A Word from Our Director

Community Goal:

For our Community Goal this week, let’s honor the Co-op Spirit! At co-ops we are in it to win it, ready to rock, down for the challenge, and dig deep to get it done.

Co-op parents know that the kids come first and that our hard work builds a community that lasts.

Last week we had our first ever Alumni Parent Ed Meeting. It's May, time is tight and parents are strapped, but we still had an amazing turn out. It felt like a reunion. A room full of people wanting to learn about our own children but reaching out to share their experience to help others.

Sometimes its hard to know how good you have it until you have moved on. Let’s take a minute this week to appreciate the good things that the co-op has brought you and your family.

Tea & Talk

We so rarely get a chance to sit and talk. Conversations lead to connection & build community. Join us for a monthly opportunity to have a cup of tea, a bit of cake and a little conversation. The next meeting is May 8th at 7:30 p.m.

Thank You!

Jeff Marrs for recording the teachers with such good humor!

Community Fundraising - The Trike A Thon was the talk of the town this week. Thanks for making great memories.

Kuba - Thanks for getting the pothole filled and keeping us safe.

Yard Committee - Thanks for keeping the front of the school neat and swept!

Marketing & Elizabeth - Thank you for your patience and grace with getting the Indoor Voice out.

Sarah & the Board - Thanks for listening to my meltdown this week.

Amanda - Thanks for working so hard on the budget.

Equipment - Thanks for all the laundry!!!

Thanks to all the workday parents who show up ready to support the school.

Thanks to the folks who bring something for the workday families to nibble on during their break.

Thanks to everyone who walks into the school and asks, “How can I help?”
 

PreK Magical Moments

According to Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, 3-5 year olds are in the Initiative vs. Guilt phase. They’re trying out ideas that grownups often take issue with. For example, the other day some of the PreKers were flying their paper airplanes outside. The activity started out as a purple room deck activity, but the kids eventually gravitated towards the bike deck which seemed like a natural progression since they wanted to run. Two workday parents were supervising the outside activity and from inside purple room I could hear the energy level increasing. I looked out the door and saw that the activity had turned into a fly-your-paper-airplane-onto-the-school game. I paused for a moment, not quite sure what to think, when it flashed into my mind, “They’re taking initiative!” Yes, it was necessary to redirect the activity and set some limits, but the intention of the game was not to drive the grown-ups bonkers. The kids were working together to create a game that thrilled them all. From where I was standing it seemed like part of the fun was cheering on the grown-up standing on blocks with a broomstick in their hand strrrrrrrrretching to knock the planes off the roof and back onto the bike deck.

When children are taking initiative they are taking a risk. We grown-ups may not always understand certain behavior, but making the effort to connect with the kids to find out about their ideas can give us a very necessary perspective. When given the opportunity to assert themselves with support from grown-ups children begin to develop a sense of security in their ability to lead and make their own choices.

Treasurer's report

Dear LH Membership,

Below is a summary of LH Budget Vs. Actuals to date, summarizing January and February 2019. Overall, the school is running right on budget for the year, even accounting for market losses that have affected our capital growth funds. If market losses were not incorporated into the budget vs. actuals we would be about $24k ahead of budget. Typically, LHNS will see a steady decline up to this point in the year, reflected as a net loss. The auction fundraising income that posts in March is what helps us make up for these losses. Extended care from the first half of the year, along with donations, continue to make-up for the overages in other areas. We are behind $10K for tuition, but ahead $15k in extended care income. We are $15k over on expenses (4% over budget) mostly due to personnel, program, and administrative expenses.

For February, tuition deposits put us about $2k over on program income, which is mostly a timing issue. Other income streams for the month (fundraising, donations, and tuition) did not meet budget targets. We also had $5k in expenses for the auction that posted in February, which again, is a timing issue. One important factor that affects our numbers in February is that we reorganized some accounting categories to more appropriately reflect our co-op committee spending. Going forward, this will help us to give committee chairs an accurate month-to-month picture of their spending so they can plan appropriately for the year.

Thank you to all who have paid your tuition on time! Timely tuition payments are critical to successfully operate our school. Paying on time, or letting us know you'll be late, helps the school run smoothly and keeps costs down. We ask that if you do decide to pay by credit card, please donate the fee back to the school, as the credit card fees would be a large expense for the community to absorb.

Certainly send any questions my way. If you happen to catch me doing tasks around the school, feel free to stop me with any financial questions or suggestions----especially since we are getting ready to put together next year's budget.

Parent Ed
Parent Ed meetings are coming to a close as this school year wraps up! We have three more meetings this week, which will be the the last ones of the year.

May 6: 9:15 AM Rescreening of Karen Wolfe’s webinar about Social Skills

May 7: 1:15 PM Rescreening of Karen Wolfe’s webinar about Social Skills

May 8: 7:30 PM Tea and Talk (see above)
 

April (4/16/19) Business Meeting Minutes

March (3/5/19) Board Meeting Minutes

If you are interested in reviewing minutes from the Executive Committee meetings or any past Board or Business Meetings, they are filed in a binder in the office.