Dear Parents,
Welcome to the exciting world of kindergarten! We hope this information will help to answer some of your many questions pertaining to general routines and procedures. We look forward to working with you and your child this year.
School Schedule
1. School doors open at 9:05. Children should not arrive before this
time since supervision is not available.
2. Class begins at 9:20 and ends at 3:40.
Arrival
Children will enter school through the main lobby doors if they are walkers or car riders. Day care van riders and bus riders will enter school through the side door next to the parking lot. School personnel will supervise these procedures.
Dismissal
1. Please be prompt in meeting your child. Children become frightened
when no one is at school or the bus stop to meet them.
2. When changes need to occur, notify the school in writing (not in an email). All bus riders will ride the bus unless we are notified in writing prior to dismissal
time.
3. Bus riders and day care van riders will be dismissed from the side door next to the parking lot. School personnel will accompany kindergartners to their
designated buses.
4. All walkers and car riders will be dismissed from the main lobby doors and must be met by a parent or previously designated person.
Bus Procedures
1. Your child will receive a color coded bus card pinned to their backpack. Please keep this tag pinned to your child’s backpack for the first month of school! This is important for your child’s safety.
2. School personnel will greet your child at the bus as they arrive each
day. Children will walk to their classrooms and will be greeted by their
kindergarten teacher.
3. All safety rules will be strictly enforced:
a. Child remains seated while the bus is moving.
b. Child keeps hand, feet, and objects to himself.
c. Child talks in a soft voice only.
d. Child listens and is quiet when the driver speaks.
4. If for any reason you do not wish for your child to ride home on the
bus, the teacher must be notified in writing on that day.
Requests can not be emailed. Children verbally saying that they are not to go home on the bus does not count. All bus riders must go home by bus everyday
unless the parent writes other instructions.
6. Only a prearranged and designated person may take the child home from school. Written permission must be given for anyone else to take a child home.
Attendance
1. Children should attend school on a regular basis.
2. A fever, persistent cough, vomiting, diarrhea, childhood illnesses
such as chicken pox or conjunctivitis, etc. indicates that your child
should stay home. If in doubt, please contact your child’s
pediatrician or our school nurse, Mrs. Jones at 410-668-4492.
3. Please call school to inform us if your child will be out 2 days or
more or if he/she has a communicable illness.
4. State law mandates that you must send a note stating the date(s) and reason for your child’s absence when he/she returns to school.
Field Trips
1. Each grade at Carney is permitted to go on two field trips per year.
2. Parents will be notified well in advance of the trip. Parents are encouraged to join us but may only do so if they have attended a Volunteer Training. Dates for Volunteer Training are:
September 11 at 5:30 pm
October 3 at 6:30 pm
November 12, 13, 14, 15 at 11:30 am
3. Our trip is taken by school bus and there is always a transportation fee.
4. A permission slip will be sent home with needed information well in
advance of the scheduled trip. Children may never participate in a field trip unless the permission slip has been signed by the parent and returned to school by the indicated deadline.
5. Siblings cannot be covered by insurance and can never be included.
Conferences
1. Since there are no report cards in kindergarten, required conferences are scheduled twice during the kindergarten year: November 19 and May 13. At these times, your child’s Kindergarten Progress Report will be shared with you and you will receive a copy.
2. Please send a note to request conferences at other times.
Lunch
All children need to bring a packed lunch in a lunch box or bag or $2.90 to buy lunch every day. If you choose to have your child buy lunch, the
cafeteria offers a prepay system. You can send cash or a check to
school for the week or month. This reduces the amount of lost money
and is much easier for the children.
Snack Procedures
1. All children need to bring one small snack to eat every day. This should be packed in a separate bag from their lunch.
2. Snack items should be something that your child enjoys, but also have nutritional value. Do not send candy, cakes, or dessert type snacks. Appropriate snacks for school are fruit, ½ sandwich, peanut
butter crackers, pretzels, yogurt, granola bars, popcorn, carrots or
cut up vegetables, goldfish, graham crackers, or cheese.
3. Water is the only drink allowed at snacktime. You may send water
from home in a thermos or send a paper or plastic cup for your child
to get water from the fountain at school.
Money
On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school.
Always send money in a sealed envelope or a baggie with this
information written on it:
1. Your child’s name
2. The amount of money
3. The purpose (trip money, lunch, etc.)
Please put money in your child’s folder, not loose in their backpack.
Please note that no cash is ever accepted for Scholastic Book purchases. Only a check made payable to Scholastic Book Clubs can be sent. You can also purchase books online with your credit card.
Birthdays
Birthdays are very important in a young child’s life and we love to honor the birthday child at snack time! If you wish, notify me in advance and you can send in a special treat for your child’s birthday. Popular party snacks could include: mini (not full size) cupcakes or muffins, cookies, popcorn, or nonedible treats such as pencils, stickers, erasers. Juice, pizza, sheet cakes, and full size cupcakes are not permitted by Carney School rule. Baltimore County School policy now says that all food treats must be store bought and can not be homemade.
Clothing
1. We learn through play in kindergarten! Remember that children will
use paint, sand, playdough, chalk, water, markers, and glue. We will
often play on the floor. Since we might get messy, dress your child
for that!
2. Children go outside to the playground except in inclement weather.
Please be sure that they have sweaters, jackets, hats, and gloves
as appropriate.
3. Children should always wear sturdy shoes appropriate for running and
climbing on the playground. Shoes that cover the toes like tennis shoes are the safest. Girls should be discouraged from wearing flip flops or shoes with high heels.
4. Children will be expected to fasten all buttons, snaps, and zippers
by themselves. Please keep this in mind as you purchase new
clothing.
5. No umbrellas are allowed or needed.
Take Home Folder
Please be sure to empty your child’s Take Home folder each day. This
is our means of communication between home and school. Return the
folder to school each day. Please put money and any notes for the
teacher or office in your child’s folder rather than in the backpack.
Folders are checked everyday, money or notes placed in the backpack may not
be seen.
Homework
Homework is meant to be fun and to reinforce skills we are working on
in class. Homework will be sent home in a Homework Folder every
Monday. Your child will complete a week’s worth of activities then return
the folder every Friday to be checked by the teacher. You will need to
have a set of school supplies at home (crayons, scissors, glue) to
complete these activities. Reading to your child daily and talking to
him/her about school activities is always a great idea. Give your child
plenty of opportunities to draw, color, cut, glue, and to practice writing
and counting.
Star Points
1. Kindergarten is a guaranteed fun year for everyone! Please
participate as much as you can.
2. Please put your child’s name on everything that is sent to school!
3. Children are not to bring toys to school unless for a specific
reason related to our curriculum.
4. Carney kindergarten is online! You will find the names of all Carney School personnel and important information about our school. Check out our website: https://bcpscarneyes.pbworks.com/Kindergarten
Thank you for your help, support, and cooperation! We are looking forward
to a wonderful year!