January 2022

Commitment. Kindness. Community.

From the Desk Of: Danielle Lacroix, Director

Two years of uncertainty has prompted many of us to reevaluate our personal and professional lives. As the ED of an early childhood program during Covid-19, I have been pushed to rethink our school environment, the mental and physical health of my team, and revamp much of what I had previously planned in an effort to focus on the here and now - sustaining the organization and retaining staff during a time when the world has largely gone into survival mode. The new normal for many organizations during Covid has often meant decreased budgets and rounds of layoffs. HPS has been fortunate to remain stable and, by comparison to many other early childhood programs, marginally impacted. I am grateful to our entire community during this time and sincerely feel that the strong trust that exists within the HPS community has allowed for our program's stability and has guided us through the pandemic. Thank you for that trust!

Many early childhood programs both city-wide and nationally have indeed been hit hard during the pandemic, and, in the past months, there have been numerous news articles written about the struggles of the childcare industry. Reports have highlighted the large number of staff leaving our underpaid field often to find less skilled jobs that allow employees to work from home while making the same money. Not only has a job change been attractive to many in our field because work-from-home employment minimizes exposure to Covid, but also because it allows for working mothers to be physically present at home during the never ending school closures, classroom quarantines, and “exclusion due to symptoms” that every working parent has faced for months on end.

Our HPS staff is 96% working mothers. As an employer, I firmly believe that this statistic is a strength in our community. The personal experience with parenthood, broad-ranging perspective, and ability to multitask, prioritize, and negotiate is invaluable. However, the struggles of balancing work and family are real, and now, greater than ever. While we, like all organizations, continue to learn and grow, HPS is committed to “doubling down” on investing in our staff and creating a sustainable work environment even during this time of uncertainty and challenge.

In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find photos of our program’s “day of gift giving”, staff during holiday break spending time with their families, and our staff-wide holiday cooking and baking challenge. A lens of equity, community, and appreciation has guided our efforts during the pandemic, and we are passionate about strengthening this lens as we plan for the future of our school. A nurturing community feels more important than ever during the stress, struggles, and chaos that we are all facing, and I again thank each HPS staff member, family, and board representative for working with me in supporting the school and sustaining our small but mighty institution!

D.L..

In This Issue

From the desk of Danielle Lacroix

Curriculum Corner with Jill Barefoot

Serving Community

Giving at HPS
Bake Sale!

“T” Time
Pamela Thomas & Danielle Eldridge

Community Safety Partnerships

Reminders

Celebrating Community

Don’t Forget!

Applications Due Soon!

In-house applications for the 2022-2023 school year are due February 4.

Current families who submit their applications by the deadline will secure priority placement.

Curriculum Corner
Jill Barefoot, Grasshopper Purple Lead Teacher & School-wide Curriculum Coordinator

Building Community

Last month, I was looking forward to winter break. I was excited to see close friends and had several small adventures planned. And then……they all caught covid. I spent most of the break home alone with my dogs, reading and watching more tv than I would like to admit, and it made me think about the importance of community - not just as a functioning cog in the machine but to the individual's sense of self. Today’s world looks very different for young children as they develop their understanding of community, and I reflected on how we as educators and parents can make sure our little citizens are having experiences that create community connections and foster a sense of belonging even as we make our way through the pandemic.

Serving our Community

HPS is partnering with Capitol Hill United Methodist Church (CHUMC), to support unhoused residents of Capitol Hill. HPS will be collecting items to donate to CHUMC, which regularly provides bagged meals and other community-based services to those in need. As our teachers lead ongoing discussions about community and connection, our students will work together to decorate the bags we've collected to be used to distribute meals. We're hopeful that our students' work will be a source of joy for our neighbors, and to those supporting them.

Please be on the lookout for dates for the supply drive, and a list of items to be collected. Thank you for your support!

The quality of the connections that we make within our communities is a critical aspect for building a “sense of community”. The relationships we make in a community impact a child’s development, just like our family relationships do. Knowing this, I reflected on the simple “everyday” ways in which the children at HPS have been able to create community and stay connected to community during the past couple of years. I thought about our walks around the neighborhood and saying hello to passerbys. I thought of the special moments when we waved to our community helpers and they stopped and took the time to come over and talk with us (masked and physically distanced), or neighborhood children at the park engaged with us - even through just smiles, nods, and quick hellos. I thought about the shop owners we have visited and the neighborhood dogs we have stopped so I could pet them. I thought about when we walk by Brent and wave at past students or their teachers wave at possible future students. We have thrown on gloves and cleaned up our block, collected food to be delivered to the neighborhood food programs, and stopped to “Awww” over babies in strollers. We still do so many of the things that are critical to our well-being, just with new Covid safety protocols in place. These simple, everyday interactions with our community are central to our success as humans, and I have realized that, while we miss the birthday parties, big get-togethers, trips to the museums, etc., as a school community, we have not lost out on the most central pieces of what will keep our children happy, mentally strong, and productive.

When children make the type of connections described above in their communities, it can help them decide what they want to become, how and why they are important to other people and help define who they are, working to shape their identity. It can grow their confidence, develop lasting friendships and build resilience.

As I looked deeper into this important subject, I found four identified traits that make a “sense of community”:

Belonging: Feeling you are part of the community.
Influence: Feeling you ‘matter’ and can make a difference.
Integration and fulfillment of needs: Feeling your needs can be met.
Shared emotional connection: Feeling of an attachment through shared experience, place or history.

While there are so many things that are keeping us apart, I am motivated to share my lens that there are still so many simple ways that we can offer our children the experiences that are paramount to how they see themselves, how they see others and still reinforce the interconnectedness of our community.

Bake Sale - Love Treats and Fun!

Something sweet is coming your way! HPS will be selling Love Treats for delivery on Friday, February 11th. You can pre-order family cookie decorating kits with eight heart cookies, two bags of icing, and sprinkles for your “love” weekend fun for $25! (prepared in a nut-free kitchen and a gluten free option will be available)

An order form will be emailed early next week!

We will also have decorated sugar cookies in packs of two for sale during during drop-off the morning of Monday the 14th. Pick some up to enjoy or share the love! 1 pack of 2 for $5, 3 packs for $10!

All proceeds benefit the HPS Annual Fund!

Thank You!

Picture day raised $1100 for HPS! Thank you for your support!

As always, you can make a tax deductible donation online anytime!

“T” Time

Getting to know the HPS Teachers at Home

Ms. Pamela Thomas

Who is your hero?
My Mom is my hero.
What would you prefer to do in the evening?.
In the evening I would rather visit a relative than play a game or watch a movie.
Do you love or hate roller coasters?
I hate roller coasters……….emotional ones and otherwise!
Quick likes and dislikes:
Likes - Traveling, music, popcorn, butterflies, and gold jewelry
Dislikes - Reckless drivers, lost luggage, racism, immature behavior, and humid hot weather

Ms. Danielle Eldridge

What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation is tropical. I would love to be in Bora Bora on Tahaa Island with an overwater private pool suite!
What would you sing at a karaoke night?
Can’t Fight the Moonlight by LeAnn Rimes.
If you could join any past or current music group which would you want to join?
Either En Vogue or Brownstone Diva.
If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
1990’s — but at the age of 18 or 21.
Quick likes and dislikes:
Likes - Music, dancing & singing, traveling, passionate poetry, wine & food
Dislikes - Selfish people, conflicts/drama, being cut off while talking, going places without money, people yelling at me

Community Safety Partnerships

After a meeting between Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, ED Danielle Lacroix, Board President Katie deProphetis, and Board member Phil Peisch, a very personal and meaningful relationship is forming between neighborhood police officers and the Hill Preschool!

This week alone, several patrol officers have visited the school to meet with Danielle, become familiar with the school's location and stakeholders, and learn about our community's needs. We are grateful that there is such a growing awareness of our school's presence in the neighborhood and especially grateful for such a strong awareness of our classes' routines, walking routes, and outdoor play locations.

To build upon this relationship, Lieutenant Ilah Wiggins has invited our school to participate in the MPD pilot program Literacy and Law Enforcement. An MPD officer will now be a regular volunteer reader at HPS for our entire student community! Beginning February 16th, our classes will meet outside on the grass at 10:00 am once a week to enjoy story time with the officer before heading off for park time in the community. Our first book reading is Police Officers on Patrol by Kersten Hamilton, a book selected personally by Lieutenant Wiggins and her 3- and 7-year-old sons!

— Reminders —

Be sure you’ve signed up for your class Shutterfly -
Get details from your teacher!
2-4 2022-2023 School Year Applications Due for current students
2-11 Cookie kit pickup
2-14 Morning Bakesale
2-21 - 2-25 HPS Closed for Mid-Winter Break
3-10 HPS Closed to Students for Parent-Teacher Conferences
3-11 HPS Closed for Staff Development
4-1 2022-2023 Academic Year Contracts, Deposits, and First Month’s Tuition due