City preschoolers take a trip on the ‘Polar Express’
Superintendent reads well-known tale before guided tour of office
About 15 students from Care on the Square preschool spent their Monday morning in the Board of Education office celebrating the season with school officials.
The children placed ornaments they had made out of tissue paper to resemble stained glass on the office tree, listened to Superintendent Lamont Repollet read “The Polar Express” to them, received a visit and individual presents from Santa Claus, and took a tour of the office to see all of the decorations.
Each door on the floor was adorned with Christmas decorations and a “train track” of black tape stuck to the carpet helped guide the way.
Candy canes hung from the ceiling for them to take, and the event was capped off with a nosh of milk and cookies in the board conference room.
The event started as a simple door decorating contest for the office staff, Repollet said. It turned into a tour on The Polar Express after the newly appointed schools’ chief visited Care on the Square.
[Click here to see more photos from the event.]
“The kids in this class were drawn to him,” said the preschool’s Director Allison Princiotta. “He promised to read them a story and he followed through with that promise.”
District officials gave Princiotta extra bags of toys to hand out to the rest of the children in the school and ordered the entire school a pizza lunch.
“I was certainly surprised, we weren’t expecting all this.”
Repollet said part of the reason he brought the kids up to the board office for a visit was to remind himself and the other central office administrators who they work for.
“These kids — that’s what it is all about,” he said. “It’s easy to get wrapped up and lose focus in thinking it is all about you, but that’s not what it’s about. We’re here for them.”
Claire Houston, a 4-year-old student, was elated to exclaim it was the third time she had met Santa this year. He gave her coloring books and “artist things” this time around.
“I’m not an artist but Mamie (one of her relatives) is an artist and I can share with her,” she said.
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