First Week of School!

Important information about the first week of school!

Hello Kindergarten Families!

I hope you are enjoying your summer! In preparation for the upcoming school year, I have the following information to help you plan. 

Half of the class will come to school on Tuesday, September 2nd at 10:00 AM.  (The following day those children have NO school).  The other half of the class will not have school on Tuesday but will come on Wednesday, September 3rd at 10:00 AM.  This is so the kindergarten teachers can give the students a little more personal attention on the first day, as well as meet with the parents for a brief Orientation.  On these first days the students will go home with the rest of the students in the school, at regular dismissal time.  ALL kindergarten students will report to school for full, regular days, starting at regular time (9:00 AM) on Thursday, September 4th and Friday, September 5th.  You should have received a letter in the mail from the school office or an email telling you if your child is scheduled to come on Tuesday or Wednesday.  If you have a conflict with this day, you can call the office to switch to the other day.

On this first day of school, kindergarten parents will escort their child to their classroom.  Kindergarten students are scheduled to arrive at 10:00 AM, 1 hour after the upper grade levels. Please do not send your child to school on the bus on the first day. Instead, please drive or walk your child to school and walk with your child to the classroom.  (Be prepared to show photo identification to our greeter when arriving at the building. This is for the safety of the children!)  

Once in the classroom, I will greet you and your child and there will be approximately 15 minutes for you to help your child get settled into the classroom. At 10:15 AM I will gather the adults to review some important information while the students play and get to know each other and the classroom.  After I am done presenting what I need you to know, you will leave and the students and I will spend the remainder of the school day settling into our new routines, which includes lunch, so please pack lunch for the first day (or have a plan to buy lunch).  

On the first day, your child will be coming home with a black lanyard bus tag around his/her neck. It will have vital information (your child's name, classroom number, teacher name, etc.) It is EXTREMELY important that your child wears his/her name tag TO school EVERYDAY during the first few weeks.  One thing this tag does is alerts our staff that your child is a kindergartner so we can provide him/her with help in getting to the classroom.  It also helps us get all of the children to the correct place at dismissal time.  YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY IS MY UTMOST PRIORITY!  Thank you for your cooperation with this! 

PLEASE pack a HEALTHY SNACK for your child each day!.  We have a snack break each afternoon in addition to a lunch period. We do suggest "healthy" snacks.  If you are not sure what constitutes a healthy snack, please click here for ideas!  Snacks must be sent from home, however students do have the opportunity to buy lunch at school.  If your child is bringing lunch from home, we have found that labeling foods with an "S" for snacks and "L" for lunch is helpful!  You can also place a sticker on the snack items to help your child figure out which items are meant for snack, rather than lunch.  Some parents prefer to place the snacks in the school bag and lunch in a lunch box.  The PTA has provided each kindergarten student a blue snack bag. Many families choose to use that bag for their child’s snack and a lunch box for their child’s lunch.  Since the lunch routine can take a little getting used to, I do suggest that you pack your child's lunch until they are comfortable with the routine.  

Dismissal begins at 3:35 PM and your child will be escorted to his or her bus with their black lanyard on. PLEASE REVIEW WITH YOUR CHILD HIS/HER BUS NUMBER or dismissal plan. If you plan on picking up your child by car, we have a "valet pick up" procedure. Cars begin to line up in front of Pine Road at 2:45 PM.  Please allow extra time if you are planning on picking up your kindergarten student by car.  Also, the buses are reallllllllly slow during those first couple of weeks (especially the first few days). Please be patient. Keeping your child's dismissal routine as consistent as possible benefits your child tremendously! You will be amazed how quickly everyone adapts to the new school routines!  

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Labramson@lmtsd.org   

I look forward to meeting you on the first day!

Sincerely,

Leah Abramson