January 25, 2021

Important Dates…

Monday, January 25, 2021: Class Offerings and Price List for 2021-2022 school year published.

Friday, February 12, 2021: CLOSED for Parent-Teacher Conference Preparation.

Monday, February 15, 2021: CLOSED for Presidents’ Day.

Monday, February 22, 2021: Registration opens to current/alumni families for the 2021-2022 school year, 8 a.m. online.

Saturday, February 27, 2021: Open House by Appointment for prospective families, 1-3 p.m.

Monday, March 1, 2021: Registration opens to new families for the 2021-2022 school year, 8 a.m. online.

Class Options for 2021-2022

We are pleased to share the class options for the 2021-22 school year! You will note that all class offerings and tuition rates have remained the same as 2020-21. In a year filled with so much novelty and unprecedented challenges, we thought it best to provide a sense of stability and predictability to the upcoming school year by keeping these things constant.

Like everyone, we are wondering what the next year will bring in regards to the ongoing COVID pandemic. At this point, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to return to our usual class structure instead of the pod structure we have been in this year. Of course, it is impossible to predict what may happen between now and August, so this may change. As always, we are committed to maintaining a dialogue with you as partners in your child’s education, and doing our best to keep you included and informed as circumstances warrant.

We continue to do our best to serve our families that need all day care. Please remember that all day students may be embedded in South Side or North Side classrooms, or, if numbers dictate, placed in a stand alone, mixed-age class of 3-5 year old children. Specific classroom teaching teams are decided as soon as possible in the spring. You will be notified of the all day class structure, and of the specific personnel for your child’s class, as soon as these are finalized.

For full day, full week students, there will continue to be the option to purchase unlimited Extended Care for $300. Extended Care is available on a regular or as needed basis for $5 an hour for all other students.

Registration for current and alumni families begins on Monday, February 22nd at 8 a.m. online. Registration opens to new families on Monday, March 1st, also at 8 a.m. online. More specific details on the registration process will follow soon.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the office if you have any questions about next year’s class offerings. We hope to see all of you back at Overfield next year!

Stay tuned for specific details on signing up for an Open House appointment. We hope to see you there!

Nature News

As scheduled, the 2nd and 3rd grade students harvested the last of our carrots and parsnips from the Overfield garden. Students Riley and Owen offered to prepare roasted parsnips. To the liking of their classmates, the veggies were dubbed a culinary success! There will be a 2021 parsnip patch at the “O”.

The children have pulled sleds out of the bike shed for the smallest dusting of snow to hit the playground. It is amazing what fun can be had with just a few snowflakes, but two inches would be perfect. Obviously, the weather people who predicted a polar vortex (snowmageddon), have so far not received a bonus in their January paychecks. Unless Mother Nature decides to pull a fast one, I do not think we will see a truly “sled-able” accumulation of snow for the children at the “O” any time soon. Boo!

One of the students asked me a particularly good question: where do bugs go in winter? In short, there are almost 1000 different kinds of insects in Ohio. We see few during our frigid weather, because crickets, yellow jackets and wasps are decimated by cold temperatures, and some insects migrate to warmer climates, like the Monarch butterfly. Hibernation is another great way for some of our insect friends to avoid the winter freeze, and some can be completely frozen and thaw out in the spring. Lots of bugs seek shelter beneath logs, under bark, leaf litter, and in the ground. Fireflies live deep in the ground until they emerge by the millions, adding sparkle to our summer nights. Honeybees stay alive and spend their winter clustered around the queen bee, vibrating their wing muscles to keep her warm. On winter days when the temperature is 55 degrees or above, honeybees can be observed taking a cleansing flight, and searching for pollen. This brings me to the matter of how the infamous all too familiar Brown Marmorated Stink Bug survives the winter. Stink bugs are not native to Ohio but slipped into Pennsylvania via shipping containers from Asia in 1998. These smelly invasive creatures are notorious for destroying fruit tree crops and spending winters as our uninvited, annoying guests.

Some creatures have 53 days to await spring–a few are still awaiting snow. Deb – Overfield Naturalist

Lost and Found

We have accumulated many items that have become lost from their owners and are looking to find their way home! Please reply to this message if you recognize any of these lost items. Items that are unclaimed at the end of this week will join the Overfield spare clothes supply.