January Overview

Greetings Families, Partners, and LTI Community

It’s January – a brand new year, and together, we will continue to create a family resource center where you and your child can join with other families to learn, play, and GROW! Where you can give and receive support to other parents who understand how challenging it can sometimes be, and celebrate your child’s successes with you.

Remember that all we accomplish together in the year to come will be because of YOU! Your willingness to show up, to have ideas, to volunteer, or to donate-- THANK YOU for being a valued part of our centers!

Do you have comments that you would like to send the staff?   Please send us a note to: mercystreetfrc@gmail.com

Here is news from across the region:

Great fun at the End of the year party. Thanks to all the families who came to celebrate the close of a wonderful year together.

Children gathered to sing the traditional song, “Los Peces en el Río” (The fishes in the water), for families at the party
 

A big thank you to JamesZini, Magician and Balloon Artist, who generously volunteered his time for our event. He was a huge hit with the kids. You can reach him at  JamesZini@facebook.com if you’d like him to perform at your event or party.

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Holiday Concert featured FIRST 5 Kids! Trinity Methodist Church, our kind hosts for Mercy Street FRC invited FIRST 5 kids to participate with holiday songs in their Christmas Concert and Carol-Sing.

Children from our Japanese Play and Learn sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in Japanese, led by teachers Yuko and Chikako, accompanied by Thao on piano.  

The Tuesday afternoon Play and Learn Class sang “Jingle Bells,” led by teachers Yuko and Leyla, and accompanied by Cheryl on piano.

The Spanish speaking classes gathered to sing “Los Peces en el Río” led by teacher Alma and accompanied by older siblings there to help lead and support the preschool aged children.

A big thank you to all the support in the audience from parents and friends who came to cheer them on.

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Tae Kwon Do was a huge success in Sunnyvale!  Kids graduated from our Tae Kwon Do classes funded by our David and Lucile Packard Foundation wellness grant and provided by our partners at TaeKwonKids in Mountain View (www.taekwonkids.net). 32 children ages 3-5 participated, and in just four classes, parents watched their children’s skills grow. They also learned lessons like working together, listening, and respect for each other and the teacher.

• We would love to offer more Tae Kwon Do classes for low income families, and are in discussions with TaeKwonKids to resume later in the year.

• If you are interested in donating funds to help cover the cost of uniforms, belts, and the teachers’ time, please contact Maddi at mercystreetfrc@gmail.com

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Mercy Street FRC and Mountain View Whisman School District are teaming up for the third year to help kids get enrolled for Kindergarten. Families are required to do a portion of the registration process online and a large number of families in the area are not comfortable using computers. CHAC/FIRST 5 Staff have been offering appointments to help families get children registered in schools. This is especially helpful for families who want to place their children in special programs within the district, or with particular schools, because those programs cannot accept late applications.

• If you are interested in helping with registration, and have even a little working amount of Spanish with good computer skills, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Brandy at 650-967-4813 or mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
• Appointments are Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-4pm.

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Schedule Changes:

• Please check Google calendar to find out if classes are scheduled on a particular day.
• We will be closed on Monday, January 21 for Martin Luther King Day
• Tuesday AM classes at all our centers are canceled on January 29 for a Teacher In-Service Day
• Wednesday’s Spanish Play and Learn will resume in February
• Most other classes resume the week of January 14 (check the calendars)

Printable Calendar now available for our Mercy Street and Escuela centers.

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Coming Soon

• Cafecito Mom’s Group (for Spanish speakers) is on Friday, January 11 at Mercy Street from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Childcare available (please register). Want one in your own language? Volunteer and start one!
• Two more Zumbatomic classes at Fairwood Elementary (Sunnyvale). Take advantage of these FREE Zumba classes for you and the kids together. Wednesday January 16 and Friday January 18 from 1pm-2pm.
• Family Day is Saturday, January 19th – 11:30am-1:00pm at Mercy Street. Please register at mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
• CHAC is offering Parenting classes (Spanish) in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Childcare is NOT available. Please contact Carlos Jalpa at 650-965-2020 x12 for more information.
• Mountain View:
• Parents with children up to age 11. Wednesdays 6:30-8:00pm starting January 20
• Single Parents: Thursdays from 6-8pm, starting January 17
• Sunnyvale:
• Parents with children up to age 11: Tuesdays 8:15-9:45am
• Men’s Group: There is also a Men’s Group in Mountain View onTuesdays from 8-9:30pm, also by CHAC.