IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• *Meet and Greet (informal) - August 28th - 1:00-3:00pm 

• Please feel free to bring your child's supplies with you (you may label them with their name) if it helps prepare for the first day of school. The supply list is linked below.

• There won't be a formal presentation, but you will receive a lot of information about our classroom and can pick up paperwork to complete before school starts. These can be returned with your child on the first day of school. Additionally, having children in different grade levels allows you to meet with various teachers, specialists, and the school nursing staff. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to meeting all of you!

IMPORTANT DATES

• August 28th (Thurs.) - Meet and Greet 1:00-3:00 pm 

• September 1st (Mon.) - Schools Closed  - Labor Day

• September 2nd (Tues.) - First Day of School

• September 15th (Mon.) -Open House, 6:00-8:00 pm

• September 19th (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• October 10th (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• October 24th (Fri.) - Homecoming 

• November 10th (Mon.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• November 11th (Tues.) - Schools Closed  - Veterans Day

• November 24th (Mon.) - No school for Students - Conferences

• November 25th (Tues.) - No school for Students - Conferences

• Nov. 26th - Nov. 28th (Weds. - Fri.) - Schools Closed - Fall Break

• December 8th (Mon.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• Dec. 22nd - Jan. 1st (Mon. - Thurs.) - Schools Closed - Winter Break

• January 2nd (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• January 19th (Mon.) - Schools Closed - MLK, Jr. Day

• February 2nd (Mon.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• February 16th (Mon.) - Schools Closed - Presidents' Day

• March 13th (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• March 14th (Sat.) - I Love SSD Day - Smyrna High School

• Apr. 3rd - Apr. 10th  (Fri. - Fri.) - Schools Closed - Spring Break

• April 17th (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• May 22nd (Fri.) - No school for students  - Professional Learning for staff

• May 25th (Mon.) -Schools Closed - Memorial Day

• June 6th (Sat.) - Smyrna High School Graduation

• June 11th (Thurs.) - Last Student Day

  Family Notes & Updates 

• Please send your child with a complete change of clothes to be kept in their locker. This is in case your child has an accident or spill, etc, and provides them with clothes in which they feel comfortable. Thank you so much!

• Please remember to send your child with a peanut-free snack(s) for the afternoon and with a labeled water bottle. Thanks so much! 

• CLICK HERE for the 2025-2026 School Year Calendar.

• CLICK HERE for our classroom welcome letter, supply list, and words to practice. (Click "Present Mode" for best view.)

• CLICK HERE to sign up and connect with our Class Dojo communication app.

• CLICK HERE for a sample classroom schedule. 

• Some families were asking about donating optional items to our classroom. CLICK HERE for our classroom Amazon wish list full of books, supplies for morning and center STEAM bins, and reading buddies. All items will be directly shipped to the school. Thank you for supporting our classroom learning!

• CLICK HERE (Coming soon!) for an example of what information will be included in our Standards Based Report Cards. 

• CLICK HERE for a short video explanation, to learn more about Standards Based Grading and how this will look when reporting your child's progress each trimester.

Classwork and Grades

•  Reading Homework  - A parent letter will be sent home with details. Students will be sent home with two leveled books of their choosing each night (Monday - Thursday.) As long as they return the books the next day, they will be able to choose two new books for school and at home reading.  Our goal is that they build up their at home reading stamina to 30 minutes in one session. During the school day, your children will work to build their reading stamina to reach 30 minutes at one time! 

• What can be included in the 30 minutes? Reading leveled books, rereading those leveled books, practice reading at flash speed their power words or tricky words, any skills on their skills cards, practice rhyming words or word families, or reading books together! Students are also welcome to read books they may have at home! Please record the name of a book read in each 15 minute step (or write "practiced power words" in the space provided.) Please sign in each space. When completed, another log will be sent home. Those steps are also recorded into our online tracking system. Please reach out with any questions.

• A student may receive a "Meets" on an assignment, but in the grading online system, Home Access,  it will only appear as a P for "Progressing" because we are not finished teaching students the end of the year standards for first grade. In the online reporting system of Home Access, a student may have Meets listed, if we have finished teaching a skill or unit for the year. An example of this, would be for Social Studies. For example, when we have finished our Civics unit, a  student may have "Meets" listed for a civics skill/assignment because we have completed that unit and have finished teaching the skill(s) that fall under that standard. "Meets" will appear more frequently, as we are reporting student progress in the third and final trimester.

Transportation

• If at any time during the school year, you need to change your child's transportation for the afternoon, please send an email to the following people:

alicia.beaman@smyrna.k12.de.us

kayla.dean@smyrna.k12.de.us - Office Registration Secretary

jennifer.durham@smyrna.k12.de.us - Office Financial Administration Assistant 

This will allow for me to make sure your child goes home the correct way and with the correct person! Sometimes, I may be in a meeting, out for the day, etc. The office also keeps detailed information of these changes, to ensure the safety of our students. Thank you so much for your cooperation!

• Social Emotional Learning - this is addressed in the classroom. The mini-lessons will be taught and reviewed during the school day. This happens in a few different ways. We do this through our read alouds, through reviewing classroom rules,  school rules, and general expectations. We have "Fun Fred Fridays" in which we watch an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and discuss the topics addressed in that episode. We also tie it into our brain breaks, movement breaks, and morning meetings, as needed. Please let me know if you have any questions, or need additional resources. Mrs. Pennington has many items on her counselor site (listed above) which has many books and resources available, too.

• CLICK HERE to sign up and connect with our Class Dojo communication app. This will allow as another tool for messaging, as we usually check email only once a day around lunchtime.