Take Action!

SPRING FLING!
Come join us on the Playground on Thursday, May 10th!
You still have time to make your reservation for this end of year event from 6:00pm-7:30pm.
Please bring a BLANKET or LAWN CHAIR to sit on, along with your appetite, as Covenant’s Chef Mark prepares fajitas with all the fixing’s. This is a really fun way to celebrate the end of the school year with your children’s friends and parents.


WE HEART MOMS! 
And we want to celebrate you with "Mom Day" this week...
Three’s, Four’s and Pre-K:
Muffins with Moms
Thursday, May 10th at/after drop off.
Please stick around after drop off for a special ‘surprise’ from your child and then join the other moms in the 3rd floor big room for Muffins with Moms  in the 3rd floor big room for another thank you from CPP for all of your support throughout the year.
Toddler I, Toddler II and Two’s classes:
Popsicles on the Playground
12:40 on Thursday May 10th For Tue/Thurs
12:40 on Friday May 11th For Wed/Fri
Please meet your child on the playground at for a special ‘surprise’ and to enjoy some fun time and popsicles with your child!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
is May 23rd!
Graduation for the 4 year old and Pre-K kids moving on to Kindergarten next year is May 23rd at 12:15 in Room 300. Reception will follow.

INTRODUCING THE PARENT ADVISORY TEAM for 2012-2013

President - Bridgette Stahlman
Secretary - Kristen McDavid
Treasurer - Shannon Knisely
Fundraising - chair: Roxi Tsakas, co-chair: Jenny Carman
Parent Activities - Erinn Windler
Publicity - Angela Zumwalt
Hospitatlity and Volunteer Coordinator - Brooke Howe
Newsletter - Liz Farrar

A VERY Special Thanks to 

 for helping sponsor our Mom's Day events! 

And HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

PAT President's Letter

It’s hard to believe we are coming to the end of the school year! Take a moment to think back to the first days of school this year and look at how much your child has grown and developed. Then thank your child’s teacher for all they have done this year to nurture and encourage that growth and development. We are all so lucky to have our children at Covenant, and we need to be thankful for the love that the teachers and staff give our children every day. Despite the craziness of the next few weeks, take a moment to share with your child’s teacher what you appreciate most about them and what you see they have done for your child.

A now a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our Director, Christy Milam, and all of the staff and teachers for becoming a Texas Rising Star accredited program with the highest level ranking of four stars! Christy, Emily Taylor and teachers have worked very hard over the past two years to get all the paperwork, interviews, and observations done to get this accreditation for Covenant. A broader explanation of the Texas Rising Star program is below. While we all know what an amazing place Covenant is, it always nice to get confirmation as a parent that your child is at an institution held to such a high standard. 

It has been a privilege to serve on the Parent Advisory Team with such an amazing group of women: Bridgette Stahlman (Secretary), Shannon Knisely (Treasurer), Roxi Tsakas (Fundraising), Susanna Butler (Publicity), Jenny Wolkind (Parent Activities), Brooke Howe (Hospitality/Volunteer Coordination), Liz Farrar (Newsletter), Gayla Stuart (Children’s Ministry), and Christy Milam (Director). 


I wish everyone a safe and fun summer. See you next year!

Jenny Carman

Director's Message

Dear Parents,

As I write this, I am having a hard time believing it is the end of another Preschool year!  I give many thanks to all of you for making Covenant Presbyterian Preschool such a special place for children.  First of all, I would like to thank our hard-working, creative, and supportive Parent Advisory Team.  They work very hard to organize the fun activities we do with parents and help the school run more smoothly: President, Jenny Carman; Secretary,Bridgette Stahlman; Treasurer, Shannon Knisely; Hospitality and Volunteer Coordinator, Brooke Howe; Fundraising, Roxi Tsakas; Newsletter, Liz Farrar; Parent Activities, Jennifer Stone Wolkind; Publicity, Susanna Butler.  Thank you to Gayla Stuart, Director of Children’s Ministries whose encouragement and enthusiasm has been a very large blessing to me and to all the families with young children at Covenant.  Thank you to all the teachers whose dedication and love for the children is the reason our school continues to be one of the top preschools in Austin.  Thank you to Emily Taylor for being a fantastic Assistant Director.  Thank you to all the parents for sharing your children with us and for all the ways you help and support our program.

This month in chapel, we are learning about Noah and the Ark. Like Noah, young children easily become absorbed in their work.  They do it with all their ability and are eager to learn new skills.  Affirm the value of each child’s work, even when the messy process seems to overshadow the finished product!  Your attitude will also help the children understand that God values each of them – people in process – more than He values their accomplishments.  As with Noah, God’s heart delights in their trusting, obedient attitudes and efforts.  We need to value each child in that same way if we hope to effectively guide them into God’s great adventure for each of their lives!

As we end this very busy year, we need to say “goodbye” to teachers who will not be returning next year.  Angela Morales and Nooshi Saadatrad are both moving on to new adventures after MANY years at Covenant.  We will miss them both SO much and wish them the best!  Be sure and share your kind thoughts and words with them before the end of school.

On the last day of school, we will have Preschool Graduation for the four- and five-year-olds who are moving on to kindergarten.  It will be at 12:15pm in Room 300.  I hope everyone can join us!  We love your children and are looking forward to seeing you next year.  For those that are graduating or moving away, we hope you will come visit when you can.  I will keep you all in my prayers this summer.  Have a happy and safe summer vacation, and we hope to see you at Camp Covenant (there are a few spots still available!).

God’s Blessings,

Christy O. Milam

Director

Texas Rising Star Program

In September of 2010 the Parent Advisory Team and staff determined
that some sort of accreditation was desired for the preschool,
especially to attract new parents searching for a place to enroll
their children. Years ago the school was NAEYC accredited but the
expense and time involved in maintaining that certification became
prohibitive for most half-day programs, including ours. The Texas
Rising Star program has since become the standard for most half-day
preschools as a result. The PAT voted to increase the staff training
hours and to participate in the Texas Rising Star Certification
process in the 2011-2012 school years.

The Texas Rising Star program is sponsored by the Texas Workforce
Commission (TWC) and is for child care providers that voluntarily meet
requirements that exceed the State’s Minimum Child Care Licensing
(CCL) standards. Four Star Certification applies to those providers
whose programs represent a superlative level of quality in the TRS
Provider system. There are eight areas of Certification criteria:
Licensing Compliance, Director Qualifications, Caregiver Staff
Qualifications, Staff Orientation, Staff Training,Group
Size,Curriculum/Activities, Caregiver-Child Interaction, Indoor and
Outdoor Environment, Health and Safety, Nutrition and Meal Time, and
Parental Involvement. Perhaps the most extensive area of assessment is
conducted through the Early Literacy Addendum which was added to TRS
in 2008. This tool was adapted from the Texas Education Agency’s
“Impacting Student Achievement Through Language and Literacy
Prekindergarten Guidelines.” It measures nine different areas of
curriculum: Motivating Children to read, Listening Comprehension,
Vocabulary, Written Expression, Verbal Expression, Developing
Knowledge of Literary Forms, Phonological Awareness and Speech
Production and Discrimination, Print and Book Awareness, and Letter
Knowledge and Early Word Recognition.

Over the past year-and-a-half our Director, Christy Milam, has worked
to fill out copious amounts of paperwork, provide extensive
documentation, conduct classroom observations and phone interviews,
and gotten feedback from other preschools who have been through this
process. Throughout this process the PAT was kept abreast of our
progress and the teaching staff was given the additional training
required for certification. The staff worked hard to bring all the
classrooms and playground into compliance to meet the highest
standards. In May of this year our final inspection was completed and
Covenant Presbyterian Preschool was given its Texas Rising Star
accreditation and the highest rating of Four Stars. This
accreditation is good for three years and the preschool will be
inspected by the Texas Rising Star program every four months in order
to maintain the four star rating.

More detailed information regarding the program can be found here:
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/childcare/provcert.pdf