Category: Blogs

Hello Families,

If you could bring in your child’s school supplies on the first day of school that would be super helpful! It takes a long time to organize all of the supplies and get everything ready for the children, so I appreciate your help in getting the supplies to school in a timely manner.

Every child will need a hard plastic pencil case labeled with their name. If you would like to set up their pencil box before they come, that would be fantastic!

Please put two pencils, crayons, and two glue sticks. They will not need markers or anything else in their pencil box. Thank you!

If you could put your child’s name on their folder as well, that would save me some time as well!

On the first day of school, I am going to have you come in with your child and go into the hallway to find their locker. You may put all school supplies in their locker. The only thing they will need at their desk the first day is their pencil box and their folder! We will be doing a coloring activity on Monday! We will also have lots of information coming home containing details about our class and important paperwork from the office. It is easier for the children to bring these papers home if they have a folder!

Also, please make sure to send a change of clothes with your child in a gallon baggie. This bag will be kept in their locker all year and used as needed.

The children will need a snack every day. Please be sure to send a snack with them even though we have a half day. Their little tummies get hungry and we will take a break for snack time!

Dismissal on Monday is at 11:40am. Kindergarten dismisses 5 minutes earlier than the rest of the school in order to allow for parents with older siblings to get to their door to pick up on time!

Here is a complete list of the school supplies:

SUGGESTED SUPPLY LIST FOR KINDERGARTEN

The Dearborn Public Schools will provide your student with all books, supplies and materials necessary for the upcoming school year.  However, parents and students are welcome to voluntarily provide additional supplies we use and need on a regular basis.  

Please bring the supplies the first week of school.

12 glue sticks

2 Containers of Clorox Wipes 

1 hard plastic pencil box

1 box of 8 count washable thick classic color Crayola markers

3 boxes of 24 Crayola crayons

2 boxes of Kleenex

1 ream of white copy paper

1 ream of white cardstock

2 plastic folders with prongs and pockets (1 blue, 1 green)

2 regular sized bottles of hand sanitizer

2 pack of dry erase markers

1 pair of headphones

1 box of Bandaids

2 boxes of pencils

A change of clothes in a gallon bag labeled with your child’s name. Please include: a shirt, pants, underwear, socks and an extra pair of shoes! 

Thank you so much for all of your help with the school supplies and helping the class get organized and ready for a great school year!

I am looking forward to meeting you all on Monday!

Welcome to my class!

My name is Melissa Dimitriou.  Each year there is always some confusion about how to pronounce my name! The ending of Dimitriou is pronounced like the ending of kangaroo.

I love teaching Kindergarten! This is my eighth year teaching kindergarten and each year I learn more about myself as a teacher and more about what five years old need in order to grow and exceed learning goals. I truly enjoy being the person that gets to introduce your child to the world of learning and to help instill in them a desire to be a lifelong learner!

I love getting to know the community that I work in and growing with the families I teach! I very much believe that the growing your child does throughout the year, is a team effort! This is another reason why I love getting to know all of the families, so that we can work together to provide the best learning environment for each child!

I take pride in creating an atmosphere in which the children feel safe and comfortable. I truly believe that if a child does not feel safe in their environment, they will not learn. I have taken a lot of time to turn my classroom into a jungle! Everything in my room relates to the jungle theme in some way. I have parrots, lions, and gorillas on the wall. My reading groups are named after different jungle animals, and even my classroom jobs are jungle themed with little chameleons! I used to be in room 42 near the lunch room, but two years ago I relocated and now my classroom is room 8, which is just off the Kindergarten playground. Below are a few pictures of our classroom:

Here is a little bit more information about me:

I received my Bachelor’s degree from Oakland University in Elementary Education in 2011 and completed a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Grand Valley State University in 2015. I also completed a second Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration from Eastern Michigan University in April of 2018. I completed over 200 hours of  an administrative internship with Mr. Short and have learned so much about being an effective leader. As you can see, I love to learn and love to foster a love for learning in your children.

I got married on October 4, 2014! My husband is truly my best friend. We try to make each other laugh as much as possible and maintain positive attitudes. My husband and I enjoy traveling together and learning about new places, new cultures, and languages.

Last year our daughter Stella was born in November! We have so much fun watching her learn and grow each day! I love being a mom and feel lucky to have that title! Stella is 9 months old now, crawling everywhere, and has two teeth! Here is a picture of Stella:

We have a dog named Ramona and we love spending time with her! She is a Bernese Mountain Dog mixed with a Labrador Retriever. She loves to play in the rain, snow, and her little kiddie pool.  Here are a few pictures of her:

I always share updates about my life with the children, so they can feel comfortable with me and with their peers. We take time to do sharing circles so that the children can learn more about each other, as well as practice their speaking and listening skills. We also use the experiences from our lives to help us become writers. As I share about myself with your children, and get to know them, I also want to get to know each of you!

I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you this year! I consider it a privilege to be a part of your child’s learning career and look forward to working as a team to help your child achieve success!

Dear Parents,

Due to the inclement weather that is forecasted for Thursday afternoon, we have decided to move the Kindergarten and Young Fives end of year celebration to Wednesday morning from 9:15-11:00 am.  We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you, but we want the kids to enjoy all the outdoor activities on their  special day! Parents are still welcome to join us for the celebration!

Be sure to wear to Kindergarten T-shirts, tennis shoes and sunscreen!  

The end of the school year is almost upon us and to celebrate we will be having a Kindergarten and Young 5’s Celebration! Our celebration will be held at school on June 13th from 1:30 – 3:15 pm. We are looking forward to a fun-filled afternoon, but we wanted to give you some important information first.

Since all of the Kindergarten classes and Young 5’s will be outside together, each class should wear their Y5 or Kindergarten T-shirt. If your child does not have a class shirt, please wear a shirt of similar color.

We will be providing your child with a fun snack and water, but we are asking that you please send your child in with sunscreen already on and a hat/sunglasses, if needed. In order for this day to be successful, we will need your help! You may be asked to help run a game, pass out popsicles, or the monitor bounce house. So please come ready to have fun and lend a helping hand!  Please be aware that NO SIBLINGS will be allowed at this event. NO EXCEPTIONS. Remember you must sign in at the office and receive a “visitor” sticker.

Your child will not need to bring a backpack to school with them on this day. All of your child’s belongings will be sent home with them on June 12th.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you so much for all of your help and support.  We look forward to a great celebration for a wonderful year!

Only 4 more weeks of school! Which is only 15 more days with all the days off that are upcoming.

As stated last week, we have completed all of our spelling tests! This means you may keep the spelling book. It does not need to be returned to school.

Today was the last day for homework as well as for book pouches! Today was also the last day for library check-out. Make sure to return any library books next week in order to avoid fines.

Just as a reminder – the weather is starting to warm up and we do NOT have air conditioning. Please keep this in mind while your child is choosing and outfit each day for school. It has already been warming up inside the building. Hopefully we will get lucky and it won’t get too hot before school let’s out for summer.

Below please find upcoming events, including our upcoming spelling words for the rest of the school year:

Upcoming Events

5/23 Scholastic Book Order Due (last order for the year)

5/24 – 5/27 No School!!!

5/28 Spirit Week – Summer Hat/Sunglasses

5/29 Spirit Week – Backwards Day

5/30 Spirit Week – Pajama Day

5/31 Spirit Week – Spirit Day

6/3 – 6/5 No School! Happy Eid!

Agenda for the Week

Reading and Writing: We continue practicing daily 5 routines and procedures while working on increasing our reading and writing skills. During this portion of the day, I have been working one-on-one with students to complete testing.

Math: The children are trying to focus more on what an equation is asking (whether addition or subtraction). The children are also practicing story problems and learning to look for keywords to understand if they should be adding or subtracting.

Science: We continue to learn about ocean animals and how they depend on their habitats! This will be our focus for the rest of the year. As soon as I complete all of our testing, I am hoping to do some ocean crafts with the children.

Social Studies: We continue discussing democracy! We will take more polls and participate in voting on different topics to help the children understand the process. The children love voting and counting the results.

Housekeeping Items:

NUT FREE ROOM!!!

Please do not send any snacks with nuts!

Children still need a snack every day! They get very hungry. We will have snack every day until the very last day of school. Please continue to send your child with a healthy snack each day! Thank you!

Due to the wet conditions we will be making a few changes to our clean up parade. We are going to have the assembly portion first instead of at the end. After the assembly we will line up and begin our walk around the neighborhood around 2:00pm, weather permitting. We will come out the back parking lot and then continue walking over to Nightingale. All are welcome to join us for our walk! Plan to join up with us along the way either on Coburn or along Nightingale. We look forward to seeing you later!

Only 5 more weeks of school! This year has gone by so quickly!

The children are very excited that they have completed all of their spelling tests for the year! The spelling booklet does not need to be returned to school anymore!

This coming week will be the last week for homework.

Below please find upcoming events, including our upcoming spelling words for the rest of the school year:

Upcoming Events

5/13 City Beautiful Parade at 1:30pm

5/15  Late Start – 9:35am

5/23 Scholastic Book Order Due (last order for the year)

5/24 – 5/27 No School!!!

5/28 Spirit Week – Summer Hat/Sunglasses

5/29 Spirit Week – Backwards Day

5/30 Spirit Week – Pajama Day

5/31 Spirit Week – Spirit Day

Agenda for the Week

Reading and Writing: We are reviewing concepts of long and short vowels, “h brothers,” blends, and letter sounds in order to prepare for the NWEA testing.

Math: We are reviewing shapes, both 2D and 3D. We are focusing on finding the corners and changing the orientation of shapes to see if it is still the same shape. Sometimes the children think if we turn a shape on its side that it is not the same shape anymore.

Science: We continue to learn about ocean animals and how they depend on their habitats! This week we learned about different ocean animals such as sharks, dolphins, crabs, etc. We will continue to learn about ocean animals for the rest of the year.

Social Studies: We continue discussing democracy! We will take more polls and participate in voting on different topics to help the children understand the process. The children love voting and counting the results.

Housekeeping Items:

NUT FREE ROOM!!!

Please do not send any snacks with nuts!

Children still need a snack every day! They get very hungry. We will have snack every day until the very last day of school. Please continue to send your child with a healthy snack each day! Thank you!

I hope all of you have a very happy and wonderful Mother’s day!

Families,

The end of the month is here, and that means it is time for our final PBIS celebration of the year! On Friday, May 31st, if your child has maintained positive behavior for the entire month, they will participate in Game Day! Students can bring in games/cards/puzzles from home to play at school with their friends. Please label everything that is brought in so nothing is misplaced. This is a super fun event and a great way to recognize the positive behavior throughout our school.

Thanks for your continued support,

Haigh’s PBIS Committee

If you would like to help your child review for the NWEA test which will begin next week, you may put them on https://prepdog.org/K/kindergarten-common.html

Please be sure your children are well rested next week and the week after as we will be doing lots of testing…. NWEA, DRA reading assessments (reading levels and tasks), and more!

Thank you for helping them be prepared to do their best!