Classroom Handbook

1. Classroom Handbook Miss Lehky’s Class 2012-13

2. Arrival • Students may start arriving in the building at 8:45 am for walking club/breakfast, and are permitted in the classrooms at 9:00am. They are expected to be in our classroom ready to start by 9:15 • If you are driving your child to school, please let them exit the car and enter the school independently. I know this may be difficult for the parents, but walking them into the school makes it harder for the student to say goodbye. I promise, we’ll take good care of your child! • Attendance and punctuality are important, so please make sure that your child arrives to school on time. If your child arrives to school late, he/she will need to report to the office. • If your child will be absent, please call the attendance line at 330-273-8130

3. Dismissal • School is dismissed at 3:25pm. Fifth grade helpers will come to our classroom to help students to their bus or waiting area. Please put a tag on your child’s bookbag indicating full name, address to be dropped off at, and phone number where caretaker can be reached at. • If you have an older child, please don’t ask them to come to the room for the first few weeks. I need to know exactly where each student is until they are comfortable with the routine. • Please send an email or note in if you will be picking up your child or if someone different will be picking up your child. For the safety of all students, no exceptions to this requirement will be made, so please don’t have your child “Tell Miss Lehky you will be a car-rider today”. • If you need to pick up your child early, please go to the office. The office will call to send your child down to you. We appreciate your cooperation with this to avoid any disruptions to our classroom. • If you are picking up your child in a car, please do not pull your car up to the building until you are directed to do so. You will need to leave room for the buses, as bus riders are dismissed first, then cars are directed to pull up.

4. Lunch • Students have the opportunity to purchase the daily meal, peanut butter & jelly, toasted cheese or a cheese pizza for $2.50, just milk for $.50 or other extras • Each child must have a lunch money bag to keep your child’s lunch menu and lunch selection sheet. Please keep this in your child’s bookbag throughout the year. • Please keep your child’s lunch order form in their lunch money bag. Please circle your child’s lunch choices for the week and keep it in their lunch money bag. • You also have the opportunity to pack a lunch for your child, but please remember that refrigeration or microwaves are not available for students.

5. Specials • Our specials schedule is as follows: • Mondays: Art and Library • Tuesdays: Art • Wednesday: Music and Gym • Thursday: Computer lab • Friday: Music and gym • White soled gym shoes are to be kept at school • Art shirts are to be kept at school

6. Read Write Rest • In the afternoon, we will be having a 20 minute period called “Read Write Rest”. During this time, the students will have the option to sit quietly to read, write quietly, or put their head down on their desk. This time is to help the students regain energy to be successful during our afternoon activities.

7. Snack • In the afternoon, we will also have a short snack time. If you would like your child to have a snack during this time, please send a snack in with them (no peanut products please). Please be sure that your child is able to differentiate their snack from their lunch. • I will be providing snack during the first week of school.

8. Discipline • We use a card system to help students monitor their behavior. • Students start their day with a green card. • If a child fails to follow classroom rules, their card will be flipped to blue as a reminder. • Second offense, the card will be flipped to yellow and the child will have to sit out 5 minutes of recess. • Third offense, the card will be flipped to red and the child will miss all of recess. • If the behavior is extreme, it may result in flipping cards straight to red. • We want to reward good behavior!!! If a students stays on green for the day, they will receive a stick. 5 sticks = picking out of the treasure chest • Each child will have a calendar to keep in their home folder. At the end of each day, each child will color their day. If your child has a yellow or red day, please initial that you have seen it. PLEASE keep this calendar in your child’s home folder everyday! • For any repeated behaviors, I will contact you to discuss it further.

9. What to wear • Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately according to our school handbook. • Please do not allow your child to wear flip flops or clogs without a back strap. Our playground has woodchips which may give your child a splinter through their flip flop or shoes have been known to fly off on the playground. Students wearing inappropriate shoes will not be permitted on the outdoor equipment • Please be sure that your child is dressed for the weather. We will be going outside as much as possible for recess. • Students are required to keep white soled shoes at school for gym class

10. Supplies • Please label your child’s bookbag! • Please be sure to label: folders, notebook, headset and pencil pouch. All other supplies will be used as community supplies. • In addition to the supply list, our classroom also requires: • Art shirt (Dad’s old T-shirts work great!) • 3 ring binder • 1 box of gallon sized Ziploc bags • Additional supplies may be asked for throughout the year. If you ordered through PTO, additional supplies are needed (not included)

11. Communication • I am always wanting to communicate with parents, so please feel free to contact me at any time! I may also contact you to share good news as well as to discuss any issues that may arise in the classroom. • If you need to contact me, the best way to contact me is via email. This is the best way for me to get back to you promptly. If you need to speak to me, please email me with a phone number that you would like to be reached at and I will contact you at my earliest convenience. You can always send a note in your child’s bookbag, but please understand that I may not have time to reply to you on the same day. • Please be sure to fill out a contact information sheet and return it to school so that I can have the proper information to contact you.

12. Homework • Homework is not just busy work; its an opportunity for you to help your child reinforce and practice the skills we are working on in the classroom. Please be sure to help your child with his/her homework so that you can ensure your child is not practicing the incorrect skills. • All homework will be sent home on Mondays and due back to school by Fridays. • Homework will include Reading assignments, and a Math Links assignment. For this assignment, you will need to complete the activity in your Math Links book and complete the sheet that is sent home with the homework packet. • Homework accounts for 10% of your child’s grade. Completed homework will be worth 2 points in reading, writing and math. If homework is 1-2 days late or not fully completed, you will receive a 1.5

13. Classroom Website • Our classroom website is a great place for you to find updated information. • To access our webpage, go to www.bcoh.org, then click on Crestview, teacher sites and finally Miss Lehky • Instead of sending home a weekly newsletter, there is a section of our webpage titled “Weekly News” in which weekly information and updates will be posted. I will also send it out via email. If you are unable to access our weekly news via the website, please notify me and I will send a paper copy home.

14. Progress Book • At fall conferences, you will get a username and password to login to Progress Book. • You will be able to login anytime to access your child’s grades and progress

15. Report Cards • Report Cards will be sent home 4 times a year. • Your child’s grades will be based on: • 70% Test Grades • 20% Classwork • 10% Homework • Report Cards tell you what your child is doing in each expected skill. • The grading marks are: • E Exceeds Expectations • M Meets Expectations • P Making Progress • I Insufficient Progress

16. Conferences • Conferences are held twice a year • Fall Conferences are open to all parents. Please sign up for a time during our Open House • Spring Conferences will be on an as-needed basis. I will contact you if I would like to schedule a conference • You may always request a conference at any time you feel you need one.

17. Star Student • After the first few weeks of school, we will begin “star students”. If you child is the star student of the week, it is their week to shine. • On Monday, we ask that your child bring in a poster that displays your child’s favorite items, family pictures, baby pictures, etc. These posters will be hung in the hallway to share and will be returned home throughout the year. • Tuesday-Friday your child can bring in 1 item to share with the class (their favorite toy, book, trophy, favorite snack to share with the class, etc).

18. Birthdays • We love to celebrate Birthdays in Kindergarten!!! • For your child’s birthday, he/she will get to wear a birthday crown and get a special birthday treat from Mr. Haft. • We would welcome any birthday treat you would like to send in for the class during snack time. Please notify me ahead of time if you plan on sending in a birthday treat. Cupcakes can be very messy, so please consider an alternate snack such as cookies, a healthy snack or other treat.

19. Parties • We will have 3 holiday parties throughout the year: Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. These are parent organized and run. A signup sheet for parent volunteers will be at Open House. Parties will occur on the actual holiday, or if the day falls on a weekend our party will be held on the Friday before. • We will also have various other special days in Kindergarten, such a fall and spring field trip, 100th day of school, pajama party, Polar Express Day, Alphabet Day that may require additional parent volunteers/supplies. Information on these events will be sent home prior to the event.

20. Parent Volunteers • We welcome parent volunteers in our classroom! • We have various different ways that you could volunteer in our class, such as helping with parties, assistance with centers, etc. There are also opportunities to help even if you are not able to come into the classroom. Please be sure to fill out and return your volunteer sheet as well as sign up for class parties during Open House.

21. Things we work on • We will be working on MANY different skills throughout the year. • Reading • Recognize all uppercase and lower case letters and produce proper letter sounds • Recognize color words and sight words • Reads word families • Reads words fluently in context • Retell stories • Identifies characters and setting in a story • Writing • Writes first and last name • Prints letters and numbers correctly • Math • Reads numbers 0-30 • Rote counts to 100 • Skip counts by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s to 100 • Names and gives values of coins • Tells time to the hour • A complete list of skills is listed on our classroom webpage.

22. Any other questions? • Open House for students is Tuesday August 21 from 5:30-7:00 • Please bring your child’s school supplies • If you have any other questions, please email me.