Dear All-Star Parents,
The “first day of school” is a great milestone for your child! I understand that you and your child may have met this day with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both). I hope that this letter will help you to know what to expect in kindergarten this year and answer any questions you may have.
I am excited to be working with your child this year and helping him/her to achieve his/her full potential. Below you will find some useful information regarding the upcoming kindergarten year.
Thank you in advance for partnering with me to make your child's year a success! We will be an invaluable team working together with your child's best interest at heart.
Looking forward to the year ahead,
Mrs. Tela Garcia
Parent Communication
Communication between parent and teacher is a vital component to the success of your child. I am always available to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.
My contact information is as follows:
I will check my email periodically throughout the school day and once before leaving school.
Phone – 331-6333 ext. 110
The above number connects you directly to my voice mail. I will retrieve my messages after the students have been dismissed and return your call promptly.
In person –
I am available to meet with you. We can work together to arrange a convenient time either before or after school.
Parent Contact Information
Please keep me informed of any changes regarding your email address, phone number, home address, etc.
School Visitors
Villa Madonna Academy asks that you sign in at the office when entering the building.
Parent Volunteers and Chaperones
The Diocese of Covington and Villa Madonna Academy require that all school volunteers be VIRTUS trained and compliant. Please contact Pat Martin in the school office or watch for information in the family folder for information regarding VIRTUS. It is recommended that you complete the training at the beginning of the school year in order to lend a hand in our classroom or on field trips.
All in-class volunteers and field trip chaperones are asked to make other arrangements for younger siblings during these times.
Report Cards and Communicating Student Progress
Student report cards will be distributed at the end of each trimester. Kindergarten students do not receive progress reports. I will keep you informed of any areas of concern and student achievements. Student report card marks are as follows: I = Independent Skill, DV = Developing Skill, N = Skill Needs Improvement
Student Responsibilities
Please help your child come to school with the needed materials each day. This responsibility is shared by parent and student by checking the backpack each night making sure it is ready with the items needed for the next day (items below). The lack of preparation and/or failure to return assignments will be reflected on the student’s report card.
Please send students with daily materials such as: backpack, daily folder, requested assignments, reading log, rest towel on Monday, library book on Monday, family folder on Thursday, permission slips, materials requested from newsletter, etc.
Homework
Students are responsible for reading 15 minutes nightly, practicing sight words, and completing any papers sent home. Papers that are sent home in the daily folder should be completed that night and returned the next school day. On a weekly basis, students will complete a homework packet that is sent home on Wednesdays and returned each Monday. Homework packets should be completed by the student, written in pencil, and colored (if necessary) in crayon. Students are expected to put forth their best effort while completing homework. The failure to turn in reading logs (due each Friday) and homework will be reflected on the student’s report card.
Lunch and Snack
Students may purchase a school lunch daily for $2.25. This price includes the afternoon snack and drink for kindergarten students. Students may pay with cash, purchase lunch tickets (sold in increments of 10), or make interval payments. If your child packs lunch, please send their lunch with a drink. In addition, please pack a snack and a drink for packers to enjoy in the afternoon. If your child buys a drink for lunch and snack, water is $.50 and milk is $.35.
Water Bottles
Students may bring a pop-top water bottle to school and keep it at their seat. The pop-top lid eliminates spills in the classroom. Please fill the water bottle at home.
Student Conduct Similar to Villa’s other elementary classrooms, KG students will abide by the light change system. Each day students begin with a green light. Frequent, infractions or non-compliance with school or classroom rules will result in a light change. The light system progresses from green to yellow and finally red. A red light results in a parent/teacher communication, a student discussion with the principal, and loss of recess. If students frequently have their light changed to yellow a note, phone call, or email will be sent.
Reading at Home According to the National Center for Education statistics, children who read with their parents have a higher intelligence and reading ability and are better able to comprehend language, improve communication skills, speech recognition, and verbal ability.
Please read with your child at home. During the year, I will be sending home books that we have read within the classroom. Children enjoy reading text several times, as well as reading for audiences. Encourage your child to read to you, their younger siblings, grandma, and grandpa, your pet goldfish, or whoever will listen! Students return reading logs each Friday.
Scholastic Book Clubs Our classroom participates in Scholastic Book Clubs. On a monthly basis, I will be sending home book orders with your child. You can help our classroom earns free books and materials when you purchase books from the order forms. Your child and our classroom thank you in advance for supporting this worthwhile cause.
Learning Centers
Learning centers engage children in discovery experiences. Students are given the opportunity to choose between the 11 centers located within the room. Learning centers include: Library, Writing center, Science center, Math center, Literacy Center, Gross Motor area, Fine Motor area, Computer, Sensory table, Literacy/Spelling center, and the Listening center. During center time, the teacher facilitates learning by posing questions and observing while circulating the room.
Developmental Spelling
Students are encouraged to use developmental spellings. It is true that these spellings are not the traditional spellings found in the dictionary, but they are developmentally appropriate at this age. Students use phonics knowledge to spell words (spell the way the word sounds). This skill allows children to develop a better understanding of letter sound relationships and improve literacy skills.
Sight Words
During the year, students will add new words to our classroom word wall. The same words will be added to the child's word ring. Please keep the word ring in a safe place and practice the sight words with your child on a daily basis. Students will be assessed on their sight words about every two to three weeks. We will be placing these words on our word wall and using them during learning activities at school. On the day of the assessment, please return your child's word ring and a new set of sight words will be added.
Dress Code
Please see the student handbook for details regarding student dress code. Kindergarten students are not required to wear a belt, but are encouraged to begin wearing a belt during the later part of the year.
Student Absence
Please notify the school office (331-6333) of your child's absence. If your child has missed four consecutive days, a doctor's excuse is required upon return to school.
Abscenses due to vacations and travel are strongly discouraged during the school year. Notification of Abscence forms may be picked up in the office and turned in 2 weeks prior to the abscence. Forms must be signed by the teacher and principal to allow students to make up any missed work.
Tardies
Students should arrive, unpack, and enter the room before the morning announcements begin at 8:00 a.m. Students who arrive after this time will be marked tardy. Five tardies within a school year results in a parent/student morning detention beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Communication Folders
Beginning Wednesday, August 13, communication folders will be sent home on a daily basis. I will include notes, student work, etc. within these folders. You may also use the folder to communicate with me in addition to phone or email. On some days the folder may be empty, but please send it back the following day. Check your student's backpack for the communication folder daily.
Family Folders
All school news will be sent home each Wednesday in the Villa Family Folder. Please return the folder in your child's backpack on Thursday.
Website
I will be randomly posting various items (class pictures, news, fun recipes, activities, links, etc.) on our website. So, you may want to check our website with your "All-Star."
Class Newsletter
Our class newsletter, will be uploaded onto the website and sent home in the student's folder on a weekly basis. The newsletter will provide information regarding upcoming events/reminders and information regarding skills on which the students are working.
Birthdays We love to celebrate our friends' birthdays! If you would like, you may send a treat with your child for their birthday. (Please nothing which contains peanut products or ice cream.) We have a total of 15 All-Stars. Our class will celebrate birthdays during afternoon snack. We don’t want anyone to feel excluded, so we can celebrate ½ birthdays for those children whose special day comes during the summer months. Please let me know if you plan on sending something in for a birthday or a ½ birthday the day before the big event.
Party Invitations
In order to be sensitive to students’ feelings, please mail party invitations from your home rather than distribute them at school. However if the party includes the whole class, I will be more than happy to put them in the student’s daily folder.
All-Star of the Week
Beginning in October, an “All-Star of the Week” will be chosen for each full week of school we are in attendance. “All-Stars of the Week” are chosen in random order. I will notify you via email or note the week prior to your child becoming the “All-Star of the Week.” This advance notice will allow time for you and your child to gather 7 or 8 pictures you would like displayed on the board. Some picture ideas include: a baby picture, a vacation picture, a family picture, pictures of pets, etc. Pictures will be returned.
All-Star Class Mascot
Soon, the All-Stars will be involved in the diplomatic process of choosing a name for our class mascot. After we have an opportunity to become acquainted with our new friend in the classroom, he (or she?) will begin their weekend visits to each All-Star’s home. Our mascot will travel in a bag accompanied by a notebook. Our friend, the notebook, and bag will return to school the following Monday after having a great weekend with your child and your family. Along with your adventures for the weekend, you may want to include a digital picture, your child’s drawing, or developmental spelling in the notebook. The stories contained within the notebook are a great way to bridge home and school, as well as promote student interest in one another.
Rest Towels
During the school day, a half hour is allotted for "Rejuvenation time." This time allows the students who need to sleep to do so. Other students who do not want to sleep will have the choice of reading or working on a puzzle while lying down. Our rest time is short, so there is no need to send any additional bedding (i.e. pillows, blankets, stuffed animals). Every Friday the towels will be sent home to be laundered. Please send the towel with your child each Monday morning. As the year progresses, we begin to decrease and ultimately eliminate our rest time each day.
Change of Clothes
In a large ziploc bag, please pack a change of underpants and socks. These items will be kept in the child's backpack in case the need for a change should arise. There are "extra" uniforms kept in the office for such instances. Please return the laundered uniforms at your earliest convenience.
Gym Shoes The All-Stars go to Gym every Tuesday. In order to participate, students must wear shoes that have never been worn outside. These shoes will be housed at school and sent home at the end of the year. Please send new velcro-strap shoes for gym.
Gym Change of Clothes
The children will not need an additional set of clothing for gym.
Student Service Hours
Kindergarten students are required to complete one-hour of community service per year. Community service is a portion of the student’s Religion grade. Community service is to be completed by students after school or on the weekends. Please return service hour forms by April 24, 2009.
Kindergarten Drop-off
Kindergarten students may be dropped off at the Holy Spirit entrance as early as 7:30 a.m. For the first several weeks of school (between 7:30 and 7:45), kindergarten students will be greeted by a junior high school student who will be waiting inside the doors of the entrance. The student volunteers escort the children to the cafeteria. Teachers supervise the students while they are in the cafeteria visiting with their friends/classmates. Mrs. Reutman, Mrs. Wischer, Ms. Brown, or I will meet the children in the cafeteria at 7:45 to lead them to their classroom until they become familiar with the morning routine. If a child is dropped off at the Holy Spirit entrance between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m., the student will make his or her way to the classroom. Students who arrive after 8:00 a.m. should be signed in at the school office.
Kindergarten Pick-up
Students will be dismissed at 2:40 from the Holy Spirit entrance. Students are escorted to the cafeteria at 2:40 where they listen for their carpool number to be called. After hearing their number, students make their way to the Holy Spirit entrance to meet their carpool. Parents are encouraged to pick students up in the carpool line or wait outside the Holy Spirit entrance for dismissal. If your child will be going home with someone other than yourself, please send an email or note with your child that day. If your child attends afterschool care or daycare, please send a note indicating their schedule for the year.