Kindergarten Parent Orientation

1. KindergartenParent Orientation Southside Elementary September 3, 2013

2. Welcome to Southside! • Thank you for being here tonight. The most important thing that parents can do is to become involved in your child’s education. • The purpose of tonight is to provide you with an understanding of Kindergarten procedures, policies and expectations. • Hopefully, this will be your child’s school for the next six years, so we encourage you to get involved and join us in our excitement for this fun-filled year!

3. P.A.W. Plan Each child at Southside has a P.A.W. Folder/Binder (Positive Attitudes Work). These folders/binders will come home each day with your child. Please take a look each day with your child. Your child will have two colored dots for each day; one for the morning and one for the afternoon. The colors reflect your child’s behavior for the day. purple = Fabulous Behavior blue = Great Choices green = Ready to Learn yellow = Warning orange = Teacher Choice red = Parent Contact Each teacher has a behavior plan with incentives and consequences for her classroom. Plans are taught and practiced daily.

4. Homework Kindergarten is the foundation for a lifetime of learning! We will begin our weekly Homework September 9. It will come home on Monday and will need to be returned by Friday. Please help your child to do his/her best work and learn to take pride in doing a job well done!

5. Items to Bring to School • Backpack, with P.A.W. Folder/Binder (This folder may have another name) • Your child will need tennis shoes each day for P.E. • As noted on our supply list, please provide an extra change of clothes, including underwear to stay at school if/as needed. • Please make sure that your child does not bring any toys to school, as they are distracting. Any toys brought to school will be taken up. • If you need to send money to school for any reason, please send it in an envelope with his/her name and teacher’s name on the outside. • If you have a change of address or phone number during the school year, please let the office know.

6. Transportation • Students cannot be dropped off before 7:15. The front doors will open at 7:15. • Students may be dropped off beginning at 7:15 in the car rider lane only. • In order to pick up your child in the car rider lane after school, you MUST have a Southside name plate. • If there is a change in the way your child will be dismissed, please send a note, or contact the front office by 2:00.

7. Volunteering If you would like to volunteer, please complete an A.I.S.D. Volunteer Application and return with your child. This process includes a background check and takes several weeks. When you are cleared, your child’s teacher will notify you and send a badge for you to wear while on school grounds, or on Field Trips. We’d love to have your time and talent! Thank you!

8. Snacks, Birthdays, and FMNV’s • We will be asking our parents to help provide snacks for the class. Please keep in mind FMNV. Thank you! • We love to celebrate birthdays in Kinder. If you would like to send cupcakes, please get with your child’s teacher a few days in advance to schedule. Please send a class set of the same kind of cupcakes (decoration/flavor) as well as napkins.

9. Attendance Information • Missing school in the elementary grades when students are learning the basic skills can hinder students throughout their academic careers. • Call between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. if your child will be absent. If we do not receive a call, our attendance clerk, Mrs. Padilla, will contact you. • In addition to the call, a note must be turned in for each absence within 48 hours. If a note is not received within 48 hours, the absence will be marked as unexcused. • If a child is absent for more than three consecutive school days, a doctor’s note is required. • Parent notes will excuse three separate absences in a semester relating to an illness of the child or an illness or death in the family of the child. All additional absences will be considered unexcused unless covered under DNA. • The DNA rule will be in effect after three separate excused absences in a semester. Parent written notes will only excuse the first three absences; after that all additional absences will be unexcused unless:D– a Doctor’s note is received; N– the school Nurse sends a student home; A– a campus Administrator has granted extenuating circumstances. • Excessive unexcused absences could result in required attendance at the Angleton ISD Truancy Diversion Program (TDP) and could possibly result in truancy charges filed by our AISD school police department. • All attendance information can be found in the AISD Student Handbook.

10. Title I School-wide Program • Each campus in the Angleton ISD qualifies as a Title I School-wide Program. • This means that each of the campuses has greater than 40% of its students on the free/reduced lunch program. • This qualifies the campus for federal funds that are to be spent on providing additional assistance to students identified as needing help in meeting the state’s challenging student academic achievement standards and for upgrading the entire education program. • Funds may be spent on the following: • research-based math, reading, science, and social studies programs and activities, • individualized or small group instruction, • professional development, • tutorials, • computer-aided instruction, • extended-learning opportunities, • parent involvement programs or activities, and • supplies to upgrade the entire education program.

11. Important Information Southside’s phone number is 849-5245 Kindergarten’s Lunch time is 10:45 School begins at 7:40 with Morning Assembly School is dismissed beginning at 3:15 We’re looking forward to a great year!

12. Keeping In Touch For many of you, this is your first child at Southside. We’re glad you’re here and we’re thrilled to have your children in our classes! If you need to get in touch with your child’s teacher, please send a note with your child, or call the school at 849-5245 to schedule an appointment. We can also be reached by Email, so see your child’s teacher. We appreciate your being here tonight. We hope you’ve learned some new things about Kindergarten and Southside, as well as learning more about your child’s day. We look forward to working with you and your children! We will be available after tonight’s meeting if your have questions.