Welcome to Kimberly Smith’s Kindergarten! I am very excited to have you in our School Family! I thought you might like to have a quick reference form for some of the most frequently asked questions in kindergarten. Please let me know if you need further clarification.
Absences: If your child is absent from school, the office requires a note from the parent stating your child was absent. **Any missed work will be sent home in your child’s Thursday Folder. If extended absences are planned, please give your teachers at least 3 days’ notice to allow us time to collect all of the work your child will miss. Extended absences must be approved by the office before the trip can be taken. In the event your child is absent for an extended period due to a health related issue, we will work with your family to assist in any way we can.
Morning Drop-Off: The morning drop-off period begins at 7:15 a.m. on the North Side of the school. Students will wait at their designated table in the cafeteria until a kindergarten teacher/assistant comes to pick them up. We will open our classroom doors at 7:30. The first bell rings at 7:55, with the tardy bell ringing at 8:00. It is very important to have your child to school on time. Please make arrangements to arrive in the drop-off line early enough to have your child proceed through the temperature screening process and get to class before the 8:00 bell.
Birthdays: Birthdays are celebrated throughout the year on or near the day of each child’s birthday. At this time, school policy states that we will not be accepting healthy birthday snacks or goody bags. Please do not send anything to school. Due to Covid, we are not allowed to pass out anything from home. Thank you for understanding.
Do not worry. As a school family, we have a special birthday tradition that we do to celebrate our friend’s birthday. I will send you a picture! Your child will also be awarded a Free Dress Day on the day we select for their celebration. Children who have summer birthdays: I will get in contact with the summer birthday families to coordinate with them which day they will wear free dress.
Conduct/Behavior: I use Conscious Discipline and Responsive Classroom techniques in my classroom. In addition, the school will be using a whole school discipline philosophy of 1 2 3 Magic, which also has a parent component. Please refer to the links on my blog for more information about Conscious Discipline, Responsive Classroom and 123 Magic.
Snack and Water: We like to provide a snack time for the children during the afternoons each day. Every child will need to bring in a healthy snack and a fresh bottle of water EVERYDAY. At this time, they will not have access to a water fountain, so a water bottle is necessary. The bottles need to have a lid that closes securely, and be a bottle that does not leak. Please label the bottle with your child’s name.
Snack should be small and simple. Please do not send anything that has to use a fork or a spoon. Simple crackers, cut fruit, cut veggies, pretzels, etc are perfect. Please have the fruit or veggies “ready to eat”. To keep everyone healthy, we cannot wash, cut or peel food items. More information will be sent home.
Mad Scientist and Foodie Fun Activities: Most weeks throughout the year I would like to provide a Mad Scientist Activity. Monetary donations toward the food and experiment materials would be greatly appreciated. Gift Cards to Publix, Wal-Mart or cash donations assigned for that purpose would be useful.
Lunch: The children will eat outside at the picnic tables from 10:50-11:20. Kindergarten is not allowed to buy snacks, including ice cream. Since we are a cashless campus, you will need to set up a lunch account through the office in order to pay for your child’s lunch. If you are sending a lunch box with your child, please use reusable containers and pack healthy food choices for your children. If your child needs a spoon to eat their meal, please pack one in their lunch box as the school will not have spoons to be provided. We ask that you do not send in junk food and candies, since it does not follow our school’s healthy plan policy. Please help your child practice opening each item you plan to put inside their lunch box. In order to help maintain a healthy lunch area, it will be helpful if they are able to manage their lunch by themselves. If help is needed, we will do our best to use safe practices. Practicing cleaning up after themselves will be helpful as well.
Assessments:
Reading: We will start the year with a one-on-one Beginning of the Year Assessment. We will take a baseline assessment on all of the basic skills (letter and sound identification, counting, shapes, colors, number identification, etc.) and repeat it throughout the year to look for growth. Various types of assessments will be used throughout the year. We will assess sight words every 3-4 weeks. Listening Comprehension and Writing assessments will start later in the fall. You will be made aware of upcoming formal assessments. Informal assessing by the teacher will take place all throughout the year.
Saxon Math: Saxon does not provide formal paper tests, but rather one-on-one assessments after every 10 lessons. Following the assessment, I will let you know if your child needs extra practice with a particular skill. It is always a good idea to review basic skills you see coming home in their weekly folder. Playing games or creating fun activities based on the skills being taught are good ways to keep them fresh.
Homework: Homework Policy is located on another resource page on my blog. I will be discussing this during the Back to School Night should you have any questions.
Edublog: Our classroom blog can be found by clicking MORE at the top of the school webpage… and then clicking on the “Classroom News” button. You can select my blog from that list of classes. Classroom blogs will be updated weekly by Monday at 4:00. I encourage you to check the blog each week as there will always be important information for you to see.
Tardiness: I encourage you to set good school habits early. Being tardy upsets the flow of the day for your child and is distracting to the other students. If your child misses or is unable to finish the work presented before he/she arrives to school, it will be sent home to be completed.
Teacher Contact Information:
E-mail: ksmith@sta.school
Messages: I am unable to respond to e-mails during the school day because I am teaching. If you need to get a message to me during the school day, please call the school office. They will give me the message and I will respond appropriately as soon as I am able. I will check my e-mails at the end of each school day.
IMPORTANT! Sign-Up for REMIND:
** If you have a smartphone, get push notifications. Open your web browser and go to the following link: rmd.at/kfk2ckh
Follow the instructions to sign up for Remind. You’ll be prompted to download the mobile app.
**If you do not have a smartphone, get text notifications. Text the message @kfk2ckh to the number 81010. If you are having trouble with 81010, try texting @kfk2ckh to (772)361-6664.
standard text message rates apply
**If you do not have a mobile phone, go to rmd.at/kfk2ckh on a desktop computer to sign up for email notifications.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding these kindergarten policies. I appreciate your taking the time to read this long document! If you wish to speak with me on the phone or in person, please let me know and I will be happy to set up a time to speak/meet with you. It is going to be a wonderful year!
Wishing you well,
Mrs. Kimberly Smith