Welcome to Kindergarten! Parent Meeting

First Day of School All parents and children are to meet in their assigned classrooms between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. It is very important that an adult brings your kindergartener the first day of school. You may come in and assist your child in putting away his/her backpack, finding his/her desk, and you may take pictures. Please make sure to fill out the “First Day of School Form.” We ask that all parents leave by 8:05 so we are on-time to PE.

Arriving at School After the first day of school, no Kindergartener should be in the classroom before school starts. Students who are dropped off from 7:30-7:50 should go to Room 24 in the K wing for supervision, or go to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Students dropped off between 7:20- 7:30 need to go to the cafeteria or gym. Students are not to wait under the covered area on the picnic tables, and should not be walking around the halls or sidewalks. After the first day, parents will not be allowed to walk your child into the classroom. You MUST drive through the circle drive. Please do not get out of your car. If you need to come inside, all visitors must park and come in through the front office. You will receive a visitor’s badge there. Anyone on school property MUST have a visitor’s badge. This is for the safety of our students. Thank you!

After School Transportation Car Riders: All car riders will be brought out to the circle drive at 2:45 each day. You must pull through circle drive and a teacher will escort your child through the gate to your car. No adults will be allowed inside the fenced area without a visitor’s badge. When pulling through the circle, the first car is to pull completely up to the blue poles and have your child’s name card displayed in the passenger side dashboard. Do not get out and motion for your child to come to you. Please remain in your car. Please have your child picked up by 3:03. If you arrive after 3:03 there will be no kindergarten teacher on duty to supervise your child. Bus & Day Care Riders: Bus and Day Care students will go to an assigned kindergarten room at 2:45. The kindergarten teacher will walk the students to the bus or day care holding area to wait for their rides. All kindergarten students will be sent home the way that is stated to the teacher unless the parent sends a note or calls the school to change the transportation. We WILL NOT take your child’s word for changes in transportation. If you do not send a note your child will be sent home the normal way. Kindergarteners are NOT allowed to walk home without a parent. If you live within walking distance and would like to walk to pick up your child after school, then you must pick them up from the main entrance….not circle drive.

Classroom Procedures Birthdays Sweaters and Jackets You may send a store bought birthday treat for your child on his/her birthday. You may either bring them before school or bring them to the office. You may also send drinks if you would like. Invitations may be passed out before or after school and you must have an invitation for every child in the class. Money Field Trips/Orders: Please send all money in an envelope with your child’s name and what the money is for, and place in the zipper pouch in your child’s take home folder. Cafeteria: You may put money in your child’s account before school or pay with the online pay system. Do not send loose cash with your child to school. We are not responsible for lost money. Sweaters and Jackets Please write your child’s name on ALL sweaters and jackets they wear to school. This will help ensure that they will get back to you. The classrooms do get cold at times. If your child would like to bring a small jacket to keep at school, they may. Lost and found is located in the gym.

Attendance Absences It is extremely important that your child comes to school every day that they are not sick. Much of the work and projects we do in class cannot be done at home. Reasons to keep your child home include: earaches, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, pink eye, head lice. Children with a ringworm may come to school, but it must be covered at all times. Attendance rewards are given at the end of the six weeks during the perfect attendance pep rally. The kindergarteners get very upset if they do not get to participate. Tardies School starts promptly at 7:50. Attendance is taken at 8:10. If you arrive after 7:50 you will need to park in the front and walk your child to the front office. Please do not drop your child off at circle drive after 7:50, because there will be no adult on duty to supervise your child walking to class. Kindergarten is compulsory and subject to the same attendance laws as the other grades.

Take Home Folders Please check your child’s take home folder every night. You will need to initial the behavior calendar in the front. Please remove any work from the day and talk with your child about what he/she learned. Important notes will come home in this folder as well. The zipper pouch is used to send notes or money to school. I will check the take home folders each morning.

Report Cards Report cards are not given the first six weeks of school. We will schedule a parent-teacher conference at open house to discuss your child’s progress. The remainder of the year a report card will be sent home. It must be reviewed, signed, and sent back to school promptly. If you have any questions concerning your child’s report card you may contact the teacher to set up a conference. The grading scale for Kindergarten is E=90-100, S=80-89, N=70-79, and U=69-below (this is also located in the take home folder)

Behavior Management Each kindergarten class uses a system using colored dog bones. Each day, all children begin with a green dog bone. If a child shows good behavior, his/her dog bone will stay green. If he/she is having difficulty following rules, they will be given 2 verbal warnings and then will change the color of their dog bone for each misbehavior. At the end of the day the behavior calendar indicates the color dog bone your child received that day. Rewards will be given for good behavior. Please initial behavior calendar every night indicating that you have seen your child’s behavior for that day.

Dog Bone Colors Green dog bone-Great Day! Yellow dog bone-5 minutes time out Orange dog bone-10 minutes time out Purple dog bone-15 minutes time out Blue dog bone-Note home to parents Red dog bone-Principal

Conduct Grades On the report card, conduct grades will be given as E-Excellent, S-satisfactory, N-needs improvement, and U-unsatisfactory Conduct grades will be based on the following system: 0-3 E 4-8 S 9-12 N 13+ U Conduct grades in music, computer, and PE will be given by those teachers based on their classroom management system. If you have questions about these grades, you may contact those teachers for more information.

Parent/Teacher Communication Many questions can be answered by referring to my website. Go to www.nederland.k12.tx.us and click on ‘Schools’. Choose ‘Langham’. On the left hand side you will see ‘Teacher Webpages’. Click on ‘kindergarten’ to find my webpage. If you would like to receive reminders via text message throughout the year, you may sign up for our Remind 101 program. This is different than the school wide Remind 101. The form to sign up for Remind 101 is located in your parent meeting folder.

REMINDER!!! School begins at 7:50am. Please arrive by 7:45 (7:20 if they will eat breakfast on campus) to be sure your child gets to class on time!

We are looking forward to a GREAT Year!!!!