River Birch Elementary School
The ABC’s
of Kindergarten
Family Information Packet
Ms. Smith’s Class
Room 6
The ABC’s of Kindergarten
At a Glance…
A / Avon Student Handbook / N / NewsletterB / Book Orders from Scholastic / O / Oh the People to Know!
C / Celebrations / P / Peanut Safe!
D / Daily Schedule/Dress Code / Q / Questions?
E / Everyday Materials / R / Related Arts
F / Field Trips / S / School Supplies
G / General Information / T / Transportation
H / Homework / U / Understanding Assessments
I / Importance of Reading / V / Volunteers
J / Just the Basics: Sight Words / W / Website
K / Kindergarten Report Card / X / Exciting Things from PTO
L / Lunch/Recess / Y / Yay! It’s Recess!
M / Money and Funds / Z / Zzzz’s
A Avon Student Handbook
The Avon Student Handbook given to you at the beginning of the school year contains all district-wide policies and procedures including medical guidelines, attendance/tardy policies, transportation, etc. Please take the time to read the handbook. There are also a few forms located at the back that if signed and returned will sign you up to receive various notifications and other important information from ACSC (Avon Community School Corporation).
B Book Orders (Scholastic)
I will be sending home Scholastic Book Order forms as I receive them. Please understand that you are under no obligation to purchase from these companies. I am passing them along to you as an inexpensive way to build your child’s library. You may pay by check (if so, please send a check for the exact amount payable Scholastic). The marked order form and check should come to school in an envelope labeled with your child’s name and room number on the outside. Or you may follow the directions on the sheet to order and pay online with credit or debit cards. No cash please.
C Celebrations
We will have several classroom celebrations throughout the school year. These are a great opportunity to practice our social skills as well as a lot of fun! Volunteers would be greatly appreciated for these special occasions. Watch for sign-up sheets and information in the weekly newsletter.
Birthdays are special to your child. At school, your child will be recognized with a song and a special birthday surprise. ACSC policy does NOT allow birthday parties at school or the passing out of invitations at school. Please use the Class Directory if you would like to invite classmates. I am not able to pass out any additional personal information to you that is not already on the directory.
D Daily Schedule
9:05 – 9:20 Morning procedures/WRBE News
9:20 – 9:40 Morning Message/Social Skills
9:20 – 10:10 CLIMB Time
10:10 – 11:20 Reading Strategies, Phonics, Word Work
11:25 – 12:25 Lunch/Recess
12:30 – 1:30 Calendar/Math
1:30 – 2:00 Writing/Grammar
2:00- 2:25 Social Science
2:30 – 3:15 Related Arts
3:15 – 3:30 Community Circle
3:40 Car Rider Dismissal/Daycare
3:50 Bus Dismissal
Dress Code
Please dress your child with the understanding that we will be doing a wide variety of activities and projects in our classroom. We will be using glue, paint, etc. – Kindergarten can be a messy place! We will also be moving around often! Girls – please be sure to wear shorts or leggings under skirts and dresses!
· All shorts/skirts must be fingertip length
· All shoes must have straps (no flip-flops)
· No sleeveless or spaghetti strap tops/dresses
· For complete details please see ACSC Handbook (pg. 11)
E Everyday Materials
Each child will receive a burgundy “Take-Home” folder on the first day of school. This folder is where you will find daily paperwork, important notes and flyers that are sent home. Please be sure that this folder moves back and forth between home and school on a daily basis.
F Field Trips
In Kindergarten, we have the luxury of going on a few field trips throughout the school year to supplement and enrich our curriculum. Before each trip, you will receive all pertinent information as well as a permission slip that will need to be signed and returned to the school. No child is able to leave the building for a field trip without these signed permission slips. On most of our trips, we are able to have a limited number of parents accompany us as chaperones. Information and requests for chaperones will be sent home prior to the trip. Depending on the field trip, additional fees may need to be collected for us to attend.
G General Information
RB Address and Phone Number:
River Birch Elementary School
5456 E County Road 75 N
Avon, Indiana 46123
(317) 544-6800
Acronyms to Know:
ACSC – Avon Community School District
RB – River Birch
MH – McGraw Hill (Reading Series)
RA – Related Arts
NWEA – Northwest Evaluation Association
MAP – Measures of Academic Progress
Twitter/Facebook: ACSC and River Birch utilize Twitter and Facebook to keep families aware of what’s new and happening in our schools. Information for these accounts can be found on the school and district websites. River Birch also utilizes ListServ, which will allow you to receive emails concerning important notices, our RB weekly newsletter, and messages from the principals.
H Homework
As Kindergarten teachers, we will not be starting homework until the later in the school year. It is already enough on these young learners to adjust to a full day of learning and fun, we don’t want to overwhelm their young bodies and minds. That being said, I will direct you to the “I” section of this handbook to the most important “homework” you can do with your child everyday starting with the very first day of Kindergarten!
I Importance of Nightly Reading
Of all the beliefs I have as a teacher, none are as strong as my belief in the importance of reading to and with young learners. There are mountains of research behind the impact reading 15-20 minutes a night will have on your child’s education. I understand how busy life gets with a busy family, but by finding that time 4-5 times a week, you will nurture your beginning reader in a way that helps make reading a daily habit and a lifelong love. Reading logs will be sent home as a fun way for your child to track his/her reading.
J Just the Basics: Sight Words (High Frequency Words or HF Words)
Sight Words are those words that do not follow the rules. They are not said the way they are spelled or spelled the way they sound AND of course they make up the most frequently used words in our language (approximately two-thirds)… Go figure! One of the most important things you can do to help your beginning reader is to practice reading and spelling sight words with your child. Because they are “rule-breakers” the only way to learn them is to memorize them. Sight word instruction is one of the best uses of the time you spend helping your child learn to read. Sight words are confidence builders. They free up your child’s energy to tackle more challenging words, provide clues to the meaning of a sentence, provide a foundation for reading new, more complex words, and increase fluency.
Below is the list of sight words that are taught and assessed (in order) in our class. For the first half of the year we learn one per week and then move to two per week.
- I, can, the, we, see, a, like, to, and, go, you, do, my, are, he, with, is, little, she, was, for, have, of, they, said, want, here, me, this, what, help, too, has, play, where, look, good, who, come, does
K Kindergarten Report Card
In Avon, our Kindergarten report cards are standards-based. That means that we do not assign letter grades as in the upper grades, but instead your report card will be more like a checklist of skills. At the end of each 9 week grading period your child will bring home their report card where you will be able to see which skills your child has mastered or is still progressing towards. Each report card will include different skills depending on what was taught during that period of time. You will notice that at the end of each report card it will also list the skills that will be assessed on the next report card so that you have an opportunity to support with those skills at home. If you would like any additional materials or ideas to support your child at home with any skill, please do not hesitate to contact me. There are many fun strategies I would love to share with your kinder family!
L Lunch
One of the most important questions on any kindergartener’s mind… “When is lunch?”
We have lunch every day from 11:25 – 11:55. You are welcome to occasionally join your child for lunch during our school year. You are also more than welcome to purchase a school lunch to eat with your child, just please email me ahead of time so that I can place your order with the Bistro. When you arrive you will need to sign in with the front office and then meet us in the Bistro at 11:25. Any additional siblings brought to lunch/recess should remain close to you.
And following that question, the next is… “What is for lunch?”
Your child is of course able to bring lunch from home, but here’s some information about the school’s lunch choices! The Bistro has a three-week rotating menu. Each day your child will have four choices for lunch.
1. Main Course (has a meat component)
2. Vegetarian Option
3. PB&J (with string cheese and crackers)
4. Salad (includes cheese and turkey)
With their main course choice they will be able to choose a fruit and a vegetable. We have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and regular milk to drink. *Please contact me if your child has a food allergy.
M Money and Funds
Lunch Money: Lunch money needs to be sent in an envelope or baggie and should be clearly marked with your child’s first and last name and labeled “lunch”. You can also pay money towards your child’s lunch account online. Extra funds at the end of the school year in your child’s account will roll over into your child’s first grade year unless you request otherwise.
Fees: Fees collected by the school go to a variety of supplies, including book rental, personal white boards, practice books, and other curriculum materials. At the end of the school year, these items (with the exception of text books) will be sent home with your child to keep. Your contact for information regarding these fees is our RB Treasurer, Jackie Robinson, in the front office.
N Newsletter
Before the start of each week you will receive a weekly newsletter from me. The newsletter will contain important upcoming dates and notices. It will also give you an overview of what we are learning that week and how you can support at home. This will be my main avenue of information for you. Please take a few minutes to look over the newsletter each week. To save on paper, I typically send the newsletter via email. If you would like a paper-copy instead of a digital, please let me know and I can make sure to put one in your child’s take-home folder.
O Oh the People to Know!
Here’s a list of administrators, teachers, and helpers in our school that you and your child will interact and communicate with this year.
Principal: Mr. Kris Kingery
Assistant Principal: Mrs. Heather Gorgas
School Nurse: “Nurse Greta” Fiorentin
Counselor: Laura Samide
Secretaries: Jill Velikan Treasurer: Jackie Robinson
Melody Enz Bistro Manager: Sheila Ubelhor
Related Arts Staff
Gym Teacher: Mrs. Kathy Dow
Music Teacher: Mrs. Julia Plumb
Art Teacher: Mrs. Heather Henry
Media Specialist: Mrs. Christine Russell
Computer Lab Teacher: TBD
*Please direct any questions/concerns you may have to me first! It’s part of my role to answer any questions and problem solve with you. If I don’t know the answer or it’s a problem we can’t fix together, then we will find the next appropriate problem solver to help us!
P Peanut Safe!
Though we are not a peanut free school, we do have some peanut free zones throughout our school to help keep all of our students healthy and safe. Your child is allowed to have items in their lunches that contain peanuts. We have designated tables in our Bistro that are specifically peanut free.
Q Questions?
I am so thrilled to be your Kindergarten teacher and am here to answer any questions that you may have. There are several ways to contact me…
Email:
*This is the best way to contact throughout the day and at night.
Phone: (317) 544-6800 ext. 6856
*This is the best way to contact me before and after school. If I don’t answer, leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
In Person: If you would like to meet in person, please email/call me and we will set up an
appointment for before or after school.
R Related Arts
Our class will attend related arts according to a rotating schedule:
“B” Days – Media Center (return library books)
“I” Days - Music
“R” Days – P.E. (wear gym shoes)
“C” Days - Art
“H” Days –Computer Lab
I will email out a monthly BIRCH schedule to help you keep track of our BIRCH days, since they may not always be the same day of the week. The newsletter will also include this information.
S School Supplies
Kindergarten School Supplies List: Please see the half sheet of paper in your child’s folder for a reminder of the required school supplies. You will note a few additional supplies listed on the bottom of the page that are specific to our classroom. As students will complete a variety of homework activities at home, your child will also need access to pencils, crayons, etc. at home.