Here at Newport, we closed out 2017 with a flurry of fun activities. In October, we were visited by local firefighters and Officer Friendly, had a pumpkin patch in Newport’s park, then finished off the month with Halloween costume parties in each classroom. November saw the start of Newport’s annual food drive, as well as our yearly event, “Lunches For the Hungry.” Parents, kids, teachers, and staff came together to make bagged lunches for a local food pantry, teaching children the value of offering kindness and caring to those less fortunate than ourselves.
Firetruck Visit
Pumpkin Patch
Officer Friendly Visit
Halloween Parties
Lunches for the Hungry
Our Lunches For the Hungry event was a huge success, as was our November Food Drive. Thanks to all of our families’ generous donations, we were able to donate a total of 367 pounds of food to Common Pantry, which “provides emergency food, a weekly lunch, and other forms of assistance when crises hit.”
During our Lunches For the Hungry event, Newport families put together over one hundred lunches, which were then distributed to those in need.
The school was closed over the Thanksgiving holiday, but December started with Newport’s winter clothing drive, an event that filled the front lobby area of the school with donated hats, coats, scarves, mittens, and other useful clothing items.
In the spirit of the December holidays, each classroom from the Twos classroom up put on a holiday musical, singing/shouting such favorites as “I Have A Little Dreidel,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Parents and family members attended the shows in record numbers, and the school was filled with music, laughter, and holiday cheer.
In addition to the holiday musicals and parties, children had the chance to have their pictures taken with Santa, an event that produced a great deal of excitement around the school. For the next week, the classrooms were filled with buzz about how Santa had come to visit us, and each child promised fervently to be extra good so Mr. Claus might come back the next year and visit us again. (Though we’ll have to check with our parents as to whether or not these promises are kept!)
After the excitement of Santa and the holiday musicals, we wound down the year with a pajama party and movie day. Children and teachers alike wore their pajamas to school, and each classroom curled up on bean bags and comfy chairs to watch holiday movies and relax.
Holiday 2017
In January, we’re looking forward to a visit from our favorite eye doctor, Dr. Pham, as well as a puppet show and storytime led by our local librarian. In February, we’ll once again celebrate Dr. Seuss week, wearing Seuss-inspired clothes and working our way through the vast library of Dr. Seuss stories. We can’t wait to get into another year of fun and learning at Newport!