Discoveries Preschool held its 2nd annual graduation ceremony on the evening of Thursday, May 18th. This year the ceremony was held in the front yard of the school due to the overwhelming attendance at last year’s celebration!

The class of 2017 had 24 graduates, most of them in the Mustang class. The children practiced for many weeks prior to the ceremony with the help of Miss Dawn and Miss Jessica. Two songs were to be performed with choreographed moments and loud enthusiastic voices.

The first song was the song we used from last year. “We’re Moving up to Kindergarten”. A lively tune that stuck in your head like bubble gum. “You’ve Got a Friend” was the 2nd song. It was from the movie Toy Story sung by Randy Newman.

The ceremony began with Pomp and Circumstance playing as the graduates appeared in traditional Graduation hats. Chairs were placed in front with the children’s name on them. A welcoming speech was made by Miss Silvia and then the songs were performed. Both songs were well received.

Next came the handing out of the diplomas. We had practiced accepting the diploma in one hand and the handshake with the other. That evening a few crossed hands were mixed up and laughs and clapping were given.

One of the graduate’s families had a special history with Miss Dawn. Her father was one of Miss Dawn’s students 30 years prior. After the diplomas were given the class of 2017 danced out of the ceremony to the tune of “I just want to celebrate”.

Following the ceremony photos were taken. Gifts and flowers were also part of the celebration. Refreshments and drinks were provided. A great time was had by all.

Miss Dawn received many wonderful comments in the following days.

Get ready for the class of 2018. Some of them already know the song “We’re moving up to Kindergarten”!

The weather is hot, cold, windy, sunny, and cloudy, with rain and snow. We have had a lot of crazy weather and fun times. March madness brought Leprechauns to our school. Those crazy guys spilled gold glitter all over the school. Even in the bathroom!

The Mustang classes found strange clues in the room and went on a treasure hunt for Leprechauns and gold. We started out at the rainbow painted on the ceiling in Mustangs class and followed the clues to many class rooms and even outside.

But the clues eventually lead us back to the Mustang class and the rainbow to find a pot of gold candy hiding under a table. Those Leprechauns sure are tricky. Mustangs had a special lunch that day.

In March we celebrated the birthday of author Dr. Seuss. We made green eggs and ham and created a hypothesis about who would like green eggs and ham. We also did many activities from other children’s books. “Where the Wild Things are” was one of our favorites.

Spring break came and the elementary students took field trip to bowling, skating and movies. Some days were warm and sunny so we took advantage of those days and played outside as much as we could. We even had a “Bike Day” at the park.

April brought us Easter and a great egg hunt. We made Easter hats and bags to collect eggs. Families donated candy and plastic eggs to make our hunt EGGstra fun. A pizza lunch was perfect for the day after all the sweets.

Our Mustang class studied our environment and celebrated Earth Day. A science experiment taught us about trash that pollutes our lakes, rivers and oceans. We went fishing for trash and read stories about taking care of our Earth. We had an Earth Day celebration luncheon and families brought food that came from the Earth.

Fruits and vegetables were a big part of our celebration. We made quesadillas from corn tortillas and put cheese, beans and vegetables on them. Each child chooses their ingredients and made their own lunch. The families were very generous and we had so much fruit that we were able to have fruit for morning and afternoon snack and plenty to eat with our lunch.

We are so lucky to have such caring parents that make our lives wonderful. Thank you!!

February was a loving place at Discoveries. Everyone shared love, food and fun. We had enough sweets and eats for all.

The Mustangs class celebrated with “100 Random Act of Kindness”. We cut out 100 hearts and wrote kind acts through the month. We placed them on the outside of the Little Playhouse see we could remember how it feels when kindness happens. The Mustang students had a luncheon on Valentine’s Day.

Thankfully the weather was nice and we held the luncheon outside. Many families donated food and supplies for the celebration. We even had some moms come and help Miss Dawn with the party. Thanks for all the food, supplies, help and LOVE. Our parents are the best

A new post office center opened in upstairs loft for the Mustang class. This helped the students practice writing skills, processing mail and delivering it to friends in the classroom. All the children decorated bags for the Valentine cards. Each child practiced writing their names on the cards.

The Mustangs made beautiful homemade Valentines for their families. Some of the Mustangs took them home by mistake early but we mailed the others to student’s homes for a Lovely surprise.
Hope your Valentine’s Day was full of love and joy spent with your loved ones.

February is also Dental health month!

The local dental office of The Smile Shop came at the end of the month to share with everyone how to keep our mouths healthy and happy.

They even gave everyone a toothbrush to take home for us to keep our mouths happy. Their pet puppy puppet showed us how to brush all parts of our teeth.

This summer was full of fun and learning!

Our first summer unit was on our area of Nevada. The field trip to Animal Ark was fun and educational. We saw animals that had been rescued and lived a happy life in a safe sanctuary. These included bobcats, coyotes and bears.

June included a forest unit including a forest rangers station and a hike in the woods. Our hike was at Galena Park on Mt. Rose in the Nevada Sierra Mountains. We explored the diverse plants and scenery of our area. After a long hike we stopped at Galen Creek to cool our hot tired feet.

We went to Reno Aces baseball game for the great American tradition of summer baseball. The team was awesome and with the help of some of our family chaperones a great time was had by everyone.

Summer is always a fun time for arts and crafts. Many hours were spent being creative. Painting and stamping was enjoyed by many. We painted driftwood and made banners for our outside classroom.

Beach time and water are summer activities. We did not have the ocean close enough for a field trip so Miss Dawn brought a real octopus and fish for the water play table! They were from the fish market and although they were not still alive we were able to touch and examine them. We painted the fish and made prints for our classroom.

A trip to the butterfly farm was thrilling. The UNR project taught us all about bugs and butterflies. There was a butterfly house where butterflies flew all around us and even landed on our bodies.

Water play, ice cream and bike rides were part of our weekly routine.

Graduation at Discoveries Preschool is exciting for everyone!

We sure do love to see our wonderful students graduate on to their next big educational step (but are always sad to see them leave Discoveries Preschool!)

Good luck graduates!