Our Staff
Little Friends Nursery Centre has high quality, caring and committed staff. Each room has a primary teacher and a teaching assistant. Current criminal record checks and vulnerable sector searches are completed for all staff. In addition, staff must maintain a minimum Level I childcare certification and First Aid/CPR certification.
Karen Singleton – Playschool Teacher
Karen Singleton joined Little Friends as the Playschool Teacher in 2010. She has a long history with Little Friends. All three of her children, David, Mark, and Kate, attended all three programs. Karen also served on the parent board and worked as the assistant in the Toddler Room. Karen taught junior high school, but her love for preschoolers prompted her five years as a Kindermusik instructor and recent preschool teaching experiences.
Bonnie Engler – Playroom Teacher
Bonnie began her teaching role at little Friends in 2004. After obtaining her Bachelor of Education degree, with a major in Special Education, she taught for over ten years, exploring a variety of education career opportunities, including Kindergarten. Bonnie provides a soft, gentle transition toward more structured learning.
Kelly Petryk – Toddler Room Teacher
Kelly and her family have lived in Crestwood for the past 17 years. She has two sons, Max (15) and Renn (13), who both attended Little Friends Preschool. Kelly has participated with the school as a parent, board member and teacher in the Toddler Room for 2 years. She completed her education degree at the University of Alberta. The last 15 years were mostly spent raising her two boys, and volunteering in the community. She is excited to be back at Little Friends this year assisting with the play school program and looking forward to a wonderful year!
Marie Ulliac – Playroom Assistant & Toddler Room Assistant (Fri)
Marie has been with our program since 2008. Through the Edmonton Catholic school system she gained experience working as a teaching assistant, mainly with Kindergarten and special needs students. Marie’s history with Little Friends extends back to the late 1980’s when her own children attended the program.
Lisa Clarke – Toddler Room Assistant (Tues, Wed, and Thur)
Lisa joined our staff in 2016. She lived in Parkview for 11 years and recently moved to Lewis Estates. She has worked in child care for over 20 years in Ontario and Alberta. She graduated in 1992 with an early childhood education degree and has worked in several child care settings from a junior kindergarten to a preschool classroom.
What is Expected of My Child & I?
For a detailed explanation please download our Polices & Procedures Handbook
Behavior
Students are expected to observe basic respect for others. No rough physical contact or verbal abuse is tolerated. All families will sign a conduct policy agreement.
Arrival/Departure
Students are expected to arrive for class on time and be picked up immediately after class finishes. Late students will be admitted to the classroom at the teachers’ discretion. Please be courteous and remove all wet or dirty shoes and place them on the shelves provided before going on the stairs. The children are required to use these stairs to access the gym so we want them kept as clean as possible.
Participation
All families contribute to Little Friends by fulfilling one volunteer position per enrolled child over the school year. There are many ways for you to volunteer! Examples include: making playdough, shoveling the walk on your child’s class day, or recycling apple juice containers. The 2018-2019 school year is a casino year, which means that every family must volunteer at the casino in addition to their regular volunteer position. Little Friends will likely be granted a casino every second year. To view a list of the different volunteer positions and their associated job descriptions, click the following link: Parent Participation Duites
Snack
In the Playroom, the snack is to be provided by the parent that is scheduled that day. If you cannot provide snack on your scheduled day please contact the Roster board member. The snack must include two food groups, cannot be homemade and must be brought in whole. Please remember that this is a snack, not lunch. Some snack suggestions are:
- Mini-fruit or bran muffins, banana, date or applesauce breads
- Digestive biscuits, Arrowroot cookies, animal crackers
- Cheese sticks and crackers, any bite size (fish crackers are often a favorite)
- Fruit (e.g. banana, pear, apple, etc)
Vegetables, such as carrot or celery sticks, are unsuitable. Cupcakes, Rice Krispies squares, chocolate and other sweets should be limited to special occasions. Please do not bring snacks containing nuts, peanuts, peanut butter or nut oil flavoring (consult the allergy list on the snack schedule or the list posted in each room for additional allergy information). If your child has a food allergy, it is important to indicate such on your registration form and inform the Roster Board Member. The Roster Board Member will ensure all parents are advised on the allergy.
Quantities
Toddler Room: provide snack for 9 children
Playroom: provide snack for 16 children
If a parent wishes to stay in the Playroom to assist and observe their child interacting with others, the parent may do so only when it is their scheduled turn to bring in snacks or unless other arrangements have been made with the teacher.
Roster Duty
Please see the Policy and Procedure Handbook for Roster information. (Required for Playroom parents only.)
Field Trips
From time to time, playschool children may have the opportunity to participate in field trips outside of the classroom. Teachers generally require a designated number of parent volunteers to supervise, depending on the particular activity or venue. Sign-up sheets will be posted outside of classroom. If the requested number of volunteer positions has already been met, parents are still welcome to attend and simply pay their own expenses. Transportation to and from field trips will be arranged through a chartered school bus. Field trip details and permission slips distributed to parents in advance. Please dress your child appropriately for warm or cold weather. Teachers will ensure that students are dressed in whatever items they were sent with that day (i.e.: hat, mitts, scarf, snow pants).
Potty Training
All children in the Toddler Room are required to wear diapers or pull-ups. Many students are in midst of toilet training, but it takes time to get to the bathrooms. Please ensure the backpack contains a minimum of 3 diapers/pull ups and an extra change of clothing.
