TLS Adventures

Class meeting times:

Mondays-Fridays, 9am-1pm; Afternoon Program: 1pm-5:30pm (pick up before 5:30pm)

We will meet in the Skyroom at 1520 Lyon St. daily at 9am. Each day we will walk to a nearby park (e.g. Laurel Hill Playground, Raymond Kimbell Playground, Alta Plaza Playground) or use public transportation for further distances (e.g. Rossi, Mountain lake, Pan Handle). We will walk back to school for 1pm pick-up for those who are not staying for the afternoon program. The afternoon program will take place on-site at TLS.

Staff contact information:

If you need to get in touch with us during school hours, a ProCare message is preferred. If you do not receive a response to an urgent message, please call the school at (415) 567-0430.

Morning Program Team: Brittany Cunningham, Maria Silva & Marni Tuel

Afternoon Program Team: Riley Graham

ProCare App:

We will be using the ProCare app for sign in and sign out and some daily information sharing. Please make sure anyone you have as an authorized pick up person is indicated on your child’s list in the app. More info here.

Drop-off and Pick-up:

Please arrive at TLS as close to 9:00 a.m. as possible. If you need to pick up or drop off early or late, please inform us beforehand so we can make arrangements. As much as possible, we limit off-site late drop-offs as it takes teacher attention away from group safety. Please be sure to sign your child in before leaving them at camp.

What to Wear and What to Bring:

Please dress your child in comfortable layers: pants (no shorts unless it is hot), T-shirt, shirt, sweatshirt, and even a jacket (if necessary) and close toed shoes. Historically, we have found that the weather changes quickly and jackets are often needed in sudden mist or fog; please keep this in mind when getting your child ready in the morning.

Before arriving please be sure to apply sunscreen on your child at home as it (ideally) should go on before exposure to the sun. We highly recommend that you pack a sunscreen stick for your child to reapply sunscreen later in the day.

Your child must bring a backpack that they will carry every day. This backpack should contain a set of labeled extra clothes (no extra shoes), lunch (see below), and a small bottle of water. Fit of the backpack is important for best handling and hiking. The pack should not be so large that it covers your child’s entire back and buttocks. Shoulder strap fit should be tested before use. Experience has shown that it can be uncomfortable for children to walk with a backpack that will not stay in position on their back.

Lunch (and wasps):

We ask that instead of packing your child’s lunch in a lunchbox, you put it into a soft bag or directly into the backpack. It makes the backpack lighter and easier to carry. Teachers will bring a mid-morning snack of fruit and a grain for the group, but please feel free to include a separately labeled mid morning snack that provides energy for hiking too, especially if your child is particular about food. We are a no nut school, so any packed food items need to be tree nut and peanut free. Please pack a water bottle everyday and avoid packing juice or soda, which can attract yellow jackets. Yellow jackets are very active in warm summer months. We try to help children learn how to stay safe when they are around. We’ve learned that wasps have very bad eyesight and are easily alarmed by fast movements. Because of this, we try to help children stay very still so the wasps can find out that they are not a flower! But of course, the yellow jackets aren’t just attracted to flowers. We try to cut out some of their favorite foods at lunch in order to reduce their visits.

Each week we’ll let you know if we see a heavy wasp population in any of our locations. In this case, we may need to limit meats, juicy fruits or anything sticky or gooey in lunches.

Rainy Days:

We plan to be very hardy and miss out on scheduled adventures only in the event of heavy, persistent rain. Please remember to dress your child appropriately. Layers! Layers! Layers! Don’t forget a raincoat and rain boots if rain is a possibility, and we recommend a rain suit or rain pants as well. The Little School has rain gear for any families for whom this is a hardship, or if the forecast changes unexpectedly.

If there are any days where we cannot go on our adventure, we will enjoy a day at The Little School, maybe going for a short walk, weather permitting.

Separation and Saying Goodbye:

If you think separation and saying goodbye might be tricky for your child, please let the teachers know ahead of time and we can make individual plans. These things may be helpful:

Talk about school a few times
Give specific information – teachers’ names, routines of the day
Read the Summer social story a few times before your child’s first day
Emphasize that you will always come back
Acknowledge any feelings your child may show.
Remind your child that, even with the above feelings, you know they will learn to say goodbye
Remind your child that the teacher will keep them safe and help them feel better
Try to remain confident yourself
Make a clear, definite departure even if your child resists

Looking forward to a great summer!