Parent & Family Resources

See The Good!

We see always what we are looking for,
and if our mind has become trained to look for
trouble and difficulty and all dark and dreary things,
we find just what we seek. 
On the other hand,
it is quite as easy to form the habit of looking always
for beauty, for good, for happiness, for gladness
and here, too, we shall find precisely what we seek.                                                                       
-j.r. miller

Our theme as a school this year is a reminder to each one of us to ‘See the Good.’ As I presented this guiding principle to our staff during Work Week we talked about all the ways that we can be looking for the good throughout our days and that in focusing on all of the good moments that happen we can train our brains to start seeking out the good. We are so excited about this! 

Berry Patch Location Names
Colonial Church has officially changed its name to Meetinghouse Church, so we are also making a shift in how we refer to our school locations. We will begin making this transition this spring. We are one Berry Patch School with two campuses – our new location names will be:

• Berry Patch West (6200 Colonial Way, Meetinghouse Church-formerly Colonial Church)
• Berry Patch East (5300 France Ave. S., Calvary Christian Reformed Church)

May CSO (Children Serving Others) Project
We will be collecting items for “Summer Fun Bins” for our friends at Whittier Wildflowers Preschool this month. Look for a flier with a QR code for Amazon shopping link. Items can be brought to school at check-in through Friday, May 14 or shipped directly to Whittier Wildflowers (2608 Blaisdell Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408.)

End-of-Year Strawberry Events
We will celebrate our Strawberries launch from the Berry Patch with some special times together:

April 4, 2022

We had a great time in March talking about all things OCEAN, BEACH, SEA CREATURES! Our Special Reader, Mrs. Pope, came to visit as a Pirate and we also had a visit from the real, live Ariel from Little Mermaid who shared her story with us. This month, we will learn about and explore all things FARM and SPRING! The highlight of our experiential learning will be a whole farm full of animals coming to visit us- Joah’s Ark will bring a baby cow, sheep, goats, bunnies, ducks, and more to both of our locations!

More Important Happenings:

March 1, 2022

What a gift for the kids to get outside again after SO MANY ‘too cold’ days in February. Rosy red cheeks after time in the snow is such a great sign of healthy kids! There was lots of love in February. Mrs. Trudell’s Strawberry class at Colonial shares their grins here on the day of their Valentine’s Day celebration. Our Mozart and Monet month was amazing. The learning that all of our berries did about different artists and the experiences they were able to have in creating culminated in some amazing galleries. I loved hearing children say, “I am an artist!”  We also had the joy of our visit from Darin Anderson, professional cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra. The kids were mesmerized by him and the sound of his cello. He has a gift with sharing with children. Mrs. Pope, former Strawberry teacher, also visited all of our classes and shared a story about art/artists and had a hands-on activity for each child to try. Alongside all of this fun in classrooms, our school community collected over 100 hats and sets of mittens to share with others. Thank you so much for your generosity. What a great month we had together!

February 1 , 2022

We did make it! It was not an easy month- thank you for your patience and endurance as we have ridden the Omicron wave. We learned a lot and have streamlined our COVID Protocol further – with what we recognize we are able to manage as a staff and what what does not put undue burden on families. This will be passed out in cubbies this week and can be seen HERE. 

January 3, 2022

I hope that you had a wonderful time as a family over the holidays! We look forward to seeing your family at The Berry Patch this week. 

COVID-19 Reminders

We will continue to do all that we can to keep our classrooms safely open. Thank you in advance for your understanding as we come back together that we may have staffing shortages and/or classroom closures due to the current exponential spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Here are a few important reminders/updates:

• If your child tested positive for COVID OR was exposed to COVID over the Holidays please let us know right away so that we can make a return to school plan.

December 6, 2021

We loved our time with families during conferences. This is a highlight for our staff as they get to share with you about your child’s days at The Berry Patch. Thank you for taking the time to meet with your child’s teacher! As we head into winter, there are lots of things to let you know about and reminders to be shared. 

2022-23 Registration
It’s already time to be thinking about your child’s NEXT year at The Berry Patch (how is that possible!?) Registration information is live on our website now and will be passed out to classrooms this week. Online registration occurs for current families beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 10th.

November 4, 2021

As we celebrate this season of gratitude and giving thanks, a big thank you to our school community for a fantastic fall together! We have two important events coming up:

Conferences
Click the link for your school location and look for your child’s class to sign up for your conference time. Your child’s teacher will connect with you on your preference for in person or a zoom conference. If your child’s class is not listed, your child’s teacher has done a separate sign-up genius for your class (reach out to your child’s teacher to sign up if you haven’t already done so.

Colonial Families Conference sign up HERE
Calvary Families Conference sign up HERE

September 24, 2021

I am writing this newsletter a week early as I will be knee deep in my oldest daughter’s wedding next week! I will surely miss seeing your darling children and their joy at being with their friends at school. 

Here are a few upcoming/ongoing events for you to know about:

Curriculum Night
As the school year gets underway and we approach Parent-Teacher conferences we want to take some time to share with you the magic and intentionality of our Berry Patch Curriculum. I will host a webinar on Zoom on Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 pm. You will receive more information on what I will be sharing at the beginning of November, but wanted you to SAVE THE DATE now!

September 10, 2021

Classroom visits were SO MUCH FUN! We loved having your family come to school together. It was a joy to see the bond between your child (and you) and their teacher continue to form. 
We are all set to go for our first week next week! Please read thoroughly below for answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions.