Welcome to 2 nd Grade Parent Orientation !

1. Welcome to 2nd Grade Parent Orientation! Ms. Guerra 2014-2015

2. Campus Administration Tonya Hyde, Principal (210) 368-8800 thyde@fshisd.net Rebecca Herrera, Asst. Principal (PK-2) (210) 368-8805 rherrera@fshisd.net Laura Boon, Counselor (PK-2) (210) 368-8808 lboon@fshisd.net

3. Ms. Guerra bguerra@fshisd.net (210) 368-8800 ext 8056 Conference Period Monday – Friday 12:45-1:30

4. FSHISD Attendance Policy Regular school attendance is essential for the student to make the most of his or her education. Attendance is taken at 8:00 a.m. Students not at school at 9:30 are counted absent for the entire day. If a student is absent part of the day as a result of a medical appointment, the student will not be counted absent if a note from the doctor documents the appointment. If your child is absent, please send a dated note from home/doctor. All noted must be received within three days or the absence becomes unexcused. If a student will be absent from school three or more days, the parents need to call the teacher to make arrangements to pick up schoolwork. Parents should call at least one day in advance to give the teachers adequate time to gather the assignments and books. The completed assignments should be brought to school when the child returns or when the work is completed within the time frame allowed. Generally speaking, students are allowed one day to complete work for each day absent. TARDIES- The tardy bell rings at 7:50. Please make every effort to make sure your child arrives on time. All tardy students must be signed in by a parent in the office before admittance to the classroom. Be aware that excessive tardies leads to “instructional recovery” or as we remember… after school detention. Tardies count and will impact Attendance Awards.

5. 2nd Grade Schedule FSHE School Day 7:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Students are tardy if they are not in their classroom by 7:50 a.m. 8:00-8:45 ELAR 8:45-9:30 Encore 9:30-10:15ELAR 10:15-11:15 Math 11:15-11:30 Recess 11:30-12:00 Lunch 12:00-12:45 Science 12:45-1:30 Specials 1:30-2:15 Instructional Enrichment 2:15-2:55 Social Studies 2:55-3:00 Dismissal

6. Second Grade Classroom Expectations 1) Keep your hands and feet to yourself. 2) Raise your hand to talk 3) No running or fighting 4) Follow directions 5) Stay on task Students that meet these expectations will receive: Praise Positive notes and stickers in their agendas Special privileges Behavior awards such as treasure box prizes Class Store • Consequences: • Verbal Warning • “Fined” and lose 5 minutes of recess. • “Fined” and lose 10 minutes of recess. • No recess and parents will be called. • Severity Clause - Student sent to the office. • Write ups in the agenda.

7. Grades Students must achieve 70% mastery of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and meet all other minimum course requirements. Grading includes the following categories -Tests -Assignments   Our grading policy is stated in the Student/Parent Handbook. It is as follows: 69 or below – F 70 - 74 – D 75 - 79 – C 80 - 89 – B 90 - 100 - A Reports Cards go home four times a year at the end of each quarter. Progress Reports go home every three weeks following the first grading quarter and additional reports may go home as needed. Please also be an advocate for your child and check their grades as often as possible online. You can set the program up to receive an email every time your child’s average drops below a certain percentage. Please sign all progress reports and return them to the teacher the next school day. Keep one copy.

8. Conduct Grades Another important reason to check your child’s agenda daily is so you are always aware of what their conduct grade will be on their report card. Your child will receive either an “E”, “S”, “N”, or “U”. Those grades will be determined by the number of writes they have. E=EXCELLENT 0-1 write ups in agenda S=SATISFACTORY 2-7 write ups in agenda N=NEEDS IMPROVEMENT 8-10 write ups in agenda U=UNSATISFACTORY 11 or more write ups **Office referrals result in an automatic N in conduct.

9. Agendas/Notebooks Each day your child will bring home his/her agenda in their notebook. Please take time to check for homework and/or important papers in notebook pockets. Also you may send notes from home, in this pocket, as we will check daily. Behavior will be documented daily. A green dot means your child followed all school expectations and procedures. A write up will explain otherwise. Please sign your child’s agenda and return to school daily. Our goal is to establish a partnership to keep you informed about academic and behavioral success. If there should be ANY changes in your child’s transportation arrangements, please send a note the day of the change. Please include if the change is permanent or a one time occurrence. No child will be allowed to deviate from their regular scheduled transportation without documentation from the parent.

10. Communication between teachers and parents Our first line of communication with you will be through the use of your child’s Agenda. Please make it a habit to check daily. These items include, but are not limited to homework, report cards, progress reports, discipline notes, etc. If concerns arise, please bring them to our attention through a note in their agenda or by email. We may not see our phone messages immediately, but you may also leave us a message by phone. Conferences may be requested by the parents or the teacher. There will be a designated conference time for each child. Sign up on one of the back computers today!

11. Homework The purpose of homework is to reinforce skills that have been taught in class. It is recorded on the report card whether or not the student turns in their homework. Spelling-Students will have a spelling test every Thursday with retakes on Friday. Math-Math homework will be sent home to give students extra practice on what is being taught in class and/or what needs to be reviewed. Reading-reading passages for comprehension/fluency and independent reading for 20 minutes nightly The students can complete their homework in any order they like. However, all homework is due by Friday morning. We require that parents take a few moments to look over the homework for accuracy and child’s name before handing it in. Please make sure your child practices his/her spelling words and reads for at least 20 minutes each night. Spelling tests are recorded on the student’s report card. Start date for Homework is Monday, September 8th!

12. Homework/AR A reading log will be sent home monthly. Your child can read orally, silently, or you can read together! They can even read a book more than once. The only requirement is that they read for 20 min each day. Each log should be returned on the last day of each month and signed by a parent. In addition, there will be “reward” at the end of the month for those that return the reading log at the end of the month, they will not be allowed to participate in the reward if they do not return the log at the end of each month. AR is a program where children pick books at their level, read them, and take a computerized test over the story. They will accumulate points to earn special rewards throughout the year. We will have these books available for them and encourage them to use the program. This is not a mandatory program; however, it is a great motivator for the kids. Any grades they make on these computerized tests will not be on the report card.

13. Opportunities for Parent Involvement Don’t forget to turn in your Volunteer Background Check Form. It is mandatory for all volunteers. Room Parents – We love our parent volunteers! There are so many ways to volunteer in the room…please consider letting us know you would like to volunteer to come in during designated times to help. PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) Field Trips and Special Events (ex: book fair)

14. Other Information: It is recommended that all students wear tennis shoes to school. They cannot participate in the P.E. activities without them. Also, the rocks on the playground hurt their feet if they wear any kind of open toe shoe. LUNCH - Lunch will be at 11:25.. If you wish to have lunch with your child, meet your child at the cafeteria. Your child will meet you as the class walks to the cafeteria. Make sure your child has lunch money or a lunch from home each day. All accounts can be taken care of in the cafeteria or visit mylunchmoney.com. Any money brought from home, please put in the zipper pouch with a money from home note with your child’s name on it. Due to accidents that do occur unexpectedly, it is suggested to send a change of clothes in a labeled large Ziploc bag, to keep at school.

15. SNACK– We will not be having a designated snack this year. If your child needs special accommodations, please contact me. BIRTHDAYS—Birthdays are special to us! Please feel free to send in a special treat such as cookies or cupcakes on your child’s birthday. We will celebrate summer birthdays at the end of the year. We don’t mind cupcakes and birthday celebrations at the end of the day. Feel free to send the snacks with your child with a note or drop them off in the office and I am happy to help celebrate your child in our classroom. BOOK ORDERS- A Scholastic Book Order Form will be coming home once a month. If you choose to purchase books for your child, please make sure orders are placed in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on the front. Checks are made out to Scholastic Book Clubs. You can also place your order online using the class activation code which allows you to pay by credit card and the class gets $3 in free books for each online order!

16. VISITATION- We enjoy and appreciate our parent volunteers! Upon volunteering and visiting the classroom we ask that you please follow procedures. Unscheduled visits are disruptive to the classroom environment and student learning. Sign in at the office upon arrival and wear your pass where it is visible. When leaving please sign out in the office. DISMISSAL- School dismisses at 3:00 daily. The parent pick-up line is very congested due to pre-k students who must be picked up by a parent. We ask that you please consider busing your child as it is the easiest convenience for all. BUSING- If your child will be using bus services, please be aware of a couple of things. Children are only allowed to ride the bus to their home address or after school care provider. If they have an after school provider, the address must be on file. Please keep the teacher and front office informed about any transportation changes. Please discuss with your child the location for morning pick-up and afternoon drop-off. Please send a note in writing if your child will be going home a different way than their usual way.

17. Please do not send any valuables to school with your child. Sometimes our classes get very cold beyond our control. If possible, have your child keep a sweater/sweatshirt in school for those cold days in the classroom. Please read the student-parent handbook carefully. You may find the student-parent handbook on the Fort Sam Houston website at www.fshisd.net . You may request a hard copy of the student-parent handbook, but limited copies are available. In an effort to reduce the use of paper, we hope that you will access the document online.

18. We are going to have an awesome year!