November 2022

From the Desk Of: Katie DeProphetis, Board President

Greetings, HPS community! The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the opportunity to reflect upon the things for which we are thankful. This year, I'm excited and full of gratitude to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Hill Preschool with all of you.

A fiftieth anniversary is a remarkable milestone under any circumstances, but it’s especially momentous in light of what the world has witnessed over the last three years. HPS was fortunate to come out of the pandemic on solid footing, with the resources to make the physical modifications to the building required to reopen, and with our staff—some who were brand new to HPS, and some who had been with us for years—willing to return in-person to open the building to students. This happened during a time when there were still so many unknowns about the virus, and when so many of our teachers and administrators were navigating school closures and childcare disruptions with their own children.

The months and years following March of 2020 have presented deep challenges for early childhood centers across the country, and DC is no exception. Across all eight wards, many of the early childhood programs fortunate enough to reopen after the start of the pandemic have struggled to fill classrooms, retain staff, and in turn, continue to offer the level of quality programming that students received prior to the pandemic. At HPS, we have worked hard to weather much of this storm, and we owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the tireless administrative team and dedicated teaching staff for steering us through. Still, HPS is not immune to the difficulties and fiscal challenges affecting other early childhood centers.

This year, in recognition of HPS's 50th anniversary, we will be introducing a campaign for friends and families of the school to provide financial support in ways big and small. We hope that these contributions will help to ensure that HPS goes on to serve as a foundation for this community for another fifty years. As we move forward, we will continue to provide opportunities for our students, families, and educators to gather and build meaningful connections. My sincere hope is that as we do this, the value that HPS provides to our community remains clear to us all. You can learn more about supporting HPS here.

I want to thank each of you – the teachers, administrators, parents, and students of The Hill Preschool – for putting in so much work behind the scenes to keep HPS going and maintain the high standards that we've all come to expect for our school.

I wish you and your family a warm and restful holiday season, and can’t wait to see what HPS does in its next fifty years!

Adding Special to Our Days

Have you been hearing the word Specials and wondering what that means in a preschool setting? Aren't all of the activities of a small and engaged mind special? In this instance your children or friends are talking about the adults who come in weekly and bring our children out of their daily routine and into the multipurpose room to engage their minds and senses in specific activities. Like our outdoor play, these special activities work different parts of the children's growing minds. HPS currently has two special activities weekly.

Music & Movement

Learning goes so far beyond the three Rs. In Music & Movement class, our children are growing their large motor skills, improving their balance, and even honing their understanding of cause and effect as they bring their bodies and mind together to sync up with what they see and hear. A little deeper in these activities you see children begin to understand patterns in a new way, exercise control of their movements, and even improve social interactions as they find themselves a part of a larger collective engaged in an activity similarly but with independent abilities and skills.

The children are joined by their instruction in their classroom on Tuesday’s to enjoy the rhythm and movement!

Art!

The value of art in preschool education (and beyond!) is deep and well studied. HPS incorporates art into our curricula regularly, but we look to work more deeply with students weekly - on Friday’s for this half of the year - and invite a specialist in to do projects with the children. Art programming supports critical thinking, stimulates creativity, encourages social development (including the expression of emotions), language skills and even the earliest of math skills.

Ask your child about their specials! Perhaps they’ll have an extra song to share!

As we celebrate fifty years, The Hill Preschool is working hard to secure fifty more. Over the years, we have encountered challenges, grown to meet the needs of our community, and elevated our program to provide an excellent preschool education - not just a place to drop off your kids.

At different points in our history we have relied on parents to provide snacks, do the grocery shopping, fundraise for classroom items, and provide all teacher bonus/gifts — all on top of tuition. In the last several years, several HPS Boards have worked with Danielle as she changed our model to be more self reliant and budget properly to provide for those needs directly every year.

We now fundraise for our annual scholarship and use funds above that amount offset costs for our school year. The generosity of many years of families allowed us to come through COVID stronger and with improved facility space, however it meant that we dwindled our reserves during a truly “rainy day” moment. It’s time to rebuild those reserves, assure the scholarship remains funded for next year, and prepare for an ever-evolving future.

How Can HPS Families - Past and Present Help?

• This month, we’re kicking off 10 Days of Giving. But not the ten days you think! Giving Tuesday is November 29th this year, and we are asking our community to commit to a monthly contribution amount by that day — with an auto draft every month through August 2023 in support of the HPS Annual Fund. Using this link, families can set their own monthly contribution amount and set the timeline. This option will auto-process and helps with better budgeting of an annual gift!

• The option to give a lump-sum contribution to the HPS Annual Fund exists in the same spot! Name your contribution!

• Does your employer match donations to non-profit organizations? HPS counts! Please consider requesting a matching gift and double your impact on the future of our school! Questions? Contact Jenny at partnerships@thehillpreschool.org

• And just a reminder — all contributions to The Hill Preschool are tax deductible. You will receive a letter for your return in January of 2023 and January of 2024.

• Visit thehillpreschool.org/support to learn even more!

Get your Pictures Before Albums Expire

“T” Time With Admin!

Getting to know the HPS Teachers at Home

Ms. Danielle LaCroix

1. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
   Art! I was a museum educator at the Smithsonian for years.

2. In the evening, would you rather play a game, visit a relative, watch a movie, or read?
   When my boys were little, my answer would have been to play a game - Ligretto was our nightly game. Now, my answer is read a book.

3. Who would you want to be stranded with on a deserted island?

   It's a toss up between my son Quincy (who is in Culinary School and would make amazing meals from whatever edible things we could find on the island and would also be the best adventurer and explore every inch of the island with me) and my best friend (who I could literally talk to for days on end without ever lacking for interesting conversation).

4. Quick likes and dislikes:
   Likes - Plaid, hydrangeas, jasmine scented anything, carrot cake (the kind with walnuts, raisins, AND pineapple), neck rubs, spaghetti and meatballs, and gift giving!
   Dislikes - apathy, lack of gratitude, poor grammar, raw fish, endless bureaucracy, and helicopter rides!

Ms. Tasha Brown

1. If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
   A vegetable or fruit medley. I LOVE them both equally! I am affectionately known in the Grasshopper Classroom as Queen Rabbit!

2. If you were superhero what power would you have?
   The power to make everyone kind! Everyone is going through something and negativity can easily push that individual going through something over the edge. I genuinely feel there's a kind way to say everything. AND The power to make the internet invisible to individuals under the age of 21! Through internet exposure, teenagers and young children can be exposed to detrimental comments and information that is false and/or inappropriate without having developed a strong sense of self or an ability to decipher information.

3. What is your favorite “F” word?
   FUN! I think learning and life in general has to have aspects of enjoyment for no reason other than it feels good!

4. Quick likes and dislikes:
   Likes - My family and friends, Kind/positive people, Vegetables & fruits, Celebrating birthdays & Being Helpful!

   Dislikes - Large portions of meat, Uncleanliness, When I'm late leaving out for an appointment and my front windshield is covered in ice, When my new sneakers get scuffed on the first wear & When my kids miss the school the bus!

Community Connections

We are excited to announce our second supply drive to benefit our neighbor, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church (CHUMC), in their effort to support unhoused residents of Capitol Hill. Our drive will take place from December 5th through December 8th, each morning from 8 - 9 a.m.

At the request of CHUMC, the following items are their most used and therefore most desired: