Transcript Parent Information - Lee County Schools

Parent Information
Mrs. Beal and Mrs. Baker
Kindergarten 2013-2014
WELCOME!!!
This is the beginning of one of the most important milestones
of your child’s life- Kindergarten! I understand that you
and your child may have met this day with excitement or
apprehension (or a little of both!) and I hope that this
information packet will help you to know what to expect in
Kindergarten this year and answer any questions you may
have.
Mrs. Baker and I are looking forward to working
with your child this year and helping them achieve his/her
full potential.
Parent/Teacher
Relationship
I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is
necessary for maximum school success. Throughout
the year, I will communicate with you through notes,
telephones calls, weekly newsletters, progress
reports, quarterly report cards. I encourage you to
contact me at any time if you have any questions or
concerns. Listed below is the school phone number
where I can be reached from 2:30-3:30 pm. I also
have voicemail, which we usually check after school, so
please feel free to leave me a message during the
school hours (8:00-2:30 pm) and I will call you back!
Please do not leave messages on the voicemail about
changes in transportation for your child. You may
also contact me by school email.
[email protected]
School 718-0170 ext. 264
Common Core
• North Carolina has adopted a national curriculum
called common core. The idea is that with this
curriculum all schools are working towards a
common goal in each grade that builds on each
standard from kindergarten to 12th grade.
What does this mean for you?
Your child’s work will look different from
kindergartener’s in the past. It will involve higher
order thinking skills, reading for details, and
problem solving in math..
Assessments and
Grades
Each week your child will be assessed on Kindergarten
skills. These skills will vary from week to week.The
weekly assessment sheet will come home on Fridays in the
weekly folder. Please go over the results with your child
and practice the skills that are not mastered. Grades
for our report card will be taken from these
assessments. It is imperative that quarterly skills are
practiced at home to ensure that your child is mastering
them. We will work daily at school on skills, but your
help at home builds confidence and shows your child that
school work is important. The weekly sheet should always
be signed and returned on Monday in the Homework
Folder. These will be kept on file in a portfolio of your
child’s work throughout the year. Numeric grades will be
given for Math and Reading-these grades come directly
from the weekly assessment. No grade lower than a 60
will be given. All other subjects will receive a grade of
S=satisfactory, N=needs improvement, or
U=unsatisfactory.
Parent Participation
Throughout the year, there will be a variety of special classroom
activities, field trips, and celebrations. I encourage you to attend these
functions when possible. You are always welcome in our classroom.
Please remember to always use the front entrance of the school and
sign in at the office before coming to the classroom. You will be given
the opportunity to send in needed supplies and/or treats for these
occasions. We will appreciate any help you can give! Your support of
these school activities makes your child feel important and sends a
positive message about their time at school!
We also welcome any parent who would like to volunteer to help
children with their academic progress. We have many games and
activities that you can use to work with a child who may need one-on-one
help, or that you can use to work with groups of children who may need
extra help on a certain skill.
Daily Folder
Your child’s Daily Folder is the communication link from school to home. Please make
sure you check your child’s daily folder each night even on Fridays. Inside the folder you
will find any notes, homework, information, newsletters, etc. about what is going on in
our classroom and the school. Notes from the principal, PTO, and the teacher will be
sent in this folder as well as your child’s daily behavior form, progress reports, and report
cards.
There will also be a Daily Kindergarten Report (Parent/Teacher
Communication/Homework sheet) inside your child’s folder, which will give you an idea
of what kind of day your child had at school. It might have a written comment or it could
just be a smiley face. Please make sure you discuss with your child their day and sign
the Daily Kindergarten Report each night. Please return any homework in the folder.
Please do not remove the report from the folder. We like to keep these on file.
If you have any notes for us about sickness, changes in transportation, appointments,
and money for prepaid lunch, field trips or book orders please put it inside the folder in a
labeled envelope. We will check these folders each morning. Once again we do not
check book bags!!
Code of Conduct
You and your child will be given a sheet that contains my rules for our classroom. I feel
strongly that it is important to have a classroom environment that is safe and is conducive to
learning for all children. I feel it is vital that all parties (parents, students, and teachers)
agree and understand the importance of good behavior in school. I will not tolerate any
child keeping another child from learning in the classroom. I want all of the children to feel
they are loved, respected, and valued in our class. There will be many rewards and
incentives for good behavior, but there will also be consequences for unacceptable
behaviors.
I also realize that everyone makes mistakes. If your child struggles to follow our rules the
following discipline plan will be followed:
1st offense- Verbal Warning
2nd offense – Move apple to warning
3rd offense-Move apple to Time out/Loss of part of a privilege with a note in folder
4th offense- Move apple to Parent Contact/Note home or phone call/Loss of all of a privilege with a possible
visit to Mrs. Beal
Code of Conduct
*Depending on the severity of the problem, the teachers reserve the right to
skip the warning and go directly to Time Out.
As a reward we will have Treasure Box time each week, and any child who
has not moved their apple all week will get to choose something from the box.
We would ask that parents donate prizes for this. Take your child shopping
with you and let them pick things they would like. A good place for this is
Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Family Dollar, etc. We would also appreciate
individually wrapped candy for our candy jar.
Newsletter
A weekly newsletter will come home in your child’s homework
folder! Please read the newsletter because the information will be
different each week. It may come home on Friday or it may be
Monday depending on the week and how busy things get.
Illnesses
You know your child better than anyone else and we trust that you
will make decisions about your child’s health, which will be best for
all involved. We do encourage you to keep your child at home if
they are running a fever of if they have been up during the night
with a stomach virus. A good rule of thumb is 24 hours free of fever
or virus symptoms. Kindergarten is a particularly rough year for
children and sickness. Although we stress attendance, we would
rather have your child miss one day and avoid spreading the germ to
the other children and teachers in the classroom.
Changes in Transportation
If you plan to pick up a child that normally rides the bus or if there is
any change whatsoever to their normal mode of transportation – YOU
MUST SEND A WRITTEN NOTE! Do not rely on your child to tell
us the information because children often become confused or relay
messages incorrectly. If no written note is received, then your child
will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation. Do NOT
leave a voicemail message about transportation. If something happens
during the day please call the front office and speak to one of the
secretaries.
Morning Drop-Offs
No child should be left on campus before 7:30 am!! School begins at
8:00 am and the tardy bell rings at 8:05 am. If your child is late,
please make sure he/she goes by the office to get a tardy slip.
Your child must arrive before 8:00am to purchase breakfast in the
cafeteria.
Car riders are let off at the back and will go directly to the gym to wait
for their teachers, unless they are going to eat breakfast. The children
are grouped according to grade level , so your child will not be with the
older children. Teachers on duty will monitor your child until we pick
them up from the cafeteria around 7:55 am.
Bus riders get off the buses at the front of the school and are directed
to the cafeteria by teachers on duty in the back lobby and hallways.
Car Riders
• Please put your child’s name in the window of your car on a
white sheet of paper as you pick up your child at the back
of the school building. This helps speed up the process
for the name caller. Seven cones are positioned along the
curb to allow seven cars to be loaded at one time. A
teacher will man each cone to open the car doors and help
the children into the car. Your child will go to the
numbered cone the caller designates. Please stay in the
line and drive to that cone and wait for your child to be
loaded.
• Car riders will not be taken to the front of the school. If
you are picking up your child for an appointment, please
try to sign them out in the front office before 2:00.
Parents are not allowed to pick up children in the
breezeway. All parents must drive around in the car line.
This is for safety reasons. We appreciate your
cooperation with this.
YMCA
The YMCA counselors will pick up the Kindergarten children right
before the bell rings and will take them to their designated spot.
Signing In and Out
Children will be counted present if they are signed in before
11:30 am and if they are signed out because of sickness or
appointments after 11:30 am. Children may not be signed out
from school after 2:00 pm. Once your child has had more than 3
tardys or sign outs in a quarter they will be assigned to time in
BIP- information found in handbook.
School Lunch
We will send home a lunch menu monthly. Two meat choices and fruit and
vegetables are offered each day. You may want to help your child decide in
advance what he/she wants to order. We will take their lunch order each morning
as part of our morning procedures. Your child may also choose to bring a lunch
box with a drink or they can purchase milk .
You may alternate buying lunch or bringing a lunch box depending on the menu
choices and your child’s eating habits.
Prepaid lunch dates are listed in the school handbook. I will also remind you of these
dates in my class newsletter. This is truly the easiest way to handle paying for your
child’s lunch. The money is put into an account for your child to draw upon. They will
receive a lunch number that they will use to “withdraw” their money. If you are
interested in receiving free and reduced lunch, fill out the Free/Reduced Lunch Form
and return it to us on the first day of school. Please let us know if you already have a
child here at Tramway that is receiving free or reduced prices.
Activities in the Classroom
• Picture Dictionary – Students will make a dictionary to keep. They
will cut and paste 3 pictures that begin the letters being studied that
particular week. They will then label the picture by writing the word
under the picture. They will be rewarded for their hard work.
• Walking Laps – The students will participate in the school wide
walking program. We will walk laps each day to help us stay healthy.
If it is too hot we will not walk laps. Please help your child prepare
for this by encouraging them to wear tennis shoes each day to school.
Outdoor Recess
The children will be going out for recess everyday unless it is raining or
extremely hot or cold outside. Please keep this in mind when helping your
child select their clothing and shoes for the day. It is very helpful if the
children wear tennis shoes each day to school. No open toe or open heel
shoes are allowed. No flip-flops are allowed to be worn to school.
Daily Snack
We eat lunch at 10:55 am each day. Because it is early in the school day,
we know that the children need a snack in the afternoon. Please send one
snack with your child. This can be fruit, crackers, chips, etc. You may
also send a juice box or water bottle. We do not allow candy or sodas for
snack. We do not provide snacks for children who do not bring one.
Money
On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money
to school. Please always send the money in a sealed envelope
or baggie labeled with your child’s name and what the money is
for. Place the envelope or baggie in your child’s Daily Folder.
We do not check book bags!
Birthdays
Birthdays are special occasions for young children. We
allow a birthday snack during normal snack-time, which is
around 1:30pm. Please let us know by note if you plan to
celebrate your child’s birthday with a snack for the whole
class. We suggest a cupcake and a juice box. All food must
be purchased from the store or bakery – school policy does
not allow homemade snacks. Also we can not send
birthday invitations at school unless the entire class is
invited to the party.
Activities in the Classroom
• During your child’s Kindergarten year we will be doing many special
projects and activities. We have listed some below.
• Memory Album – We will be keeping a memory album of your
child’s first year of school. In order for us to do this we ask that you
send in:
• *Clear page protectors
• *Decorative/Seasonal 8 ½ by 11 paper
• *Colored copy paper and cardstock
• *15 dollars for the cost of film developing and the memory books
• If you do not want a memory album please let please let us know.
Terrific Kid
Beginning the second quarter of the school year we will choose a
Terrific Kid each week. The Terrific Kid gets a blue ribbon,
certificate and a bumper sticker. They will also have the privilege
of sitting in the booth at lunch for the entire week. Also, a parent
can come and have lunch in the booth with their child sometime
during the week the child is terrific kid! Your child will bring home
a Terrific Kid Bag and fill it with 5 things that tell about
themselves to show the class. This is an exciting event for all the
students. Terrific Kids will be chosen based on their behavior.
PTO Fund - Raisers
Working at the PTO Thrift shop is an excellent way to help our school
raise money. Each classroom is responsible for 9 hours worked at the store.
If you or a grandparent can volunteer at least one hour during the school year
to work it would help our school earn money. For every hour worked by
Tramway parents/grandparents our school earns money that goes directly to
the classroom to buy needed supplies.
Fund-raiser – Several items are sold during this fund-raiser such as giftwrap, candy, etc. More information will come on this later.
In Closing
I would just like to say that I am looking forward to a great year with
your child. I realize this is a lot of information to take in at one time. I
would also like to suggest that you save this packet for future reference.
I am sure we are going to have a wonderful year and I would like to
thank you in advance for your help and support throughout the coming
year.
Mrs. Tracy Beal
Mrs. Christin Baker