Orientation+Packet

Moss Hill Elementary School Kindergarten Orientation Packet Sarah Hughes – Teacher Janet Lambert – Teacher assistant

WELCOME!!!

My name is Mrs. Sarah Hughes, and I would like to welcome you and your child to Kindergarten! I am extremely excited about working with you and your little one this school year. We have a fun and busy year ahead of us. I encourage you to savor each moment, take lots of pictures, write down quotes in their scrapbooks because this year is going to fly by very fast! This year will be a year of tremendous growth for your child. You will be amazed at how much he/she will learn and grow in just one year! COMMUNICATION

It is very important that we communicate about everything that is occurring in your child’s education. If there is ever a situation that needs to be discussed, I will contact you as soon as possible. Feel free to contact me with any concerns, questions, or comments. You may call me at school at 252-569-5071. The best times to reach me at school are 7:45 – 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. You can also contact me by email at shughes@lenoir.k12.nc.us or through our class webpage at __ www.mrs-hughes-k-class.wikispaces.com __. Please do not hesitate to call or email me. It is important that we work together so that your child can have a successful year! SCHOOL HOURS

School begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. If your child will be a car rider, he/she will need to be dropped off at the doors by the cafeteria from 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. We have staff on duty in the cafeteria that will wait with the car riders and then see them to their class at 8:00 a.m. All students should be in their classrooms by 8:00 a.m. The tardy bell will ring at 8:10 a.m. If your child arrives at school after this bell has rung, you are required to take the child in through the lobby and sign him/her in at the office. ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES

It is very important that you try to have your child present at school every day. It is also equally important that he/she is on time for school. In the event that your child misses a day of school, please send a note the day he/she returns stating the date and reason for absence. The day your child returns to school we will place an absent form is their folder to determine the reason for being absent if we do not receive a note from you stating this information. We must have this note for school records. TRANSPORTATION

If you plan for your child to travel from school differently than he/she usually does (ride a different bus or be picked up by someone else), you must send a written note to advise us of this. Please do not rely on your child to tell us the information. If no note is written, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.

VISITING THE CLASSROOM

If you plan to visit your child’s classroom, you must follow our school’s policy by signing in at the office. You will then receive a visitor’s pass and will be directed to your child’s classroom. We gladly welcome parent volunteers and will be discussing opportunities for you to do this at a later time. BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays are special events, and we like to give the parents the option of sending or bringing **__simple__** treats to school on your child’s birthday. However, this has to be approved by the principal prior to the event. Please make sure you send a note several days in advance, so we can get this to the office for approval. Having a party for your child is optional. Birthdays and parties will be at 2:00. CHANGE OF CLOTHES

Please send a **__complete__** set of clean clothes (shirt, pants, underwear, and socks) to school in a **__labeled__** plastic bag. This is for us to keep on hand in the event of spills or accidents. Dirty clothes that are sent home will need to be replaced with a clean set for school as soon as possible.

SNACKS

We will have a small snack each afternoon. Please send a snack to school each day for your child. Please do not send any drinks or juices to school with their snacks. This can get really messy in their book bags and in the classroom. The children will be allowed to get water from the water fountain after snack time.

LUNCH


 * __All students will receive free breakfast and lunch this year. Al a carte items will not be free. If your child would like to purchase any of these items please send money in an envelope with their name and lunch number labeled on the front.__** If you choose for your child to bring his/her lunch, please make sure to label the lunch box with his/her name.

Your child will have a lunch number they will need to remember. We will place this number in your child’s folder the first week of school. Please practice learning this number with your child! You also have the option to go online to use your credit card to add money to your child’s lunch account.** The link for this site is [|www.lenoir.k12.nc.us]. Once you are on this site, click on the link that says “school lunch prepay.”

SUPPLY LIST


 * 12 each Glue Sticks
 * 2 boxes Crayons (24 count)
 * 2 each Plastic Folders (**NO** brads or binders)
 * 1 container Clorox Wipes
 * 2 boxes Baby Wipes
 * 1 box Kleenex
 * 2 rolls Paper Towels
 * 1 each Bookbag (**NO** rolling bookbags)
 * 1 pack No. 2 Pencils
 * 1 70-Page Spiral Notebook (wide rule)
 * 1 pair Headphones (no ear buds or L-shaped plugs)
 * 1 box of quart size Ziploc Bags
 * 1 bottle of Elmer’s School Glue

*****Wish list*****(These items are not required.) Extra boxes of Kleenex Bag of individually wrapped candy – to be used for treats for the students 1 box of letter size envelopes

FOLDERS

Please look in your child’s book bag every day as we will be sending home your child’s work/homework folder on a daily basis. This folder will contain his/her daily work and any homework they are to complete. The folder will need to be sent back to school each day. Make sure to take completed and checked work from the folder daily. This will help us keep the folders neat and organized. You can check our webpage if the homework calendar is misplaced. **If you need to send us a note, please place this in your child’s folder. This will hopefully prevent any notes from getting lost. You will also find any notes that I send to you in your child’s folder. Also, when sending money to school, please enclose the money in an envelope labeled with your child’s name and place this in your child’s folder.**


 * Homework**

Homework will be assigned weekly. There is a homework calendar located in your child’s folder and will need to be checked daily. The homework calendar will be telling you exactly what your child will be doing for homework that night. If there is a worksheet to be completed for homework it will also be located in your child’s folder in front of the homework calendar.
 * Volunteers**

If you plan to volunteer or visit your child’s classroom, please check in at the office and get a visitor's pass.

AGENDAS

Each student will be given an agenda. We will be using the agendas throughout the course of the year to inform you of your child’s behavior while at school. Parents are to look in their child’s agenda and sign it each night. Agendas will need to be sent to school each day. Weekly drawings will be held on Friday’s for an ice cream treat for those students who have had their agendas signed every night of the week. Agenda usage is required among all students at Moss Hill Elementary School.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

I have high expectations of all of my students. I expect them to always try their hardest, to be a good citizen, and to follow the classroom rules. This will ensure that they are not only being provided with a classroom environment that is conducive for learning, but ensures they are helping provide this type of learning environment. Our classroom rules and school rules are attached to this document. Please review these rules carefully and discuss them with your child. In our classroom, we use a stoplight system to help the children visually see how their day is going. Each child will start off on the green light. A green stamp will be placed in the child’s agenda if there were no behavior problems for that day. If a child is misbehaving and not following the class rules, they will receive a verbal warning. If the child continues to misbehave, they will be moved to the yellow light. In this event, the child will receive a yellow dot in their agenda with an explanation of the behavior issue that day. If the behavior persists, the child will be moved to red. When put on the red light, the child will receive a red dot in their agenda with an explanation of their behavior. If the child continues to behave inappropriately and they are already on the red light, the parent/caregiver will be called. We will also be having a class Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS). When the class as a whole receives 10 tiger grams, they will be able to vote as a class what kind of reward they would enjoy. Such rewards could be extra play time, popcorn and a movie, game time, ect. Tiger grams can be written by other teachers and staff who have observed the class doing something very well or I will issue one for seeing the same behavior. Fighting and/or disruptive behaviors will result in the immediate removal of the child from the classroom. The child will be taken to the principal’s office and his/her parent/caregiver will be called. Always check your child’s agenda to see what light your child was on for that day. **Please remember to sign the agenda each night.** If your child has a green stamp, then he/she was on green for the day. If your child got on the yellow light, you will find a yellow dot in his/her agenda, along with an explanation of what happened. If your child was on red at the end of the day, you will see a red dot in his/her agenda and an explanation of what happened. We like to reward children for their good behavior. At the end of the month anyone who has received all green lights will be allowed to get a treat out of the “Treasure Chest.” We are very excited about working with you and your child and are looking forward to a successful year! We appreciate your support! Sincerely,

Class Rules

1. Pay attention

2. Use listening ears

3. Hands and feet to self

4. Be your best

5. Treat others how you want to be treated

Your child will get very used to hearing me say “give me 5.” When they hear me say this, they will be expected to hold up five fingers. This is a strategy that I use to help my students constantly remember the 5 rules they are expected to follow. I feel if they are frequently reminded of the rules, they will be less apt to break them.

School Rules

Trustworthy

Involved

Good manners

Encouraging

// Respect //

Self control