General Information

1. Supplies:

Each child will receive a home-to-school folder and paper. Please see the “Fourth Grade Supply List” for items you will need for this school year. It is also located on my teacher website under "Student Supply List." In addition, your child will need to bring a beach towel to and from school each day. It will be used when we go outside for a break. Finally, your child will need a backpack to carry his or her belongings to and from school each day. Backpacks and lunch bags will stay with your child all day on a chair next to his/her desk. All supplies with remain in your child’s backpack, and he/she will take out items out as he/she needs them. No supplies will be allowed inside your child’s desk. Please remember to label all of your child’s belongings with his or her name and room number 208.

2. Snack Time:

Each day, the students will be given time to eat ONE healthy snack. The children will need to bring a small snack with them to school each day. The purpose of the snack is to provide the energy needed to stay focused and work hard. Snacks with lots of sugar provide a quick boost of energy, but it doesn’t last long. I encourage nutritious snacks such as pretzels, crackers, carrots, and celery sticks, etc. Please send in a snack that is not messy to eat. At times, we will eat snack while we are working, and we don’t want to have it all over our papers. SNACKS MUST BE NUT-FREE. If a child’s snack contains nuts, he/she will be asked to take it back home. Students may bring in water bottles daily to stay hydrated. Only water is allowed in the water bottles. Please make sure it is labeled with your child's name and Room 208.

3. Birthdays:

Children love to celebrate their birthdays with others! On or near your child’s birthday, you may send in non-edible treats. Any type of edible foods WILL NOT be accepted as birthday treats due to our nutrition policy. For those children who have birthdays in June, July, or August, I will schedule dates in June to celebrate and acknowledge the students’ birthdays.

4. Breakfast/Lunch/Recess:

The fourth grade lunch and recess is from 11:50-12:35.

5. Scholastic Book Orders:

You will be able to purchase books for and with your child each month through SCHOLASTIC Book Club orders. I will send home book orders once a month. I offer the book orders as an additional source for parents and caretakers to purchase books that are age and reading level appropriate for your child. Often, the school and/or I will purchase books for our classroom library from the monthly book orders. Please fill out the order form completely and return it to school with the correct amount of money (Checks only made payable to: Scholastic) by the due date marked on the order form. Please enclose the order form and payment in an envelope with your child’s name and room number 208 on it. Also, you will be able to place book orders online. My code is TBD. Please look for more information on how to order books online in September. Thank you!

6. Specials: 12:40-1:20

Day 1: NONE

Day 2: Library

Day 3: Music

Day 4: Fitness

Day 5: Art

7. Homework:

Fourth graders have some homework each night. It will include 15 minutes of iReady, 20 minutes of Sustained Silent Reading, and practicing multiplication/division flashcards. There will be no homework on Fridays except for 45 minutes of Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) over the weekend. Homework is practice and will not be graded. However, I will check to make sure your child’s homework is completed on a daily basis.

8. Assignment Books:

Each child will receive an assignment book this year! Homework assignments will also be posted in your child's online Google Classroom.

9. School Attendance:

School attendance is key to success in school! It is also required by school law. If your child is absent from school, please send a note with the reason for his/her absence within three days. You may email me your child's absence note, which will be forwarded to the office so that the absence will be considered excused.

If you are planning a vacation, please communicate with me prior to your child's planned absence via email or note, so I can gather assignments to be sent home with your child. If you are going on vacation, you must fill out a vacation request form that needs to filled out at least five school days prior to your vacation. You can find the form on the school's website.

Please send in a note if your child's dismissal schedule will be different for one day. If the office or I do not receive a note or phone call, due to school policy, I must go with your child's normal dismissal routine for that day. If your child is always going to be car pick-up (every day) please send in a note so that your child's name will be put on the pick-up list. You would not need to send in any other notes unless there would be a change. If your child is always going to be pick-up on a certain day of the week (for example every Wednesday), you would just need to send in a note letting us know of the change. Your child will then be added to the pick-up list on the certain day and you won't need to send another note in unless there is a change. If your child is going to be picked up early because of an appointment, please send a note in that day or email me in advance.

10. Home-to-School Folders:

Each night your child will bring home his or her Home-to-School folder. The papers placed in the “Leave at Home” pocket are for you to review and keep at home. These papers may include informational material from school or myself and/or completed school work by your child. In the “Return to School” pocket, you will find papers such as permission slips and fundraiser forms that you will need to fill out and return to school. Please check folders each night with your child; emptying out those that stay at home and completing those that need to be returned to school. Your child’s computer login information will be placed in the back sleeve of the folder. It is very important that your child keeps the card in the sleeve and returns to school with it each day.

11. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR):

Your child will have SSR time each day for 20 minutes. Your child will have the option of choosing a book from our classroom library to read during SSR or bringing a book from home. If your child does choose to select a book from home, please check it for length, content, and age/reading level appropriateness before allowing him/her to bring it to school. Your child will be able to borrow a book from the classroom library each week. Books will be quarantined for 7 days and Clorox wiped before going back on the shelves. SSR is a very valuable component to our school day and with your help, the children can gain more from this learning experience.

12. Labeling All Articles:

Please write your child’s name and room number 208 on all articles brought to school! Throughout the school year, many items become lost and go unclaimed in the Lost and Found. Labeling all of your child’s items can prevent this from occurring!

13. School Times:

The school day begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 3:20 PM. If you need to drop your child off at school in the morning, please do so between 8:45 and 9:00 AM. When picking up your child at the end of the day, please pull in the pick-up area, but do not get out of your car. Please display your child’s name in the window and wait for your child to come to you. "Blue Owls" (Letters A-K) can be picked up in the front of the school and "Yellow Owls" (Letters M-Z) should be picked up to the left of the school by the bus pick-up area. At dismissal, your child will be sent to the assigned bus unless I receive a written notice detailing the change.

14. Parent Communication:

I will be using SeeSaw for daily communication. I will post pictures and send out messages from time to time! An instruction sheet will be sent home to register for See Saw Family via email or a paper copy. Also, feel free to email me, call me, or write a note.

15. Technology:

The students will be bringing their iPads and chargers to and from school each day. It is important that your child come to school each day with an iPad that is charged to 100%. We will be using apps and accessing your child’s Google Classroom throughout each school day. If your child forgets his/her iPad at home, he/she will be asked to use paper to write on throughout the day. If you realize your child forgot his/her iPad at home, you may bring it to school. Just simply call into the office when you arrive, and they will ask you to put the iPad in a basket. One of the secretaries will come out to retrieve it from the basket.

If you have any questions about Google Classroom or other apps, please check out my website and click under “technology.” I have placed a lot of information on the website regarding how to access the technology. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I will do my best to answer your questions or contact someone that can help us.