Hello K-3 family and friends! Let me be the first to welcome you to kindergarten! This is going to be a year full of learning and growing and most importantly FUN!

To introduce myself, my name is Elizabeth Usher. Although this is my first year at Stono Park, this is the start of my 10th year in the classroom! Time flies when you’re having fun! For the past eight years I taught child development in Berkeley County so, as you can tell, early childhood is my heart and soul. My husband and I recently bought a home in James Island and are moving in a few weeks. What a busy month! I am so excited to be a member of the Stono Park Elementary community and I cannot wait to get to know more about each other throughout the year.

Kindergarten is a big year because it builds the foundation for future learning. It may also be your child’s first school experience so you might have a lot of questions about what to expect. Listed below are a few key points to keep in mind as we go start the year:

• Homework will be assigned weekly/monthly to reinforce skills being taught in the classroom. These will be age-appropriate activities that should take very little time to complete. Please remember that your child should be completing these activities WITH you. I also encourage all families to spend time together in the evenings talking, playing outside, and reading books.
• There will be a folder that comes home nightly in your child’s backpack. This will be an important mode of communication between home and school so please be sure to check this as part of your nightly routine. This is where you will find newsletters, homework sheets, reading logs, forms, and important notes and reminders. This is also where you can send money, permission slips, notes and completed forms back to school.
• Aside from foundational math and ELA skills, sight words (ex: is, to, like, my) are extremely important in Kindergarten. These are words that occur often in texts and will help your child become a confident, fluent reader. You will find a list of these sight words each week on the newsletter in your child’s communication folder. I strongly encourage you to practice reading and spelling these words with your child at home.
• In K-3 our classroom expectations are all about staying safe and being respectful. To create a safe environment for everyone to learn and feel like a member of our community, we use walking feet, listening ears, quiet voices, soft touches, and helpful words. Please reinforce these with your child at home. We will also be following PBIS with the rest of the school to reinforce positive behavior. In the event that a student is not following expectations, we utilize redirection, modeling, choices and time away from the group. The safety and well being of our children is always our number one priority!
• Stono Park is emphasizing heath and wellness this year so we are encouraging families to bring healthy treats such as applesauce, fruit, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc for classroom celebrations such as birthdays. If you have any questions, please ask!

Kindergarten is a huge step in your child’s life and I am honored to be a part of it. Please do not ever hesitate to contact me for questions and/or concerns that arise. Email is my preferred method of communication because I check it often throughout the day, as well as in the evenings. My email is elizabeth_usher@charleston.k12.sc.us. I want to thank you in advance for all of your support this year. Your work outside the classroom matters just as much as my work inside the classroom. I pledge to help your child reach all of his/her instructional goals this year, as well as implement a fun, safe learning environment that fosters academic, personal and social growth! Here’s to a great year!