Welcome Franklin Families Benjamin Franklin Elementary School – Lake Washington School District

General Information I attended Ben Franklin Elementary as a student, Rose Hill Junior, and graduated from Lake Washington High School Ben Franklin Elementary School starts at 8:55 – beware the parking lot – setting good habits Currently about 450 students Diverse academic programs – General Education & Learning Center Program Music and PE twice a week and Library once a week for 30 minutes each session Involved parent community and highly supportive PTA Segway to Emily Brown for the PTA portion and what incoming families can look forward to – events, fundraising, join PTA, volunteering, etc.

Registration Information Registration will open on February 1st from 1:00-7:00 p.m. here at Ben Franklin – Kindergarten in the LWSD will be free all day kindergarten Registration continues through the beginning of the school year in September Please bring the following items: Proof of child’s birthdate such as a birth certificate or passport Child’s immunizations Emergency contact information Proof of residency such as an energy bill with your current address, lease agreement, or mortgage statement Turn it over to Ann Coon for further details and answers to questions

WAKIDS Assessment WaKIDS uses an observational, whole-child assessment tool that helps teachers measure student knowledge, skills and behaviors that have been shown to predict future school success There are six areas of development and learning that are assessed: Social-Emotional Physical Language Cognitive Literacy Mathematics Will take place within the first 2-3 weeks in September 2017 in class

Family Connection Provides the opportunity for families to meet individually with their child’s kindergarten teacher at the beginning of the school year The one-on-one meetings are intended to welcome students and parents to school and provide a safe environment for families to speak freely with the teacher. Our family connection days are September 4-7, 2018. Teachers will work with families in August to schedule their days/times. The first day of school for all kindergarten students will be Monday, September 10, 2018.

Tips for Parents Work with scissors and practice cutting every day Practice holding a pencil correctly (A great practice tool is to pick sunflower seeds out of a sunflower with a pair of tweezers or something similar) Help your student to recognize the numbers from 1 to 20 (Count orally to 100, name numbers to 10, write numbers 1-20) Work on letters – particularly letter recognition Help your student to learn to write the letters of the alphabet from top to bottom NOT bottom to top Help your student to write their first name with an upper case letter at the beginning and lowercase throughout the rest of it.

Tips for Parents Knowing how you are getting home (bus, after school care, parent is picking up, etc.) Practice going to school during the summer. Set bed time, wake up time, breakfast, morning routines, and then literally come to school to get into line before 8:55. Walk around the campus and get familiar with the layout Work with your student on feeding themselves and actually eating their food

Tips for Parents Play board games as often as possible Work on social skills: Taking turns Play the game properly Don’t let them win Help them problem solve Keep hands, feet, and body to yourself Work on putting on a coat and taking it off by themselves Using the bathroom Following directions Practice sitting for 10-15 minutes giving their attention to a story or to someone else

Resources for Parents Lake Washington School District Webpage www.lwsd.org For parents page http://www.lwsd.org/Parents/Pages/Default.aspx Ben Franklin Webpage http://franklin.lwsd.org/ OSPI Webpage – WAKIDS Information http://www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS/default.aspx

Contact Information Jimmy Cho – Ben Franklin Principal jcho@lwsd.org 425-936-2550 Ryan Scott – Ben Franklin Associate Principal rscott@lwsd.org Ann Coon – Ben Franklin Registrar acoon@lwsd.org Emily Brown – Ben Franklin PTA President president@mybenfranklinpta.org

Questions?