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1. The ‘ s Of Kindergarten

2. Arrival: The school day begins at 8:00 each morning. Students arriving between 7:15 and 7:50 will need to go directly to the cafeteria. Supervision begins at 7:15. The children are picked up from the cafeteria at 7:50 by their teacher and taken to class. There is no adult supervision before 7:15- no child is allowed in the building before this time. Please refer to the section, “tardiness”, for Frisco’s policy on arriving late.

3. Backpacks, Binder and Birthday Parties: Please make sure your child brings a backpack to school each day. They will need to carry items back and forth between school and home. It needs to be a backpack they can carry on their own. We do request that the backpack not have rollers. Rolling wheels have been the cause of many accidents and tears! Birthdays are a very special time for young children. You may send a birthday snack for your child to celebrate his/her birthday, however, we are not allowed to have balloons, party decorations, or favors at school. The birthday snack will be passed out after 2:00. Please send in a 1 inch binder for your child’s Look what I learned in Kindergarten book! Thank you!

4. Conference Time & Curriculum Night: Our daily conference time is 12:00-12:50 Mon-Thurs and 12:25-1:15 on Fridays. Our Fall Parent Conference Day will be held on Monday, October 11. You will be receiving more information about signing up, etc. at a later date. Please feel free to email or call us before our conference should any questions arise!

5. Robertson Elementary will have a Curriculum Night where parents come and learn about all the great things their children will be studying in class. Kindergarten’s Curriculum night will be Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. More information will be coming home about Curriculum Night.

6. Dismissal: Your child will be dismissed at 3:00 p.m. each day. If for any reason you have a change in your child’s normal dismissal procedure you must notify the office or write a note for your child’s teacher. For your child’s safety, we are unable to accept any verbal messages from your child. We take transportation issues very seriously and would appreciate your help in this matter. If you park your car instead of going through the carpool line in the parking lot, you must walk up to our dismissal location. We will not allow children to run to the street alone. Please do not take your child without letting a teacher on duty know. Car riders will exit the building through the back of Pod 1.

7. If you have a last minute change in your child’s dismissal routine, please call the school office at 469-633-3675, not the classroom.If your student will be riding a bus that is not typical of their daily dismissal routine, ex. riding home with a friend for a special play date, a signed and dated note must be sent to school in order for it to be stamped by the office. Without a stamped approval note from the office, a child will not be allowed on a bus that they do not normally ride. Only students who are eligible for bus transportation are allowed to ride buses. If you child is not eligible for bus transportation and is going home with a classmate who does ride the bus, please make other transportation arrangements for your child.

8. Dress Code: The purpose of our FISD dress code is to promote a positive, professional learning environment. BOYS: Shirts with sleeves must be worn at all times Shorts must extend to or below students’ fingertips when their arms are held to their sides Girls: Sleeveless tops with a minimum width of two inch wide straps are permitted. Any shoulder barring, spaghetti straps or halter type clothing is not permitted. Dresses, skirts, or shorts must extend to or below the student’s fingertips when their arms are held to their sides.

9. Everyday: Please make sure your child is present everyday unless he/she is ill and/or running a fever. If your child is absent, please phone the school office at 469-633-3675 that morning, not the classroom. Please send a dated and signed note in with your child when they return explaining the absence. Without a note, your child’s absence is recorded as unexcused. More than 18 absences can be considered for retention.

10. Folders & Field Trips: Your child will bring home a folder everyday. This folder will contain any class notes and information you will need. It will also include your child’s citizenship for the day. It is very important for you to go over your child’s daily folder with them each evening, initial the citizenship chart and return the folder the next morning. When sending notes and other communication to school, please make sure it is inside the folder. We do not check backpacks. It is the child’s responsibility to take out any notes, lunch money, etc. first thing in the morning for us. We check the folders later in the morning for important information. Therefore, if a note concerns something early in the day, your child needs to give it to his/her teacher when they arrive first thing in the morning.

11. The school will send home a blue folder each Thursday. The Thursday folder will include school wide information from PTA. Be sure to check this folder for important PTA information and return it to school the next day. If there is something that needs to be returned to school, please put it in the red daily folder. This will help us make sure all communication reaches the teacher and does not get lost.We are allowed two Field Trip during the school year. We will send home information regarding the destination, price, volunteer opportunities, etc. at a later time. Volunteers must have a completed background check form on file in the office to attend. We do ask that we make this day special and safe for the kindergartners, therefore we request other arrangements be made for younger siblings. Please send $5 for your child’s class t-shirt.

12. Good-byes & Guided Reading: After the first week, please say your good-byes at the front door. This will help your child develop independence and self-confidence. It will also help us begin our school day in a calm, organized manner. It can be hard saying good-bye at the classroom door. Your child will participate in Guided Reading instruction each day. The first several weeks of school will be used to assess the children in order to find their instructional needs and levels. Guided Reading instruction consists of working with letters and words as well as developing reading strategies for reading books independently. After working with the teacher, your child will have Guided Reading homework to practice each night.

13. Homework: Yes!!! We do have homework in Kindergarten. There will be homework activities for the students to complete monthly. We ask that the parents initial the activity that has been completed. The purpose for the homework activities is to help the children continue to develop the skills taught at school through fun reinforcement activities. It is meant to be done together as a fun Family Time. As your child begins reading instruction, take home readers will begin coming home for them to practice. It is very important that they read their books each day they are brought home. Many books will be sent home more than one time to help your child develop their fluency and comprehension skills in addition to their decoding skills. Please help us in developing good study habits with your child by making sure homework is completed and returned on time. The most important thing we want to teach your child is that homework is important and fun. Please make sure it is an enjoyable experience at home.

14. Independence: In order for us to help your child learn to be independent, please allow them to do things for themselves, even if they make mistakes. Making mistakes is an important part of learning independence.

15. Jackets & Sweaters: We will be going outside to play for recess unless it is raining. We go outside in the Winter if the temperature is above 40 degrees. Please make sure your child comes to school with the appropriate outer wear. We cannot leave a child inside because they do not have a jacket.

16. Keeping Track: K is for keeping track of personal belongings. Please make sure your child’s name is on any important belonging so that it can be identified if found. Our lost and found is located in the cafeteria area. Please check it periodically for any lost items. All lost items will be placed there.

17. Lunch & Library: You will receive information on what is being served, prices, and information on payment options. Please prepay in the cafeteria in the mornings or online for the week/month ahead. To pay your child’s account online please visit the Frisco ISD webpage. If you would like for your child to have a snack with lunch, please plan for an additional $.50-$.75 daily. We suggest you put a block or limits on snack privileges for your child through the cafeteria. Teachers are not allowed to help your child with lunch selections inside the lunch line. Children with no lunch money will be provided with 2 sides and a juice (only twice). If your child has a food allergy, please notify the cafeteria in addition to your child’s teacher. The cafeteria will enter allergy information into their computer system (only with a doctor’s note) so your child will not be allowed to purchase any allergy foods.

18. Mrs. Biamont, the librarian, will read stories based on our units of study. Kindergarten children can check out books to take home and read. Children can check out a new book only when they demonstrate the responsibility of returning the old book.

19. Money & Medicine: Please make sure any money sent with your child is placed in an envelope clearly marked with their name and the destination for the money. Please put the envelope in the daily folder to guarantee its arrival. We do not check backpacks for notes and money.If your child takes any medication, it must be taken to the clinic where you must fill out paper work for the nurse to have on file. Teachers are unable to dispense medicine or allow the children to do it on their own. This includes cough drops or any over the counter medication.

20. Numbers: Please make sure that your telephone numbers and email addresses are always current. This includes making sure the front office and your child’s teacher have your numbers. Also, it is very important to keep your emergency contact numbers up to date!

21. Office: If your child must be absent from school, please call the office by 8:30 a.m. THANKS!!! The office must contact you if they have not heard from you. If you have a question for your child’s teacher, please feel free to email or call and leave a voice mail message with your child’s teacher. We will get back with you ASAP, most likely during our lunch break, planning time, or after school. Thank you for your patience.

22. Parties: The district policy allows for 3 class parties a year- Winter, Valentine’s Day and End-of-Year. Room Parents are responsible for planning the parties. Other interested parents will be asked to help at this fun time, too!

23. Questions: There is no such thing as a silly question- just ask!!!! It’s the only way we can keep the lines of communication open.

24. Responsibility: It is very important that the children learn to be responsible. They will be learning how to unpack and pack their belongings at school and it is important that they be allowed to do so on their own. This will help us in teaching your child responsibility and will help their self confidence bloom! Skills your child will practice to develop their independence will include, opening lunch items, packing and unpacking belongings, zippers, buttons, shoe tying, bathroom procedures, turning in work, responsibility for own actions/choices.

25. Snacks & Specials: We will have a snack time each day. Specific snack times will vary from class to class. Each child is responsible for bringing their own snack daily. Please put your child’s name on his/her snack. This helps us with knowing who the snack REALLY belongs to. Children are not allowed to share snacks with other students. Snacks should consist of things easy for the children to open and eat. Some good examples are individual bags of goldfish, crackers, cereal bars, small boxes of raisins, etc. Items such as candy bars, chips, or hard candies are not appropriate snacks. We do ask that you only send water for drinks. This will help us out a bunch in case of spills. Please make sure what you send is healthy.

26. Each class will attend specials classes every day. “Specials” includes Music, Art, PE, and Computers. You will receive information as to your child’s class schedule for Specials. Please make sure your child has appropriate shoes to wear on their PE days. PE tends to frighten some Kindergarteners the first couple of weeks due to the noise being amplified b/c of the size of the gym and the # of students in the class at one time, etc. We will discuss this w/ the children before their first PE class and you can do the same at home.

27. Tardiness & Toys: Make sure your child is at school and on time every day. The tardy bell ringsat 8:00 a.m. It is very distracting to the learning environment for children to walk in after the school day has already begun. Tardiness is a serious issue and must be documented by law. Excessive tardiness is required to be reported by the school to legal officials. If you have any questions about the district’s tardy policy, please contact the school’s data clerk, 469-633-3675. the district monitors the state’s compulsory attendance law by documenting tardies , etc. Persistent early dismissal times are considered under the same umbrella due to missed instructional time. Both of which can add up to ½ day or full day absences.Please do not allow your child to bring toys to school. They disrupt the learning environment, get lost or cause unnecessary arguments.

28. Underwear, etc.: Please keep a change of underwear, pants, socks, etc. in your child’s backpack at all times, even if your child hasn’t had an accident in years. It has been known to happen at the most unexpected times!

29. Volunteers: We love helpers!! Please see the parent volunteer sign-up sheets if you are interested in helping at school or at home. We will be contacting you to let you know how we can use your help as soon as possible. Please remember that ALL volunteers MUST have a criminal background check on file before being allowed to volunteer.

30. Weather: Once again, please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. We go outside for recess all year long. We cannot leave a child inside because they forgot a jacket. Help keep your child comfortable!!

31. X,Y,Z: If you have any questions at all, please let us know! Thanks! , ,