Rebecca Karr

Greetings!

Sorry to be a few days late! This seems to be inspection season. Yesterday, we had our Inspection from the Department of Health which issues our Permit to operate. We passed with flying colors! 

Next will be the NYSAIS Five Year Review on April 5th and 6th. I expect that we will retain our accreditation.

Masks:The following statement was issued by the Mayor’s office and NYCDOH a while ago:  Because only children ages 5 and older can get vaccinated against COVID-19 at this time, masks will continue to be required for children and staff in child care settings for children ages 4 and younger. The Bureau of Child Care will provide updated guidance after a decision is made regarding the mask requirement for older children in child care settings. Therefore, children and staff here at school will be required to continue wearing masks, until guided otherwise.

Summer Program:Information and sign-up forms for Summer Program will be sent out tomorrow by Rebecca. The Program will run for 4 weeks from June 20th through July 15th. Hope you’ll join the fun in the sun!

Thanks to all who participated in the Coat Drive. Tomorrow’s the last day, so check your closets tonight! You have been most generous, as always.
Monday evening, March 7th, Tovah Klein, Director of the Barnard Toddler Center, will be on Zoom speaking on Love and Limits from 8pm to 9pm. I have attached a flyer with the link. Tovah is one of the brilliant minds of the day who know, understand and love toddlers. She is beyond wise, if that’s possible! Don’t miss her!

Spring Break is on the horizon. School will be closed from Monday, March 14th, reopening on Monday, March 28th. Have many fun adventures!!On April 7th, the week following our return, we will have Photo Day. Info to follow.

We will have a Chat With Jean on Thursday, March 10th at 10am. Please RSVP and I’ll send a Zoom invitation.

I cannot close without acknowledging the devastating situation in Ukraine. The humanitarian situation, among much more, cries for help. The following links come to me from a former caregiver of children here at CDS years ago. She is now a Doctor of Infectious Diseases here in NYC. Her recommendations are as follows:https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/ua/donate/-my-donation    or    https://razomforukraine.org/donate/ Hopefully, the civilized world can bring this situation to a sane resolution soon.(Reminder to be mindful of images on the news and small minds. Better to watch the news after kid bedtime.)

Warmly and with hope,

Jean

Greetings!I hope you and your bundles enjoyed the snow over the weekend. The first snow of winter is still magic for me!

Happy Lunar New Year to all families celebrating! A beautiful dragon just marched through the Big Room. It’s the Year of the Tiger, a symbol of bravery, wisdom and strength.

Admissions and Ex-missions seasons are simultaneously wrapping up. Our letters went out to prospective families last week, and this Thursday letters will go out to families applying to independent schools for Kindergarten. Soon NYC will take a collective breath and we can relax again knowing where the kids will be in school next fall!!
This time of year is often rich with signs of imagination. Kids have adjusted to school,teachers know their kids, there is a sense of safety that took time to develop. This is a fertile time for continued experiments and adventures. Watch for the fun!
Thanks for sending in the Re-enrollment forms. Contracts will be sent out  based on the schedule you noted on the form. You should have your contract by February 11th with a return date of Friday, February 25th.

Our Auction planners are busy preparing for a Spring event to the Benefit Tuition Assistance Fund. We are hoping to have an in-person evening of food, fun, and festivities. Committees are forming. If you’d like to join the planning fun, please let Shazia know and watch for bulletins from Committee chairs.

Summer Program plans are underway. Barring any changes necessary because of Covid, we will have a Program running from June 20th through July 29th from 9am till 1pm. Details and sign-up information will be available by March 1st.Valentine’s Day is coming up on February 14th. Your teachers will describe to you the way Valentine’s will be handled in your child’s pod. If you choose to send in Valentines, please be sure to include all children in the class. Thanks! 

Please note that Shazia will be away from February 3rd until February 11th for family reasons. She will be available via email. We wish her a safe trip.
Please note the following dates:

• Presidents Days: Monday and Tuesday, February 21st and 22nd. School closed.
• Chats With Jean: Thursday, February 17th at 10am and Monday, February 28th, at 10am. All are welcome! RSVP and I will send a link.

And what will the Groundhog say?

Warmly,Jean

Happy New Year!I hope your holidays were warm, cozy and satisfying, regardless of the unwelcome visit by Omicron! I trust anyone affected is on the way to recovery and being able to join us again on 32nd Street! 

Thank you for joining the Community Meeting last week. The last thing I wanted to have happen was a delay in opening school on the 4th. But as a result of the collaborative work done to assess and tweak our protocol, I feel that we’re as ready as we can be to continue together safely. Thanks for your support, ideas, and patience as we did our due diligence! 

In the school world of NYC, January seems to be wrap-up time for school enrollment in both preschools and ongoing schools.

• Downtown preschools will be sending out letters at the end of January with responses due a month later. This is new and it is unknown how helpful this new plan will be. Seems like a lot of time for decision-making!
• Kindergarten letters will be sent out from Independent Schools on February 3rd with responses due on February 10th.
• Please check the DOE website if you will be attending one of the amazing Public schools in District 2.
• Those of you who will be returning in the fall, a Re-enrollment Form along with the Tuition Schedule will be sent out later this week once the Board of Trustees approves the work of the Finance Committee. See Debbie for information about Tuition Assistance. 
• I will be sending more guidance as time draws near these dates.

Calendar Notes:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated on Monday, January 17th. School will be closed.
• Chats With Jean are back! Please join me on Zoom at 10am on Friday, January 21st and/or on Wednesday, January 26th. Please RSVP and I will send a Zoom.

I trust you and your bundles enjoyed the first snow! It is one of the magical touches of Nature. A walk, hot chocolate and 2 of my favorite books round out the picture: A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Katie and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton, and a snowball in the freezer!

Please take good care, stay in touch and we’ll see you very soon!

Affectionately,

Jean

Hello again!

This Newsletter has been delivered in stages! After all the details were shared with you last week, I was left with my thoughts for this month.
We have been together for about 3 months and I am aware of some of the friendships that are emerging in our community. Your families are somehow finding each other and ways to be together. The children are also finding that they are attracted to one child one day, and another the next. How is that managed?

We are all right on schedule. Out of the Winter Fair (see info below) , I am sure special friendships will emerge. On the roof playground the same is inevitable. Among our staff, long-standing relationships are treasured and new ones bring fresh camaraderie.In the face of the pandemic, connection thrives. Please read on in the attachment below.

Reminder that we return from Break on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

We wish you a joyous holiday rich with family, adventure, peace, and renewed hope.

With affection and appreciation,

Jean

• Winter Fair: Please be sure to read all emails about the festivities happening next Saturday, December 11th at Madison Square Park and Chelsea Day School! Event Chairs Jillian Cohen and Suhasini Sareen are doing an inspired job of creating a fun day for our families that will include a trip into the school, pod by pod!! Volunteers are still needed, so check out the sign-up sheets for a small shift. As our Lisa says, “If everyone does something small, something big happens!” Something big is about to happen!! Thank you one and all!

• Celebration of Light: Each year before Winter Break, we celebrate the light in our community. If we could be in the school, each age group and their parents would gather in the Big Room, sing songs, eat cookies baked by the kids, and thank the teachers. Reality being what it is, we are unable to come together physically. Thank goodness for ZOOM! The last day of school before the break will be Thursday, December 16th. Friday morning, the 17th at 10am, we will gather together on ZOOM. The children will sing songs led by Richard, we will light a candle for each of the many holidays celebrated in our community, and we will wish each other a Happy Holiday. We light candles for Eid, Divali, Hanukkah, St. Lucia’s Day, Christmas,Boxing Day,  Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, and Nowruz. If there is a holiday in your culture that is missing, please let me know and we will add a candle! (I will be lighting them from my home!)

THOUGHTS ON FRIENDSHIP

Good Evening!

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the Fall!

This year is moving much too fast! It seems incredible that we are looking forward to the holidays already. Many planning meetings have been set up for essential events in our community. Please grab your calendar so you don’t miss any that appeal to you!

Tuesday, November 2nd: Election Day. If you can, I encourage you to bring your child to the voting booth. They vote often in school and the highest number of votes wins. They will be very proud to join you! And you’ll be nurturing a voter.

Tuesday, November 9th: Winter Fair Brainstorm. 8pm. All are welcome. Please RSVP and I will include you on the Zoom. The Fair will be on Zoom. Planning will require brilliantly creative ideas with an eye for a fun-filled kid event!

Thursday, November 11th: Parent Conferences on Zoom. School is closed to kids. Enjoy this important point of contact between home and school.

Friday, November 12th: Staff Development Day. School is closed to kids.

Friday, November 19th: Chat With Jean, 10am. Please RSVP and I will send a Zoom.

Wednesday, November 24th – November 26th: Thanksgiving Break. See the Travel Protocol below.

We are moving into Admissions season which means I will be able to have fewer Chats With Jean. When I see an opening, I will let you know. Know that I will miss you till we re-emerge on the other side.

A gentle reminder: The ISAAGNY (city-wide) Survey that I sent out last week is the first of its kind and will offer schools important data about your thoughts as parents as you chose a school for your child/family. It is completely anonymous. Please take the time to fill out the survey. It will be so helpful. Thanks so much!
I have attached a reaction to a workshop that the Staff and I recently attended about Resilience in Children. It is particularly relevant in this time of Covid. Enjoy.

Comments are always welcome!

The Community Outreach Committee will be in touch soon with our next project. Stay tuned. We have quite a collection of candy for the troops and first responders. We’re still collecting. Thanks!

I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving rich with family, food and fun! We have much to be thankful for.

Affectionately,

Jean

Article On Resiliency … CLICK HERE.

Greetings!
I am happy to report that in spite of the challenges of Covid and its required protocols, our school is right on schedule. Year after year, it takes the kids a few weeks to separate and know you’ll be back, to get used to each other, to make sense of their classrooms, to trust their teachers. Every once in a while, a child who walked in without missing a beat can take a step back. “Ok, I can do this. Now I want to go home again!” Two steps forward. One back. Children are not always linear. They adjust in their own way. Thanks for being such team players as we navigate this important adjustment time.
Administration and I have been getting systems perfected to make all our lives easier. If you haven’t sent in the Family Participation Form, we’d love to hear from you. Class Parents for each class are in place and will be in touch via email to set up an adult social gathering for your pod in the near future. (See attachment.)The next project is to revitalize the Community Outreach Group. As a school we support organizations such as Room To Grow, City Harvest, Candy (Halloween)  for First Responders. Each year, ideas come from our community at large and realities throughout the world.

To that end, consider the following:

The following link will connect you to a link to Support the Children of Afghanistan ………https://support.savethechildren.org/site/Donation2?df_id=5366&5366.donation=form1&cid=Paid_Search%3AGoogle_Paid%3AEmer_Afghanistan%3ABrand%3A082421&s_kwcid=AL%219048%213%21260706327279%21e%21%21g%21%21save+the+children&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=Cj0KCQjws4aKBhDPARIsAIWH0JU3y9aBokbih3IbI9a_PWMsjjZXgWmhmQSByKUmRYaOm0tG7PAFjMQaAvzVEALw_wcB
This link will connect you to the UNICEF site to Support the Children of Haiti……..https://www.unicefusa.org/?form=FUNZZFVXQHV&utm_content=earthquake_haiti_E2001&ms=cpc_dig_2020_Emergencies_20200109_google_earthquake_haiti_delve_E2001&initialms=cpc_dig_2020_Emergencies_20200109_google_earthquake_haiti_delve_E2001&gclid=CjwKCAjwzOqKBhAWEiwArQGwaLtaOlvV6mI5msyI01H0Y11Ige5Dvmb8zNQAZtM9BbBUsga4-0eKlxoCnZ4QAvD_BwE
We will also be setting up Brainstorming Meetings to plan for the Winter Fair and the Spring Auction that supports Tuition Assistance. There are many ways “to play” and we welcome your participation, large or small.

The October calendar is very busy. Please mark your calendar with dates relevant to you:

• Open Houses for Prospective Families: Thursdays, October 7th, 14th, and 28th.
• School Closed: Indigenous Peoples Day: Monday October 11th.
• Class Night: Wednesday, October 20th on Zoom.

Class Night is an evening when you will meet on Zoom with your child’s teachers to hear about general developmental milestones of the age-group, what goes on in the classroom beyond the daily recaps, what it’s like to be a child in your pod. It is an informative meeting that sets the stage especially for your Family/Teacher Conference in November when you and the teachers will talk specifically about your child.
Things on my mind: Each month, I will be adding a piece about child development, parent development, preschool education, education in general. Please let me know if there is an area you’d like to hear about from me. I will also be setting up Chats With Jean each month that are open to anyone to chat about Life With a Preschooler. An endless topic!This month’s Chats will be held on

• Wednesday, October 13th at 10:00 am
• Monday, October 25 at 10:00am.

Those families applying out for next year,

• Please let your teachers and Rebecca know about scheduled interviews, etc, that will require your child to arrive at school outside of your pod’s arrival time. Someone in the office will be available to get your child from the alley entrance. Thanks.
• Please continue to check the website for announcements from ongoing schools about Ex-missions
• I will be sending out a Release Form where you can write all schools that you are applying to on the one Release Form and sign it, rather than sending me one from each school. I will also send out a Language Survey of the languages spoken in your family. 
• Keep me updated on your process as necessary.

Thanks for being vigilant about notifying Shazia of any communicable disease that you may have to deal with. Please continue to email Shazia and she will notify your Classroom along with relevant medical information for parents. We will not use your child’s name.
Have a lovely day and thanks for entrusting your children to our care!

Please find the Family Participation Descriptions HERE and our list of Class Parents HERE.

Warmly,Jean

On Raising a Child…….
Raising a child is one of the most complicated privileges of life.
How is it that such a tiny helpless baby can challenge everything we are? We do not get
directions with this package…..no one tells us that they evoke every dream and hope for
tomorrow, every fear and longing from yesterday, every insecurity and every sense of
power all at the same time.
Personally, I was overwhelmed by the reality that my baby who arrived so many years
ago was a completely unique individual, different from anyone else on the planet,
especially me. It took me a while to wrap my head around that. I experienced the first of
many separations that have happened in the ensuing 42 years.
Who is this person?
What will he like? Dislike?
What will his voice sound like?
What will give him pleasure?
What will he fear?
Where will his path take him?
Will he play Scrabble?
Will I be worthy of this job?
As adults, parents and teachers together, our job is to support each child’s unfolding.
Listen carefully, clear the path, offer advice and support, and stand back.
As Kahlil Gibran says “They come through you, but not from you,
And though they are with you yet, they belong not to you.”
I was inspired to write this by the young adult alumni who have been in touch. They are
a teacher in China, a lawyer, Fulbright recipients in Indonesia and Morocco, a computer
scientist, a publicist, a baseball coach in Eastern Europe, an anti-terrorism expert, an
employee at the State Department, to name a few.
As the adults in our kids’ lives, we are now paving the way for their tomorrow.

Greetings, families!

As we start the school year, I thought you might be interested in reading an article I’ve written for the Parent’s League of New York about literacy.

Enjoy!

“Literacy from the Beginning” … An Excerpt from Jean Rosenberg, Director, Chelsea Day School

“At some point in my career as a parent and educator, someone said to me, “They’re not giving you a hard time. They’re having a hard time.” I am forever grateful for this tidbit of wisdom. If you feel that your child is challenging you, you will push back. If you interpret this behavior as needing something, you will bring him close. Acknowledging the child by saying, “I see you’re having a hard time. How can I help?” builds a foundation of trust, respect and communication that can last a lifetime. It sure beats a time-out. Three-year-olds are all about language and friendships. As a parent, I never experienced the “Terrible Twos,” but my 3-year-old offered surprising challenges. He wanted to know everything and why. He had a reason for everything. He negotiated reasonably and was usually right. It took a lot of patience..

Keep Reading …

Jean

September 2021

Dear Community,

Welcome to a very  special year, with this being our 40^th Anniversary!

Forty years ago, in 1981, I was working at the Fifteenth Street School in Chelsea. It was a Summerhill School based on the philosophy and practice of British educator A.S. Neill. Although I had many years of teaching in elementary school under my belt, I learned things there that changed my life as an educator, as a parent, and as a person. It seems so simple today:  I learned to listen to children.

That same year, I learned that the school that taught me so much was closing. I wanted my 13 month old to attend this school! It was a sad time, until the Board offered me money from the sale of the building to start another school. I had no intention of starting a school from scratch until I found that I couldn’t say “No.” A buried dream was about to come true.

Chelsea Day School was born. We opened our doors to 23 kids and parents who believed in freedom, not license, the notion that children know where they’re going, and that the adults in their lives need to pave the way for them to unfold. And that there is intrinsic pleasure in learning.

These ideals guide us today.

Our days together are rich with laughter, music, each other and endless ideas. We spend our time building relationships, learning and using language, exploring materials, building on what came before, and leading with kindness.

Over the last 40 years, we have done a lot of growing up as have our children. They are now returning with their own children. Every teacher, parent and child has left a mark on the whole.

Thank you for being a part of this incredible dream. It is full of joy and hope.

And I will always stop everything to listen to a child.

With affection,

Jean