First of all, WELCOME TO GRADE 2! We are off to a great start to the year! I want to thank you for taking the time to fill out the Getting to Know You Letter. No one knows their own child better than you, so thank you for giving me a little

insight to your special little person. I have met all my children and I sincerely can't wait to get to know them all more. We have a lovely group of children and I look forward to a year of learning and fun and learning!

COMMUNICATION

I believe that communication between parents and teachers is a key component to a student's success. Please feel free to email or call me if you ever have any questions or concerns.

  • Class Google site: This will be updated weekly on Sunday evenings. I will send out a group email with the link once it has been completed. Here I will communicate what we are learning, and any important information and dates you need to be made aware of.

  • Email: ktmcaleer@edu.pe.ca

  • Phone: 902-569-0550

  • Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.


ATTENDANCE


Arriving on time and being present in school is important for your child’s success in school. The PSB has an attendance policy that will be re-implemented this fall after Covid. Once your child has been absent for 5 days, an phone call/email will be sent out to the parent to notify them and after 10 days of absences you will receive a letter.


ARRIVAL

  • Our school doors open at 8:00 a.m. The children are to come directly inside upon arrival. It is best to be here no later than 8:20 a.m. so that your child has time to be in class and ready to start their day by 8:25 a.m. at the latest. If your child is going to be late or absent and it has not been pre-arranged with myself please call the school at 902-569-0550. We are required to keep electronic attendance.


PICK UP AFTER SCHOOL

  • Dismissal will be 2:25 each day

  • Parents who are picking up their children after school must do so in the designated area outside by the staff parking lot fence. Parent vehicles are not permitted in the bus loop.

EARLY / LATE PICK UPS AND ARRIVALS

  • For early student pick ups or late drop offs, parents are asked to contact me by phone or email in advance. Please do not email me the day of your child's early pick up. If you haven’t notified me, please notify the office. I will accept a dated note in their LUNCH BAG in the morning if they have it, but not an email as I can not guarantee I will see it once our learning has begun.

  • If your child's plans change at the last minute, contact the main office before 2:00 pm as I likely will not have an opportunity to check my email before the end of the day.

  • As trustworthy as your children are, I cannot let them go without a note, email, or call to the school. This is for safety reasons and to avoid misunderstandings between the school, parents, or child. If you are writing a note, please put it in your child's LUNCH BAG and let them know to give it to me. :)

  • Please note: Busses are quite full this year and cannot accommodate bus changes for play dates, birthday parties, or things of this nature.

LUNCHES

  • A microwave is available for reheating (30 seconds max as we have 23 students in our room)

  • NO peanuts/nuts/seafood. This includes tree nuts and peanut substitutes as well, so as to avoid any confusion or anxiety for children with life threatening allergies.

  • We will have some food for children in the classrooms for breakfast if students are hungry in the morning.

  • Utensils - when packing your child's lunch, please make sure to include any utensils necessary. There will be no disposable utensils available this year.

FOOD PROGRAMS

  • Students will have the choice of ordering lunches from the provincial program and our school vendors. Both of these programs are up and running. Both websites will require you to identify your child's class - we are class 2B. Visit the following links to sign up:

  • Provincial Healthy Lunch Program: https://www.peischoolfood.org. Pay only what you can afford: Anywhere from $5.00 to $0.00. You decide. This info is kept confidential.

  • School vendor: https://glenstewartprimary.hotlunches.net/admin/?action=register-form

  • If your child is absent there is no reimbursement for missed lunch


Aside from the regular supplies, it is recommended that your child also be equipped with the following:

  • Water bottles daily

  • Indoor footwear

  • Change of clothes in kitbag for those ‘just in case’ incidents, especially on wet days!

  • Toys, cards not permitted in classroom. Some children may be taking such things to a childcare for after school use. This is fine as long as it stays in their kitbag.


OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

  • Class reward systems: I have a little reward system in 2B to add a little fun and incentive to our learning. The children receive tickets for a wide variety of things, such as kind deeds, work well done, completed homework, etc. They keep track of their own tickets using a tally mark system. Once a certain number of tickets have been earned, they choose a little prize. The rewards vary from small sweet treats (such as suckers, small bars, smarties, skittles…) and non-edible rewards (such as bubbles, notebooks, bouncy balls, silly pencils, extra choice time, certificates, lunch with a friend/friends...etc.) Again, if you are not comfortable with sweet treats in particular, please let me know.

  • Student of the Week - Starting in October, we will celebrate a 'student of the week'. When your child takes home the homework duo-tang you will find a purple page at the very back which will explain what will take place each day. I will send home a sheet of bristol board on a Friday with the child who will be our student of the week for the following week. This will give your child the weekend to fill the poster with drawings, pictures, etc. of things that tell us all about him/herself.


SPECIAL DAYS

  • In 2B we love to celebrate special days throughout the year. I bring a special treat for the children on birthdays. They choose between ice cream, choc chip cookies,gingerbread cookies, cupcakes, and sugar cookies!

  • If there are any concerns regarding this tradition, please let me know.


HOMEWORK

  • Begins first week of October

  • Read daily - record book title and parent initial. Each Monday, your child will bring home 5-7 books for the week in a ziploc bag. These books must come back every Monday to be switched for the new week. Some of these books will be familiar and others may be new. There also may be times that the same book appears home after a couple of weeks. This allows for books to be read again to aid in comprehension and fluency.

  • 5 new spellings each week. To be recorded each evening in homework book. Extra points for extra practice with spellings in the practice scribbler provided with their homework book.

  • One ‘super’ sentence each week using a spelling word from the week.


And just incase you haven’t heard this one before, anything your child might be able to remove (jackets, hats, mitts……) LABEL IT! :)


We will have a GREAT year!

Take Care,

Kathy McAleer