Dear Parents,

The holiday season is here! This is our favorite time of the year as we get to celebrate holidays around the world. From Santa's visit to preparing holiday gifts together, this season definitely sets forth a positive festive vibe. While sipping on our hot cocoa and making gingerbread houses, we are beyond excited for everything this holiday has to offer.

“The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories."

Reminders:

Center Closures: Our Centers will be closed from December 25th to January 1st for Christmas and Winter Break.

For a list of closures for 2023, click here. 

For a list of closures for 2024, click here. 

School Updates:



Collaborate with us for all Holiday Celebrations!

We would love for the Parents to collaborate with LadyBug Academy! If you are interested in participating during story time or a theme related activity, please coordinate the logistics with the Center Directors.

Additionally, we also invite you to share about your cultural celebrations and holidays. If you have any special holidays you celebrate, please reach out to us so we can incorporate those in our monthly theme calendar. We love to learn and teach about different holidays around the world!

Circle Time Contest:

We held a Circle Time Contest in November! This allowed us an opportunity to view circe time in different classrooms. We are proud of our Teachers' unique presentation styles while assessing the interest and participation level of the children. The winners for each Center are listed below!

LadyBug Academy 1 - Toddlers (Ms. Cynthea, Ms. Nini)

LadyBug Academy 2 - Toddlers (Ms. Monica, Mr. Lamont, Ms. Catera), Investigators (Ms. Tiffa, Ms. Abiola), and Pioneers 1 (Ms. Alyssa, Ms. Lesly)

LadyBug Academy Courthouse - Toddlers (Ms. Dani, Ms. Greysis)



Thanksgiving Food Drive & Projects:

LadyBug Academy collaborated with Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) to organize a food drive in November. We collected over 300 items across all 3 Centers! We thank everyone that took initiative and participated in this food drive.

Additionally, our Thanksgiving and Turkey Projects were also a big hit!

Inclement Weather & Emergency Closures:

LadyBug Academy generally follows Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) inclement weather operating status determinations. When there is inclement weather, FCPS delays or closures will be published here.

For LadyBug Academy Courthouse, please click here for Arlington Public School closures.

A final decision on operating status for LadyBug Academy will be communicated via Brightwheel as soon as it can be determined.

In the event of other emergencies that are out of our control, such as electrical outages or loss of water service, etc, our Centers may be forced to close. In such circumstances, every attempt will be made to inform parents of an emergency closing as soon as possible.

Friendsgiving Potluck at LadyBug:

Our Teachers had a great time arranging Friendsgiving Potluck before the Thanksgiving weekend. Different cultures came together to present food items from all over the world. It truly was a grand festive for us!

Holiday Gift Fund for Teachers!

We would love your participation in celebrating LadyBug Academy's Staff. Collecting funds will be evenly divided between all LadyBug Staff until December 20th at 5:00pm.

For Merrifield location fund, please click here

For Arlington Courthouse fund, please click here.

We would also like to thank one of the Parents of our Merrifield location, Andrea Huggins, for organizing this initiative for 3 years in a row, and Marcos Gonzales for continuing this initiative at our newest location!

Popular Themes & Events:

Diwali Celebration:

We love to celebrate holidays around the world! In November, we had great fun learning about Diwali and working on Diwali crafts as a team. The Centers looked so bright and colorful. After all, it is the celebration of lights!

Community Helpers:

It is important for children to learn about different occupations and community helpers. Our Teachers presented variety of options for the children to choose from and learn about. Students showed great interest in their desired occupations, dressed up, and participated in related activities. We know these little ones will achieve great heights with their chosen occupations!

Harvest:

Harvesting was also a popular theme during Thanksgiving. Children learned of various ways to harvest, such as the fertilization of fruits and vegetables. Our younger ones had the opportunity to explore with fruit and vegetable toys, along with harvesting crafts!

Our Program & Enrichments:

LadyBug Academy offers a variety of educational activities for children. Each week’s educational activities are based on weekly themes. Weekly themes cover different topics related to science, social studies, arts, culture, language, and more. All theme-related activities consider the children’s interests, backgrounds, age, as well as their development. 

Additionally, LadyBug Academy program features a daily enrichment focus each day:

• Math – Mathematical Mondays
• Language – Reading Tuesdays
• Spanish – Hola Wednesdays
• Science - Scientific Thursdays
• Music – Musical Fridays

This newsletter, we would like to provide more information on our Language enrichment. On Tuesdays, Children explore the letters of the alphabet and phonemic sounds. They move to the next level learning about beginning and ending sounds, c-v-c words, short & long vowels, blends, and digraphs. Those transitioning to our Pre-K classes also recognize sight words and can read short passages!

LadyBug Academy is also on Social Media! Please click below to access our pages:

Facebook Page

Instagram Page