A

     Your child’s regular and on-time attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. We can’t emphasize this point enough! Most kindergarten learning activities are group oriented and involve interaction with classmates. Therefore, it is next to impossible to make up work of this nature at home. Please view school as a priority, and see to it that your child attends every day except in cases of illness or emergency. School hours are 8:10-3:00.

     Morning arriva:l:  Breakfast is optional and begins at 7:45 a.m. The cost of breakfast for students is $1.55. Supervision is provided prior to 8:00 a.m. for bus students or students eating breakfast. Students not riding the bus or eating breakfast should not arrive before 8:00 a.m. unless asked to be there by a teacher or the principal.

     If your child has allergies, please make sure that the school nurse has the information on file and your child’s classroom teacher is aware of the situation.

B

     If your child is having a birthday party at home, we can only distribute invitations if all children in the class are invited. Many children get their feelings hurt if they are not invited, so if you cannot invite all of the children, please do not send any invitations to school.

     Your child will need a book bag to carry home papers/projects from school. Rolling book bags are discouraged because they will not fit in the lockers.

     Your child will be able to ride the afternoon bus once he/she is attending school all day.

C

     Please make sure that your child’s clothing suits the activities and weather for the day. It is important that your child become independent, but a choice to wear flip-flops in the winter is not a good one. Kindergarteners are involved in activities that require jumping, running, and climbing. Tennis shoes with laces or Velcro closures work best. Please select clothing that is both comfortable and appropriate for these activities.

     Communication is important. Please send a note with your child if you need the classroom teacher to be aware of something.

     Parent-Teacher conferences take place twice a year-November and March. Do not hesitate to contact the teacher if you feel the need to do so before then.

D

     In the event of inclement weather, school may be delayed or closed. If that’s the case, you will receive an automated phone call courtesy of School Reach that will give you important information regarding dismissal. School closing information will also be on local radio and T.V. stations.

E

    It is extremely important to return the emergency contact information sheet! If your phone number and address change at any time throughout the school year, please let the secretaries in the office know.

     Throughout the year, there are scheduled “early-outs” in which your child will be released from school two hours early so that the teachers can attend professional development meetings. (There are also full days scheduled for professional development.) Please refer to the school calendar so that you’re aware of when these days are scheduled. 

F

    Every Friday your child will bring home a bright, yellow Friday Folder. The folder will contain information that is pertinent to your child’s education. Please check the folder and have your child return it on Monday.

G

     Glitter and glue-we’re messy too! We will be cooking, painting, using markers, using glue, using glitter, working with play dough and other “messy” stuff throughout the year. Please select clothing that is both comfortable and appropriate for these activities.

H

     We don’t give homework in kindergarten, but we do ask that you complete any Home-to-School project that we assign throughout the year. These activities are designed to be done with your child, not for your child. Watch for the first one in October. Later in the year, we may send home guided reading books. There will be more information about that at a later date. 

I

     Illness-The question of when to keep your child home from school is often a difficult one, especially when the decision must be made first thing in the morning. It is important, however, to keep your child home if he/she is ill. Your child will be more comfortable, and keeping him/her home will prevent others from becoming ill. Children function more effectively in the classroom when they are healthy.   Independence is something to be stressed once children are in school. Please make sure that your child can button, zip, snap, buckle, the clothing that he/she has chosen to wear for the day.

J

     Lead-Deadwood Elementary does have a Parent-Teacher Organization. Meetings will be held throughout the year. Watch for upcoming information Please join if you can!

K

     Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our school with kindness and respect. Hitting, fighting, name-calling, bullying, and making fun of others will not be permitted.
     The kindergarten experience has dramatically changed over the years. There will still be time for socialization and play, but your child will also be learning the academic foundations of reading, writing, math, science and social studies.

L

     Your child has the option of bringing his/her own lunch from home, leaving school to eat with a parent, or eating hot lunch at school. Hot lunches cost $2.25 for a student. Parents are welcome to eat lunch at the school with their child on occasion. Adult lunches cost $3>00. Please notify your child’s teacher if you will be eating school lunch, so the lunch count is accurate. You can credit your child’s hot lunch account by sending a check to school with your chosen dollar amount ($15, $20, $25 etc to keep ahead) with your child and his/her teacher will give the check to the lunch staff. If your child brings a cold lunch, he/she has the option of purchasing chocolate or white milk during lunchtime for $0.40.

     At the beginning of the year, your child will be allowed to check out a limited selection of books from our library. Once your kindergartner has attended the necessary number of library classes, he/she will be allowed to check out books from a larger selection.

     Please make sure that your child’s coat, book bag, boots, etc. are labeled with your child’s name because many children have the same items! If your child is missing something, please be aware that we do have a Lost and Found, so check it occasionally.

M

     The school nurse administers all medication. If your child has to take medicine during the day, please complete the necessary paperwork. 

N

    Watch for newsletters and notices in your student’s Friday Folder.

O

     When anyone visits the school, he/she must enter through the office. You will need to bring your ID so that you can be given a visitor’s pass.

     Outdoor play is a very important part of our curriculum. Your child will be expected to go outside for recess daily unless the wind chill is below zero or it is raining. Please do not send a note asking that your child stay in from recess. For the most part, if your child is well enough to be at school, he/she is well enough to participate in outdoor recess. One more time…-- please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. 

P

     Please refer to the school handbook for playground rules.

      Kindergarteners are dismissed at 3:00. Walkers or riders will be dismissed out the side doors of the Kindergarten rooms. Please be punctual when picking up your child so that your child doesn’t worry unnecessarily. Children that ride the bus will wait in their classrooms. A teacher or paraprofessional will take children to their bus. The buses load at approximately 3:05-3:10. If you need to pick up your child early, you must sign him or her out at the office. The office will call the classroom and ask for your child to be sent.

Q

     If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher via email or phone 717-3884. We may not be able to come to the phone right away, but will call you back at the soonest available moment.

R

     Getting used to the school schedule is very tiring for kindergartners. We do not provide rest time at school, so it is extremely important that your child gets the rest he/she needs at night.

      Pre-reading and reading skills are a big part of kindergarten. We will be teaching your child strategies to use as he/she becomes a proficient reader. Reading with your child at home daily will help the process.

S

      We will have a fruit or vegetable snack everyday but it is a long day for our kids and they get hungry. We ask that each parent bring a healthy non-perishable snack that would serve all the students in the classroom. Some examples are: fruit roll-ups, pretzels, cheese nips. Please make sure that your child eats breakfast because a morning snack isn’t provided. Notes will be sent periodically to inform you when we need more snacks. We ask that you send a snack to school the first week of school. If your child brings a birthday snack, please make sure that there is enough for every classmate. Your child may bring a plastic water bottle to keep at school.

      We do our Show and Tell differently than the traditional method. We integrate it with our Language Arts program. Please watch for further information.

T

      Children are asked NOT to bring toys from home. They are very distracting, and feelings often get hurt due to misunderstandings.

      Make sure that we know exactly how your child will get home from school. We will follow the transportation plan written on the enrollment sheet. If transportation changes, please do not have your child tell of the changes because children often get confused, and we do not want to send your child on the wrong bus or not put him/her on one at all! We must have a note or phone call from the parent. Thank you for helping us with this! We want to make sure that every child gets home safely every day!

     Learning how to tie shoes should be taught at home. Please practice with your child.

U

Your child is important to us. We will always treat your child will lots love, respect, and understanding. 

V

     You are welcome to volunteer as a chaperone for field trips or for class parties. If you volunteer, you will be supervising a small group of students. For safety reasons, siblings cannot attend field trips with us.

W

     Please visit our district website for valuable information regarding school activities.

     Throughout the year, your child will be learning sight words. We will keep you informed of the words we’re working on so that your child can practice at home.

     We use the D’Nealian handwriting program. If you have questions about how to write the letters correctly, please ask.

X

     It is very important that you send an extra set of clothes in case of a bathroom accident, messy spill, or wet playground. We do have a very limited supply of some articles of clothing that we will lend. These clothes need to be washed and returned as soon as possible. 

Y

    Please remember that you are your child’s first and most important teacher.  No one can influence your child’s life in the way that you can! Your positive attitude about school and learning sets the tone for your child's transition into elementary school.

Z

      As a fun way to learn our base-ten number system, Zero the Hero will be visiting us throughout the year. You can join in the fun by practicing skip counting by tens with your child. We also learn to count by twos and fives.!