Everything You Need to Know!

The ABC’s of Kindergarten2015-2016

Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Hampton, and Ms. Johnson

A Absences/Attendance: It is very important that your child attends school. Your

child’s progress is greatly impacted by daily participation. If your child misses school, please call the school to let us know. A written doctor’s excuse should be sent on the day your child returns. Although we encourage and promote attendance, please do not send your child to school if they are sick.

After School Daycare: If you are interested in the after school daycare program, you must fill out an application in the family resource center.

Allergies: If your child has ANY allergy, please let us know immediately! We ask that you also document this on your child’s emergency card! We must have something from a doctor concerning food allergies.

Accelerated Reader: Your child will be checking out books in the library on a weekly basis. When you and your child has finished a book, please send us a note to let us know they are ready for a test. Each book is worth a half of a point. We will set monthly reading goals. Monthly and yearly rewards will be given to those children who met their goals. Family reading nights will be scheduled periodically throughout the year for you and your child to come and earn points.

B Behavior: Children will be rewarded for displaying positive and appropriate

behavior. We will use a behavior system in the classroom to promote good choices and positive behavior.

Breakfast: It is very important that your child eats breakfast. If they do not get the opportunity to eat at home, the will have the chance to eat at school. If your child wishes to eat breakfast at school please have them here by 7:45am.

Birthdays: Your child will be recognized in the classroom on their birthday. If you want to send something special on that day we ask that you let us know, but this is optional. Since we are a healthy snacks school, please send only healthy snacks.

Buses: We will begin dismissal for the buses around 3:20. Your child will be escorted by their teacher to their designated bus.

C Calendars: Your child will receive a monthly snack calendar. This calendar

will be sent home each month with your child’s name listed on their designated snack day. If you can’t participate in our healthy snacks program, let us know so that your child’s name will not be listed on the calendars.

Conferences: We will schedule parent/teacher conferences in the fall and spring to discuss your child’s progress and any concerns that you may have. If you feel the need to have a conference before these designated times, please let us know so that we can schedule a time to meet.

D Dismissal: If your child is a pick-up, dismissal will begin around 3:10. The

Para- educator will be in the gym with our class. There will be an adult outside to escort your child to the vehicle. Be prepared to show your driver’s license as this is a school-wide policy and procedure. Each family will receive a pick-up tag for their vehicle. You may get your tag tonight before you leave.

Decodable Stories: As part of our reading series, your child will receive pre-decodable and decodable stories periodically. We ask that your practice these stories with your child in order to master fluency.

E Emergency Cards: You must return 2 emergency cards immediately!

Please make sure that you turn these in tonight before you leave. Please list anyone on this card that you think would EVER pick-up your child from school. Also, list any important information on the back of the card that we need to know.

Early Dismissal: If you need to pick up your child early from school, you must go to the office to sign them out. Also, in case of snow/bad weather, please listen to the radio or news for chances of early dismissal.

F Folders: You will receive 2 folders. One is a school folder with the name of the

school on the front and the other is a clear folder. We will need these folders ALL YEAR LONG! The Sublimity School folder is our “Friday Folder” and will be used for money and completed work that we will send home on Fridays. We ask that you check the folder every Friday, remove work, and place your child’s lunch and snack money in the baggies attached to the inside flaps of the folder. Please put money in the correct bag so there is no confusion as to where it belongs. The second folder you will receive is the “Homework Folder”. After we have settled in, you will receive this folder with a homework packet located on the inside. We will give you more details about the homework packets when the time comes. We just ask that your please return both of the folders in your child’s backpack in order for us to keep track of work and money.

Field Trips: We will be taking field trips periodically throughout the school year. We ask that you please look for permission forms about field trips and return them to us promptly.

G Goodbyes: Saying good-bye to your child can be very difficult. Although

we understand how hard this is for many of you, we ask that you leave your child with a smile and reassurance that you will see them after school. Please make good-byes positive and brief as this will help us begin our day. Prolonging the situation makes it more challenging to leave and creates a lot of distress. Remember that we will shower them with compassion and comfort as soon as you leave.

In order to help with the transition of leaving your child on the first day, we will meet in the gym at 8:00am. You may take your child to the gym with you. After a brief farewell, we will depart back to the classroom and then go to breakfast. After the first day, you may walk your child down to the classroom for the first 5 days. After Wed. August 12th, we ask that goodbyes be given in the front foyer. There will be adults monitoring the foyer and hallways to assist your child if they need help to their classroom.

H Homework: There will be homework packets sent home with your child.

We will be sending these packets home starting in October. The packets are designed to target skill areas in reading, writing, and math that your child needs extra practice with. We will send the homework packets home on Mondays and ask that you return them on Fridays. You will receive more information about the homework policies and procedures after we have settled in.

I Ice cream: On Wednesdays, we will have ice cream. The cost for ice cream

is .75 cents per week. This money can be placed inside the snack pouch each week.

Itinerants: Your child will go to itinerant classes (special classes) each day. They will have art, music, PE, computer lab, library, and guidance.

J Journey: This year is going to be an exciting journey for your child and we

are thrilled to share this experience with your family. With your help from home, this will be a year that your child will never forget!

K Keep us Updated: Keep us updated with any changes that we should

know about. For example, if your phone number changes, let us know so that we can update your child’s emergency cards. Keep us informed of anything you think is important that could possibly affect your child’s behavior at school.

L Literacy: We will focus the majority of our time on reading and literacy skills. Our school

uses research-based practices from the SRA program to facilitate phonological and phonemic awareness skills along with learning sight words. It is expected that your child will learn 50 sight words before exciting kindergarten.

Lost and Found: Please make sure that your child’s name is written on the tag of coats, sweaters, sweatshirts, etc. This will make it much easier to find items in the lost and found, which is located in the front foyer of the school.

Lunch: Your child will be provided with lunch choices everyday. We will be sending home school menus on a monthly basis, and we ask that you post the menu on your refrigerator for easy reference. You make pack your child’s lunch, if you wish. Please remember that we are a peanut free school. This also has to be applied when packing lunch. Your child will also be given a lunch number, and we will need your help in committing this number to memory at the beginning of school. If you prefer to pay on a weekly or monthly basis, this is a great option. The cost of lunch is 1.25 each day and breakfast is .85 each day. The price for reduced is .30 breakfast/.40 lunch each day. Everyone must fill out and return a lunch form and you will be notified if your child qualifies for free/reduced lunch and breakfast.

M Money: This can be very difficult to keep up with. If you send snack or lunch

money, please put it in the designated baggies in your child’s Sublimity School Folder. Please put any other money that is sent to school (book orders, year books, book fair, pictures, etc.) in an envelope with your child’s name and specify what the money is for.

Medicine: All medicine (including cough drops) must be checked in with the office staff. Prescription medicine must be accompanied with a completed medical form, which can be picked up in the office.Parents must deliver the medicine to the office and NO medicine should ever be transported to school by the child.

MAP Testing: In order to monitor your child’s progress throughout the year, your child will be taking the MAP assessment in reading and math. This test is given three times per year on the computer. Your child will take the assessment in the fall, spring, and winter. This assessment is used to create reading workshop groups, as well as, identity students who may need to be placed in reading mastery. We will provide dates and more details about the MAP assessment when the time comes to take the test.

N Newsletters: You will receive weekly newsletters to give you updates on

learning activities, homework, schedules, school functions, and any important news for the week. You can find the newsletter inside the Friday Folder. Please refer to this letter for an overview of what we will do at school and what you can do to incorporate learning at home.

O Office: If you come to our school for any reason other than to drop-off or

pick-up your child, you must check in with the office staff first. If you need to get in touch with us during the instructional day, please leave a message with the office and they will relay the message.

P Progress Reports: We will send home progress reports every nine

weeks to inform you of your child’s progress. Please sign the envelope to let us know you read and reviewed the report. You can keep the report for your own records, but please return the envelope in your child’s folder.

PTO: We hope that you will join our PTO and become an active member of your child’s school. The PTO is so good to us, and they would love your input and help. They meet on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 6:30 in the school cafeteria. You will receive notices about their meetings and activities that they plan for our school. The classroom that has the most parents to attend the meetings will receive a pizza party.

Q Questions: We know and understand that this an abundance of

information for you to remember. If at any point during the year you have questions, please ask! Also, if you need any information from this power point, you can find it on our classroom webpages. Below is our contact information if you wish to email us with questions.

Mrs. Flynn: shera.flynn@laurel.kyschools.us

Mrs. Hampton: susan.hampton@laurel.kyschools.us

Ms. Johnson: danielle.johnson@laurel.kyschools.us

R Recess: Depending on the weather, we will have recess every day for 20

minutes. Please keep this in mind when helping your child select clothing for the day. Since our playground is full of wood chips, it may be best not to wear flip flops to school. The wood chips could puncture the flip-flop and possibly cut your child’s foot.

Restrooms: As a class, we will visit the restroom periodically throughout the day. Children may also go individually as needed.

S Scholastic Books: Each month, students will be able to order books from the Scholastic

Book Club. Not only does it benefit your child, but it also allows us to accumulate bonus points for our classroom to receive free books for our reading center. There are some simple rules that we ask you to remember if you ever decide to order for the Scholastic Book Club.

1.) NO Cash! Checks or money orders only and they must be made directly to Scholastic Book Club.

2.) Make sure the books you order are marked clearly on the order form.

3.) Double check your order before sending it to us.

4.) Please send orders/money in an envelope and place it in your child’s Sublimity Friday Folder.

Snacks: We will eat snack together in the room every afternoon. Each morning students will make a choice for their snack drink. Drinks are .30 each day. On Wed. instead of ordering a drink we will order ice cream which is .75. The total cost for snack drinks and ice cream each week is 1.95. Remember, when you send snacks on your snack day, we can only have healthy snacks. Some suggestions are: crackers, cereal, fruit, string cheese, cereal bars, pretzels, rice Krispy treats, pudding cups, chips/salsa, pizza, popsicles, muffins, yogurt, etc. We ask that on your child's snack day you send enough snacks for 20+ children. The snacks must be store bought and cannot have any traces of peanut or peanut butter.

T Tardies: If you bring your child to school later than 8:15, you will need to walk

with them to the office and sign them in. It is very important that they arrive to school on time so they can get settled in before we begin our instructional day.

Toys: Please encourage your child to leave their toys at home. We will have show and tell on special days that are announced, and at that time they may bring a toy to show to the class.

Transportation: Please inform us immediately before leaving open house if your child is a bus rider, pick-up, or after school daycare. If this information changes at any given time throughout the year, you must call the school and notify us or put it in writing.

Treasure Box: We have a treasure box in our room, and the children can work to earn a treasure for good behavior. This is very effective for rewarding good behaviors… and the children love it!

U Unique: Each child in our classroom is unique! We all have different

strengths and weaknesses that make us special in our own way. We want to teach the children that even though we are not the same, we are all friends.

We are sending home an activity for you and your child to complete together. This activity will allow the students to share information about themselves and their families with the other students. Please return the activity on the first day of school, so we may display them in the classroom for everyone to see.

V Volunteers: If you would like to volunteer at our school or accompany us

on field trips you must inquire about this through the Family Resource Center. You must pass a criminal background check and attend the confidentiality training.

W Website: The Laurel County website is www.laurel.kyschools.us I would

recommend that you check out our Sublimity page for information about school-wide events and activities. Each of us also have a teacher website that we update occasionally, if you would like to check it out.

Wish List: There are lots of items that we need throughout the year. We will try to specify which items we need in our weekly newsletters. We are always in need of paper towels, cleaning wipes, baby wipes, extra snacks, and especially Kleenex. You may also donate items to our treasure box if you wish such as pencils, small toys, party favors, books, play dough, stickers, etc. throughout the year. We greatly appreciate any and all donations.

X X’tra Clothes: We will be sending home a gallon sized zip lock bag with

you to place a change of clothes in for your child. Please make sure that you keep a change of clothes in your child’s backpack at all times in case of emergencies. If we have to use the clothes in the baggie, please replace them!

Y You: We need you to make this a great year! Please

remember that you are your child’s first and most important teacher. No one can influence your child’s life in the way that you can!

Z ZZZZZZZZZZZ: Please make sure that

your child gets plenty of rest each night. Setting and maintaining a bedtime helps them to be alert and ready to learn!