MAY 2023
Greetings!

THANK YOU!
Thank you for participating in our EFC Mail Week! The children (and teaching staff) love receiving their very own mail at school!
CENTER HAPPENINGS
TEACHER APPRECIATION POTLUCK
We would like to honor our fantastic teaching staff during Teacher Appreciation Week with a special potluck luncheon on Wednesday, May 10th. In the past, we have asked families to donate food items for this luncheon. Please sign up for an item to bring here. You may drop off your food item in the morning. The teaching staff look forward to this each year and greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness.
ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
May is Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. These are a few books we really enjoy reading at EFC. If you have any stories you would like to share with your child’s class this month, we welcome that!

Don’t forget to label your book(s) brought in with your child so they can be returned to you.
FAMILY REMINDERS
SUMMERTIME
As the weather warms up (hopefully!!), please make sure your child comes to school in closed toed & closed heel shoes for safe outdoor activities. We know that sandals are fun to wear, but for safety, we would appreciate appropriate shoes while at school.
 
In addition, if you haven’t already, please bring in a bottle of non-aerosol sunscreen to keep at EFC. We aren’t allowed to use the aerosol type of sunscreen, and prefer you hand the bottle directly to a teaching staff instead of keeping it with your child’s belongings. Please label the bottle with your child’s first and last name.
EFC CLOSED
In our commitment to provide time and opportunities for our teaching staff to grow professionally, EFC will be closed on Friday, May 26, for our Staff Professional Development Day, as well as Monday, May 29, for Memorial Day. We hope you have a safe weekend & thank you for your support!!
STAR WELLNESS RECIPE
star wellness
SESAME SALMON BOWLS
 
From the NYTimes Kid-Friendly Recipes:
 
“This one-pot meal, which is inspired by chirashi, or Japanese rice and raw fishbowls, features a savory vinegared rice that’s typically served with sushi. Traditionally, the rice is cooked first, then mixed with vinegar, but here, the rice is cooked in vinegar-seasoned water to eliminate a step. The result is sticky rice that’s tangy and sweet, and a perfect bed for fatty salmon. The salmon is added toward the end to steam directly on top of the rice for an easy one-pan meal. Packaged coleslaw is a time saver, eliminating extra knife work. Make a double batch of the zesty dressing for drizzling over roasted vegetables or green leafy salads the next day.”
ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS
EFC ANNUAL FAMILY SURVEY
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
– Ken Blanchard
Each year, we invite you to provide feedback on your family’s experience with our program through our Family Survey. It is that time of year again! While our hope is that you are able to communicate regularly with your directors and your child(ren)’s teachers—as well as with the EFC administration—about your family’s needs and expectations, the survey offers a more formal means for you to share specific comments and feedback.
 
In the survey, we ask about your child’s experiences with his or her teachers and the curriculum, how communication is going for you, whether your expectations for your child and family are being met, and if there is anything else you would like to share with us.
 
Our goal is to partner with you in this special time of life. It is extremely valuable for us to understand how things are going for you and to learn a bit more about your family (including any family or cultural traditions you’d like to share at your center). We invite you to fill out the survey at the link below by 5/15.

 
We also wanted to take this opportunity to share bios of the EFC Administration—the team that will receive your feedback—in case you aren’t familiar with us yet!
 
DeeAnn Besch, VP of Operations
DeeAnn joined Especially for Children in 2007 and has spent her career in early childhood. DeeAnn works to support all of our directors in their roles through her deep knowledge of the field. She ensures EFC programs meet not only licensing standards but NAEYC accreditation standards and creates opportunities for teaching staff to grow and develop. She has dedicated her career to high quality, developmentally-appropriate programs that help children grow and thrive.
 
Alli Zomer, Director of Operations
Alli works closely with DeeAnn in supporting directors, teaching staff, and all aspects of our center’s operations. She especially enjoys helping teachers and managers grow through meaningful professional development opportunities. Alli is part of the “original” EFC family—a daughter of EFC founders Priscilla and Steve Williams. These days you will find her preparing our new center in SW Minneapolis for its May opening!
 
Angie Williams, Director of Marketing and Finance
Angie joined EFC in 2016 and works to support EFC centers and the organization in the areas of marketing/communications (she prefers newsletter articles to Covid letters!), financial management, and facilities. She is also a daughter of Priscilla and Steve, and she and Alli have had the pleasure (in their younger years) of mowing EFC lawns, preparing meals, and, of course, spending time in classrooms with children!
 
We appreciate the opportunity to support your family at EFC.
 
TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS

Now-5/7 Framed: Step into Art, MN Children’s Museum
Now-5/14 Disney's Newsies Jr., Stages Theatre, Hopkins
Now-6/18 An American Tail, Children’s Theatre, Mpls               
5/6 Vehicle Day, Southdale, Edina 
5/6 Walk for Animals, St. Paul 
5/6 Animal Open House, Eden Prairie Outdoor Center
5/13-5/14 Mother's Day Plant Sale, Arboretum
5/13-5/27 Story Time on the Plaza, 50th&France, Edina 
5/14 Mother's Day Concert, Landmark Center
5/19-5/21 Art-A-Whirl, NE Mpls
5/20  Women Run the Cities, Mpls     


Especially for Children
5015 W. 70 Street
Edina MN 55439 
(952) 946-9971 

Center Directors:
Susan Wilson and Michelle Botz
EFC IS A BEST OF EDINA FINALIST!
We are excited to share that EFC is a finalist for Best Preschool 2023. We thank you so much for your support!
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The website Meet Minneapolis has some great ways to celebrate! Check them out here: https://www.minneapolis.org/calendar/holidays/aapi-heritage-month/
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