Early Childhood

🌟 Early Childhood Program Spotlight: GSRP! 🌟

Our next Early Childhood Program Spotlight shines on one of our wonderful GSRP classrooms! Our learners are enjoying their weekly Marvelous Music lesson with Ms. Annie, who joins us to explore songs, music reading, and movement. Fall is in the air! Our fall-themed sensory bins and creative puzzles are always a big hit during free-choice time, giving our learners fun opportunities to explore, create, and learn. It was also picture day! Waiting patiently in the hallway with friends for their turn to say “cheese” was a fun way to practice important social-emotional and classroom skills.
Lastly, our learners are working on whole-group letter identification and adding their own creative touches to the activity. It's a fun way to build early literacy skills while showcasing their unique ideas and student work!

It's a great week to be in GSRP! ❤️

— Ms. French

1 day ago, Lindsay French

A group of students sitting at the carpet together singing with a teacher.

A group of students sitting at the carpet together holding music books and signing.

A fall sensory bin with many colors of leaves.

A group of students smiling and showing how they completed their puzzle.

A group of students sitting in the hallway waiting to have their picture taken together.

A grou p of preschoolers drawing the letter C on their paperplates.

A group of boys and girls coloring and painting on a red paper plate at their table.

A group of preschoolers filling in their paperplates with markers and paint.

Hello Early Childhood Families! We are so excited for our Picture Day here at school tomorrow!
Thank you-
Ms. French

4 days ago, Lindsay French

Our next Early Childhood Spotlight goes to one of our wonderful Three Year Old Preschool classrooms! There is so much exploration, creativity, and play happening in this classroom that it was hard to fit all of the fun into just a few pictures!

The dramatic play area has been transformed into a rescue fire station where students can use their imaginations and engage in meaningful pretend play. There is also a special potion-making area filled with hands-on experiences, lots of fun with water, and opportunities to explore and create. During large group, students are also enjoying time with our puppets as part of our social-emotional learning lessons.

There is so much learning happening through play, creativity, and exploration each day. It is a great week to be in Three Year Old Preschool!

—Ms. French

7 days ago, Lindsay French

Two female students sitting on the bench together reading a book.

Two girls making a potion project together at a table.

A little boy playing at the sensory table with another little girl.

Three preschool girls making a potion together at a table.

Two students making a fire with a fire hose in pretend play.

Two preschool boys making a pretend fire scene.

A little boy in the pretend firehouse holding a play phone.

Students laughing together while playing with puppets.

Today at our Early Childhood Program we were so fortunate to work with our community partners at the First Day Shoe Fund! We had many preschool students fitted for some new shoes today and the smiles and excitement were endless! Thank you to FDSF for your continued support in fitting our youngest learners here at Portage Public Schools! Also a special thank you to Ms. Russell our Program Coordinator and Ms. Martin our ECSE Coordinator for putting this all together for our students. -Ms. French

8 days ago, Lindsay French

A little boy walking down the hall to class with his shoe bag.

A little boy having an adult help him try on a shoe while seated.

A little boy getting help putting on a new shoe.

Big blue bags of shoes on a table together.

Here are the breakfast and lunch menus for Early Childhood for the month of October. Thank you!

14 days ago, Lindsay French

Our next staff spotlight goes out to one of our wonderful GSRP classrooms! This classroom has been having so much fun over the past two weeks, with lots of play, learning, and great opportunities to explore—and we want to show them off to you!

The students have been enjoying the Marvelous Music program, which comes into the classroom each week to participate in fun movement and music activities with the students. They have also been making the most of their outdoor time with their peers and enjoying the beautiful fall weather we’ve been having!

Free-choice play in the classroom is always a favorite! It provides opportunities for independence, choice, and child-led discovery as students explore their interests and learn through play.

It’s a great week to be in GSRP!
—Ms. French

15 days ago, Lindsay French

Students learning in a classroom together.

A female student climbling on a play structure outside.

Three male students playing with magnetic blocks on the carpet together in the classroom.

Preschool age students dancing together on their classroom rug.

Students on the playground holding hands.

Students all dancing together on the carpet in the classroom.

Students writting in journals on the carpet together.

Students dancing with colorful scarves together.

Hello Early Childhood Families! Hot off the press......we are beyond excited to share with you all our new mascot! We are the Portage Public Schools Early Childhood Penguins! Last school year, we had a student led vote to make this selection and we are beyond excited to share this with you all!
Thank you!
Ms. French

18 days ago, Lindsay French

Our next Early Childhood Spotlight goes out to one of our wonderful Three-Year-Old Preschool classrooms! 🌟

This week, our preschoolers are learning to share their own ideas and thoughts as they respond to our Question of the Day. We’re also getting creative during small-group activities at the table, where students are practicing fine-motor skills while exploring art and hands-on activities.

And, of course, one of the best parts of our day is making music together! 🎶 Our students are using musical sticks to explore rhythm, recognize patterns, and have fun learning together.

It’s a great week to be in Three-Year-Old Preschool! 💛

—Ms. French

22 days ago, Lindsay French

Students playing with large blocks outside on the blacktop.

A female student writting on a large chartboard.

A male student writting on a large charboard in the classroom.

Students sitting at a table together and writting with a large marker.

Preschool students sitting at a rug and holding musical sticks together.

Do you have a three-year-old who is looking for a high-quality preschool experience? Come check us out! 💙

Our Three-Year-Old Preschool Program at Portage Public Schools offers a full-day, full-time preschool experience and partners with KC Ready 4’s to provide additional opportunities and support for our preschool families.

Our preschool program follows the Portage Public Schools calendar and provides children with engaging, developmentally appropriate learning experiences throughout the school year.

Our classrooms use The Creative Curriculum and Second Step SEL to support the whole child—including social-emotional development, early academic skills, independence, and kindergarten readiness. Each classroom is supported by a highly qualified and caring teaching team dedicated to helping every child learn, grow, and thrive.

We still have a few enrollment spots available, and we would love to welcome your family to our Early Childhood community!

Please reach out to learn more or to inquire about enrollment.

We hope to see you soon!
- Ms. French

25 days ago, Portage Public Schools

Good Morning Early Childhood/PPS Families - There is a large telephone network outage impacting Michigan, as well as parts of Ohio and Indiana. Portage Public Schools is affected, which means we cannot accept calls from outside of our schools or make calls to the outside.

If you need to contact the school building, we suggest using email for now. You can go to our district website at https://www.portageps.org/, click on the Schools tab at the top of the home page, then click on the Menu to find and use the Staff Directory.

You can also continue to use our Dojo app to communicate to your child's classroom teacher throughout the day.

We do not have an estimated restoration time from our network phone provider yet, but will update families and staff once we have more information. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Ms. French

26 days ago, Lindsay French

🌟 Our First Early Childhood Spotlight of the School Year! 🌟

This week, our spotlight shines on one of our wonderful GSRP classrooms! We are so excited to have a full week of school together as we continue building classroom routines, practicing our daily schedules, and, of course, having lots of learning fun! 💛

Our students have been enjoying whole-class recall time together on the carpet, practicing our lining-up procedures, and spending time outdoors with our friends from our other GSRP classroom. There has been so much learning, practicing, playing, and growing happening all week long!

It’s a great week to be in GSRP! 🎉

– Ms. French

29 days ago, Lindsay French

The front door decorated for a preschool classroom.

Family photos hung from a string in the classroom for students to look at.

Four year old students lining up in the classroom getting ready to head outside together.