.As I write this, we just are just starting the annual Halloween cold snap. It always takes us a bit to get into the coats & boots routine. You don’t even want to know how many times we get them all dressed and someone has to go to the bathroom… It is the one advantage of using that big room downstairs for running play vs having an outside play space. Last month the students took time to focus on our fears. We learned that God is with us, in our hearts, through everything we experience. In November, we will learn about Jonah in the Whale. It kind of finishes out our “where is God when I’m scared” unit before we move on to Thankfulness. At the beginning of the year, we focus on all the letters with straight lines L,T,I,E,F,H,& J before we move on to more letters with a curve in them. There are less students in both classes this year, leading to really great one on one time to work on academics.
We look forward to giving thanks for all that God made. As always, we will host our “Charlie Brown” style Thanksgiving snack for families during class the week of Thanksgiving break. We are thankful for all of you this month and always.         Marianne 
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August is here already and Mrs. Smith is getting the classroom ready. I’ve met so many of our incoming class during spring of last year, so I’m excited to get rolling and get to know these new personalities. We’ve got eight returning students as our “big kids” now. This year they get to cook with us and explore more STEM along with kindergarten prep. It’s always great to meet new students or get them back after a summer away and see their growth. Then we have the incoming three and four year old class. Every year as I age they seem smaller, but I love spending time growing and learning with the young ones too.
We are sad to loose Ms. Rochelle this fall. This job is so rewarding, but the pay isn’t great. I always call it my “OccuPASSION,” because I couldn’t afford to live on a preschool teacher salary. We’ve got a couple of plans for the new sidekick that are exciting, but I’ll miss working alongside a good friend.
So for the rest of the month, I’ll be in the classroom organizing closets and getting things cleaned up for the incoming class. Right now, I'm glad to work in a basement where it is cooler than the 100 degree weather we're experiencing. We start the day after Labor Day with our open house(s). I can't wait! 

​Can you believe that we only have 8 more weeks of school for the year? We just got back from our Easter/Spring break week and now have to focus on kinder readiness with the graduating class. We have 15 students moving on to new schools and nine students moving up from the 3’s class. We will be busy practicing our addresses and reviewing our letter sounds etc. The older class has two field trips coming up. We take one to Wise Wonders in April and one to Zoo MT in May. The younger class will meet at a local park/playground the last week of school.
We have had such a terrific year with these smaller classes. Ms. Rochelle and I are both so lucky to have this job and spend time with your children! 

Can you believe that it is December already? We have a short month in preschool. Our last day of the semester and our Christmas program will be Thursday the 14th at 6:30pm. 
We sure hope everyone stays healthy this month since we don't have much time to tackle the program songs and your homemade gifts. It's a whirlwind of glitter and song practice. We have had a terrific semester at ALC and should be gaining three new students in the new year. We begin fall '24 enrollment in January, so please spread the word if anyone you know is looking for a part time prekindergarten experience. 
Merry Christmas from your ALC team Marianne Smith and Rochelle Buyse
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​We’re off to a great start in preschool this fall! We have smaller classes, so we can build relationships faster. We have nine returning students and a few who needed to move on to all day day-care. We will miss them, but we are having fun with our new friends too.  So far we’ve met Mr. Bee who told us how to Beehave in school. We’ve learned about germs and how to cough into our elbows to keep the germs away from our friends and our toys. We are learning concepts like sharing, short and tall, and how our senses help us. We love school! We can’t wait for all the fun we will be having in October! School pictures are the first week with Miranda Murdock.  Then we will move on to Dinosaurs, Fire Safety, and Halloween fun. We are going to be busy bees! 

On May 27th, the preschool will have their “graduation” send off in the fellowship hall with 16 students. We have been with eight of them for the last two years. Our students started the year in questionable pandemic times with mask wearing and limited visitors. UffDa! What an adventure these last two years have been to navigate in class. We have enjoyed helping the students grow and learn over the last few years, but we look forward to less germ exposure at some point. Preschool is always germy, but this has been kind of exhausting for all of us. We are just grateful that the teachers have been healthy able to keep going all year.
In May, we also say goodbye to four students from our younger class. Two are kinder ready and two will be moving this summer. We like to end the year with the 4 year old class going to a local playground. They do not get to go on field trips with us like the “big kids”. We all know about Montana’s questionable spring weather. (As I type this it was snowing in late May) We hope the snow was finally done with us in time for the park day. We look forward to seeing how much the 14 remaining students grow and change over the summer months. They will come back knowing how school works and can show our 4 new friends what we do. The returning students also jump into the academics a bit quicker which makes having 18-4 year olds a bit easier to navigate.
 So as the preschool has finished our year, we thank our preschool families and the members of American Lutheran Church for their support and prayers. Mrs. Smith will be around to give new student tours etc. these next few months and Ms. Rochelle will be in Youth Director mode with VBS and planned youth activities all summer. 
Soon we rest and recover to be refreshed for fall of 2022.  
See you in September!       
 Marianne Smith
 

Hello from Marianne and Rochelle in your preschool. We have reached the home stretch with one month to go downstairs. We finally have some spring weather after our white out Easter egg hunt last month.  We are in field trip season with a visit to Wise Wonders, the playground, and Zoo Montana planned. At the end of the month, we will send 19 students off to kindergarten with a “graduation” in the fellowship hall. The younger class will have a moving up party at the park if the weather cooperates. 
We have had a very successful year with visits from our Wise Wonders friend Joseph, our Dentist Dr. Bennion, Dr. Kuntz, fireman Patrick. Retired teachers Barb Leininger and her friend Lynn read to us and sang with their guitar. Pastor Elizabeth came and shared Bible stories with us. We have had a few events with parent visitors too. As the pandemic changes, we have rolled with mask wearing and sanitizing. We have hope that each coming year will see continued “normalcy” with our routines. Sometimes a little bit of new “normal” can be a good thing.          
As we often do, we began our year with tiny Zacchaeus and will end our year with the giant Goliath (and hopefully a visit from 6’9” Ryan). We love to see how much our students have grown and changed over the last year. We are already full for our Fall 2022 classes. It has been a fun filled fabulous year in your preschool! We will see you again in the fall with new adventures downstairs.  MS

The Christmas Program was held on Thursday the 16th at 6:30 p.m. We had 3o students (both classes) together to sing and share the story of Jesus birth with our families. It was our last time together until January 3rd when we begin our second semester. Thank you to all of the families who braved the cold and came to share the joy with us. Thank you also to all who brought gifts or goodies to share with Ms. Rochelle and Mrs. Smith. 
We look forward to the down time with our families. We can't wait to get back to school and hear about all of the Christmas gifts/fun our students had over the break. 
​Happy New Year to all of you! 

It's almost time to start a new year in the preschool. I have been busier than ever with calls and tours this summer. I bet most of us were hoping to have a "normal" year after being extra careful, staying home more, or doing adaptive schooling with our families last year.  A lot of us are ready for routines and gatherings again. I know I am! We will do our best to make everything as normal as possible here. Of course school is all new to most of your children, so they will not know any different as we build our routines, 
Last year we cut our class size in half to keep us all safer, We are planning to go back to two full classes this fall while still being aware of the virus variant(s). We will keep our strict cleaning in place and keep masks around incase of visitors and germ concerns. Our staff and our visitors will be vaccinated. We know that we may still need to wear masks around your children to keep them safe, We try to follow school district #2's plans. If the surrounding districts are more nervous about children and the virus, we will watch and follow their lead and guidance.  
We are looking forward to meeting our new friends and having some new adventures with your children in September. As I (Mrs. Smith) is writing this, I'm gearing up to take my "baby" girl off to college in Bozeman. She was JUST in my preschool class a bit ago!!! Enjoy these young years- they go by waaaaaay to quickly. Ironically, both of my children are studying to become teachers, so reading to and sharing your occu"passion" with your children really does rub off on them later. I'm off to spend some quality time with my kids before we see you all at our open houses. If your child hasn't received a postcard from me yet, please drop me a message, so we can make sure that they know when we get to go to school. See you SOON!
​MS