Pre-K Guide For Parents
General Information:
Students can arrive at school between 7:15-7:35. They will come in their classroom and begin their morning routine. Students are tardy as of 7:35.
The first day of school, parents may walk their students to class to get them acclimated to their new classroom.
It is expected that your child complete the morning routine independently (hang up backpack, put folder away, make their lunch choice, and begin morning work).
Students will bring his/her backpack each school day. It is the student’s responsibility to get his/her belongings in the appropriate place. All correspondence and money from home should be placed in your child’s blue behavior folder.
All jackets, sweaters, lunch boxes,water bottles and backpacks should be labeled with the child’s name.
For SAFETY reasons, please ensure that you or any visitor sign in at the front office.
Toys:
We are blessed to have numerous activities and materials for your child to interact with throughout the day. I ask children to leave toys at home to ensure they do not get lost, damaged, or broken. We do not bring out toys from home throughout the day. Your child will have a dedicated amount of time to interact with the games and toys we have in the classroom.
Toileting:
We highly recommend that your child is potty trained and practice changing their own clothing in the event of an accident. It is policy that we are not allowed to assist any child with toileting or changing clothes, and if needed we will take them to the nurse so she can guide them but will not directly change them. If your child cannot clean themselves after an accident or refuses we will contact you to come up to school to support them.
Extra Set of Clothes:
Please keep a complete change of clothes (underwear, socks, pants, shirt - and shoes if possible) in your child’s backpack at all times in case of bathroom accidents. Please be sure to label your child’s extra clothing with their first name and last initial. This includes jackets used during cold weather season. Also, please be sure to check the outfit frequently to ensure your child has clothing that will fit should it be needed. I will send the dirty clothes home in the event that they do have an accident. Please make sure to replace the clothes with a clean, complete set of clothes before they return the next school day. *If your child does not have clothing and the nurse is out of extra clothes we will call you to come and bring more clothes to school. If you are given extra clothes from Redbud we ask that you return the clothes washed a.s.a.p., (with the exception of underwear) so we may provide more students extra clothing if needed.
Rest Time:
Since your child will be in school a full day we will build in a rest time each afternoon. This will be a time for those students who need to sleep to do so, and quiet reflective time for the others. All students will rest for 15 minutes, however we do not require students to sleep, nor will we provide or accept nap mats due to space and health constrictions. Students who choose to remain awake after 15 minutes will move on to snack and afternoon centers and those who choose to sleep beyond that time will not be forcefully woken up. *This time may increase at the beginning of the year, but 15 minutes will be the general allotted time. You may send a towel that fits inside your child’s backpack, must be labeled with their name, and will be sent home each day.
Going Home Information:
School is dismissed at 2:55. Students are escorted by teachers to their dismissal areas. For the sake of confusion and safety, parents are not allowed to meet their child at the classroom at dismissal time.
We are providing a tag indicating how your child is going home. The dismissal tag will be placed on your child’s backpack, please do not remove! Please notify us of any changes.
Send an email and call the office by 12:00 if you decide to change the way your child goes home. Otherwise, no matter what the student tells us, we are required to send them home the way you established previously.
Volunteering:
We encourage parents to volunteer in the classroom. We always welcome an extra pair of hands and another smiling face when we are working with the children. However, we would like to give the class time to bond before volunteers start.
Meals/Snacks & Treats
Breakfast: 7:15-7:35
Breakfast will be served at CRE. Breakfast begins at 7:15. Student cost: $1.50
Pre-K Lunch Time: 10:10-10:40 a.m.
Student Cost:
Lunch-$3.00
Breakfast $1.50
To help with the transition of lunchtime, we are asking that all prekindergartners to bring a lunch from home for the first two weeks of school. Beginning the third week (August 26th), your child may purchase a lunch from the cafeteria.
One of the most important things your child will gain is confidence and independence during this year. We work every day in class on the tools and skills that foster this. Therefore, we do ask that you limit your lunchtime visits to no more than once a week. This not only makes your visit a special time for your child but it gives them that crucial socializing time with their peers and builds their confidence in what they are capable of doing independently. Also, remember, when you do visit, let your child feed themselves. Their ability to feed themselves gives them even greater confidence which spills over to what they can do academically in the classroom. We hope you will join us in this effort to help your child experience the most success possible their Pre-K year.
*If you need more information on free/reduced lunch or food services, please visit RRISD Food Services. Funds can be added to your student's meal either by sending cash/check to the cafeteria or online at MySchoolBucks.com
Snack:
Your child may bring a healthy snack each day. You are responsible for sending snacks for your own child. Snacks are strongly encouraged because we eat lunch very early.
Your child needs to bring a “sports” water bottle to drink throughout the day. Have your child practice opening and closing their water bottle independently. Water only in the classroom, no juices or any other type of drink will be permitted in the classroom.
Please remember that snack is a brief time in our classroom. Your child should bring 1 item. Appropriate snacks would be: crackers, fruit roll-up, fruit or granola bar. Please do not send cookies, fruit cups, yogurt, pudding, juice boxes or candy.
Birthday Treats:
To maximize classroom instructional time, parents may drop off birthday treats in the front office for the classroom teacher to distribute at a time that works best for the class. Parents are encouraged to bring treats that are individually wrapped, or easy for the classroom teacher to distribute such as donuts, cookies or individual goodie bags. All birthday treats must be the same flavor/color.
Correspondence:
Please put notes inside your child’s blue behavior folder. We will check it each day. Please remember we will not be checking backpacks. A weekly school-wide folder will be sent home on Tuesdays (Tuesday folder) with general school information and flyers. Please remove all papers from this folder. Anything that needs to be returned needs to be placed in the blue behavior folder. Please do not return anything in Tuesday Folders!
We check e-mail on a regular basis, and it is one of the quickest ways to share information. Please feel free to e-mail your child’s teacher at anytime. Contact info can be found on our home page.
We will have a fall parent/teacher conferences. This virtual conference will be to set your child’s goals for the year and to discuss any questions you may have. More info will be coming soon.
If you choose to call and you are unable to get through, please send an email requesting a phone conference. If the call is regarding a dismissal change, please call the front office.
Please keep your child’s teacher up to date on all changes in your address (home or e-mail) and phone numbers.
You will receive regular emails from your child’s teacher. This should be a great way to promote communication at home about his/her day.
-The Pre-K Team