Hello All! It is so exciting that we are less then a week away from school starting! Below is some important information I thought you should know before.

*Please have a bag with an extra set of clothes in your child’s backpack! (shirt, pants, underwear and socks). Please label this. They will be kept in lockers in case of any accidents.

*Have extra masks in your child’s backpack in case they are needed.

*The first two weeks of school are soft start for Kindergarten students. They will be dismissed at 12:05 pm every day. On Monday they will NOT have lunch. For all of the other half days they will eat lunch before they leave. School lunches are free so your child may choose to bring lunch from home or order from school. I have added the website at the end of this paragraph to see what is offered each day. Please make sure to go over this with your child so that they are not stuck eating something they would not like. https://dearbornschools.nutrislice.com/menu/

*For the second week of half days (Sept 7,8,9th) we will have appointment times for testing from 12:45-3:30. Tomorrow a sign up genius with be posted with time slots. If you are able to bring your child up to school for me to test that is very helpful! It eliminates using class time to do this and gets us going faster with our language and math curriculum. More information will be on the sign up genius that will be posted tomorrow.

*Daily home folders will come back and forth to school each day! Please make sure to check them. On Monday your child will come home with a meet the teacher form, an all about me form you need to fill out, and the calendars for August and September. Please keep the calendars easily accessible for the month so you have reminders. I check folders each morning along with my email. Either a handwritten note or an email is the best way to tell me something.

*Our classroom is peanut/tree nut free this year due to allergies! In the lunch room your child may still eat peanut butter but not in our classroom! Please make sure afternoon snacks are peanut/nut free! It is very important for the safety of our students with allergies.

*Afternoon snack is part of our daily schedule! Howe Montessori promotes a healthy snack policy throughout our building. Please be sure to pack a healthy, and peanut/tree nut free item. Some snacks that students love are apples, oranges, crackers, pretzels. Students will not be allowed to have cookies, candy, or chips during snack time. Those should be packed in lunch boxes. The easiest way to keep afternoon snack separate is to put it on the side pocket of your child’s backpack! This way it is not eaten at lunch. For the first couple weeks we will put snacks in a bin so they are set aside for the afternoon.

*Students should bring a small spill proof water bottle EVERY day to school! Juice is not allowed inside the classroom but we can have water bottles on our desks. The water fountain is not in service right now but the filling station is! If the students have water bottles they can fill when needed.

*Most important—- Arrival & Dismissal–

*Our school day is from 9 am to 3:55 pm. The students should be dropped off at door 18 (front parking lot) between 8:55 and 9 am. When you see me come outside you may leave. The students line up against the wall on the left side while waiting for me. We all walk into the school as a class. The students should be carrying their own backpacks and be ready to learn! 🙂 For dismissal we will be outside between 3:50-3:55 the first couple of days. The students will line the wall like we did for arrival and give me a fist bump and point to you. It will take me a couple days to learn faces so please be patient. I ask that you come under the covered walkway so I can see you clearly and your child is not walking into the car area without a parent. It gets busy and crowded quickly. If your child has an older sibling they may go out the back door with them. More to be said about this once it is announced from the principal. I will email you if your child is going out the back door with an older sibling after the soft start half days are over.

*Arrival and dismissal is not a good time to talk with me about concerns. It is important I am paying attention to the students and who they are coming and going with. An email is a great way to set up a time to chat about concerns so it is not interrupting the process. I am available before and after school or on the phone.

Whew! I think that is everything I can think of! Email me with any questions 🙂

Hope to see many of you on Friday for Kona ice on the Howe Montessori playground from 2-3 pm.