Starting a new school year in Kindergarten is an exciting time and we are thrilled to be teaching together at Meadowlark this year. We have so much fun learning and exploring the wonderful world of school with this new group of students! We are looking forward to a great year and are excited to have your child in our class. We are sure many of you have some questions and I will try to answer the beginning of the year ones in this first letter.
The first bell will ring 8:25 and all Kindergartens will line up outside the Commons on the east side of the school. Please do not bring your child to school before 8:15 because we are not outside until that time. To ensure the safety of every child, students need to stay in the walking. For the first week or two all of the Kindergarten teachers will be helping the children learn our routine. Then the teachers take turns doing morning duty while others prepare for the day. The other teachers that your child will be supervised by are Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Rappaport, and Mrs. Cook.
Class dismisses at 2:30. We will bring the students out the north door by the playground. If your child is not picked up in a timely manner, we take them to the office to wait for their ride home. For awhile each child will be holding a small bear. He/she is expected to give us the bear and show us who is picking them up before we say good-bye for the day.
Your child needs to bring a back pack every day so papers and notes home won’t get lost. Thursday folders are a school wide communication tool. Please read the contents and return the folder on Friday so that we know you have received your mail and their papers. We will have library on Wednesdays so once they start checking out books, please help your child remember his/her book because they can only check out a new one if they return their checked out one! P.E. will be on Mondays and the children need to have tennis shoes for safety.
After the children and teachers get used to each other and we get into a routine, we would love to have Parent Volunteers to help with art projects or educational games. This is a large class with 24 students so far. We love having volunteers to provide more one on one attention for each child. A note will be sent home later in September to coordinate volunteers and set up times that work with our class schedule and parent availability.
The principal asks that we share our class discipline policy with you. We have two main rules: Be Nice and Be Safe. The children will explore how all other rules such as: Keep your hands and feet to yourself or Raise your hand when you want to speak fit into these two rules. Later we will make an “I Can” book. They illustrate “I can be nice.” And “ I can be safe.” We are firm believers in praising their positive behavior. As a class we will earn compliments and special treats throughout the year. We will start counting compliments toward the end of September. If a child is having trouble being nice or safe, we limit their center time, or recess time or give them some time away from the group to help them want to follow our rules and get back to having fun learning with their friends.
If we did not cover an immediate concern of yours, please feel free to call the direct number to our room ( 281-6864) between 7:30 and 8:15 or 2:45 – 3:45. Or leave a message at the office 281-6213. For those of you who prefer email, our school emails are clapperc@billingsschools.org and hansena@billingsschools.org. . Remember when the children are there from 8:25-2:30, We devote all our attention to them. This year we are starting a Blog to keep you informed of our classroom news. The address is:
http://learninginkindergarten.blogspot.com/
Mrs. Hansen has laminated some cards with the address on it so you can connect often and share in our classroom news!
During the next couple days, we will be recording who can pick up each child. We keep a list for guest teachers, also. If the pick up person changes after you have dropped your child off for the day, please call the school and specify that we need the message before 2:15 so we get it before the children leave for the day..
Sincerely,
Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Clapper
p.s. We forgot to ask you to fill out the following paper with your child and paste a picture at the top. Then on the mostly blank page have them draw themselves and write their name in the blank. (You may do this if they need some help) These two papers help us get to know each child and we post them around the room next week so they feel more at home in their new classroom! Please return these ASAP, but by September 1st so we can have them up in time for our Open House. It is from 6:30 – 7:30 on Thursday, September 2nd. Thanks again for reading all this and helping us get your child off to a great start!
