Beacon's Universal Pre-K and Kindergarten Programs and Satellite Classrooms

Pre-Kindergarten used to be a concept that parents could sign their 3 and 4 year olds up for if there was a program run by a business or a church in their area. The hours were short, but the experience was invaluable to the child by way of reaching their spongy brains at an early age. These days, spreading across the nation is Universal Pre-Kindergarten which is a federally funded program recently encouraged by the Obama Administration by way of a $10 billion investment over 10 years in public preschool programs that states have to apply for. However, local school districts within those states need to also apply for the grant and be awarded, and not all districts in New York state have been awarded a grant. 

One little in-school assignment to learn numbers.

Beacon City School District is one such district that has offered the Universal Pre-K program to 4 year olds for a number of years for a half day of learning, either in a morning program or an afternoon group. In 2014, A total of $340 million was awarded to 81 school districts and Community Based Organizations in New York. In fact, Newburgh is the largest recipient of Pre-K funding outside of New York City. The reality of school as a form of child care is a real issue, and is becoming more recognized at the federal and state levels, especially with this passage of $794 million to "provide working families with affordable child care" by Governor Andrew Cuomo in August 2014.

SATELLITE CLASSROOMS OUTSIDE OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS

Not as talked about is the participation of daycare or child care programs in Universal Pre-K, which offers a small price break for parents as well as a consistent day of coverage for the child. For five years, Rose Hill Manor on Wolcott Avenue has been a satellite classroom, offering half-day morning Pre-K  from 8:30-11:30am for free for those who enroll with the district and Rose Hill in time before their allotted seats fill up. This includes the paid option of a full day of "wrap around care" until 5:30pm which is especially good for parents who have difficulty getting their children from Pre-K or Kindergarten due to work or other obligations. This includes lunch, nap, snack and more structured play/learning time.  

As of 2014, Rose Hill has been the only center who year after year took on the requirements and paperwork required to offer the program. Astor Services for Children and Families had offered it  before the school district itself took it on, but has not offered it in recent years. Acceptance into the program means that a school must have a certified teacher on board, and must "meet or exceed" public school requirements, and weave these requirements into their own curriculum. Schools including the Randolf School, Hudson Hills, BCAP, Astor, or Kids Place do not offer the program, reasons usually being that the paperwork is too overwhelming, or that they don't want to be held to public requirements.
[UPDATE 1-21-16]: Cedar Street Daycare is also a satellite option for the 2016-2017 year, in addition to Rose Hill Manor. 

To get into a satellite program, parents must apply with the public school at the start of Pre-K registration, usually in February of each year, and tell the public school administrator that they intend to be in the program at a satellite school.

Images of heart-health with food choices and activities.

SNOW DAYS - CANCELLATIONS AND WEATHER DELAYS

A real issue for parents are snow days. The pattern in Beacon is to have a 2-hour delay of school or a cancellation entirely if snow falls on a school-night for the next day. Children enrolled in the morning program of Pre-K often have their day of school canceled if there is a 2-hour weather delay. Those enrolled in the afternoon program at their public school are not as impacted by the weather delays, but still miss school on an early dismissal or school closure.

A benefit of enrolling a child in the satellite program of a school like Rose Hill is that they operate as a business, and are open 95% of the time. So if school is closed, children enrolled in the full day wrap around care at Rose Hill are the only ones in town still going to school that day for a full day of engagement versus the alternative of Netflix, videos, and desperate Pinterest searches for crafty projects while a working parent's day of meetings and deadlines got cut like a paper snowflake.
Note: this option is only available to kids who are additionally enrolled in full time daycare with Rose Hill.

BUSING & GETTING KIDS TO SCHOOL

Another issue for working parents is busing. Beacon City Schools offers busing to kids who live 1.5 miles away from their elementary school. For Pre-K, this includes one-way transportation. For morning classes, students are transported to school; for afternoon classes, they are transportation home from school. Hudson Hills offers one-way transportation, as does Rose Hill. For kindergartners, for example, if parents need to be at work before the bus picks up from their house, they can drop kids off at Rose Hill, who then accepts bus-loads of "big kids" in their after-school program starting at 3:30pm.

The schedules of children is no joke, and fitting this in with grocery shopping and work schedules is a tricky puzzle figured out daily. Thanks to the growing number of families moving to this area, parents are experiencing a greater number of options for their priorities and budgets.

Barb's Butchery - The Back Story of the Farm Fresh Butcher Who Sold You a Rump

Barb, founder of Barb's Butchery.

Barb is a math nerd whose thoughts crystallize into Ven diagrams. She is also your freshest local butcher, who sees meat as "a giant puzzle". The puzzle for Barb isn't just how the steer fits together or comes apart, it's how people want to buy it,  when they want to buy it, and how much they want to pay for it. But she hasn't always had visions of poultry and pork. In fact, Barb was a math teacher before she decided to learn how to become a butcher and open Beacon's first butchery in December 2014, Barb's Butchery at 69 Spring Street. Well, Beacon's first butchery during these times. Perhaps twenty years ago there was a butcher, but for those living here now, word on the street was that Beacon needed a butcher.

NOT JUST ANY BUTCHER
People are wanting a butcher who can cut local meat that is heavily researched and approved of by a person they trust. They want to know that the chickens are actually running around a farm like one hopes they would, not the horror stories from links that go viral with disturbing pictures. Farms Barb sources from include include Fazzios for chicken, Meiller Farms for beef, pork and lamb, and Dashing Star Farms for lamb. And if you don't feel like cooking your own, Barb's Butchery is a supplier to Poppy's for burgers, and Dogwood for the burgers, lamb, sausages and "pub grub", and Quinn's for pork and sometimes pork bellies. Barb's Butchery has also started serving lunch and dinner - albeit in limited hours. Dinner is from 5pm - 7:30pm so you better get there quick so as not to miss the hand cut and fries and beer battered onion rings.

THE KID CONNECTION
Barb's 3 year old daughter was her biggest connection to her first customers. A lot of the parents of little friends of Lila were craving local meat where they knew where it came from and how it was treated.  Trendy in Beacon is to "buy a cow". If you don't live here, that sounds odd, but people really do go in on buying a cow together from a local farm, and are given cut or ground pieces to store in a giant freezer in their basements. So friends of little Lila were in a Facebook group to put in their requests of what kind of meat they wanted Barb to cut for them when she want on a buying spree. Before she opened the shop, Barb had a loyal clientele.

"I see overlaps in math, it's terrible."
Barb states this like it's a nuisance, but it's wonderful for business. Barb is in tune with with people's needs, and knows that they need meat fresh, fast and for dinner. But they can't always get out to get it. She can calculate her costs and profits quickly, so she is constantly whipping up different deals and meals that people can buy. Like the February Special that can include 2 5oz filets, 2 6oz sirloin steaks, 4 bone in pork chops, 1 whole chicken, 6 all beef hot dogs or 4 fresh sausages, and 2 Beacon Pie Company Hand Pies (your choice of Apple, Blueberry or Cherry), all for about $49.99 (for the grain finished version). Dinner for the week…DONE.

BUSINESS IS GROWING, PLANS TO MOVE?
Businesses in Beacon are hard to pin down. They either open up shop, and don't catch the vibe of Beacon needed to stay. Or they open up shop, business booms, and they move to a larger location down the street. Just look at Beacon Bubble, Beacon Pantry, The Hop, and Ellas Bellas who expanded next door almost immediately. Will Barb's Butchery move? Probably not. Barb and her husband bought the building they opened the store in, and totally renovated it before opening. Under a dual loan - one for the business of owning a building and another loan for the business of a butchery - they are all in. And sure enough, Barb is already needing more space to store meat as their sales increase.

HAVE TRUCK WILL TRAVEL…AND DELIVER
Refrigerated truck to the rescue! Barb has a truck that can store meat, which makes it more convenient for her to actually purchase more meat directly from farms and skip the step of farms taking it elsewhere for storage.

More importantly for the rest of us, Barb's Butchery is going to deliver - if you want it. For those of us in Fresh Direct Withdrawal, Barb's Butchery can drive up to your house in their big truck to deliver your meat order of $50 or more, within a 10 mile radius of the store, and east of the Hudson River. Do you want it? Let her know - seriously - by going to her Facebook page to tell her. For a more in-depth look at how Barb funded the butchery - and the building its housed in - see this article.

And now...for pictures.

This is Porkchop. Yup, Barb called his references and
that really is his name. He's trying to make it legal.

This is your sausage maker. Making lots and lots of sausage
for Sausage Fest 2015, a kielbasi filled day on 2/28/15 Barb
cooked up to introduce more than 21 sausage varieties.

 

A doodle on tile in Sharpie marker by Porkshop in the kitchen.

Teamwork. There are 7 employees total.

My lunch of a roast beef sandwich with swiss cheese.
I ate all of the fries before I remembered to take a picture.
Also pictured here is my trusty pink glitter notebook for notes
that made its debut on a treadmill.

Congratulations, Barb! And thanks for opening!

St. Patty's Day in a Can for Dogs: Food at Beacon Barkery

Merrick's "Kiss Me I'm Irish Stew" dog food at
Beacon Barkery for limited time.

Because you always get your dog a treat for St. Patty's Day, right? Merrick brand dog food has always had the best looking canned dog food that you really could serve the family and they may not know it's Beef Stew for dogs. Just look at the ingredients, and you'll find most of them are the real food that you eat too, like sweet potato, duck, lamb, and more. From actual bratwurst, to Thanksgiving Day Dinner there are a lot of entrees to choose from. This late winter season, Merrick releases their Kiss Me I'm Irish Stew, the grain free stew made with Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, and more yummy that Beacon Barkery co-owner Nancy Pate has admitted to trying - herself. Pick up a can and delicious doggie cookie with icing at Beacon Barkery. The new pet food and live bait store mid-Main Street also carries Merrick, but we have not confirmed this seasonal favorite.

Winner of the "Where Is This?" Contest! Mural on N. Chestnut Street Wall

The Rene Magritte inspired mural, "Son of Man" on
North Chestnut, the wall of The Dance Bag and
Dennings Point Distillery.

We have a winner! Just one day after releasing this picture contest, Michelle Rivas correctly identified the mystery photo and wins the jar of hot fudge sauce from Utensil! The mystery photo was of the edge of a silver fish's red lip, which was painted along the bottom of the mural. The mural is a Rene Magritte inspired surrealist painting based on the "The Son of Man" painting from 1946. The mural is located the on North Chestnut wall that is shared by The Dance Bag and Dennings Point Distillery. Someone else was inspired by the painting, inspired enough to recreate the green apple themselves in mid-air, which you can see here.

To see the original mystery photo, click here.

Until the next contest, test your knowledge on past pictures!

Where Is This? Hint: It's Cold

Your Hint: It's Cold.

WINNER! A winner has identified this mystery photo! Click here to get the answer.

Hello Beaconites and Hudson Valley enthusiasts!

Guess where this photo was taken and what it is, and you will win this week's prize!

PRIZE:

Your Prize: The first person to identify this photo
in the comments below will win one jar of
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream's Extra Bitter Hot Fudge Sauce from
Unensil, Beacon's affordable and practical kitchenware shop.

PS: Want to sponsor these contests? See here for details...

We're Open: Thanks to Businesses Who Are Open on Snow Days!

Beacon Schools may be out, and roads may be slushy, with more in the forecast. But that's not closing down Beacon businesses. Several daycare and childcare centers have remained open, including some extra curricular classes. Beacon Bagel is taking orders. Beacon Bread Company dug out early this morning and keeps on digging with a bright red Open sign. Max's is open as always. Poppy's lights were on. Roosevelt Vet is seeing patients. Reservoir and Wood is open for shopping. The snow is falling, and life goes on in Beacon! Just make sure you have your slushy snow boots and a shovel for constant digging out!!

The OPEN sign at Roosevelt Vet.

Slushy boots are a must!

Mmmmmm...salty pretzel from Beacon Bagel.

Shopping at Reservoir and Wood is possible!

Valentine's Day Chocolate Fix - Forget Date Night, Just Give Us Chocolate

Valentine's Day is really a religious holiday for chocolate, let's be honest here. You can go out on a date night, but where are you getting your chocolate, and just how deep and dark are you going? Get in touch with your cravings, because you've got choices right here in Beacon...

CHOCOLATE SNACKS

Praise be, Jeni's has arrived to Beacon, NY by way of Utensil!
This is a big deal, folks. I normally get it straight from Columbus,
which is a long 12hr drive! As a connesour of hot fudge on
ice-cream or brownie sundaes, I can tell you that this fudge
it bitter, dark, and hits the spot. It also is a perfect match with
Salty Caramel ice-cream, which good news for us -
is here in caramel sauce form!

Ask Instagram, and you shall receive the real deal for Yodels.
When we asked 5 Hens if she had her own version of the Yodel, she clucked back
"Yes, at Martha's in Newburgh!" These Chichi Ding Dongs are made from
Valrhona chocolate filled with whipped cream from a local dairy.
Pre-order for Valentine's Day, at Martha's Friday and Saturday
located at 105 Liberty Street in Newburgh. Find 5Hens in many
Beacon shops, including Dennings Point Distillery. Full list here:
www.fivehensbakedgoods.com

The chocolate cheesecake cupcake at Get Frosted Cupcakery
may give you immediate satisfaction as you're walking to
your next pedicure or to get a glass of wine at Oak Vino or Chill.
www.getfrostedcupcakery.com

GIFTS FOR TEACHERS & FRIENDS

Chocolate covered strawberries are a fancy treat for anyone on your list,
including a great idea for an office party or platter. Hand dipped in
Belgian or dark chocolate using fresh ingredients at The Chocolate Studio.
www.facebook.com/TheChocolateStudioBeacon

Chocolate covered Oreos from The Chocolate Studio, located
on the very East side of Main Street are an easy treat for
yourself, and a much appreciated gift for a teacher or friend.
www.facebook.com/TheChocolateStudioBeacon

And your box of chocolates will be coming from Alps Sweet Shop
of course! Beacon's local yet national chocolatier makes their
chocolate in their Main Street factory in the copper pots you
see pictured here. They can ship to wherever you like.
www.alpssweetshop.com 

DATE NIGHT WITH WHOEVER - JUST ORDER IT!

The espresso chocolate cake at Dogwood is a surprising
spot-hitter. It's surprising because usually for a cake,
icing or a fudge topping is required (or hint hint Dogwood: we'd love
a scoop of vanilla ice cream!). But this chocolate is so deep and moist,
that you'll want to take advantage of it while you're enjoying
yourself on date-night, I suppose, with a stout of some kind.
If you're enjoying this at home (yes...you have permission
to order dessert to go), enjoy with this recommendation from
Tim Buzinski of Artisan Wine Shop: "A glass of slightly fizzy red from
Italy works great, and one we have right now: Sangue di Guida Special."
www.dogwoodbar.com

There is a secret society of chocolate pastry chefs in Beacon,
and the maker of this Bliss Cake is one of them. JoAnne Meyer
is the Chocolatier & Pastry Chef at The Chocolate Studio,
and also bakes and delivers for local eateries. This Bliss Cake has
become somewhat famous, if not hard to find.  The Bliss Cake
is a decadent fudge cake topped generously with a deep,
rich dark chocolate mousse, covered in ganache, served with a
port wine reduction. Find it at the Piano Piano Wine Bar in Fishkill,
at an upcoming Ladies Night at the Chocolate Studio. You can
also order it directly on-demand from the Chocolate Studio directly.
(845) 765-1165