At this time, New Jersey recommends that school and childcare settings increase education on respiratory hygiene and monitor attendees for acute febrile respiratory illness.

Staff and children (as developmentally appropriate) should all be taught and asked to follow these steps that prevent the transmission of infections such as influenza:

Cover your coughs and sneezes.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Wash hands frequently, especially after coughing or sneezing.
Stay home if you're sick, especially with a fever.

School or childcare participants with acute febrile respiratory illness, regardless of travel history, should be sent home according to facilities-established procedures with instructions to stay at home until 24-48 hours after their symptoms resolve. Instructions should be given to seek medical care with worsening of symptoms. At this time, exclusion is not recommended for school or childcare participants who have recently traveled to an affected area and who do not have symptoms.

To date, no cases of swine flu have been detected in New Jersey. If you need additional information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/.

The Sundance Summer Camp is finishing up it's 32nd year this week, and what a fantastic summer it has been! Sundance has always been known for providing a balanced program that offers a wide variety of interesting subjects and activities while keeping sight of the whole child. Our talented staff increased our course offerings this summer to include subjects ranging from arts and crafts and discovery science to academic enrichment and theatre arts, dance and music. And we can't forget Granny's busy kitchen!

We are always so thrilled to have many of our campers return in September. Their summer experience helps them to really take off when school begins. All of our campers shared so many meaningful experiences. When young children share truly enriching activities that inspire their imagination, a special bond is created that greatly enhances social skills. It is truly amazing to see how quickly these skills develop when children have the opportunity to learn and grow together in an environment where they feel safe, loved and challenged!

A tried and true way to forge friendships is to collaborate and perform together in a play or dance or choral group. Participating in such activities has many other benefits including building self-esteem and self-confidence. We often hear from alumni who have cherished memories of their Sundance shows, and who remember the fun they had singing together.

Last week the campers were treated to an amazing and energizing performance of "Seussical the Musical!" The production was given by the members of the Sundance Theatre Arts Camp under the seasoned direction of Joann Merrigan. The last week of the Creative Arts Summer Camp for ages 2-6 will feature thematic performances directed by our summer stage instructor, Sara Miller. It is a delight to watch as the children demonstrate their theatrical, musical and social growth in the supportive, creative atmosphere created by everyone on our faculty through their warmth, patience and positive energy.

Friendships and life-long skills and interests have also been nurtured in the Academic Enrichment Program and in the Discovery Science afternoon classes. We hope you'll stop in the auditorium this last week to see our "Into the Woods" Science Fair created by the children and the unbeatable Science team of Cynthia McManigal and Mrs "A."

We hope you have been very pleased with your child's Sundance summer experience. We welcome your feedback! Please feel free to write us a note or give us a call to let us know what you and your child liked the best about the program, and any suggestions you might have for making it even better.

To those of you moving on to other schools come September, we wish you all the best! Please come visit! To those of you who are returning in the fall, we will see you again soon for some more Sundance fun! To everyone, we hope you really enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely,
Jeff, Ginny, Janet and the entire Sundance
Summer Staff

With the loss last spring of Jeff's mother, Jean (remembered at Sundance as beloved former art teacher, "Mrs. T") and the recent passing of Jeff's father, Dr. Hyman Tobey, we have not been as communicative as we would have liked. We plan to begin to write a monthly newsletter to our Sundance family starting today, which will also be posted on the website. We welcome your responses and suggestions!

Dr.and Mrs.Tobey were also known as Grammy and Pop-Pop, Jean and Hy, Hy-Jean (as in hygiene, as a reference to his role as dentist and her's as hygienist), and "Pops and Shorty" (a nickname earned at the dice table where Jean always needed a stool in order to play next to her 6 foot tall husband of 65 years). Needless to say, they were an unbeatable and well-loved team that is now back together cheering us all on from the other side.

As we have been reflecting on their lives and relationship, we realized how much they impacted our lives and the lives of everyone at Sundance. Our son and Sundance alumni, Nathan recently recalled the time his grandfather spent with him teaching him to appreciate Shakespeare and Latin in spite of his adolescent preconceptions. Nathan not only learned to grasp the meaning of both subjects, but he gained something even greater, something he valued most highly--his grandfather's respect. Children can never have too many people in their lives who they admire and respect.

Not only was his grandmother his grandfather's other half, she was known to value education very highly, even choosing to return to college to earn a Master's in Fine Arts when she was in her 60's. She thoroughly enjoyed her sabbatical from dentistry during her second career as Art Anchor in the Sun Room where she introduced Nathan and countless others to the joy of artistic self expression.

Perhaps one of Jean and Hy's greatest legacy's lies in the way they acted as a couple, as a team. They shared leadership roles at Temple Sholom, taking on serious responsibilities while at the same time creating good humor and fun. Whenever possible, they acted together, performing as Medieval royalty as well as Russian samovars! The energetic couple organized trips to share Jean's love of museums and ballet and Hy's passion for horses. Even at the Hallmark Senior Living Center, they held office, organized book clubs and did play readings, making many friends along their way.

This memorable team had their greatest impact on their closest teammates, their family members. They modeled patience, acceptance, devotion, generosity, forgiveness, and most of all, love. Jeff and I were married in their backyard, 34 years to the day of his father's passing. We have tried to live a life they would be proud of and have found their lessons of teamwork to have been invaluable. Thirty-two years ago, Jeff and I pooled our personal talents to create a school that we hoped would reflect the spirit expressed in the poem Jeff wrote for our wedding invitations (which of course had a sun on them!):

"Two flames dancing beneath the sun
have come together to burn as one"

As the years have passed, many truly gifted teachers have joined our Sundance team. We recently celebrated our dear Ms. Nellie's 30th year, remembering that Dr. Tobey introduced her to us as "a keeper"! We feel so fortunate to have been on the same team as so many of our wonderful long time staff members. They, like Jeff's parents, have served as inspiring role models. Thousands of children and parents, and hundreds of new teachers and assistants have benefited from their influence and gone on to influence thousands of other lives in turn.

Jean and Hy always welcomed new additions to the family. Adoptions, second marriages, new arrivals, all were unconditionally accepted and their unique ingredients added to the family soup. As we prepare to begin our 32nd school year, we reflect on the contributions of all the talented and enthusiastic people that have been part of our Sundance team over the years. Once again this year we hope you will join us in welcoming some newcomers to our veteran team. Postcards from your child's particular team of teachers will go out in late August, and we look forward to a new year full of wonderful traditions and lots of great new ideas.

We also look forward to Jeff's return after what has been a very challenging year. We are pleased to say his health is much improved, and we thank all of you whose thoughts and prayers helped him during this difficult time.

Last but certainly not least, we want to give a special thanks to our son Lee for joining us this year to renew and expand our Sundance website. We want to thank him and all of you for being a part of the Sundance team. We look forward to hearing from you and promise to write often! Thank you so much!

As summer quickly approaches, we are looking forward to another wonderful year at our Sundance Summer Camp. We are very excited to have great enrollment this year, and our program is looking better than ever. We just wanted to send out a reminder that we have many options for parents during the summer, including a week of Science Fun for our younger students before Arts & Science Camp officially begins on June 23rd. Our Academic Enrichment Camp is preparing to propel all of its students into new levels of learning, and our Performance and Theatre Arts Camp is gearing up for another series of amazing performances. All parents are encouraged to combine any of our camps to make a custom summer to their liking! And as always, our schedules are as flexible as possible during the day. Let's get ready to enjoy a great summer!

To all of our Sundance parents - welcome to our new website!! We hope you like our new look, and our continued efforts to improve your Sundance Experience!

This blog is one of many new functions that our website offers. One of our biggest goals has always been to reach out to every parent individually, and to keep them fully integrated in their child's education. However, we recognize that in this busy day and age, it can be difficult to stay in touch with the Sundance community. We created this blog to help our directors reach out to each of you, whether near or far, and let you know about what is happening at our wonderful school.

From updates on our many events, to elaborations on our new offerings (like our unbelievable 4th grade!) - this will be the place where you can find out more. But that's not all - this is also a place for our amazing directors to let you know their thoughts. As a Sundance parent, you deserve to know what's on our minds - whether it be musings on education, commentary on issues that affect parents, or advice on how to make the most of your Sundance Experience. Hopefully this can be your "one-on-one" time with us, even when you don't have time to come and visit!

We have also created an improved calendar and calendar feed, a staff directory and contact list (in progress), and a clearer user interface for finding applications and Sundance information. We have begun posting reviews of Sundance here at the site to help show new parents who we are, and to let our alumni know how much we appreciate their feedback. And be sure to check out our new Video Gallery featuring some of our Sundance moments!

Beyond the specifics, we just want every parent to know that we are dedicated to improvement, and to responding to all of your needs, small or large. Please feel free to give us new suggestions, and to let us know how you like the new site. Be sure to check back for new posts!

Sincerely,

- The Sundance Team

Labels: new website, parent communication