Welcome to Kindergarten Orientation!

Wexford Elementary SchoolAugust 25, 2014

Kid President“A Letter To A Person On Their First Day Here”

Mrs. Michelle Kendrew• Received Bachelor’s degree in Elementary

Education from Geneva College.• Worked in Penn Hills and Quaker Valley before

coming to Pine-Richland.• This will be my 10th year teaching Kindergarten

• My husband and I have 2 awesome kids!

Brandon just turned 9 and starts third grade this year. Rebecca is 5 and will be starting kindergarten!

Mrs. Rachel Zimmerman

• Received both my BA in Communications and MEd Elementary Education degrees from Duquesne University

• Taught first grade at North Allegheny and Pine-Richland before teaching Kindergarten

• This is my 3rd year teaching Kindergarten• I live in Pine-Richland with my husband. I don’t

have any children but I am a proud aunt of several nieces and nephews (ages 29- 8 mos. old)

Language Arts/Reading Readiness• Wilson Fundations program – Letters and letter sounds with letter/sound cards – word building through “tapping”– letter formation with the skyline, plane line, grass

line, and worm line– 6 “trick words” (sight words). These are

supplemented with 44 common sight words. A complete list is in the orientation folders.

– Students will learn the digraphs sh, ch, th, wh, and ck

Language Arts…continued* Guided Reading

- Book room leveled books A-Z- Reading A to Z (online resource with leveled materials)- Small group instruction- Elements of Daily 5 (word work, writing, reading to self, reading with a partner, listening to reading)- Take-home books from our classroom library

* Harcourt Trophies- Literary focus skills- Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Activities- Pre-decodable and decodable books

Math and Counting Skills

• enVision Math Series by Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley

• Covers 16 topics including sorting, classifying, position and location, patterns, number recognition and writing, geometry, measurement, addition and subtraction, money, time, calendar, and graphing

Science

• FOSS trees and fabrics kits that are inquiry based and hands-on- study of leaves and how trees change through the seasons- study of fabrics, what they are used for, where they come from, how they are made, and testing the effects of water on them.

Social Studies

• Houghton Mifflin- “My World”- talking about following rules- leaders of our school and country- bodies of water- symbols of America

Additional Curriculum

• Computers: visited once a week (Wednesdays)

• Library: visited once a week (Mondays). Books need to be returned each week before checking out new books.

First Day of School: August 27th

• All students must be transported to and from school by car both ways on the first day.

• AM time: 9:30-11:15• PM time: 1:00-2:45• Students should bring a backpack only. • For the first week of school, we will meet

students off of the bus and walk together to the classrooms.

Birthdays

There will be no food inside the classrooms for birthdays or for party celebrations. Alternate “treats” may be sent in (pencils, stickers, etc).

SuppliesDaily:BackpackCommunication Folder – Please check DAILY!*Mondays- Library book

School Supplies Requests:See website for Kindergarten Supplies List“Nice Bucket Challenge”:If you are willing and able to pick 1 or more item from

our buckets to donate to our class, you are more than welcome to do so. We greatly appreciate your kindness and

generosity! You have until September 8th to complete the challenge… Good Luck!

AM Pick-up• One way bus transportation is provided to school. • Cars should not arrive to the pick-up line before 11:45 am• At 11:55 am, Kindergarten is scheduled to exit the building • Students will be dismissed by the curbside ONLY. Pull your vehicle AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE

to the one in front of you to allow for more students to be dismissed. • The teacher will read the sign that must be displayed in your vehicle’s window and

dismiss your child to walk carefully into the car. Cars need to have student name tags placed visibly in car windows EVERY DAY!

• It is recommended (if possible), to have your kindergarten’s seat be in the back passenger side of the vehicle. In any case, your child MUST enter the car in the back passenger side.

• We also ask for safety purposes that drivers not be on their cell phones during the time of dismissal. All drivers need to be attentive to students exiting the building and getting into cars.

• Wait for the vehicle(s) in front of you to move before moving your own vehicle. • We strongly encourage carpooling and having children practice buckling his/her own

seatbelts. Once students are safely buckled, please move forward. • If you need to help your child with buckling OR you need speak with a teacher or another

parent, please pull over to the side/into a parking space. • If you are late, your child will wait inside the school office for you.

In the event of rain or other inclement weather:

• *Mrs. Kendrew will begin dismissing students into their cars starting at the first pillar near the school’s entrance. 4-5 students will be dismissed along the curb near the awning. Once students are secure in their seats, please continue to exit the parking lot in the order you were parked.

• *Mrs. Zimmerman will dismiss 3-5 students into their cars nearest the school’s entrance in the bus parking lot. The first car in the line should park so that your passenger side doors are visible and your child’s name is visible to the awning. Once students are secure in their seats, please continue to exit the parking lot in the order you were parked.

PM Drop-Off• PM students should arrive by car in the Student Drop-off Lot(between

12:55 and 1:05)• Students should remain INSIDE their cars until a teacher comes outside.

Remind students to WALK into the building at all times.• If your child is late, please walk inside with him/her to receive a tardy

slip. • PM dismissal time for buses or for car riders is 3:45.

• AM and PM: If a child needs to leave school early, please send in a note for the teacher. You will need to sign your child out at the office.

• AM and PM: For safety precautions, when entering the building and coming to the classroom for any reason, you must sign in at the office, turn in your keys, and get an ID badge.

Other Information* Please inform your child’s teacher ASAP about how he/she

will be going home from school. Daycare centers are not responsible for letting us know.

• We do utilize parent volunteers in many ways. Be looking for volunteer opportunities in your child’s folder.

• Birthday invitations may only be passed out at school if there is one for each child.

• NO FOOD is permitted inside the classrooms.• If you need to contact your child’s teacher during school,

please call the school. Email is only checked before and after instructional times.

• If your child is absent, please make sure your child has an excuse when he/she returns to school.

Conferences and Report card info• As soon as you have a question or concern, call or

email your child’s teacher. We will do the same. • There are a few days allotted for conferences in the fall,

but we can conference at any time there is a need to do so.

• Report cards are given out once every 9 weeks. (Report card indicators and when they are assessed are included inside the orientation packets).

• AIMS Web reading assessments are given 3 times during the school year (beginning, middle, and end). Scores will be sent home with report cards.

Time for Questions

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Thank you for coming!

• We are looking forward to a great school year!