PCLS New School Year Welcome letter – 9/9 is the first day of school

Dear PCLS Parents and Guardians,

I can’t believe there is only a few weeks left before the end of this summer!  I hope everyone has had a great summer!

I am honored to be the new Principal of PCLS for this upcoming school year.  For those who might not know me, I have served at PCLS in various roles: Vendor Coordinator, 10th grade teacher, PTA Liaison, Flower arrangement class coordinator, and PCLS Board member for the past few years.  My daughter has graduated from PCLS and now teaches the Chinese knotting class. My son is in T8 and Chinese Yoyo this year.

Please note that the PCLS website will be updated in the next few weeks.  Before the maintenance is completed, you may keep receiving these long emails, as I have many plans for PCLS and would love to share them with our staff and parents.

For parents who COMPLETED the registration, you will get an automatic email with your child(ren)’s class information from registration by 9/6.  Following this, another weekly Newsletter will be sent from me by 9/8. Below are a few things to keep in mind as our new school year approaches

1. Registration & Check Deposit

Our registration numbers are pretty strong this year. A BIG THANK YOU to ALL registered families. In the next week or so, we will be depositing your registration checks.

For those of you who have NOT registered, please choose your parent duty FIRST using this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e49a8ae2fa20-20182019.  Remember to choose your parent duty at home, PRINT the attached Parent Duty Assignment page with the parent duty information completed, and bring it to a PCLS staff member for verification before we can accept your tuition check and complete your registration.

Use this link https://www.regstudent.com/sign-up.php to register, and follow the attached screenshots for help with registration.

After you finish (1) Online Registration, please bring your (2) Parent Duty Assignment pageAND (3) Check to the school.  Then your registration is COMPLETED.

2. 2018-2019 School Calendar and School Map

9/9/2018 (Sunday) is the first day of school.  See here finalized school calendar.

For the school map and classroom, please see this link on our website.   When you get the automatic class information email on 9/6, you can check this map to find the classrooms.

3. Staff contact info

See below for key staff and their email addresses.  I’m very excited to announce that we have several new parents to join our administration team.  Let’s thank the old staff who have served PCLS for years and still stay with us. Please also WELCOME all the new key staff list here!

4. Parent Duty Signup (Room Parent Needed)   

For parents in the following classes: PreK, T4, T5, T6, CSL2, CSL7. We need your help because we still do not have room parents for these classes.

As a room parent, your major responsibilities consist of:

(1) preparing the gift (money already collected) for the teacher before Christmas and at the end of the year.

(2) contacting parents in case of emergency closures.

(3) assisting the teacher for the Chinese New Year performance if needed.

As a room parent, you will only fulfill this ONE duty for the $100 full refund.

Please stand up to volunteer as your kids’ class parent.

If you are willing to help or swap your signed duty to room parent, please use the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e49a8ae2fa20-20182019

5. Children’s Culture Class

Parents, if your child is enrolled in a culture class that requires a $20 material fee (Chinese Knotting, Chinese Brush painting, Handmade Crafts), kindly bring an envelope labeled with your child’s name on the first day of class with $20 check (payable to PCLS). Material fees are non-refundable. It is imperative that this fee is collected so the teachers can provide the needed materials.

For those that are new to Yo-Yo, you may purchase a taibolo from  www.taibolo-usa.com

STEM and GuZheng have been canceled due to low registration. Parents please notify Culture Director (culture@pcls.org) the alternate selection if your child has this as their first selection or they will be placed in their second choice class.

If a student wishes to change the culture class, they can do so within the first 2 weeks and should notify the Culture Director first. This will help us to keep track of class enrollment as some of the classes (i.e., Beginner Chinese Chess, Chinese Knotting and Chinese Abacus/Mental Math) are already exceeding the class size limit.

 

6. Adult Class Info  

We also offer adult classes for our parents!  See below for the class info and coordinator’s contact.  If you’re interested in participating in any of the adult classes, feel free to stop by the class or contact the class coordinators.

* Basketball – Jason Tsai  (kookietsai@yahoo.com) at Mathey Gym in Lower Level 2:30-4:10

* Badminton – Teddy Li (teddy_Li@verizon.net ) at Gymateria in Main Level  2:30-4:10

* Zumba – Natali Tsai (lewis.natali@verizon.net) at Dance Studio (classroom #151) 2:50-4:00

6 spots open for Zumba now.  First come, first serve. Please contact Natali if you’re interested.

* Flower Arrangement – Shenzhi Li (lishenzhi@gmail.com) at Campus Center (aka cafeteria) 2:50-4:30

Visit this website for some beautiful pictures and class info.  https://ikebananj.com/gallery/2018-summer/

If you have any questions, you can also contact the instructor, Doris Lin (ikebananj@gmail.com)

Pending: Adult ErHu  (Adults are welcome to join this class, as we have hired a new teacher, Max Wei, this year.  Please contact our culture director for details: culture@pcls.org)

Mr. Wei has been teaching er-hu in the Mid-Jersey Chinese School since 2015.  He started playing er-hu in 2002 and was the concert master for the Buddha’s Light Youth Chinese Orchestra from 2007 to 2009.

Cancelled: Adult Yoga is cancelled due to the low attendance rate last year. The instructor, Sandy, is still teaching yoga for kids’ culture class.

Enjoy your long weekend before school starts.  I look forward to seeing everyone in September!