Between field trips and pool parties, everyone at BDA had a good time
Our summer at Blue Dragon Academy has flown by! We had a great summer and stayed busy with swimming, field-trips, and community service projects. Pictured are some of our favorites: The Zoo Man visited us again this year bringing a tortoise, bird, and snakes. We enjoyed painting a classroom at St. Rose of Lima and our Flip Flop Fridays raised $250 for the Garretson Fire Department. The Parent Board hosted their annual Pool Party for the families of Blue Dragon Academy. This was our biggest turn out ever! Everyone had a great time swimming, socializing, and enjoyed a meal and ice cream treats too.
Grandma Kris came in and shared her knowledge on Sea Animals and talked with us about Kindness. She shared the medals and awards she has received by being Kind and encouraged us to pledge to do the same. We have enjoyed water play in the front of the center, hikes through the Gulch, a concert at the Levitt Band shell, swimming at the Garretson and Sioux Falls Pools, visiting Falls Park, and getting our nails done.
At our annual Back to School Party, we said Hola to Summer with Nachos, a Bouncy House and Ice Cream Party sponsored by our Parent Board. This week the Lion room squeezed in a quick Lemonade Stand before summer came to a close for them. We also enjoyed a trip to Pizza Ranch for our Annual Off to Kindergarten Lunch.
As we prepared to send kids back to school, our construction at Blue Dragon Academy started on August 16. The kids have enjoyed watching the machinery and helping break ground for our new addition.
Our new addition will expand the current kitchen and add a new room that will become our school age program. It will also be able to be rented out for a community room to the public.
With the new addition we are hoping to open up 20-30 additional spots for childcare. We currently have 50 families on our wait list. As exciting as all of this is, like many places in our area we also face the struggle of finding reliable and dependable staff. Unfortunately, we will not be able to fill all spots until we have adequate staffing to meet ratios required by the state of South Dakota.
We are very excited about our new addition and all the great things happening at Blue Dragon Academy. We hope that the childcare crisis in South Dakota will be taken serious soon and the State will figure out a way to help out centers, parents, and staff. We will continue to advocate for children and families at Blue Dragon Academy and provide quality childcare to Garretson and the surrounding areas. We ask parents also call your state and local Representatives and advocate as well.
Blue Dragon Academy Raffle
Blue Dragon Academy is holding a raffle for four tickets to Hairspray at the Washington Pavilion and a $100 gas card. The drawing for the September 16th show will be held on September 9. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 6 for $25 and will benefit BDA. Raffle tickets can be purchased at Blue Dragon Academy, by contacting Kris Frerk or Heidi Fink, or Venmo @bda2017.
