Welcome to Kindergarten at Hickory Elementary

1. Welcome to Kindergarten at Hickory Elementary Mrs. Guerrero

2. Mrs. Jen Guerrero • from Austin, Texas • graduated from Texas State University with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies and a specialization in Early Childhood Education • previously taught grades Pre-K, 2nd, 3rd, 4th(high-ability), 1st grade summer school • My husband and I moved to the Indy area in 1996.

3. Schedule • 9:00-9:30: Unpack, Morning Work, Calendar Time • 9:30-10:15: Math • 11:10-11:40: Language Arts – read aloud, “popcorn words”, Letter of the Week, Daily 5 • 11:50-12:20: Lunch • 12:20-12:35: Recess • 12:45-1:00: Rest/Teacher Read Aloud • 1:00-2:00: Math/Language Arts Activities, Social Sciences • 2:15-3:00: Specials: Mon: P.E., Tues: Music, Wed: Art, Thurs: Media, Fri: P.E. (for 1st nine weeks) • 3:05-3:15: Recess • 3:30-3:40: End of day procedures

4. Lunch • You can place money in your child’s lunch account. You can go to mylunchmoney.com or access the website from the Avon website, under the parent link, then food services. • If you do send them with money or a check PLEASE place it in a sealed envelope, with the child’s name and what the money is for. • You can help our lunchtime go smoother by practicing at home. Eating first before visiting with family, many students talk with their friends, then run out of time to eat. • Remind your child they must remain seated until an adult tells them they may leave the table.

5. Celebrations We will have Holiday celebrations throughout the year, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Hawaiian Day. We welcome help on these days. Please keep an eye out for information in my newsletter and on my webpage. Birthdays- Avon Community School Corporation school policy does not allow birthday parties at school and students may not pass out invitations at school.

6. Volunteers I would love to have you involved in our classrooms in any way you can. There are many ways to get involved. Classroom volunteering will begin in late September. I will have a Volunteer Calendar available for you to sign-up at the conferences. The Hickory PTO would LOVE to have your support and help as well. This is also a great way to volunteer for me and the school!

7. Website Instructions on how to find the Avon and Hickory WebPages are located in your kindergarten handbook. avon-schools.org On these WebPages you will find information about upcoming events, links to educational programming on the internet, and copies of newsletters, reading letters, and homework calendars.

8. Transportation Transportation changes: We must be informed of any and all transportation changes with a note stating who will be picking up your child and the dates this is effective. If there is not a note, we will send your child home as previously directed. There are “change of transportation” forms in the back of the Hickory Handbook for your convenience, and on Hickory’s webpage. In case of an emergency change please call and tell the office secretaries. NO CHANGES AFTER 2PM

9. Home/School Connection I welcome and encourage you to contact me if you have a question, concern, or have something great you want to share with me. Newsletter-I send home a weekly newsletter. Please try to read it each week. “Hickory Highlights” will be electronic this year. If you do not have access to the internet, please let me know so that I can get you a paper copy of the school newsletter. Email- I am sending around clipboards requesting your email address. There are times when Mr. Collins will send home information and it will be sent via email. Homework - Reading Logs will be sent home at the beginning of each month to track the daily reading (15 minutes per day). Starting in January an additional homework assignment will be given. Monthly homework calendars will be sent home along with the Reading Logs. Spelling tests also begin in January.

10. Parent/Teacher Conferences • Please be sure to sign up for a conference time tonight in the hallway outside the cafeteria. • The conferences will be September 10-14. • Students will attend school from 10:00-3:40 that week.

11. 1-hour Delay Days • This year Avon is again implementing 1-hour delay days. On these days school will start 1 hour later. That hour will be used for teacher in-services. The days are: Oct. 11, Dec. 6, Feb. 7, March 21, April 25. • There will be no school on August 29th. This is a teacher in-service day. • I will post all these dates on my webpage soon.

12. Appropriate Dress Dress your child with the mindset that they do get messy in our rooms! Also, please dress your child appropriately for the weather. We do not have access to extra coats, gloves, etc. Please make sure that you put your child’s name on all jackets and coats as students often have the same ones. Students are not permitted to wear backless shoes. All shoes need to have a back to insure safety on the playground. Tank tops are not allowed.

13. Kindergarten Phone Directory We will put together a Hickory Kindergarten Directory for all parents who wish to be included. Please return the information sheet to school with your child. This directory will be given to ALL Kindergarteners-only parents who return the completed form will have their information published.

14. Class Procedures School and Classroom Rules are listed in the kindergarten handbook. If a student fails to follow these procedures: 1. The student will move their “clip” onto the green part of the Stop Light. I will talk with the student one-on-one about the procedure they failed to follow and why that procedure is important. 2. Student will move their clip to yellow and will sit in the Sugar Seat for 5-6 minutes. 3. Students will move their clip to red. I will talk with the student and he/she will bring home a “sad” note. On “sad” notes I will mark the rule(s) broken and write a short note. “Sad” notes must be signed by a parent and returned the next day. 4. For severe infractions, or continuous problems: a. Call to you at the end of the school day AND/OR b. Send your child to the office. *Examples of severe infractions: physical contact, biting, spitting, swearing, and cheating.

15. Kindergarten Curriculum Our classroom curriculum focuses on all of the language processes (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Our classroom encourages children to see themselves as readers, writers, and problem solvers. We value the process as well as the product, and understand that all children are unique individuals. Printing/Child’s Name In the next few days, we will begin working on printing your child’s name. We will be asking your child to print his/her name using a capital letter first, then lower case letters (Emily not EMILY). Please take time to look over the alphabet print handout. Some of the letters may be formed differently than when you or your older children were taught. Please note that Avon Community School Corporation follows Indiana State Standards/Core Curriculum for Kindergarten. Sight/High-frequency words will be worked on throughout the year. Spelling tests & written homework will be given starting in January. Our adopted Math series is enVision and our Language Arts series is Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.

16. Homework • Kindergarten students have homework. The first semester it is to complete a reading log/color sheet. Students and their parents are sit down each night and read together for 15 minutes. Reading logs are sent home for the month, and extra copies can be found on my web page. • Starting in January students will have a reading log, and written homework. I will send home a monthly calendar, with assignments for Monday-Thursday. Written homework will be due each Friday, unless otherwise noted on the calendar.

17. Any Questions???

18. Thanks for coming!!!