By: Tiffany Buckingham

During a typical ESE afternoon, when recess, snack time and homework is done, the students will choose club activities to participate in. The clubs are created by the facilitators of the program, and on any given day, the students will have a choice between two active and two non-active club activities. The facilitators get creative as they try to offer new experiences and opportunities for the students as well as trying to offer something that would appeal to the many different interests of our students.

We rotate our clubs on an eight week basis. For this first club session, we offered some popular choices such as legos, coloring, fuse beads, rock the vote, kickball and movie mania. Some of the more unique offerings these eight weeks included speed stackers, circle games, flying high and trashball. Some of the clubs that we offer will repeat throughout the year, and many of them will be replaced with more new and exciting club choices the next eight weeks. Asking your child what club activities they participated in at ESE will be a great way for you to find out what they did for the day.

We are already more than half way through our first eight weeks of school so that means it is time to start creating our new clubs for the next eight week session. We always try to create new clubs based on the interests of the students. We have taken the time to talk to different students in different grades to get their ideas on what they would like to do. It is always fun to hear their suggestions. We also have a suggestion box located at the sign out table. We allow students to write down club and activity suggestions for the program and place them in the box. When it comes time to start preparing for the new eight week club session, we just open up the box and read through the suggestions that have been made. This box is also for parents, so if you have any suggestions of your own please feel free to add it in the box.

We always try to offer a great variety of clubs and activities here at ESE so that the students have the opportunity to try new things and find something that they enjoy. We love to hear your feedback and suggestions so don't be shy to let us know what you would like to see at ESE!

By: Tiffany Buckingham

In addition to the typical ESE day of snack, recess, homework and club activities, we also like to offer some additional opportunities for our entire ESE family. About every eight weeks, we will offer what is called a site celebration. This is usually an opportunity for the whole family to come and enjoy a special time with the ESE staff at Cherry Tree. We typically have our site celebrations in the evenings and the themes can range from a luau to a carnival to a family game night. We will provide flyers at the sign out table letting you know when the site celebrations are coming up so that you can sign up with your family. Our first site celebration will be coming up in late September/early October so keep your eyes peeled for information about it. They are always fun for the whole family.

We also will offer two parents' night out opportunities. On these nights, we will extend our hours to about 8:00pm or 9:00pm at no additional cost to you. We may take the students on a field trip or stay in and watch a movie on the big screen, but either way, it will allow you, as parents, to have extra time to with what you please. These usually take place once a semester and information regarding these will be at the sign out table as well.

Another thing to keep your eye at for will be our Parent Advisory Council meetings. These will also take place once a semester and any parent is welcome to attend. These meetings give you, as a parent, the opportunity to find out more details about what is going on with you child in our ESE program as well as the opportunity to make suggestions and comments on the program. We always love to hear feedback from our families, and this is just one way that we provide that opportunity for you.

If you have any questions about any of the special events that I have mentioned, please feel free to ask. Your questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome as we continually strive everyday to better our program!