Announcements

• "WAY TO GO!" Miss Marina and Superstar Staff at Play and Learn @ Hunt Valley!  Your center was voted one of the "Best Day Care Centers" by Baltimore Magazine in the July, 2010 issue.  Keep up the great work!  Click here for a peek at the article.

• Do you have a child or know of a child who excels in sports, does well in school, and gives back to their community?  Well, Sports Illustrated Kids wants to hear about them!  Each month Sports Illustrated Kids will pick 4 lucky winners to appear on SIKids.com and in the monthly magazine.  These lucky winners will also be entered into the drawing for the 2010 SportsKid of the Year.  Click here for more information and details on how to recommend your child.

• IMPORTANT MEDICATION RECALL! - Please click here for more details.

• HEAR YE! HEAR YE!  Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland has proclaimed Friday, May 7, 2010, as Provider Appreciation Day.  Please be sure to take a moment "to recognize and commend the unselfish dedication, commitment and compassion that child care providers demonstrate every day"!  Click here to see the official proclamation.

• Please join us in WELCOMING  the newest members of the Play Centers' family - Principal Susan Hershfeld, staff, and families at West Towson Elementary School! We look forward to building a lasting relationship with everyone and are excited to care for the children of West Towson, beginning the 2010-2011 School Year!

• April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Child Welfare Information Gateway promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families by connecting child welfare, adoption and related professionals as well as the general public to timely, essential information.  Please access their website via our Resources page for more information.  In recognition of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, The Family Tree is implementing the "Stand For Children - Pinwheels for Prevention" campaign.  Please click on these links for more information on this grass-roots campaign:

• About The Campaign
• "Stand for Children" Toolkit Order Form
• What Youth Groups, Schools, and Scouts Can Do
• Pinwheel Coloring Sheet
• Make Your Own Pinwheel
• Pinwheel Gardens

• Once again, Maryland Kindergartners enter school better prepared due to the foundation built by Early Childhood Educational Programs such as those offered at our Play and Learn Centers.  WAY TO GO Directors and Staff at our Play and Learn centers!  Your commitment to our children makes the difference and lays the foundation for our children to have successful educational experiences moving forward!  For the full text of the article detailing these findings, click here.

• "HATS OFF!" to Miss Beth and her Kindergarten class at Play and Learn at Annapolis who were the subject of an article published in The Capital on Thursday, March 11, 2010, concerning school readiness.  For the online article text, click here, or, for the newspaper article, click here.

• ACCOLADES and a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Play and Learn at Community Place!  The long awaited, official Certificate of Accreditation from the Maryland State Department of Education decision committee arrived at our doorstep on January 5, 2010!  Our Play and Learn centers at Annapolis, Hunt Valley, Odenton, and Scribbles are diligently working on the MSDE State Accreditation for their centers and hope to be celebrating this great achievement soon.

• Our Play and Learn location in Hunt Valley was selected for the 2009 Best of Hunt Valley Award in the Preschools category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)! Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2009 USCA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity.

• CONGRATULATIONS! to Pot Spring Elementary School and Jacksonville Elementary School for earning the Maryland Green Schools Award for 2008! Members and volunteers of the schools and the surrounding communities work to develop programs that save energy, recycle resources, and improve the outdoor environment.

• To better accommodate the needs of our families, effective immediately,
  our NEW Play Centers' Main Office hours will be:
  • Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays : 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Wednesdays: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
    Fridays: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
    
    
• HURRAY! Please join us in congratulating our 3 Anne Arundel County Play and Learn centers for receiving the "Reader's Choice Award for 2008" for Best Daycare, sponsored by the Capital Gazette!
  
  
• CURRENT WAITING LISTS:
  • Our After School program at Stoneleigh Elementary School currently has a Waiting List. Please contact our Director, Miss Shirley, at 410.337.2744, to have your child's name added to the list.

• Please be sure to visit our "Inclement Weather Policies" section regarding the events that may affect the opening/closing of our programs.