Dear Parents,
I need to let you know several important things.
First of all, I want to remind everyone that
clear or mesh backpacks are required.
Your first-graders should NOT bring:
3-ring binders, mechanical or stay-sharp
pencils, pencil sharpeners, markers, or colored pencils (I really don’t
mind if
they have colored pencils, but they need to use crayons to do their
coloring).
Gym days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please make sure your child wears or brings
tennis shoes those days. Library day is Friday,
so please remind your child to have library books back to school on
that day.
Please consider joining our PTO. We have a very wonderful and active PTO and
appreciate them very much! If you have
not yet joined, I will send a form out to you. Also, please
consider taking advantage of our SMART clinic - information will
be available the first of the school year.
Remember that we need a note each time a child is either
absent or tardy. These
notes will be kept on file. Whenever a
child has an excused absence, he/she has the same number of days plus
one more
to make up missed class work. The office keeps up with excessive absences, tardies, and early
dismissals and will notify you of concerns.
Please read over the school handbook carefully.
It includes costs of meals and school
hours. I want to urge you to get your
child to school by 7:40. This is the
time the children are allowed to come to the classrooms.
Even though tardy is after 8:00, I always
have a little activity of some type for them to start on and it is a
time to
get pencils sharpened and notes turned in.
The closer to 8:00 they come, the less time they will have to
get
prepared for the school day, including the activity they must complete. If they arrive before 7:40, they need to go
to the cafeteria or gym where teachers are on duty.
They may find some friends to sit with in their grade level or
may
choose to have breakfast. After
the first week of school, first graders are expected to be walking into
school
on their own - they grow up so fast during this important year!!
I will be sending home two “pick up” cards for each child
who gets picked up from school. These
cards, once they are sent home, need to be placed in the dash window
when
picking up your child. If there is no
pick up card, you will have to park your vehicle and go to the office
to sign
your child out. This includes not just
grandparents and friends, but parents also.
This is for security purposes.
So, if you need more than two cards, please let me know - it’s a
good
idea to get one for every vehicle.
It’s important that I know how to get in touch with you
each day. If your phone number or work
changes, please let me know ASAP so we can keep all records updated. This goes for any changes that need to be
made on emergency or pick up information also (any information that
changes on
the pick-up authorization needs to be physically changed and initialed
by you
in the office). Please remember that if
you didn’t have your child’s social security number or the $15.00 for
class
activities and materials during registration, we need that ASAP.
A class newsletter will be sent home each Friday and all
important information for our class and the school can be found in it. Our class also has a website - go to www.sps.sevier.org then click onto faculty & websites,
then click the icon next to my name. Remeber
to bookmark our site! The
newsletter, important dates, links to activities, and schedules can be
found
there, along with a few laughs!
My assistant’s name is Judy Ogle and the children call
her “Mrs. Judy” - she is available for any questions about basic
classroom
procedures, payment of field trips and other monies, and other
pertinent
information about events happening in the school and classroom. She will refer you to me when asking about a
child’s progress or behavior. If you
happen to stop in or call and I am busy with the children, she will be
happy to
take any message or information and give it to me so I can get back to
you as
soon as possible. She is wonderful and
your children will love her!
Lunch time this year is from 11:15-11:45. If
you would like to have lunch with your
child, please be here by 11:10. Remember
to always check in at the office and get a visitor’s pass before coming
to the
room. The children may bring snacks for
recess in the afternoon. We
also sell snacks - baked
chips and crackers for .50 cents and fruit breeze freezes for
$1.00. Ice cream is available at lunchtime for .75 cents.
The children are allowed to have water bottles in my
classroom (water only please) during the school day.
At times it gets cool in the room, so you may
want to send a sweater that can be kept at school in your child’s cubby. Chapstick is another item that many children
may need during school, especially in the winter. That
is fine with me and the children can
just keep up with their own in their desk.
Please make sure that each time money is sent to be turned
in (not lunch money) that it is in an envelope or ziplock with your
child’s
name on it. Many times we can not get to
the money until things settle and we want to make sure we know whose
money we
have. The children will be responsible
for taking care of their own lunch money.
You can also choose to prepay the cafeteria for meals. The children usually do a good job with their
money, though. They are expected to
leave it in their backpack until time for lunch.
The first grading period is a period of adjustment for
first graders. Therefore, you will
notice just checks and smiles on their papers for the first 6 weeks
along with
occasional notes. At times you may see
E-excellent, S-satisfactory, N-needs improvement, or U-unsatisfactory. Spelling will not start until Tuesday, Sept. 8. The children will occasionally bring
home papers for homework. This
helps to reinforce the skills we have been working on at school. Reading homework will be given most nights
once we begin our readers.
Throughout the school year (once a month) we will be
putting an order in for “Seesaw” books.
I will write the due date on the order forms.
I’ve used this book club for 29 years now and
the children have always enjoyed the books.
Checks should be made out to “Scholastic Book Clubs”.
I have attached several papers. The
manuscript paper is for you to keep at
home to monitor your child’s writing.
The medication form is to be sent if your child ever needs to
take
medication at school. Medication needs
to be brought to school in the original package by an adult. Also attached is my discipline policy. Please review it with your child (we have
discussed it in class) and sign the bottom portion to return to school.
Starting first grade is quite an adjustment for children,
especially those who are used to staying only half a day in
kindergarten. They now have their own desk
to take care of,
supplies to keep up with, and eventually homework to be responsible for. Please remember to be very patient with your
child during this big change and let me know if there is anything I can
do to
make it easier for your child.
Susan Wilson
