Birthdays, Religious Holidays, and Special Events

We Love To Learn About & Celebrate Lots of Holidays!

We are happy to learn about and celebrate everything from Christmas to Hanukkah to Ramadan. This allows your child a more global perspective and helps to build tolerance and understanding. We love to celebrate! Don’t worry – we won’t try to convert your child!

If it is your wish for your child not to celebrate events due to religious, cultural, or other reasons, please discuss with your child’s teachers. If you prefer that your child not participate in a planned activity (such as Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, etc.), you should make other arrangements for the care of your child. There is no tuition reimbursement for missed days of school, regardless the reason. Our teachers respect individual diversity and will do their best to make all children feel comfortable, regardless of their participation in celebrations.

Birthday Celebrations at School

Birthdays and holidays are special times for children and for our program. During the school day, birthday children are invited to decorate a “birthday crown”, which they are welcome to bring home as a souvenir of their preschool birthday celebration.

Your child’s birthday is usually celebrated with the “Happy Birthday” song at school around 12:45pm, just before Mystery Reader (sign up on our website right now to reserve the Mystery Reader slot for your child’s birthday). During Mystery Reader, the teachers will usually hand out a treat, if one was brought to school that day.

We encourage you to take part in the celebrations if you wish by bringing fruit (organic preferred) for all of the children and teachers in the classroom. We ask for healthy food options (e.g. organic fruit kebabs, mini bagels & cream cheese, etc.). The healthier and more nutritious the choice, the better!

Please do not bring cupcakes, cookies, sugar, etc.

Birthdays that occur during the summer are given the option of celebrating a “pre-birthday” during May and June. Please connect with your child’s teacher to schedule their “pre-birthday” celebration.

DO NOT BRING FOOD WITH NUTS:When offering food for possible consumption by children, please be absolutely, 100% sure there are no peanuts, no tree nuts, and no nut oils of any kind in any of the ingredients. We don’t want to risk that a child may have a known or unknown nut allergy.

Birthday Parties & Delivery Of Invitations

If your child is having a birthday party, please be sensitive about scheduling a birthday party right after school unless everyone is invited. Invitations should always be mailed from home unless you’re inviting everyone in your child’s class, in which case, you can leave invitations in ALL the cubbies from your child’s class. Discussions of birthday parties and play dates, and passing out invitations at school, may cause hurt feelings for those children (and their parents!) who are not included.