November 17-21, 2025

 Balloons Over Broadway

This week, we partnered with our friends in kindergarten to work on a special project. We read Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet. It tells the true story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer and inventor who created the giant helium balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The book follows his curious childhood, his creative problem-solving, and the imaginative process that led him to design the famous parade “upside-down marionettes.” It celebrates innovation, persistence, and the joy of bringing delight to millions through art and engineering.

The students were so excited to hear this true story and learn that Tony liked to build and design just like they do in the STEAM Lab! They couldn't believe that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been taking place for over 100 years in New York City - all because of Tony!

The teachers then partnered up the students to design their very own balloon. The students were able to share their opinions on what balloon they wanted to make and then had to work together to come to a compromise and make a final decision. After making their selections, they colored and cut out the pieces for their balloons!

Finally, we assembled the pieces to create our very our Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons! Next week, we will parade around the school to share our creations! Stay tuned for all the fun!

Christmas Show

The Pre-K students are so excited to be the angels in our Nativity performance! They have been working hard on learning all the words to their song and are SO excited to wear their costumes! We practiced walking the halls in our angel wings already!

The Christmas show costume email was sent out today. We can't wait for you to see our angels shine on stage on Wednesday, December 17, at 6:00 pm in the gym!

The ultimate goal of show and tell is to provide opportunities for the children to develop their public speaking skills in a setting that is comfortable for them. They work to use their "big voice" and speak confidently in front of their peers. The students are doing such a wonderful job with this and we are so proud of them!

Show and tell is also gives the Pre-K boys and girls an additional chance to practice their letter sounds. The sooner they master letter names and letter sounds, the sooner they will see how to put those sounds together to begin to read. Please keep this in mind when helping your child select an item to share!

• Wednesday, December 3: something that begins with the /b/ sound 
• Wednesday, December 10: something that begins with the /f/ sound 
  
• Wednesday, December 17: something to do with Christmas

As the school drive coordinators, Pre-K and Kindergarten will be holding a Toys for Tots drive from November 17 through December 11. We will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for families in need. Thank you are in advance for helping us help others!

• Please send in a seasonal change of clothes for your child. We will return the summer clothes when we receive them. Thank you!
• Our Charlie Brown Friendsgiving is on Monday, November 24. We are so excited to share this annual tradition with the children!
• Students should wear their regular uniform with sneakers to school on Tuesday, November 25.
• Tuesday, November 25, is a half day with dismissal at 12:00 noon. There is no lunch and no HCA Plus. Please remember to send in a snack and water bottle with your child.

Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

November 10-14, 2025

On Monday, we read Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson - a Pre-K favorite! We discussed how Harold used his imagination and his purple crayon to tell the story. The students were then challenged to draw their own scene using their purple crayons. While it was hard to only use purple, they loved using their imaginations to draw just like Harold did! Then, they all had a chance to share their creations with their classmates.

Jack: "I drew my family going into the city!"

An: "This is a house with lots of windows."

Lexie: "I drew Harold with his purple
crayon, drawing his house and his bed."

Rogan: "This is me in the morning, going
into my mommy and daddy's bedroom, then
having breakfast, and then going to Holy 
Child Academy!"

Eli: "I made a river."

Sophia: "I drew a house with doors and
windows, a sun, and the stars."

Siobhan: "I made a robot house!"

Wolf: "This is a house, an angel, a person
wearing a unicorn headband, and a sheep."

Louis: "I drew a spider, the moon, and my hand."

LJ: "I drew a house with Jack Harris inside!"

Mia: "I made a house, an airplane, and a pet."

Aline: "I drew people on the stage!"

Emerson: "I made the earth."

Khadijah: "This is Rumi from KPop
Demon Hunters and a sun and clouds."

Emily: "I drew me and Lucas playing."

In Process Art, the Pre-K students made their own turkeys! They were instructed to color each feather a different color, the body brown, and the beak orange. Then, they worked on their pasting skills by gluing all the pieces together to make a turkey! 

Happy 5th birthday to Wolf!

Wolf's dad came in to read the class a story and then we had a dance party. It was so fun, kindergarten asked if they could come over and join in!

Please place all show and tell items in your child's backpack or a separate bag. Please help your child prepare three clues to give their classmates to help them guess which object they chose to share. The schedule for November will be as follows:

• Wednesday, November 19: something that begins with /p/
• Wednesday, November 26: NO SCHOOL

As the school drive coordinators, Pre-K and Kindergarten will be holding a Toys for Tots drive from November 17 through December 11. We will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for families in need. Thank you are in advance for helping us help others!

Please send in a seasonal change of clothes for your child. We will return the summer clothes when we receive them. Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

The Pre-K leaf people