Kindergarten
Parent
Information
WELCOME!!!
This is the beginning of one of the most important
milestones of your child’s life—the first day of Kindergarten!
I understand that you and your child may have met this
day with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both!)
and I hope that this information packet will help you to
know what to expect in Kindergarten this year and answer
any questions you may have.
We are looking forward to working with your child
this year and helping them achieve his/her full potential.
Parent/Teacher
Relationship
I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary
for maximum school success. Throughout the year, I will
communicate with you through notes, telephones calls,
weekly newsletters, progress reports, quarterly report
cards. I encourage you to contact me at any time if you
have any questions or concerns. Listed below is the school
phone number where I can be reached from 2:30-3:30 pm.
I also have voicemail, which we usually check after school,
so please leave me a message during the school hours (8:002:30 pm) and I will call you back! Please do not leave
messages on the voicemail about changes in
transportation for your child. You may also contact me
by school email.
brives.tway@lee.k12.nc.us
School 718-0170 ext. 4102
Powerschool
Parent Portal is a great way to
keep up with your child’s grades
throughout their time in Lee
County Schools. In order to gain
access to this online tool you
must complete the Parent Portal
application, return it to the
office with a valid picture ID,
and receive a user ID and
password.
st
1
Quarter Goals
Please see the
st
attached list of 1
quarter skills and
st
our 1 quarter
pacing guide.
Letterland
Letterland is a child-friendly phonics program used to teach
reading, writing and spelling. Children are taught shapes and
sounds of letters by assigning them imaginary names and
shapes and presenting them as living in the fictional land of
Letterland.
This Includes:
• Fast track of letters A-Z
• Consonant Sounds (A-Z)
• Word building using a, e, i, o, u, ch, ck, sh, th, th, ng
• Onset and Rimes
• Word Families with short a, e, i, o, u
• Consonant Blends
• Long vowels and Silent Magic
• Vowel Men Out Walking
• r-controlled vowels
Sight Words
• Kindergarten is using a set of new sight words this year involving
a systematic sight word approach to instruction. Your child will
learn at least 120 sight words this year with the potential of
learning 200+ words. Our goal is to differentiate and challenge
each child without getting to their frustration level.
• We will introduce a new list each week starting the week of
August 3rd. Recognition of these words will help your child with
reading and writing. Grades will be taken throughout the year on
their sight word recognition.
• Each Monday, I will send home flashcards to be cut out and used
at home for practice. Due to the importance of learning these
words, you are given a list of activities you can do at home with the
flashcards given.
Thank you for your help with this at home!!
Assessments and Grades
•
•
Numeric Grades will be given for Math and Reading – these
grades will alternate between grades taken in the classroom and
parent reports. No grade lower than a 60 will be given. All other
subjects will receive a grade of S=Satisfactory, N=Needs
Improvement, or U=Unsatisfactory.
Every week your child will be assessed on kindergarten skills. These
skills will vary from week to week. The parent report will come home
every Friday in the homework folder. Please go over the results
with your child and practice skills not mastered. Grades for our
report card will be taken from these assessments. It is
imperative that quarterly skills are practiced at home to ensure your
child is mastering them. We will work daily at school on skills but
your help at home builds confidence and shows your child that school
work is important. The parent reports should always be signed and
returned the following Monday in the homework folder! These will
be kept on file in a portfolio of your child’s work throughout the
year.
Parent Participation
•
Throughout the year, there will be a variety of special
classroom activities, field trips, and celebrations. I encourage
you to attend these functions when possible. You are always
welcome in our classroom. Please remember to always use
the front entrance of the school and sign in at the office
before coming to the classroom. You will be given the
opportunity to send in needed supplies and/or treats for these
occasions. We will appreciate any help you can give! Your
support of these school activities makes your child feel
important and sends a positive message about their time at
school!
•
We also welcome any parent who would like to volunteer to
help children with their academic progress. We have several
games and activities that you can use to work with a child who
may need one-on-one help, or that you can use to work with
groups of children who may need extra help on a certain skill.
Daily Folder
Your child’s Daily Folder is the communication link from school to home. Please make sure you
check your child’s daily folder each night (even on Fridays). Inside the folder you will find any
notes, information, newsletters, etc. about what is going on in our classroom and the school.
Notes from the principal, PTO, and the teacher will be sent in this folder as well as your child’s
daily behavior form, progress reports, and report cards.
There will also be a Daily Kindergarten Report (Parent/Teacher Communication/Homework
sheet) inside your child’s folder, which will give you an idea of what kind of day your child had at
school. It might have a written comment or it could just be a smiley face. Please make sure you
discuss with your child their day and sign the Daily Kindergarten Report each night. Please
return any homework in the folder. Please do not remove the report from the folder. We like to
keep these on file. There will also be a Behavior Log the children color each day for the
quarter. Please do not take these out, they will be used to track behavior in their Data
Notebooks.
If you have any notes for us about sickness, changes in transportation, appointments, and money
for prepaid lunch, field trips or book orders please put it inside the folder in a labeled envelope.
We will check these folders each morning. Once again we do not check book bags!!
Weekly Newsletters
A classroom newsletter will come home
most Monday’s in your child’s homework
folder! Please read the newsletter
because the newsletter will keep you
updated on what your child will be
learning in class in the upcoming week
as well as important school dates and
information.
Code of Conduct
We feel strongly that it is important to have a classroom
environment that is safe and is conducive to learning for all
children. We feel it is vital that all parties (parents,
students, and teachers) agree and understand the
importance of good behavior in school. I will not tolerate any
child keeping another child from learning in the classroom. I
want all of the children to feel they are loved, respected,
and valued in our class. There will be many rewards and
incentives for good behavior, but there will also be
consequences for unacceptable behaviors. Refer to clip
chart.
Code of Conduct
• As a reward we will have Treasure Box
throughout each month. Students will
get the opportunity to choose
something from the box. We would ask
that parents donate prizes for this.
Take your child shopping with you and
let them pick things they would like. A
good place for this is Dollar Tree, WalMart, Family Dollar, etc. We would also
appreciate individually wrapped candy
for our candy jar.
Leader in Me
• Data notebooks are a vital part of our
students' learning. Every child,
kindergarten through fifth grade, has
a data notebook. These are tools used by
students to set and help to achieve
academic and personal goals.
•
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC3SuQeQ84o
Illnesses
You know your child better than anyone else and we trust
that you will make decisions about your child’s health,
which will be best for all involved. We do encourage you to
keep your child at home if they are running a fever of if
they have been up during the night with a stomach virus.
A good rule of thumb is 24 hours free of fever or virus
symptoms. Kindergarten is a particularly rough year for
children and sickness. Although we stress attendance, we
would rather have your child miss one day and avoid
spreading the germ to the other children and teachers in
the classroom.
Changes in Transportation
If you plan to pick up a child that normally rides the
bus or if there is any change whatsoever to their
normal mode of transportation – YOU MUST SEND A
WRITTEN NOTE! Do not rely on your child to tell us
the information because children often become
confused or relay messages incorrectly. If no written
note is received, then your child will be sent home by
his/her usual method of transportation. You may call
the school if there is an emergency transportation
change. Do NOT leave a voicemail message about
transportation. Make sure you speak directly to one
of the teachers or the secretary directly.
Bus Stop Changes
A bus transportation form needs to
be filled out if there is a change
Please allow three days for this
change to be processed
You will be notified when the change
has been approved
Morning Drop-Offs
No child should be left on campus before 7:30 am!! School begins at
8:00 am and the tardy bell rings at 8:05 am. If your child is late,
please make sure he/she goes by the office to get a tardy slip.
Your child must arrive before 8:00 am to purchase breakfast in the
cafeteria.
Car riders are let off at the back and will go directly to the gym to wait
for their teachers or report to the cafeteria to eat breakfast if needed.
The children are grouped according to grade level so your child will not be
with older children. Teachers on duty will monitor your child until we pick
them up from the gym around 7:55 am. Our principal, Mrs. Beal, has asked
if you walk your child into the school, please say goodbye in the lobby.
Bus riders get off the buses at the front of the school and are directed
to the cafeteria or gym by teachers on duty in the back lobby and
hallways.
Car Riders
•
Please put your child’s name in the window of your car on a white
sheet of paper as you pick up your child at the back of the school
building. This helps speed up the process for the name caller.
Seven numbers are positioned along the poles to allow seven cars to
be loaded at one time. A teacher will be on the sidewalk to monitor
the children and help them in the cars. Your child will go to the
number the caller designates. Please stay in the line and drive to
that cone and wait for your child to be loaded. Please do not buckle
your child in the line, pull on around to the front of the school if
you need to do that.
•
Car riders will not be taken to the front of the school. If you are
picking up your child for an appointment, please try to sign them
out in the front office before 2:00. Parents are not allowed to pick
up children in the breezeway. All parents must drive around in the
car line.
YMCA
YMCA students are walked to their designated spots
after the school day ends.
Signing In and Out
Children will be counted present if they are signed in
before 11:30 am and if they are signed out because of
sickness or appointments after 11:30 am. Children may
not be signed out from school after 2:00 pm.
School Lunch
We will send home a lunch menu monthly. Two meat choices, vegetables and
fruit are offered each day. You may want to help your child decide in
advance what he/she wants to order. We will take their lunch order each
morning as part of our morning procedures. Your child may also choose to
bring a lunch box with a drink or they can purchase milk.
You may alternate buying lunch or bringing a lunch box depending on the menu
choices and your child’s eating habits.
Prepaid lunch dates are listed in the school handbook. This is truly the easiest
way to handle paying for your child’s lunch. The money is put into an account
for your child to draw upon. They will receive a lunch number that they will
use to “withdraw” their money. If you are interested in receiving free and
reduced lunch, fill out the Free/Reduced Lunch Form and return it to us on
the first day of school. Please let us know if you already have a child here at
Tramway that is receiving free or reduced prices.
Activities in the Classroom
Outdoor Recess
The children will be going out for recess everyday unless it is
raining or extremely hot or cold outside. Please keep this in
mind when helping your child select their clothing and shoes for
the day. It is very helpful if the children wear tennis shoes
each day to school. No open toe or open heel shoes are
allowed. No flip-flops are allowed to be worn to school.
Daily Snack
We eat lunch around 10:55 am each day. Since it is early in the
school day, we know that the children need a snack in the
afternoon. Please send one snack with your child. This can be
fruit, crackers, chips, etc. You may also send a juice box or
water bottle. We do not allow candy or sodas for snack. We do
not provide snacks for children who do not bring one.
All Money for School
—MUST DO!
On occasion, it will be necessary for your
child to bring money to school. Please always
send the money in a sealed envelope or baggie
labeled with your child’s name and what the
money is for. Place the envelope or baggie in
your child’s Daily Folder. We do not check
book bags!
Birthdays
Birthdays are special occasions for young
children. We allow a birthday snack during
normal snack-time, which is around 1:30pm.
Please let us know by note if you plan to
celebrate your child’s birthday with a snack
for the whole class. We suggest a cupcake
and a juice box. All food must be
purchased from the store or bakery –
school policy does not allow homemade
snacks. Also we can not send birthday
invitations at school unless the entire class
is invited to the party.
Activities in the Classroom
• During your child’s Kindergarten year we will be doing many
special projects and activities. We have listed some below.
• Memory Album – We will be keeping a memory album of your
child’s first year of school. In order for us to do this we ask
that you send in:
• *Decorative/Seasonal 8 ½ by 11 paper
• *Colored copy paper and cardstock
• *10 dollars for the cost of film developing and the memory
books
• If you do not want a memory album please let us know.
PTO Fund - Raisers
Working at the PTO Thrift shop is an excellent way to help our school
raise money. Each classroom is responsible for 9 hours worked at the
store. If you or a grandparent can volunteer at least one hour during the
school year to work it would help our school earn money. For every hour
worked by Tramway parents/grandparents our school earns money that
goes directly to the classroom to buy needed supplies.
Fundraiser – Several items are sold during this fund-raiser such as giftwrap, candy, etc. This fundraiser will begin on July 31st and run through
August 17th . An information packet will be sent home on July 31st .
Box Tops
In Closing
I would like to say that I am looking forward to a great year
with your child. I realize this is a lot of information to take
in at one time. If at any time you have a question, please do
not hesitate to ask. I am sure we are going to have a
wonderful year and I would like to thank you in advance for
your help and support throughout the coming year!