KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION
Attendance: Coming to school each day and being on time is very important! If your child is out, please either report his or her absence by emailing Jennifer Hankins in our office at jenniferm.hankins@cms.k12.nc.us (and cc your teacher so she knows) or send a hand-written note in with your child in the daily folder when he/she returns stating the reason for the absence. This is a state requirement for all absences! Unexcused absences should be kept to a minimum. It is important to remember that most activities in kindergarten are hands-on learning experiences and unfortunately cannot be duplicated outside of the classroom. Your child should be in the classroom no later than 8:00 a.m. but please remember they are not to enter the building before 7:30 a.m. If your child is tardy, you must personally sign them into the office, log into the visitor system, get a tardy slip, and walk them to the classroom. Please be advised that signing a child out early will result in an added tardy. Please review CMS Attendance Policies in your Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
Backpacks: Please have your child bring a backpack to school every day. Be sure to label it with your child’s name and your teacher's name. Also, please make sure that the backpack is big enough to fit a folder in and still zip properly.
Birthdays: You may bring store bought treats to share with the class during lunch on your child’s birthday, if you would like. Please sign in at the office and bring the cupcakes/treats to the lunchroom to pass out to the kids. Please check with your child's teacher concerning any allergies.
Breakfast: CMS provides a free breakfast for every child on a daily basis. Students should try to learn their lunch number in order to go straight to the cafeteria in the mornings if they would like to eat breakfast at school. If you drive your child to school, make sure to come early enough for them to finish breakfast and be in class by 8:00.
Change of Clothes: Please send in a change of clothes for your child including socks and underwear. Place the clothes in a large labeled zip lock bag that will remain at school all year. Also, if your child uses his or her change of clothes, please send in a new set the next day. The school does not keep extra clothes, so if your child has an accident, you will have to come to school with a new set of clothing. Please label these with your child’s name.
Classroom Management: You will each receive a copy of the classroom discipline plan. Please review this with your child. We will be using Class Dojo school-wide this year for positive behavior management. Most minor teachable moments will just be addressed in the classroom and not reported. If there is a pattern of poor choices or something you need to be made aware of, your teacher will contact you either through Class Dojo, note, email, or a phone call.
Communication: If at any time during the year you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your teacher. Please understand that if you need to speak in person, we need to set up a conference so that your teacher can give you their full attention. We cannot stop to speak with you in the mornings during drop-off or in the hallways during the day, as the safety and instruction of all our students is our top priority. Also please understand that if you email during the day, we may not see it until after the students have been dismissed, so make sure any pertinent information is delivered to the office during the school day! You may contact by email or by phone at 980-343-5766 (the school’s phone).
Dresses: Please remember that we sit on the carpet/floor much of our day in Kindergarten. Dresses need to have shorts worn underneath, even in the winter when tights are worn.
Eating Lunch with Your Child: We will welcome you to eat lunch with us as soon as we are used to our lunchroom routine. We need a couple of weeks to get used to the cafeteria routine before having lunch visitors. Lunch visitors MUST be an approved CMS Volunteer. Please sign in at the office and then meet us in the lobby or cafeteria. Adult lunch prices in the cafeteria are a la carte. Check with your child's teacher for specific lunch time.
Extra Lunch Items: The cafeteria offers a variety of “extra” items at an additional cost. Please talk with your child about when he/she can purchase these extra items such as cookies, cakes, chips, or ice cream, and to eat it only after they have eaten the healthy portion of their lunch. All too often students will eat their treat but not the healthy portion of their meal. Teachers receive a lunch break at the same time as their class; therefore, we are unable to monitor what your child eats each day. If your child does not have money in their school lunch account, they must bring cash that day to pay. Please place this money in a bag labeled with your child’s name and send to school in the daily folder.
Forms: It is critical that we receive all school forms as soon as possible! Please return all requested forms with your child in his/her Daily Folder.
Folders: Your child will bring home a “daily folder” each afternoon. It will contain homework, the reading log, notes from school, etc. Please check for any notes or information each evening. This folder should be returned each morning in your child’s book bag with any notes, forms, and money coming to school. Once a week all finished work and mail from the school/PTA will be sent home. Please remove these items when they arrive as they can make the folder bulky (it tears up faster), and your child tends to dump the excess paper out accidentally.
Library: After students become accustomed to media center procedures, they will be permitted to check out library books. Books need to be returned before a student can check out a new book. Books can be returned earlier to be exchanged for a new book.
Lunch: Please send your child’s lunch money in a Ziploc bag or sealed envelope labeled with his/her name in the daily folder. You can also keep money in your child’s lunch account by paying online. Go to PayPAMS.com to sign up for online payments. Your child will be given their own specific lunch number to use each day. The number will be linked to a barcode on their nametags.
Medication: Any medication that needs to be administered during the day (including cough drops) will need to be taken to the Office and administered there. Please contact the school nurse for more information.
Money: When money needs to be sent to school, send money in a sealed envelope or zip lock baggie in the daily folder, with the following information on it:
Your child’s first and last name
The purpose (lunch money, book order, field trip)
The amount - If you are sending in cash -note if you want change, or if you would like to donate towards the field trip
With many students to keep track of and several reasons to collect (pictures, lunch money, field trips, etc.), this helps out tremendously and reduces the likelihood of errors. This is extremely important!
Peanut Allergies: If your child has a peanut allergy, there is a special table in the cafeteria for them to sit so that we can control the potential exposure from other students lunches and keep them safe.
Playground Rules: Please review these playground safety rules with your child!
No throwing rocks/wood chips at any time.
Go down the slide on your bottom, feet first.
Stop and look before you jump.
Watch out for each other when you run.
No rough play. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Tag, wrestling, pretend karate, playing guns, etc. is NOT allowed.
Do not leave the playground without permission from the playground teacher.
If you have a problem, tell the teacher and ask her for help.
P.E: Please be sure that your child wears tennis shoes and appropriate clothing for physical activities. Your child will not be able to participate in P.E. if they do not have on the appropriate shoes.
Personal Items: Please label all coats, sweaters, caps, mittens, back packs, and lunch boxes with your child's name and your teacher. This helps items to be returned to us if they get left behind or lost. Please leave personal items such as toys and trinkets at home.
Reading: Please make it a part of your evening routine to read with your child. Reading will be recorded in a log nightly. It is also important that you work on sight words every night with your child. There are just so many words they will encounter that cannot be sounded out, but must simply be memorized, and they will not be successful until they do. It is said that in order for your child to move up one reading level, they must read at least 50 books in their current reading level. So make sure you READ, READ, READ!!! After we get into our reading routine, students will begin checking out books from our classroom lending library. It is very important that these books stay inside the ziplock bag, sealed, so that any spills do not ruin the books. This book baggie needs to be returned each day with the daily folder so that students have access to their books during our daily reading time at school.
Shoes: If your child can’t tie their shoes yet, practice, practice, practice! This is a skill they are expected to have in Kindergarten! Please remember that we run and play every day on the playground. There are wood chips, and climbing equipment, and uneven ground that can all be hazardous without the proper footwear. Please encourage safety over style!
Snack: The students will take a short snack break every afternoon. If you would like your child to eat a snack daily, you must provide the snack and any utensils needed. Please send snack in a resealable container/bag SEPARATE from their lunch. Please send in a healthy snack that is mindful of peanut allergies. Goldfish, crackers, pudding, or fruit are all great examples. The kids will be eating snack at the beginning of recess, so make it a small serving so they can eat quickly and get to play!
Transportation: We will load bus riders on the buses each day. If your child has a change to his or her normal transportation, we MUST have a written note the morning of the change or you must email the office at jenniferm.hankins@cms.k12.nc.us and cc your teacher before 1:45 p.m. Please do not email your teacher only - as we do not have a chance to check email throughout the day, and the email may not be noticed until it is too late to make changes. Transportation changes need to be approved by administration, which is why it is difficult to make last minute arrangements. If we do not receive a note/email, or the office does not receive your email by 1:45, your child will go home as specified at the beginning of the year.
Updated information: Please inform the school of any changes of address, phone number, or e-mail address. Please do this ASAP after the change. Thanks!
Visiting Our Classroom: We are a safe school, therefore anyone who comes into the classroom MUST be a registered volunteer. Parents should go by the office before going to their child's classroom to check in. Visitor passes are issued to insure the safety of your children. When picking up your child early, he/she must be signed out in the office. The office will issue you a slip to give your teacher permission to release your child to you.
Volunteers: We would love to have volunteers help in our classroom here at Blythe or help out at home! A background check must be completed on all class volunteers, field trip chaperones, AND if you want to eat lunch with your child. You may complete the form to be a volunteer in the front office or online at www.cmsvolunteers.com. In-class volunteering will begin in September, after we all become familiar with the school routine. Please consider volunteering in the classroom. We love the help!!!
Water: Please send in a refillable water bottle with your child each day. It needs to be completely sealable so if it’s knocked over it doesn’t leak. Please make sure only WATER is consumed in the classroom.
Thank you for helping our classrooms run smoothly by adhering to these policies/requests!
Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Teachers