Dear parents,

Welcome to our exciting Kindergarten at Haigh Elementary. For those of you who have a child entering the school system, specifically kindergarten for the first time, get ready! You will be amazed at the amount of learning that takes place. We are excited about our strong Kindergarten team. We have a great combination of talented teachers with qualities that complement and bring out the best in each other. We know from experience that parent involvement is essential to maximize the benefits the child gets from his or her school experience. We urge you to become involved by helping your child with homework and projects, joining our PTA, attending school meetings and conferences, volunteering in the classroom, talking with your child about his or her school experiences, and participating in your child’s education daily.

Please remember, you will need to fill out an ichat form (background check) if you would like to volunteer on field trips or in the classroom. Background checks take a couple of weeks to get cleared, so please complete this at the beginning of the year!  The forms are in the office.  Thank you!

We look forward to working together as a team – student, teacher, & parents – and having a successful year in Kindergarten.

Arrival Procedure

School begins at 8:40 am. The first bell is at 8:35 and the doors will remain open for 5 minutes. The doors will be locked by 8:40 am. If you arrive late, you will need to go to the office and sign your child in for the day. Please do not knock on the kindergarten doors.

Dismissal Procedure

Dimitriou and Vensko: Dismiss from their classroom doors. Please do not come through the gate until the teacher opens their door.

Chammout and Fillmore: Dismiss from door 7 off of Coburn Street. Please stand in the grass area, and we will dismiss your child to you when we see you. When parents stand in front of the doors it is very crowded and hard to navigate.

Dismissal for Kindergarten is five minutes earlier than the rest of the school. We will be at our dismissal door by 3:30 pm. If you are running late, please try to let us know. Any children not picked up by 3:40 pm will be walked down to the office to await your arrival.

Backpacks and Lunch Boxes

Be sure to put your child’s first and last name and room number on their backpack and lunch box. Remember to clean out your child’s backpack every night.

Folders

Take Home  folder:

Your child will have a Take Home Folder that will come home with them daily. Please take a moment and look at the folder and empty it accordingly every night. Your child will need to return the folder the following day. I check each child’s folder first thing in the morning. Any homework, notes to me or to the office will be collected at that time. The goal is twofold: to foster a sense of responsibility within each student and to improve communication between teacher and parent. If you are sending in money for lunch or other things, please place it in an envelope labeled with your child’s name and what it is for.

Lunch/ Snack

If your child is buying lunch, it is easier to load money onto their ID card by sending in cash or check in an envelope labeled with your child’s name and purpose of money (example: Katie Smith/Lunch Money). If your child will not be having hot lunch, please provide them with a bagged lunch daily.

Snack time is in the morning. Please send a HEALTHY daily snack for your child (i.e: fruit, crackers, yogurt, pretzels, veggies, etc). Please place the snack in a different compartment of your child’s backpack so it is easily accessible. Please DO NOT pack a juice box for snack time. Things often turn sticky when juice is involved. Water bottles are OK to bring to school, please label the water bottle with your child’s name. If you are unable to drop off a lunch for  your child, we will get them a hot lunch for the day. Their ID card will be charged for the lunch and you can pay the balance at your earliest convenience.

Birthdays

Birthdays are an exciting time of the year for you and your child. Because of allergies, medical conditions and promoting healthy eating habits; our class will be enforcing a non-edible birthday treat policy. Your child will be acknowledged the same way as before, but please send in only items that are non-edible; such as pencils, erasers, tattoos, bubbles, stickers, etc.  Please reference to the birthday note coming home as well.  Thank you!

Toys from Home

We ask that no toys be brought into school from home. Our classroom is filled with items to keep us busy, and lost or broken toys result in very sad feelings!

Change of Clothes

Please send in a change of clothes (shirt, pants/shorts, underwear, socks, pair of shoes) labeled, with your child’s name, in a gallon baggie. This will be kept at school in their locker in case of an accident (bathroom accident or wet/muddy clothes).

School Supplies

Please send in your child’s school supplies by the end of the first week of school. The sooner we get the supplies, the faster we can get into our daily routines. The pencil case, folders, crayons, glue sticks, hand sanitizer, headphones, and Kleenex are used daily. Please reference to the Kindergarten Supply List for all the supplies needed to start the year. These items help our classroom run more efficiently. Thank you for your donation!

Sincerely,

The Kindergarten Team