Hello KA Parents,
What a wonderful first week! I was so happy to be able to meet you at the Open House day, and to spend the first transitional day with the students on Thursday and Friday. It is going to be a great group, and a great year! I am looking forward to beginning next week with the whole class together. The transition to full-day school can be a big change for five and six years olds! Don’t be surprised if your child comes home very tired at the end of the day, especially this first month. This means they have been hard at work: playing, learning, and listening!
Throughout the year I will keep in touch with you in many ways, to make sure you know what is happening in kindergarten! I send a weekly update to you via email, and will also post it on our class website, which should be up and running by next week. Please feel free to email any questions you may have! Also, if you haven’t already checked our private classroom Instagram please find us at “kakindofday.” It is a fun and safe way to share pictures and get a glimpse into our classroom! (If your username is not your name, please message me so I know it is you and can accept access.) Also, your child’s folder needs to come back and forth to school in their backpack daily. This will be used to send any papers home from class or the office, as well as homework (coming later). You may send any paperwork to school in their folder and Mrs. Geppert and I will make sure they get to the school office. This includes the brown family envelope.
*IMPORTANT: Due to severe allergies, our classroom is completely NUT-FREE! Please respect this policy for the health and safety of all students, and do not send any peanut or tree nut products in lunches or snacks! This includes granola bars, cookies, etc! Sunflower seed butter (Sunbutter) or soynut butter (Wow butter) are good alternatives if needed for sandwiches.
Drop off and Pick Up:
- Morning procedure- Students line up in parish hall in location marked for KA (the parish hall “opens” at 8:00 with supervision). The teacher or aide will come and get the class when the bell rings. After the first week, we will wave goodbye to parents when the bell rings!
- Afternoon pick-up- Students will be signed out at the back classroom door (by little toy). Only adults on the emergency list or siblings in 3rd grade or older are allowed to sign students out.
**If your child will attend afternoon extension, please let me know which days! Also, if your child will go to extension afterschool you will want to pack an extra snack for the afternoon there.
A couple of other friendly reminders to start the year:
- Our weather can be unpredictable, but the students go outside every day for recess and/or PE. Please make sure to send a weather-appropriate jacket or coat!
- All clothing that can be taken on/off must be labeled with the student’s name! This includes sweaters, vests, sweatshirts, coats, jackets.
- Students may not bring toys from home! (The only exception is when a student has a special show and tell day. More to come on this later.)
Some of you have asked about specific things your student can work on at home. The first few weeks in kindergarten are focused on getting to know each other, learning classroom routines, and primary assessments. Things to work on at home in September include: writing first name (capital letter at the beginning, the other letters lowercase), learning prayers (Our Father, and Blessing Before Meals), and identifying letters and numbers. Our simple weekly homework assignments will begin in a few weeks.
Upcoming dates:
Sept. 5: No school (Labor Day)
Sept. 13: Picture Day
Sept. 14: Parent Night
I feel so blessed to be part of your child’s learning community this year. If you have any questions, please let me know!
Mrs. Katie White
Kindergarten teacher
