Hello and welcome to a new school year. My name is Tonya Porter and I am so excited to be your child’s first grade teacher. CHES is the best of the best and I am thrilled to be a part of it. It’s going to be a fun year full of learning and growing. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for us. I look forward to getting to know your child and I want you as a family to know a bit about those who will be taking care of your baby this year.

I have been a lifelong DeSotoCounty citizen. I live in Hernando, Ms with my husband, Paul, and our three children. Konner and Ashton are 11th graders this year and my oldest son Jacob is 22 and works at Fed Ex. This is my 21st year to be in education.

Mrs. Jonna Rabren is our classroom assistant. Mrs. Jonna lives in Olive Branch, Ms with her husband, Jerry, and their two sons. Jacob is a senior at Olive Branch High School and Jared is a senior at DeltaState. Mrs. Jonna has worked for DeSoto County Schools for several years and has worked as an assistant and in the school office. She is so creative, loving, and smart. I am so blessed to have her in my classroom.

As a parent myself, one of my biggest concerns is that my babies will be taken care of when they are away from me. I want you to rest assured that we will love your children. We will hug them and put band-aids on their boo-boos. We will help meet them where they are academically and socially and grow them. We may not all get there at the same time but we will get there!!!! I have prayed for each one of our students before I knew who they were and have prayed for them by name after I received my roll. I will continue to pray for them daily as I feel they were sent to our classroom for a reason.

Daily Schedule: You will receive a copy of our daily schedule. Times are tentative as change happens often and teachable moments arise.

The parent handbook has a great deal of important information. Please take time to read it. Some of the recent changes include the following:

*Students must attend 63% of the school day to be counted present for that day. Therefore a student cannot miss more than 2 hours and 20 minutes.

*CHES students must ride the bus to and from field trips. If you are chaperoning and want to check your child out after the field trip, you must return to school to do so.

*Birthday treats-Our lunch time is very limited and we often have our birthday treats during snack time. If time allows we will pass them out at lunch.

Lunch/Cafeteria: Lunch is $2.50. Please send money in the plastic zippered bag inside your child’s folder. ALL NOTES AND MONEY SHOULD BE PLACED IN ZIPPERED BAG!

We eat lunch at 11:00. A monthly lunch menu will be sent home at the beginning of each month. Please go over the menu with your child on what is being served each day. Sometimes students will not eat specific things and are hungry throughout the afternoon. Please provide items in lunchboxes that your child can open independently. We learn at the beginning of the year that we are to behave in the cafeteria like we would in a restaurant. Please help reinforce appropriate table manners at home.

Homework: Homework is an important part of first grade. The main goal for homework is to show parents what we are learning in class. It is expected that all children complete homework for each night it is assigned. We do not give much homework in first grade; however, this structure and routine will help build stamina for upper grades as homework increases. Unfortunately, students will pull a card for uncompleted and unreturned homework. Please feel free to send a note if a situation arises where your child could not do their homework. I do not like children to miss recess as this is an important time for social growth; however, unreturned or incomplete homework will be finished during this time. I will send a remind message if homework changes. I do not send home specific spelling homework but it is expected that your child is studying spelling words each night. Also, homework is a review. I will not send anything home with your child that they have not seen before or I have not taught. If your child struggles with a skill I will send home review sheets.

Snack: We have snack each day after recess (2:30). Please send a snack daily with your child. The snack should be easy to eat and easy to open for little hands. Only one snack item per child please. Please make sure that if the snack requires a spoon that your provide a plastic spoon that can be thrown away. Snack items should be disposable (Ziploc bags, wrappers, etc.). CHES is committed to providing a healthy environment for children so please do not send candy for snack. Students may bring water to drink. These can be in a thermos or a disposable water bottle.

Graded Papers: The first grade report card uses a performance based assessment model. This type of assessment allows children to be assessed in a variety of ways not just paper and pencil. Assessments can happen throughout the day and week using informal and formal assessments. Therefore you will not always see a graded paper for each assessment. We still use paper assessments but you will not see a typical numerical grade. You may see 8/10 with a “S”. Please check your child’s folder daily for graded assessments. Some of your child’s papers may be stamped “Sign and Return”. I am a strong believer in school to home communication and I want to be sure I am letting you know how your child is progressing! **Our report card is a non-graded report card. Students will receive M (mastery), S (satisfactory), N (needs improvement), U (unsatisfactory). Each standard covers many skills which means your child will not receive an “M” until the whole standard has been taught.

Communication: Communication is powerful and I use a variety of ways to let you know what is happening in the classroom and also how your child is progressing academically and socially. My communication strategies include the following: weekly newsletters, remind101, classroom blog, school websites, email, and daily notes. Please feel free to communicate with me your concerns and celebrations.

Dismissal: Dismissal begins at 3:15. All transportation changes require a note or a call to the office before 2:45. Dismissal time is a hectic time and we want to assure that every child gets home safely and correctly. We cannot take a child’s word abut a transportation change.

We work hard in first grade but we play hard too. We get messy sometimes. Please send your child in appropriate school clothes for a busy school day. We do not allow students to change clothes or shoes for recess. Please also check parent handbook for dress code policy. Our classroom can get cold so you may want to send a jacket to school.

We will spend a great deal of the first few weeks of school in classroom routines, behavior, and manners. Please help reinforce these at home.

Don’t forget to sign up for Remind101 and check our classroom blog for information about our day and upcoming activities.

It’s going to be a wonderful year. We have lots to do so let’s get busy.

Blessings,

Tonya Porter