School Year 2016-2017
Dear Families,
I wanted to take this time and welcome you to Jefferson Early Childhood Center! The team
and I (Kris Stoffels) are excited to have your child start! I wanted to fill you in on some
information to help make the first couple of days a smooth and fun transition for your child.
Once staff assignments are finalized, I will share with you the other members of the
classroom team.
Our day in the classroom will be divided among structured and non-structured activities.
Below is a description of the various times of our day. The actual times these will happen
have not been determined yet. Once school gets under way, you will receive a schedule of the
classroom. Choice Time/Center time include interest areas such as toys, dramatic play, easel,
listening center, art/writing center and feeling table. This is time when the children lead the
play and the team joins in. Our next activity will be small groups/table time. Table
Time/Small Group time are teacher directed activities that may include art, puzzles, fine
motor activities, playdough or one-on-one time with various teachers or therapists. For
recess we either go outside to the playground or to the gym every day. Large Group/Circle
time that is heavily language based and such skills as attending, following directions and
academic concepts are worked on. At the beginning of the year, circle will start off in small
chunks. As the children’s understanding and attention increases throughout the year, the
length of circle will increase as appropriate. Snack is a great time to work on social skills and
self-help skills. The children love to sit and talk about what they do outside of school! Book
and music time are also included in our day.
Krista Petrilli’s class will be our buddy class this year. Miss Krista teaches a larger classroom
that consists of tuition paying students and as well as some students identified as having
special needs. We will join together frequently for “Together Time”. This is a great way of
blending the two classes to partake in a variety of activities. Our teams plan small and large
group activities to target academic, social, language and motor skills in a large group setting.
Jefferson Early Childhood Centers uses the Creative Curriculum as an outline for our day.
The Creative Curriculum classroom functions as a community, a place where people feel safe,
help one another, and consider themselves to be part of a group. This curriculum emphasizes
interest areas that include but are not limited to dramatic play, blocks, art, feeling table,
circle times and motor. Language, social skills, plays skills, gross/fine motor and
independence skills are also embedded throughout our entire program. Developmentally
appropriate lesson plans and activities will be developed to enhance these skills throughout
all themes. Activities and lessons will also incorporate student IEP (Individualized
Educational Plan).
Every Friday a newsletter and lesson plan will be shared via e-mail for the following week.
This is a nice way to talk with your child about upcoming events and to ask them what they
did a particular day. This is a great way to ask your child where they played, what they did
and who they played with.
Each day your child needs to bring a small snack and drink from home. Please send in a
favorite healthy snack that does not need to be refrigerated. A reminder that we are a
peanut/nut free school so no items containing nuts for snack please. Please make sure your
child’s snack is in a labeled bag each day.
For safety reasons, please have your child wear or bring sneakers to school each day.
Boots, sandals, crocks and flip-flops are very slippery and they do not grip well on the
climbing equipment. If you prefer, your child may leave a pair of gym shoes here for the
year. Please label them with their name.
I hope that this has answered a few of your questions before the first day of school.
Another great resource for information is to check out is our school webpage. Go to
http://www.cusd200.org. Follow the links to Jefferson. I also have a classroom page with
more information about our room. I encourage and love parent volunteers in the classroom.
Please don’t hesitate to call, write or e-mail with any questions or concerns. The team and I
are looking forward to getting to know you and your child!
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. We will have an open house
for you to meet the classroom team and drop off supplies. If your child will be in the AM
session please come from 9:30-10:00. If your child will be attending the PM session please
come from 10:15-10:45. There will be a bus from First Student parked at school for your
child to sit in and explore.
Here’s to a GREAT year!
Kris Stoffels
kristine.stoffels@cusd200.org