either contractor or civil
servant, 2 year position), Registrar (MSFC civil servant, 2 year position),
Member at Large enrolled (either contractor or civil servant, 1 year
position), and Member at Large waiting list (either contractor or civil
servant, 1 year position.) We encourage you to read information
on the duties and review the MCDC Bylaws (.doc)
and the MCDC Operating
Policy (.doc). The Director and Assistant Director are
part of the Board of Directors, just not voting members.
Serving on the Board is excellent way to understand more
of the operations of the MCDC. If you want to serve and have the time
to commit, then this is a great opportunity for you. Terms will begin
June 1, 2012.
It is a great time to serve on the board as we have recently
had a number of great accomplishments. Our reaccreditation was approved
in January 2012 and is good for 3 years, we renewed the Space Act Agreement
with Marshall Space Flight Center that is good for 3 years, we completed
a financial audit and have implemented improvements, we were able to
restore staff benefits from the 2010 downfall and MCDC is in very good
shape financially. Should you have any questions, please call or email
me or any other Board member.
Lisa Watson-Morgan
MCDC Board President
March 27, 2012
Coming up next week is our annual Egg Hunt! This will
take place on Thursday April 5th on the children’s playgrounds. Creepers
will begin at 9:00am; Toddlers at 9:30am; Explorers at 10:00am and
Preschool at 10:30am. If you would like to help hide the eggs, please
arrive 20 to 30 minutes prior to the start times.
We will need approximately
1000 eggs and candy to fill the eggs. Please bring any donations to
either my or Cecilia’s office.
The types of candy we can use: anything without peanut products or manufactured
with peanuts; anything soft; needs to fit in an egg; needs to be in
wrapping. Some examples are tootsie rolls, laffy taffy, starburst,
skittles, etc… Other treats such as stickers and small bubbles are
good as well. Check with your child’s teacher as to whether or not
you will need to bring in a basket.
I hope that you can join us on
the 5th! Happy Hunting!
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
March 13, 2012
Just a reminder that we will be having a workshop this
evening presented by:
Yevgeniya Jane Veverka, M.Ed., BCB
Autism & Behavior
Therapist/Consultant
Behavior Unraveled
(256) 714-4363
behaviorunraveled.com
We will be in the cafeteria from 6:00pm-8:00pm. Although Jane works mainly with
children who have been diagnosed in the autism spectrum, the information she
will be presenting can be applicable for all children. I hope that you can make
plans to attend.
Kelli Wright
MCDC Director
March
1,
2012
Staff Appreciation Week is next week!
I’d like to send a special thank you to all who have volunteered for naptime
and the snack list!
Below are a few reminders:
- If you are making a monetary donation, please turn in
your cash or check to your room coordinator as soon as possible. Room
coordinators have put envelopes in the classrooms for these monetary
donations.
- Please place your child’s artwork in the folders near the tuition drop
box by this Friday (3/2). Remember to put your child’s full name and the teacher’s
name on each sheet and that the artwork must fit in an 8.5”x11” page protector.
Artwork examples are located on the table by the tuition drop box. These
books mean a great deal to the staff and anything you can put together
for them is greatly appreciated.
- Room coordinators can pick up art binders
and page inserts from Kelli, Cecilia, or Mary Ellen as soon as you
are ready to start assembling you class’ books.
When room coordinators are collecting artwork from the folders, please
remove the artwork but not the folders to allow late artwork to be
submitted. Also, please have the binders returned to the front office
by Tuesday morning(3/6).
- On Tuesday (3/6), we’ll be sending out a finalized
naptime schedule to those who have volunteered. On Wednesday (3/7),
just before naptime, we will review safety procedures for those present
for the 12 o’clock naptime. Room coordinators
can also get with Kelli or Cecilia for safety procedures prior to
Wednesday.
If
you have any questions, feel free to contact Kris McDougal at (256)
544-0659 or kristopher.McDougal@nasa.gov
Thanks again for making this a great Staff Appreciation
Week.
Sincerely,
Kris McDougal
