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Ms Ploszay’s Kindergarten Class! 2010-2011

Welcome!!! This week your child will complete one of the most important milestones in his/her life – the first day of school! I understand that you and your child may have met this day with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both) and I hope that this letter will help you know what to expect in kindergarten this year and answer any questions you may have.  I would like to take this time to introduce myself. My name is Joy Ploszay. I am beginning my 13th year as a teacher. I am looking forward to working with your child this year and helping him/her to achieve his/her full potential. Through the remainder of this letter, I will share some of my beliefs and classroom expectations.

Parent/Teacher Relationship

I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school success. Throughout the year I will communicate with you through notes, telephone calls, monthly newsletters, quarterly reports and parent-teacher conferences. I hope that you will contact me if you have any questions at any time. I have a website http://ploszay.wikispaces.com that I encourage you to join. I will post information about the class including homework and newsletters. You can call me at school (771-8185) or send me a note. I am usually at school by 7:30 and I leave around 3:20. I also have a school e-mail address that I check daily so feel free to send me an e-mail: ploszayjo@nlrsd.k12.ar.us

Parent Participation

Throughout the year there will a variety of special classroom activities and celebrations. I encourage you to attend these functions when possible and to support them by sending needed supplies or treats. Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the message that you value school.

School Attendance

Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. I can’t emphasize this point enough!!! Most kindergarten learning activities are group oriented and involve interaction with classmates. Therefore, it is next to impossible to make up work at home. Please view school as a priority, and make sure your child attends everyday except in cases of illness or emergency. If your child is absent please send a note when they return so that their absence will be excused.

Homework Your child will have homework each night. They will receive monthly homework calendars. These calendars (along with the corresponding work packet) are secured in the middle of their homework/ take home folders. Each day (Monday-Thursday) will have one or two assignments for the students to complete. Some assignments are written while others are activities for your child to do orally or with materials at home. All written assignments have a page in the packet for your child to complete the work. **Please help your child complete the work each night** __and return the folder every day__ so that I can check the day’s work. I will send the folders home each day. There will be consequences if homework is not completed each day. This is designed to help you know what your child is learning, and to reinforce concepts that were taught that week. This homework should not take more than 20 minutes each night to complete. Thank you in advance for your hard work!

School Hours

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The school hours are 8:00 – 2:40. Breakfast begins at 7:30. Please do not bring your child to school before 7:30, as there will not be anyone here to supervise them. They are to come in the cafeteria doors. If you need to pick your child up during the school day, you **must sign him/her out in the office**. One of the secretaries will call your child to come to the office over the intercom.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Change in Transportation <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">If you plan to pick up a child that normally rides the bus or daycare or you wish for your child to ride a different bus than usual, you must send a written note. Do not rely on your child to tell me this information, because children often become confused and relay messages incorrectly. **If a written note is not received, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation**.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Outdoor Recess <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The children will be going out for recess everyday unless it is raining or extremely cold. Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. Also, we are fortunate to have a variety of playground equipment, including several pieces for climbing. Please keep this in mind when selecting shoes. For the most part, if your child is well enough to be at school, he/she is well enough to participate in outdoor recess, if properly dressed. In fact, the germs that cause colds thrive more readily in heated indoor air and it is beneficial to go outside and get some fresh air. However, on those occasions when you feel it is best for your child to stay indoors, **please send a written note** and I will make arrangements for your child to do so.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Money

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on it:


 * 1) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; tabstops: list .5in;">Your child’s first and last name
 * 2) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; tabstops: list .5in;">The amount of money
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; tabstops: list .5in;">The purpose for the money (lunch, field trip, book money, etc.)
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; tabstops: list .5in;">My name

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">With 20 kids to keep track of and several different reasons to collect money, this helps me out tremendously and reduces the likelihood of errors. Also, if the envelope is left on the bus or dropped in the hallway, this information will help the money to be returned to my classroom. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Book Orders Your child will be bringing home a form to order books about once a month. If you wish to order, simply fill out the form and send the correct amount of money or a check made out to the book company in an envelope. These orders are provided as a convenient way for parents to buy quality books for their child at a low price. I have compared prices at discount and book stores, and this is the cheapest way to buy books. As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books, I earn bonus points which are used to purchase books for classroom use. This is a win-win situation because you get quality literature at a low price and you are helping to provide quality literature for the classroom. Of course, you are never under any obligation to order. <span style="display: block; font-family: Century Gothic; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">Birthdays Please do not send birthday party invitations to school **unless the entire class has been invited**. Although it may seem convenient to distribute invitations this way, it can result in hurt feelings for those not invited. We are also unable to celebrate birthdays at school, so please do not send cupcakes or candy to school for your child’s birthday. <span style="display: block; font-family: Century Gothic; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">Discipline Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child’s success, confidence and well-being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is safe and secure; free from all threats of physical or emotional harm. In addition, it is important that each child learn to develop self-discipline and good work habits, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to think independently. For these reasons, the discipline plan I have chosen has several components.

First, the children will learn the purpose of classroom expectations and develop the idea that our classroom is a community with the common purpose of learning, growing and becoming friends.

The second facet of the discipline plan includes the logical consequences that will occur when class rules are broken. At Amboy we use a card system, for every offence the child has to pull a card. In my classroom, I have the same concept however, I use frogs to help the child see and understand better where they are in the plan. Each morning everyone’s frog starts on the 5 lily pad. As rules are broken they are going to move their frog to different lily pads. The consequences (lily pads) are: 5 – Wonderful Day 4 – Warning 3 – Time Out 2 – Contact Parent 1 – Visit the Principal If classroom rules are severely or persistently broken, parents will be contacted by note or by telephone. A visit to the principal’s office is a rarely used last resort.

Each Thursday you will receive a gold note, which lets you know where your child’s frog was for the week. **Please sign this and send it back to school with your child each Friday**.

Finally, (since we all like treats) each child who successfully completes a day without breaking a rule will receive a treat. This treat might be a sticker or a stamp on his/her hand. You can reinforce positive behavior at school by complimenting your child on days he/she receives a treat. On those occasions when your child doesn’t receive a treat, discuss with him/her the reason why and help your child think of ways to prevent the problem from reoccurring. Each Friday the children who stayed on 5 all week will be able to pick a prize out of the treasure box. <span style="display: block; font-family: Century Gothic; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">The End In closing, I would like to say that I am looking forward to a great year working with your child! I would also like to suggest that you save this letter for future reference. Thank you in advance for your concern and support throughout the year!!! Ms Ploszay