Deerwood Kindergarten



Deerwood Kindergarten

Orientation

Presented by:

Christy Clapp

Caryn Uttenweiler

Kelle Banda

Visit the Deerwood website at humble.k12.tx.us

Deerwood main telephone number

281.641.2200

Kindergarten Voice Mail:

Mrs. Clapp – 281.641.2228

Mrs. Uttenweiler - 281.641.2225

Mrs. Banda – 281.641.2227

School Hours: 8:00-1:50

Students can be dropped off in the cafeteria at 7:30 where they will be supervised until they are dismissed to the classroom at 7:50. Your child is considered tardy if he is not in the classroom at 8:00. To help your child develop independence, we have found that a happy good-bye and an immediate exit by the parent help with any anxiety problems that may arise. We appreciate your help with this. On the first day of school we encourage you to bring your child directly to the Kindergarten area. After the first day, please give your hugs and kisses at the double doors in front of the office and allow your child to walk to his classroom independently.

It is important that your child be at school no later than 8:00 so that we can take care of lunch count and attendance and begin our action-packed day. If your child is absent, you must notify Mrs. Tynan through e-mail or by sending a note within 48 hours of his return to school.

Visitors: In order to establish routines for our students during the first two weeks of school, we are requesting that you defer lunch visits until after September . Thank you for your support

What to bring: Please send a backpack every day. Make sure that all backpacks, coats, sweaters, lunch boxes, etc. are clearly labeled. If your child is buying lunch, we suggest sending a check to the cafeteria for $10-$20 to deposit into your child’s lunch account. Each child will be assigned a “pin number.” When he goes through the lunch line, he types in the number and the cost for the lunch is automatically deducted from his account.

The cafeteria staff has a list of the numbers and a K teacher will be there to assist the children. Most of the children eventually become quite skilled at punching in those numbers. When the balance in your child’s account nears zero, you will be notified to send another check. Deposits can be made into your child’s account on line. See the district website for details. Menus can be found on the Deerwood website. School lunch prices are $2.00. Breakfast (served from 7:30-7:45) is $1.30. Milk is $.50. A separate breakfast ticket can be purchased in advanced. According to district policy, students may not charge meals. If your child is bringing his lunch, it would help us tremendously if you and your child could practice such things as opening pudding containers, drink cartons, thermoses, bags of chips, etc. We are there to help, but those little guys get very impatient, especially when they are really hungry. We eat lunch at 11:15, so a good breakfast is essential.

Fruit Break: Each child will need to bring a fruit break each day. Healthy snacks are encouraged. We have our fruit break in the mid-morning. In addition to fruit, the children enjoy goldfish, pretzels, crackers, yogurt, etc. Please keep it simple and remember to peel and slice any fruit before you send it. Please do not send gogurts or other juicy items, such as cans of fruit. They can be quite messy. Your child’s teacher will give you more information on how fruit break is done in her classroom. Please do not pack the snack inside your child’s lunchbox.

School Supplies: Each child needs to bring school supplies on the first day. Many local grocery stores sell the packets. Please do not label your child’s school supplies. If you bought them through the district, they will be delivered to our room.

Birthdays: Deerwood’s new policy states that if you want to provide a birthday treat for your child’s class, it must be ice cream purchased from the cafeteria. See the cafeteria staff for details.

Celebrations: We will celebrate 50’s Day, 100’s Day, Derby Day, Mom’s Moment, Thanksgiving, etc. You name it, we celebrate it! We have 3 classroom parties. The Winter, Friendship and Spring parties are organized by the room moms.

Party Invitations: Per Humble ISD handbook, NO birthday party invitations allowed to go home with children from school.

Centers: This is definitely one of the favorite activities for our children. We have 20 centers including play dough, paint, blocks, legos, science and computers.

Field Trips: Last year we went to the Houston Zoo and the Sand Creek Park. We will need your help in the chaperone department.

Curriculum: Our goal is to develop a well-rounded child, socially, emotionally as well as intellectually. Your child will be learning to read and write. We draw, read, write, learn math skills and have lots of fun in the process. We will study a range of topics such as “Self,” “Family,” “Senses,” seasonal topics, “Farm,” “Safety,” “Texas, “Space” and many more. Our math includes patterning, sorting, graphing, estimating, addition, subtraction, measurement, plane and solid geometry, logical thinking and problem solving. Our social studies and science programs are integrated into our curriculum.

Homework: Please refer to our weekly newsletter. We will provide you with some ideas and sometimes specific activities to reinforce what we are learning in school. Kindergarten homework should not take more than 10-15 minutes each night. It will consist of reading together, letter/sound practice, math practice, homework folder activities, etc.

Activity Fund/Let’s Find Out Magazine: We cook and do science activities throughout the year. In order to do this we ask each child to bring in a $10 donation to cover the cost of ingredients and supplies. We also order the Scholastic publication “Let’s Find Out.” We need a separate check for $6.00 to cover the cost of this for the year. Checks may be made payable to Deerwood Elementary. Please send the money in a sealed envelope labeled with your child’s name.

Report Cards: All elementary students receive report cards every 9 weeks. The first parent-teacher conference will be held in October. Classes will be dismissed at 11:30 on those days. Conferences will be scheduled by your child’s teacher. Please check the HISD website for a complete list of dates.

Communication: Based on the teacher’s preference your child will either bring home a daily folder. A Dolphin email will be sent each Friday to the email address provided in the registration packet. if you do not receive an email please let your teacher know. If you do not have access to email, a printed copy can be provided by request.

Dismissal: We will dismiss from the cafeteria side of the building and the front of the building at 1:50. Please see attached dismissal procedures. We will not dismiss any car riders or walkers to their parents until all children are seated. This is to insure your child’s safety. It is also very helpful if you would write your child’s name and any carpool names on a large card to be displayed in the window of your car. This helps expedite dismissal tremendously. If your child is going home with someone else, we MUST have a note stating this. Leftovers (those not picked up by 2:00) will be brought back to the classroom. You will need to sign them out. We understand that uncontrollable circumstances may arise. If this should occur, please phone the office and inform us as to the time you are expected to arrive. Extended child care is offered through the YMCA starting at 1:50. Please contact the YMCA at 281.360.2500 or for details.

Discipline: Your child’s teacher will let you know how her discipline policy works.

Volunteers: We need your help. Our program’s success depends largely on the help we receive from parent volunteers. We are in constant need of cutters, gluers, etc. Art Masterpiece volunteers, room moms/dads, library readers, and chaperones for field trips are also needed. You will receive a PTA packet with volunteer forms inside. If you can help, please let us know. We will place all work to be done in a tote labeled “Kindergarten In-Box.” You will find this in a back corner of the workroom. Completed work can then be placed in our mail boxes in the workroom. We ask that you do not come to the K area to complete this work. It is distracting to the children.

Final notes-How you can help us:

* Help your child learn to tie his shoes. If he is still learning, please make sure the laces are double-knotted before coming to school. You’d be amazed at how much time we spend tying shoes!

* Make sure your child understands how he will be getting home from school. Many anxiety attacks are from lack of knowledge on how the child is getting to school and where he is being picked up. Discuss this with your child. Go to school and show him where he will be dropped off and picked up.

* Anytime you are sending notes or checks to school, please put them in the daily folder. This will be checked by the teacher each day.

* When sending a lunch kit, please discuss how to open packages of food. Some things can be precut and taped back together.

* Do not send soft drinks to school.

* Please make sure that all items sent to school are labeled.

* Please do not allow your child to bring toys or stuffed animals to school.

* It can get very chilly in Kindergarten, so you may want to send a sweater or jacket that your child can leave in Kindergarten all year.

* We do not allow Kinder-kids to buy ice cream at lunch. With a morning snack, a nutritious lunch and a 1:50 dismissal, we do not feel it is necessary.

Hopefully, this booklet answers most of your questions. Please know that your child will be in the loving hands of the teachers who want the best for your child. We want this first formal school experience to be a positive, lasting memory for your entire family. It is our hope to have well-rounded children exit Kindergarten who share a love for learning. We are off to an exciting and fun year!!!

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