The Nursery School at the Y wraps up another successful year

Here at the Y, we are proud of what our Nursery School students have accomplished this year. We are so happy for each and every one of them as they start the next stage of their educational journey, some at the most prestigious institutions in New York City. Read below our year-in-review and send-off letter, written by our nursery school director Susan Herman.

Our Y nursery school moving-up ceremony brought a standing-room only crowd of parents, grandparents and extended family members to their feet on Thursday, June 13^th as our students walked over the bridge to kindergarten after another fabulous year of preschool at the Y.  After a year of exploring an exciting array of topics such as a study of bridges and buildings, underwater sea creatures, things that fly, animals and dinosaurs and a variety of habitats such as the rain forest, our students sang and danced on the stage amid their own creative decorations and set designs.

Those children who are leaving us will most certainly be missed.  We have enjoyed spending time with them and know that as they are entering the next phase of their academic careers, they have the skills to succeed in kindergarten and in the rest of their schooling.  Our children will be attending such schools as Hunter College Elementary, the Anderson program, Solomon Schechter School, Riverdale Country Day School, Castlebridge, Muscota, Amistad, the Washington Heights Academy, Kinneret Day School, Calhoun, the Elizabeth Morrow School, Teachers College Community School, the Hamilton Heights School and PS 187 and 178.

 

We have had a year chocked full of experiences, adventures and explorations and we have watched our children grow and develop in so many ways. We made volcanoes, experimented with water and sand, and explored composting and planting in our science areas; we turned our dramatic play areas into a restaurant, a farm house, a medical clinic, a paleontology laboratory and a space station; we learned about the planets and the stars, bridges and buildings, underwater sea creatures, the human body, animals, transportation, things that fly and the life cycle of the butterfly and the chick.  In addition to working with our classroom teaching staff, we sang with Judy, danced with Courtney, celebrated with Cyndi and some of us rode the bus with Julio, stayed for extended day with Karen, Rachel and Angie or came to early-morning drop-off with Marielys and Stephanie.  We cooked and baked, created graphs and took surveys and we made our own constructions using boxes of all different sizes.  We took turns being the weather watcher, schedule reader and the table-setter.  We partnered with Midori and Friends.  Most of all, we made friendships while we worked and played together.

The best part of it all and the most rewarding is the sense of community that was developed here at our nursery school.  There are so many people who have supported our program and have made it so enriching and exciting for our children.  There are many who worked together to support our nursery program throughout this school year including parents, staff, teachers and specialists.

It has been a most rewarding experience working with this year’s Parent Committee whose members have worked endlessly to help support our school whether it was through our Silent Auction and our monthly meetings during which we shared ideas and developed ways to improve the learning experiences for our children.

And our family members, who have helped in countless ways whether it was to participate in a special cooking or art project in the classroom, or to play music and dance with our children, or as a chaperone on a trip or as a healthy snack provider, and in so many other ways, our parents and caregivers have partnered with us to help make this year an enriching one for our children.

- Susan Herman, Nursery School Director at the Y