FYI…Importance of Reading to your Children
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Dear Parents:
I would like to welcome you and your child to PreKindergarten. I am looking forward to working with you and
your child. I am sure we will have The Best in the West school
year.
School Supplies
School supplies- You will find the list attached to this letter,
and also on the Sierra Vista Website front page (which has
supply list for all grade-levels at Sierra Vista)
Please note there will be projects we work on during the year
and I will send a note out for the extra things we may need.
Uniforms
It is required for your child to use a uniform. Shirts should be
white, maroon, or teal and MUST have the school logo (THEY
MUST HAVE SHIRTS TUCKED IN AT ALL TIMES) Pants,
shorts, and jumpers/skirts (for girls) need to be black or
khaki. Girls may also wear a plaid jumper or skirt/skort
(maroon/white colored plaid only) The style right now is to
wear leggings under the skirts, skorts, shorts. The school is
only allowing black or white leggings. There is a complete
list of do’s and don’t on the front page of the SVE website.
Also… Please buy your child shoes with Velcro if possible. Their
tiny little fingers are still developing muscles and it is hard for
them to tie their own shoes at this point. It will be easier for
them to try later on during the school year.
Homework
During the week, I will send home a few worksheets I think
they could benefit from doing to help them with a particular
skill or concept. It will be attached to one of the composition
book. Instructions will be included on the worksheet.
Children develop literacy skills and an awareness of language long
before they are able to read.4
Since language development is fundamental to all areas of learning,
skills developed early in life can help set the stage for later school
success. By reading aloud to their young children, parents help them
acquire the skills they will need to be ready for school.5
Young children who are regularly read to have a larger vocabulary,
higher levels of phonological, letter name, and sound awareness, and
better success at decoding words.6 The number of words in a child’s
vocabulary can be an important indicator of later academic success.
Children’s vocabulary use at age three is a strong predictor of language
skill and reading comprehension at age 9-10.7 Further, vocabulary use
in first grade can predict more than 30 percent of eleventh-grade
reading comprehension.8,9 Children who lack a strong foundation of
language awareness and literacy skills early in life are more likely to
fall behind in school10, and are more likely to drop out.11 Shared
parent-child book reading during children's preschool years leads to
higher reading achievement in elementary school12, as well as greater
enthusiasm for reading and learning.13
Principal’s 25 book club- please see below for more info.
After the students have read 25 books, they will be
recognized (picture taken and displayed for the whole school
to see) At the end of the year, the students who have been
enter into the Principal’s 25 Book Club, they will receive a
medal at the Award’s ceremony. Students are still encouraged
to read more for the Principal’s book club. They also have the
chance to receive the top reader for the PreK grade-level.
If you would be interested in your child entering the
Principal’s 25 Book Club, I will send one of the
Composition books home for them to use.For each
book you read to them, they will need to draw and
color a picture of their favorite part of the book.
You will need to include the Name of the Book, the
Author of the book and write down what the
student’s drew as their favorite part. After the
students have done 25 book reports (the pictures
from the books you read them, please send in the
Composition book and I will send to the office.) If
you have any questions, please let me know.
Attendance & Tardies
It is very important for your child’s education that he/she
attends class everyday on time. Your kids are only at school for
three hours each day, so please make dentist appointments,
etc. after 10:45 am. Of course if your child needs to be
absent, please send a note to me, an email or a doctor’s note
explaining the reason for the absence. Please be aware that if
your child is absent more than 3 consecutive days, they need a
doctor’s note for the absence to be excused. AND… if your
child is absent more than 10 total days, every time they are
absent after that, they will need a doctor’s note for the
absence to be excused.
It is very important that your child be on time. School begins
promptly at 7:45. There are two bells that sound before the
7:45 bell (1st Bell- signals me to pick up students, 2nd Bell- I am
picking up students to take to the classroom.
3rd Bell- signals me that anyone who enters the building after
that will be counted tardy.
“Lining Up” & “Dismissal” Procedures
Your child will need to be in line by 7:35 a.m..
Each day I will pick your child up on the South side of the
school on the Basketball courts. If it is a rainy day, we will
have students come into the school and wait outside the
classroom.
School is dismissed at 10:45.am. We will exit through the
doors in front of the school You will need to park in the
parking lot on the Southeast side of the school.
Please be on time, the students still do not understand the
concept of time and even if you are a couple of minutes late, to
them it is an eternity and they become sad and scared.
I know emergencies do arise, please let the office know if you
will be more than 5 minutes late. The school phone number is
937-8100. They will let me know as soon as we dismiss the
students.
Should you need to pick up your child early from school, please
sign them out in the office.
Breakfast
We will be serving breakfast in the classroom each day.
There will be a district menu on-line on the district
website.
If you are interested in volunteering here at school,
Please be sure to fill out the volunteer background
information located in the front of the school.
Birthdays- If you would like to bring in a special treat for your
child’s birthday, please send in cookies or doughnuts because
cupcakes are very messy! The state of Texas only allows for
us to celebrate for the last 15 minutes of the day.
Allowable Treat Days
During the school year there will be a few days that are
allowable treat days. On those days, I will send a note to sign
up for treats and eats!
Communication
I will be sending home a Parent Letter at least once a month. I also
update my webpage quite often. It will always have all Parent Letters
available. You will go to www.sisd.net Click on Schools to find Sierra
Vista. Click on visit site. Click on Faculty to find my name. Look on left
side to find the link for PK Newsletters.
Please send me your email address as soon as possible. Many times
there is last minute information you may not get since the students go
home at 10:45am. If I have your email, I can always send a quick email
to provide you with the most up-to-date info.My email is below.
If you ever need to meet with me, my conference time will be from
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 2:45-3:30 pm. You may also call me to
arrange other times. I look forward to meeting you! This will be a
great year full of learning experiences!! If you ever need to contact
me please call me at 937-8160 or e-mail me at jheadl@sisd.net.
Thank you,
Mrs. Headley