The Partnership Series

The Partnership Series at STS presents expert and engaged leaders from a diverse range of professional backgrounds who are dedicated to children's learning, growth, and development.  We are committed to supporting families and parents by strengthening and nurturing communication and positive relationships throughout the entire community.

Embedded in our Guiding Principles, and in keeping with our focus on parents as partners, we invite a variety of speakers and prepare creative workshops each year.

Experience the Literacy Continuum in the ELC (for ELC parents and their children)
Presenters: Julie Larson, Interim Director of The Early Learning Center and Extended Day & Julie Patterson, Library/Media Specialist

November 13, 2012
6:00-7:30 p.m., ELC classrooms & Commons
RSVP today! 

Learning to read begins at home with the sharing of books. You and your ELC child are invited to spend an evening immersed in good books. We have chosen to focus on books by Eric Carle. Books written and illustrated by Eric Carle are exemplary for supporting early literacy. They  have strong visual elements, repetitive text, sequencing, and predictability. While engaged in literacy activities with your child, ELC teachers will help you understand how children learn to read. Join Interim Director of the Early Learning Center and Extended Day, Julie Larson, Library/Media Specialist Julie Patterson, and other members of the ELC faculty for an evening focused on reading.   

6:00-6:30 p.m. Opening session in the Commons - hear stories, sing books, and get ready for fun with Eric Carle books. Books written and illustrated by Eric Carle are exemplary for supporting early literacy. They have strong visual elements, repetitive text, sequencing, and predictability.

6:30-7:00 p.m. Workshop Session 1

7:00-7:30 p.m. Workshop Session 2

Each family selects 2 workshops in which to experience literacy using an Eric Carle book as the model. Please RSVP and register for your family’s choice of workshops. Your RSVP will ensure you a spot in the workshops of greatest interest to you and your child(ren).  

Resilience (for ELC parents)
Presenter: Leta Hamilton, author of "The Way of the Toddler"

November 28, 2012
10:00-11:00 a.m., Conference Room 269
RSVP today!

This is a short workshop where author Leta Hamilton takes the word 'Resilience' and breaks it down into 10 key components for maintaining stamina when the pressures of parenting begin to feel overwhelming. This is a workshop centered around the concept of 'bouncing back' when you are feeling at the end of your tether emotionally, physically or spiritually. It is fun, too! We'll engage in open dialogue about what makes us feel knocked down in parenting and then use the 'Resilience' tools to create strategies for returning to center.

Tween Safety (for parents of students in Grades 4-7)
Presenter: Kim Estes from Savvy Parents Safe Kids

January 23, 2013
7:00-8:30 p.m., Conference Room 269
RSVP today!

Your tween is growing and wanting more independence. Although panic inducing to parents, it is a normal part of growing up. This workshop will help you become a helpful and resourceful parent to your tween. There will be tips and tools to help you explore your tween’s readiness for staying home alone, a cell phone, going to the mall without you, how to establish an effective safety dialogue with your child, the questions you should be asking before they go to a friend’s house and how to build solid safety steps that they will need to help navigate them through this very exciting chapter of their lives and helping to reduce their risk of sexual abuse, bullying and abduction. Learn more about tween safety on Kim Estes' website. 

Demystifying Parenting (for ELC Parents)
Presenters: Julie Larson, Interim Director of The Early Learning Center and Extended Day & Zoe Hillman, Primary Teacher

February 12, 2013
6:00-7:30 p.m., Conference Room 269
RSVP today!

Every parent hopes that their young child will become a happy, well adjusted, competent adult. The journey to help children reach adulthood can be both exciting, challenging, and mystifying. Spend an evening with other ELC parents discussing parenting styles and strategies that help accomplish this goal.

Cultivating Peace and Gratitude as Parents of Under 5s (for ELC parents)
Presenter: Leta Hamilton, author of "The Way of the Toddler"

March 13, 2013
10:00-11:00 a.m., Conference Room 269
RSVP today!

Cultivating Peace and Gratitude as Parents of Under 5s is a workshop focusing on the words 'Peace' and 'Gratitude' as acronyms for fun things we can do around the house to bring these qualities into the front of our minds as well as our children's minds. We cannot teach these things without modeling them. Therefore, the workshop teaches easy techniques for putting peace and gratitude into our minds so we can show our children what it means to be truly grateful and at peace with oneself and to extend that peace and gratitude out into the world.

Math Alive (for ELC parents and their children)
Presenters: Julie Larson, Interim Director of The Early Learning Center and Extended Day & ELC Faculty

April 18, 2013
6:00-7:30 p.m., ELC classrooms & Commons
RSVP today!

At St. Thomas School, our children are inspired, empowered, and challenged to become creative, critical, and reflective mathematicians. In the Early Learning Center, this means making concrete discoveries about numbers, quantities, classifications, and measurement. Children make sense of the world and conduct research projects in the classroom using mathematics as a tool. Our mathematics learning standards will come alive as you and your ELC student spend an evening problem solving and using mathematical concepts. This workshop will be led by Julie Larson, Interim Director of the Early Learning Center and Extended Day, and other ELC faculty members. Bring your ELC children, as they will have an opportunity to be part of this workshop!

Science and Learning
Presenters: Andrew Mechling, Science Specialist & Joy McDonald, PrePrimary teacher

April 24, 2013
6:00-7:30 p.m., Conference Room 269
RSVP today!

A strong science program skillfully provides just the right environment to support the growth of young scientists. In addition to displaying a variety of interesting materials for children to explore, teachers need to create an environment that supports inquiry by providing time for investigation and the processing of ideas. This session will illustrate the importance of fostering early positive attitudes towards science and strengthening children’s abilities to problem solve, take risks and to be curious.