ABCs of First Grade

ABC’s of First Grade

A. Absences – Please call the school at 734-379-7060 to inform us of any absences.

COVID-19 SCREENING TOOL FOR FAMILIES- All families should use the checklist sent by Mr. Bezeau EVERY DAY before sending their child(ren) to school. If you answer "YES" to any of the screening questions your child must stay home from school. PLEASE always call our school office and report if your child is ill. Our secretary may ask you about specific symptoms that your child is displaying. Should your child and/or another family member that lives in your house receive a positive Covid 19 Test, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SCHOOL IMMEDIATELY!

Arrival - Students can arrive and enter Weiss Elementary School at 8:43 AM. Students may not arrive prior to 8:43 AM, to ensure a safe parking lot, social distancing and available staff supervision. Upon arrival at the Weiss campus, families will pull into our drive-up loop in the front of the building. At this time, parents will stay in their vehicle as students exit out of their car. Students may enter our building through their classroom exterior doors from 8:43-9:00. After 9:00, students must come through the main office doors in order to enter the building as instruction in the classroom will have begun. We will not mark students tardy until after 9:05 am. All students must enter the building independently. Students should have their mask on prior to exiting the vehicle. Again, the purpose of this extended arrival time is to stagger arrival to maintain social distancing

B. Behavior Management – Our school uses a positive behavior program called PBIS. Information about the program will be sent to you the first week of school. When a child breaks a rule (usually after several reminders) they will be asked to move their “clip” (a clothes pin) up or down the chart. Below is an explanation of the different levels and the corresponding color.

Pink – Outstanding Day!

Purple – Great Job!

Green – Ready to Learn (every child begins the day at this level)

Orange - Teacher’s Choice (some sort of consequence will be given)

Yellow – Stop and Think (A yellow “think sheet” will be filled out by your child, and come home to be signed.)

Red - Parent Contact (Child will be sent to the office to conference with Mr. Bezeau and a red slip will come home to be signed by the parent or guardian.)

Birthdays – School board policies have been put into place regarding health and nutrition. We therefore are not able to have cupcakes or sweets to celebrate birthdays. Due to COVID we will not be able to pass out any goodie bags from home to the students. We will still make their birthday a special day by singing and giving your child a special crown! Thank you for your understanding!

Birthday Invitations – Please only send in invitations if you’re inviting the whole class or ALL girls or ALL boys. Leaving only specific children out leads to very hurt feelings when I am passing out invitations to the others. Otherwise, you will need to mail them. Thank you!

C. Conferences – Parent-teacher conferences will be held this fall. It is yet to be determined what these will look like this year. If I have any concerns before then, I will contact you. However, please feel free to contact me at any time concerning your child’s progress!

Clothing – According to board policies, students will be going outside for recess any time the wind chill is above 10 degrees Fahrenheit. PLEASE dress your child appropriately for the weather! Flip flops are not allowed. If your child wears sandals to school, it is always a good idea to pack tennis shoes as well as we go out for recess as often as possible. Due to COVID 19, please make sure your child only wears clothing that they can do up themselves. If they cannot zipper or button, please practice these skills before sending them in something with these items!

D. Dismissal – As we think creatively and work to minimize the amount of students and/or parents and guardians in one place, we will be dismissing our Pick-up students at staggered times based on their last name. This will also ensure that we keep siblings together during our dismissal. If siblings have a different last name but live in the same household, the oldest student will be dismissed at the youngest sibling’s time. If your child’s last name starts with A-F, they will be dismissed at 3:20. If your child’s last name starts with a letter of G-L, they will be dismissed at 3:30. If your child’s last name starts with the letter M-R, they will be dismissed at 3:40, and if your child’s last name starts with S-Z, they will be dismissed at 3:47. This will allow us to move our students out to their families in much smaller groups while moving the traffic along in a more efficient manner. As we get used to each car and family, please have a piece of paper that you can put on the windshield that says each of your child(ren)’s name(s).

Champions students will be dismissed at 8:55 in the morning after eating breakfast. They will be dismissed from their classroom at 3:15 in the PM to head to champions.

Walkers in the Coachlight subdivision will be dismissed from their classroom at 3:15 to head home.

***If you are picking up your child early or if they are coming home a different way than usual, please send a note in, do not rely on your child to convey the information to me. Your child’s teacherneeds it in writing or through a phone call. ***

E. Email – Please email your teacher with your child’s name and your name, so that we can contact you throughout the year. Weekly updates will be sent this way.

Early Dismissals - If you need to pick your child up early from school, please call the office WHEN YOU ARE IN THE PARKING LOT so we can call your child down at that time ONLY. You will be buzzed into the foyer area, as that will be the only area you may access. You will be asked to show your identification to a staff member through the glass and then your child will be released to you. Please understand this procedure is in place to limit exposure for all.

F. Folder – Each child will be given a travel folder. Due to COVID 19, most communication will be done through the Seesaw app. Communication notes to parents and families and student work will be done through this app. However, papers will still be coming home (although I will be checking them digitally through Seesaw to minimize contact) and they will come home in this folder. Please check it and empty it every evening and return it to school every day. Students are asked to turn in any lunch money or forms from you that might be in the folder each morning. However, we are assuming most of these types of things will be done digitally this year. Please DO NOT put any loose money or notes in your child’s backpack, it needs to go in their folder. We donot check each backpack daily, your child is responsible for giving their teacheranything that was in his/her folder.

G. Gym – Please make sure that your child wears appropriate clothing for gym class on gym days. All students should wear pants and tennis shoes. A special schedule will be coming home the first week of school.

H. Half days – Dismissal is at 12:05.

I. iPads – Each first grader will be using their iPad from last year. It is imperative that when you bring your child for their orientation that you bring their iPad and charger with you so that we can make sure they are all charged up for the full first day of school on Thursday. After that, each child will be responsible (with teacher reminders!) to take their iPad home nightly and return it to school daily. Their chargers will be staying at school. Due to COVID 19, we will start using the iPads from the first day. iPadswill be essential to have daily at school as the bulk of their work will be turned in digitally. Please help to make sure it is returned daily. Thank you!

L. Label – Please refer to the first grade supply list to see what items need to be labeled this year. Some do and some do not! Please DO label backpacks, lunch boxes, water bottles, and coats!

Lunch: Lunch will be in the classroom from 11:50 - 12:20 this year. PLEASE make sure your child is able to independently open and close all of their lunch containers including their drink. I am not sure that lunch moms will be able to assist them as much as in the past. Practicing before school starts is a great idea! Thank you so much for your support!

M. Medical Conditions – If your child has any allergies or other medical conditions that I need to be aware of, please let usknow. From Mr. Bezeau for 2020-2021:

STUDENT MEDICATION AND MEDICAL PLANS - If your child needs medication to be administered at school or requires a medical plan, please call Mrs. Butkin, our school secretary at (734) 379-7060 and set up an appointment with her no later than Thursday, Sept. 3. We want to make sure we are ready on the very first day of school, September 8. In your call with her she will reference paperwork that needs to be completed by your child’s physician. Weiss’ nursing services documents can be found https://www.gibdist.net/weiss-elementary/nursing-services

N. Newsletters – Newsletters will be conveyed via email. I will be using the emails that are in MIStar.

P. Parent Connect - Parent Connect is the web application connected to our Student Information System. It will allow you to review current, up-to-the-minute information about your student including their emergency contact information. Emergency contact information has always been vitally important and it continues to be. More communication than ever will be coming home via email opposed to paper copies. When you need to update your contact information the web address for the ParentConnection site is: https://zangleweb.resa.net/Gibraltar/ParentConnect. If you encounter technical difficulties using your account, please send email to: parentconnect@gibdist.net

R. Rotating Masks - Because students will be wearing masks each day, you will want to have a few washable masks so that they can be cleaned at home (or disposable masks.) It would be a good idea to have an extra mask or two in your child’s backpack.

S. Snack – We will start the year by having one snack a day in first grade. Depending how things go we may be phasing this out as the year goes on. Please send in a NUTRITIOUS snack for your child every day. Examples include fruit, cheese and crackers, vegetables, raisins, granola bars, etc. Please only send in water to drink with snack, no juice, powders added to water, or milk. They can’t be at the tables because books and ipads can get easily ruined by them.

Shoes – If your child does not know how to tie, we ask that they come to school with shoes that they can do themselves such as Velcro or slip on. Due to COVID 19, we will not be able to assist them as much with shoes and clothing as we have in the past. Thank you!

T. Technology– We will be using SeeSaw as our Learning Management System. (More information will be coming home about signing in and using SeeSaw.) Your child will be bringing home their iPad every day from school and returning with it. Please make sure it is charged and cleaned.

V. Visitors – ALL visitors/parents must call and make an appointment to come into the building. Everyone has to wear a mask in the building at all times. In an effort to limit visitors in our building, parents/guardians may request a phone meeting with staff or a Zoom call if a parent or guardian needs to drop off a lunch or a forgotten device or something else to their child, you will be buzzed into the foyer area ONLY and place the item in the grade designated container. A building staff member will deliver that item to your child’s classroom.

W. Water bottles – Please send in a reusable water bottle that has an attached lid for your child to keep in our classroom. Make sure it is labeled with your child’s name clearly on it and that they know how to open it, close it, and fill it up independently as I will not be able to touch their water bottles to help. We not want to spread germs from one child to another! A well hydrated child learns better!

Z. ZZZZZ – Please make sure that your child gets enough rest each night. The “average” first graders should get approximately ten to elevenhours of sleep each night!