Dear Parents,

We are excited for everything summer has to offer. Children at LadyBug are looking forward to our splash days (which will begin on July 7th at all 3 locations), weather permitting. We have some engaging summer themes planned for the little ones and are thrilled to share them with you!

We kindly remind all parents to send sunscreen, bug spray, and any other non-prescribed ointments your child may need. The form for these otc products can be found here. We also ask that you do not send your child in open-toed shoes as they are a safety hazard, especially during outdoor activities. We are ready to enjoy another fun month with many aspiring projects!

"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity. ~Kay Redfield Jamison





Reminders:

Center Closures: Our Centers will be closed on July 4th for Independence Day.

For a list of closures for 2023, click here. 

Sick Policy: 

The health and safety of the children continue to be our main priority. We kindly ask that if your child has a fever, continuous runny nose & cough, upset stomach, visible rashes/bumps, or red/swollen eyes, please keep them home and monitor them. If they exhibit any of these symptoms at the Center, we will have to ask you to pick them up. Children sent home with these symptoms cannot return to the Center the following day. 

For more information on our sick policy, please refer to the Parent Handbook. 

We appreciate your cooperation in keeping everyone safe & healthy at the Center.

Gradual Transitions & Enrollments:

We have gradually started transitioning children for fall. All the children that are 2.5 years of age and above at LadyBug Academy 1 will move to LadyBug Academy 2.

All other children will be moved to the next level (based on their age and developmental milestones) by the end of August. This is a good time to potty train your child if he or she has turned 3.

We will also hold a Meet & Greet session on Saturday, August 26th for parents to meet with their child's new classroom Teacher. Details on the schedule will be posted on Brightwheel.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the Center Directors.

LadyBug Academy 1 - Cristina Reed

creed@ladybug-academy.com

LadyBug Academy 2 - Saima Jahan

sjahan@ladybug-academy.com

LadyBug Academy Courthouse -

Aleksandra Razavi

arazavi@ladybug-academy.com

Collaborate with us!

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.

Price Increase at LadyBug Academy - Merrifield:

Please see below the increased tuition rates for LadyBug Academy Merrifield, effective from September 1st, 2023.

Unenrolling from LadyBug Academy:

If you are planning to unenroll your child from LadyBug Academy, please provide us with a notice as soon as possible. It is required that you submit a 30-day notice in order to get your deposit back. Please also notify us of any enrollment status changes - such as part time to full time and vice versa.

We are enrolling children for the fall and would like to ensure that children on our waitlist are given a spot.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Brightwheel Etiquettes:

During the school day, our Staff members' attention must be on the children at all times. Teachers have limited availability for communication via Brightwheel during our hours of operation, which is 7:00 am-6:00 pm (Merrifield), and 7:30 am- 6:00 pm (Arlington). There should be no expectation of a response for messages sent after 6:00 pm until the following business day. Please note Brightwheel is used for essential communications only regarding your child's day-to-day needs.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our policies, closures, or related matters, please refer to our Parent Handbook. If the information you're looking for is not included in the handbook, please email or call the Center Directors.

Splash Days!

Our splash days will begin on July 7th for all 3 locations, weather permitting. Please view our monthly theme calendars to see when splash days will be held. In order to maintain fairness to all students, we will be spreading splash days out so that everyone gets the opportunity to participate.

You must send your child with a bathing suit, towel, closed toe water shoes, and extra clothes & shoes.

If your child wears a diaper, please make sure you send them in regular diapers, and have the swim diaper sent with your child. They must also be dropped off in a bathing suit.



They cannot participate in water play without these items.

Please make sure to also apply sunscreen on your child each morning before dropping them off. Morning time is very busy at the Center and as children arrive at different times, we do not always have an opportunity to apply sunscreen on them. We want to make sure your child does not get a sun burn while playing outside. We will however, re apply sunscreen on them before afternoon outdoor play time.

Makeover at LadyBug Academy 1!

LadyBug Academy 1 now has a fresh look! We had fresh painting completed over the month and the classrooms look brand new. We like to ensure that our Centers are kept clean, nice, and fresh!

Safety Drills:

Safety of the children is our main priority.

As part of our safety protocols, we perform mock fire drills, lockdowns, and shelter in place regularly. Before and after these drills, we prepare the children on what to expect. We also discuss scenarios during our social-emotional activities. We avoid the usage of terms like "gun", "shooters" and familiarize them with "stranger danger" instead. We encourage all Parents to discuss measures with the children as well.

Our goal is to ensure that children are trained in these situations and follow instructions from their Teachers in order to remain safe. The more we practice these drills, the better prepared everyone will be.

These practices are safety measures required by the Virginia Department of Education Licensing Standards.

Additionally, we highly discourage children from imitating any type of weapon play at LadyBug Academy due to the emotional distress it may cause to other children. Children are closely monitored and supervised during free play. Involvement in weapon imitation is taken very seriously and parents will be contacted if the redirection methods do not work with the child. It is important that all children feel safe and comfortable in the classroom.

Staff Transfers to Arlington Courthouse:

Operations are getting busy in Arlington and enrollment is skyrocketing! Along with welcoming new members in our team, we also have existing staff members that are interested in working at our Arlington location.



Recently, Ms. Z has been transferred to this location from LadyBug Academy 2. She has been assisting in the toddler classroom since January 2023 and we are happy for her journey to resume at our Arlington location!

Friendly Reminder: if you refer new clients for this location, and they enroll with us, you will receive $300 off of your child's tuition for one month. Let's spread the word around for our new location.

We thank you for your continued support!

Image: Ms. Z at LadyBug Arlington Courthouse!

Image: A growing Polish community at our Arlington location!

Image: Arlington Courthouse team is growing!

Popular Themes:

Father's Day:

"Dad: A son's first hero, a daughter's first love."

Just like Mother's day, Father's day is also a celebration at LadyBug Academy. Children gather together to make special cards, crafts, and projects for the father figures of their lives.

Gardening Project:

Our summer program consists of hands on learning projects and fun activities. One of them is our gardening project. Children are provided the opportunity to learn about planting and how to maintain plants. We love working with our little plant experts!

Camping:

Is it really summer without some camping fun? We love this summer theme and enjoy it just as much as the children do. This summer, we set up a mini tent in the playground for children to role play camping fun. They absolutely loved it!

Staff Celebrations!

We love to celebrate with our staff members. Apart from birthdays, we are excited about other celebrations as well. It was a pleasure to celebrate the baby shower of Ms. Hoi and Ms. Rachel in June. We are very happy for them and wish them a smooth parenting journey. We cannot wait to meet the new addition to the LadyBug Family!

Cultural Celebrations:

LadyBug Academy celebrates all children and their cultures. If you want some element of your culture included in our program calendar, please contact the Center Directors. We will make our best effort to include it in our Weekly Themes Calendar.

For those who celebrated Eid in June, we wish you Eid Mubarak from the LadyBug team!

Google Review:

We encourage all clients to leave us a 5 star review on Google. Most of the children have been a part of LadyBug Academy since toddler age until Pre-K. We hope those graduating had a valuable experience at LadyBug they can cherish forever.

Please click here for your 5-star review. Your review and time are very much appreciated!