Dear Families,
I am so pleased to be working with you and your child this year! Here is some information about our class that you'll want to know. Please don't hesitate to ask me any other questions that you may have.
The School Day/Afternoon Pickups
The school day begins at 8:30 (children are marked tardy at 8:37) and ends at 3:00. Students who are being picked up at the end of the day are sent to the side door of the school (just past our classroom), where parents are asked to wait for their children. This helps to prevent confusion at the front entrance, where children who go home on the bus are exiting the school. Names of all children being picked up are on a list, and an adult at the door will verify that the parent/guardian is present before allowing the child to exit the building.
Morning Meeting
We hold a Morning Meeting each day in the classroom, just after attendance has been taken. This includes several components (following our school-wide Responsive Classroom model). The Morning Meeting provides opportunities for children to greet one another, and to practice listening and responding. Students also learn about the day ahead, and we do a group activity. Overall, Morning Meeting helps children to develop social skills, and helps promote class cohesion. Morning Meeting provides a familiar routine that eases children into the school day, so it's important that they arrive on time for it each morning.
Music, Art, Library and Physical Education
Kindergarten students attend Library, Music and Art once every week, and they attend PE twice weekly. Our normal weekly class schedule is:
Monday: Library
Tuesday: Music
Wednesday: PE
Thursday: Art
Friday: PE
Children should bring or wear sneakers on PE days. If you wish to send in sneakers that will stay at school, you may. Please mark them with your child's name!
Volunteers
I love, need and want classroom volunteers! Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering-- either by the Classroom Volunteer form, or just by getting in touch. If you're available in the morning, you might consider volunteering for the Emergent Reading Program, which will get started in October. (The success of this program depends on adult volunteers reading with individual children, and ideally there will be three volunteers in the classroom on each of these mornings.) I can also use help at Writing Time and Math Time if those interest you, or as "extra hands" when we do special projects. Chaperones at Field Trip times are also needed, as is someone to serve as a Room Parent. If your schedule does not permit you to come in to school, there are even some jobs you could do for me from home. THANK YOU!
Lunch
Your child has the option of bringing lunch from home, or getting a lunch at school. Every Friday a form will be sent home (in your child's green folder) for you to complete for the following week, and you'll indicate which days your child will be getting hot lunch (which can be the standard hot lunch, a chef salad or a sandwich) or snack drinks. Most parents review the menu with their child to help decide which days (if any) they want to order hot lunch. It is very important for us to receive the completed weekly forms on Mondays, since the children often don't know if they have cold or hot lunch on any given day. If your child plans to get a hot lunch at school, there must be funds in their school lunch account. You may send cash or a check to school with a deposit form, or deposit money electronically online. Please visit the Colchester School District website at www.csdvt.org and click on the UMS link, then click on the Hot Lunch pencil. Children who bring a lunch from home may also purchase milk from school. Application forms for Free/Reduced Lunch for your child are available on the website, as well as in the school office.
Snacks
Please provide your child with two healthy snacks to eat at school. Our class is scheduled to eat lunch at 11:30 each day, so we're planning to have a brief snack time mid-morning, and another one in the afternoon. It may be a good idea to pack the two snacks in separate containers; many young children have difficulty "saving" part of their morning snack for later. You may order white milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk or orange juice-- use the weekly lunch form for this.
Changes in After-School Departures
Parents provide us with information about how their child routinely gets home each day. Students will be sent home according to that information, unless we receive written instructions to do otherwise. Notes about changes should include your child's first and last name, the date, and how the child will be getting home-- and they MUST be signed by a parent or guardian. These notes are required if your child is being picked up at school, taking a different bus, or getting off the regular bus at a different location. Please be as specific as possible about locations. For example, avoid instructions such as "going to daycare"-- tell us the name of the daycare, where it is, and the bus number to get there. Our classroom assistant Mrs. Cullen processes these each morning and will make sure that she, I and the school office all know what the plan is for your child each day. THANKS!
Backpack
Please have your child bring a backpack to school every day. It is helpful to have the child's name labeled on the backpack, and on other items of clothes that may easily be confused, like boots and snow pants. Your child will carry his/her snack in the backpack and the Home/School folder will also go back and forth inside it.
Toys
From time to time children may be asked to share something with the class, such as an item from nature or a story about a family member. We discourage children from bringing toys to school for Sharing, since they may get lost or broken, or lead to arguments about who gets to use them.
Birthdays
We love to celebrate birthdays at school! We will sing to your child and make him/her feel special on the Big Day. You are welcome to send in a birthday treat, if you wish. We ask that you not send birthday party invitations to school for your child to pass out, unless the entire class will be invited. (Once school is up and running, we'll send home a Buddy List with contact information for classmates that you can use for parties and play dates.)
Home/School Communication
Each child is provided with a green Home/School folder, which goes home each day and which should be returned to school the following day. This folder will be used to send home important notices, letters and school forms, and parents can use the folder to return the forms or to send notes in to school. Please check the Home/School folder each night. I can also be reached by email at barnesm@csdvt.org
I check this email daily but it's sometimes after school or in the evening; it's better to send a note if it's important for me to have the information that same day.
I provide Optional Homework, which I will send home on weeknights. This will reinforce learning that we are doing at school. I will also send home completed classroom and homework every couple of weeks. Please note that not all of the work that we do at school comes home; some stays in your child's writing portfolio, and other work is kept to use to note growth and progress.
I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all of this information. Please DO ask me any questions you have! Working together, we can insure that your son or daughter has a smooth transition to Kindergarten, and an excellent start in school.
It's going to be a great year!
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