Dear Kindergarten Parents,
Welcome to St. Pats Kindergarten Jungle! We are looking forward to a great year with you and your child. Hopefully, after reading this lengthy letter most of your questions will have been answered. If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We want this to be a smooth transition for you as well as your child.
First of all, school begins at 8:15. All who arrive before 7:45 should report to morning care. Students should be dropped off in the designated parking lot by the cafeteria- there will be monitors making sure the students get to class. Please do not drop students off in front of church. Dismissal will be in front of the church at 2:45- please use the car line in picking up your child. On rainy days the students will need to be picked up from the classroom.
In addition to lunch each day-except early dismissal days- we have 2 snacks. Please send a snack for morning and afternoon- the healthier, the better!
There will be frequent information coming home each week. On Monday of each week, your child will receive a Homefun packet with that week’s agenda and practice work. Please post the Homefun sheet where it can be referred to during the week and return practice work when completed by the end of the week- unless specified earlier. Your child will receive a green folder the first day to take home. This will be his/her daily folder to communicate back and forth from school. Please see that it is reviewed and emptied each day- and return with any communication, monies… please help your child in being responsible in returning it each day. The students will be collecting stickers in their folders for good behavior and returning their folder daily.
Academics consist of structured phonics/reading, writing and math. Many themes are covered throughout the year in the areas of social studies, science and religion. These themes are often carried out in the areas of language arts and math as well. Progress/Interim reports will go home three times during the year. Report cards will also go home three times -at the end of each grading period.
As for discipline- it’s quite simple. We are introduced to the basic classroom/ overall school rules during the first week. Reinforcements to review rules are a continuous process in Kindergarten. To help the student understand the appropriateness of their behavior, I use a variety of methods. Each child has a little monkey with their name on it. If their monkey stays in the tree- the rules were followed for the day. If rules are broken the monkey comes out of the tree to vine #1, this being followed by vines #2 and #3. If your child is at #3 at the end of the day- “A Monkeying Around” note will go home explaining the problem(s) that occurred. Please discuss negative behavior, sign and return note the next day. Other methods consist of praise, special privileges, treats… every day your child keeps his/her monkey in the tree a sticker is earned in the daily folder. Children are rewarded for the amount earned at the close of the school year.
Each month a classroom newsletter will be sent home with an overview of information for the month. The office will communicate through our website- very important that you check it daily. The office will gladly furnish you with hard copies if you do not have access to a computer. Hopefully, you’ll stay in tune to the happenings at school. My school email is – afreitas@stpatrick-largo.org or call the school at 581-4865. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Once again-Welcome to the Kindergarten Jungle!!
Mrs. Freitas & Mrs. Mendelsohn