Category: Uncategorized

Building Blocks to our Goal

Posted on by Devon Zuleger

This year is unlike anything we have experienced in over 70 years at the Meeting House Nursery School.  By adapting our procedures and finances we have been fortunate to stay open this year while living during a pandemic.  However, with a decrease in enrollment our income much is lower. 

The biggest key to staying open is our dedicated teachers.  This year they have so many additional responsibilities.  They have to teach kids how to properly wear a face mask, deep clean their classrooms, revamp lesson plans for more outdoor play and spend extra time communicating with parents via email instead of face to face.  Some staff even voluntarily reduced their hours in order to help with our budget. 

This year we have been spending a lot more time utilizing our outdoor classrooms to prevent Covid-19 transmission.  Our teachers have requested more items in order to best equip these classrooms.  

Our direct appeal this year is to raise $4000 to purchase hollow building blocks and storage sets from Community Playthings.  These blocks will be a great gift to give the teachers to help our kids play, learn and grow. 

This direct appeal is a no-frills fundraising campaign.  We do not want you to buy anything.  We do not want you to sell anything.  We just want you to think about what Meeting House means to you and your family, and what an impact your contribution can make.

Your donation is fully tax-deductible, so remember to make your gift before the end of 2020!  Contributions can be made via PayPal or you can mail a check to Meeting House Nursery School 900 University Bay Dr Madison, WI 53705.

Many thanks from the Board of Directors of Meeting House Nursery School

Board of Directors Application Materials

Posted on by Devon Zuleger

We Need YOU!

The Board of Directors is the corporate policy-making body with ultimate responsibility for the total program. Board of Director duties include establishing the corporate and legal existence of the school, setting and reviewing the governing policies of the school’s program, and appointing an Executive Director to be the administrative officer in charge of the implementation of these policies and the day-to-day program operation. The Board’s responsibility also includes the authority for the setting and collection of tuition, disbursement of funds and establishing the nursery school budget. Board members also help to oversee the school’s various committees. Membership is open to parents and interested community persons and includes one teacher representative from the staff. The Executive Director is an ex-officio member of the Board. The Executive Officers of the board are the Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Officer at Large. The board meets monthly during the year.
Feel free to call any of the current Board members or the Director if you have any questions about the election or the role of the Board of Directors.
Candidate biographies and ballots will be sent home to current MHNS families in  April for a vote in early May. The election of board members concludes at the Annual Meeting in May, with board members beginning their term at the June meeting. Our school cannot function a nonprofit without at least 11 board members, so please consider a term.

Thank you for considering being a part of our Board!

BOARD FACT SHEET

BOARD APPLICATION FORM

 

Portfolios

Posted on by Devon Zuleger

At Meeting House, we believe children learn through their play. Teachers carefully plan activities using appealing materials, with underlying goals for each child’s development.

The goals children work on through their play are based on the City of Madison Early Learning Standards and the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards.

Meeting House staff create a portfolio for each child that demonstrates progress with these developmentally appropriate learning standards.

Teachers gather evidence by taking pictures of students at play and record verbal explanations from children that describe how they are playing or what is happening in that moment.

At the end of the year, families will receive an electronic version of their child’s portfolio through the Kaymbu App.

Parents and children are able to take a look back at the development made during the year with feelings of accomplishment and pride.

 

COVID-19

Posted on by Devon Zuleger

Meeting House Nursery School board passed new COVID-19 Policies and Procedures to help keep our children, families, and staff safe this school year.

Here are just a few programmatic changes we implemented to stay safe while learning through play:

  • Small class sizes that stay together throughout the day
  • Staggered drop off and pick up
  • Extra rotation of materials and equipment to be cleaned and sanitized
  • Limited interaction with staff and other classrooms
  • Masks are required for anyone 5 or older and highly encouraged for the rest of our children. We have had great success with our younger children wearing masks while inside and outside when in close contact with others.
  • HEPA air filtration units in every classroom (December 2020)
  • Health checks for our staff and children
  • Contactless sign in and out
  • Outdoor classrooms that provide play based learning for fine and gross motor development, social and emotional growth, sensory, art, language, literature, adventure, exploration , science and math.
  • Our programs are spending at least half of our time outside exploring over 4 acres of trails, orchards and play space on the First Unitarian Society (FUS) site.

To learn more, please read our complete COVID-19 policies and procedures here.