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    Dear Preschool Families,
     
    I’m excited to welcome you to our Early Childhood School Family this 2023-2024 school year. I am looking forward to building and strengthening a relationship with each of you as we work together to lay the foundation for your child’s academic success. A big part of that success will depend on the social, emotional and executive skills we work to develop in your child as he or she becomes a member of our school family. It starts in the heart as we build connections from the very first time your child walks into our center. These connections build the framework for our social, emotional and executive skill-building curriculum, Conscious Discipline.
     
    We have assembled an incredible, dedicated staff who have been busy preparing our classrooms and centers for your children. Our mission is to provide a quality learning experience with certified, Early Childhood educators and staff who inspire curiosity, build problem-solving skills, self-esteem and strengthen a love for learning in young children within a nurturing school family and play-based environment. Our vision is to bring teachers, parents and the community together to educate and improve the lives of children and their families.
     
    I want to invite each of you to consider volunteering in our preschools. There are many ways to be involved, from helping prep materials for classrooms to being a member of our ECDC PTO. Parent involvement is another key to your child’s academic success and we want to provide opportunities throughout the center and school year. I also encourage you to attend our Conscious Discipline Parent Workshops. These workshops are a great way for you to learn the powers and skills of this important social emotional curriculum, putting valuable tools in your parenting toolbox. Information will be shared through our monthly newsletter and through communication from your teacher.
     
    For those of you who are new to our Preschool Family and want to know a little bit about me – I am originally from Michigan and have been here in Arizona since 1998. I have a wonderful family including my husband, Tom, 5 amazing children- all grown now, and 5 beautiful grandchildren ages 12-19 and hopefully more on the way. I have over 40 years of early childhood experience and I have been teaching in Higley since 2009 when I brought Kindergarten Prep to the district. I became the director of our program when our 2 preschools were opened in 2013. We are beginning our 11th year and will welcome over 900 students this school year.
     
    We know that you have many choices for preschool in the East Valley and we are honored you chose Higley’s Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDC). I cannot wait to get to know you and I would love to sit down with you to discuss any questions you may have about our program and your child’s needs. The best way to do that is to schedule a time with one of my office managers, since I spend time at both centers. Contact Mona Skyler at Cooley ECDC 480-279-8413 or Nicole Camp at Sossaman ECDC 480-279-8613.
     
    Thank you for choosing Cooley or Sossaman ECDC and sharing your children with us! It’s going to be an amazing year!

    I wish you well,

    Patti Gleason Director of HUSD Early Childhood Development Centers
    patricia.gleason@husd.org