Please see the TSC webpage for information regarding COVID 19 and guidelines that are being followed. Some changes may be made from this handbook in order to best serve our students at this time.
School Hours and Attendance
The school day at Wyandotte Elementary begins at 8:40 and ends at 3:20. Children are to be in their classrooms by 8:50 a.m. in order to not be counted tardy. Should your child need to miss school, you are asked to call the OFFICE (765)772-7000 as soon as possible. If you call before school hours, please leave a message with your child’s name, your name and the name of your child’s teacher. If you know ahead of time that your child will be absent on a subsequent day(s), please provide a note to the school alerting us of the upcoming absence. You can also message me on ClassDojo or through e-mail.
Breakfast & Lunch
Breakfast: Breakfast is offered each morning, except on those days when the corporation has a two-hour delay. Those wishing to eat breakfast at school will order it the day before. They will get their breakfast in the classroom and eat it there. Please discuss with your child when and if they are allowed to have breakfast.
Lunch: Kindergarten students will be served lunch in the cafeteria at 11:35 a.m. Students may buy or bring their lunches. Lunches must be paid for in advance. Milk will be served with lunch unless a parent or guardian provides a doctor's note informing the Nurse's Office of an allergy. The cafeteria offers a full lunch with the choice of selecting the offered entrée, a sandwich or a salad (lettuce with ham and cheese). The menu is posted online. Please discuss with your child what they will choose prior to coming to school each day.
Arrival & Dismissal
Arrival and Dismissal Procedure for Car Riders: Car rider procedures were sent to parents. Please reach out if you have any questions about them.
Bus Pick-up and Delivery: Wyandotte bus drivers will be contacting parents to let them know pick-up and delivery times. If you have not heard from your bus driver, please contact the school office. Please remember that our buses will be parking in the front of our school. Bus riders will be dismissed at 3:30 p.m. Please do not park in assigned areas between 8:30-9:30 a.m. and 3:00-3:45 p.m.
General Dismissal Procedures for Every Kindergarten Student
Changes to your standard dismissal routine, such as being picked up by a different adult, not riding the bus, or riding on a different bus, staying for after school activities, etc. require a note to me or a call to the office by a parent or guardian. You can also use ClassDojo to send a note about dismissal.
We cannot accept a verbal version of the change from your child or from someone other than the parent or guardian.
Please do not leave a voice message or send an email to me regarding dismissal changes. I do not always get these in a timely manner. Thanks!
If your child needs to leave early on a particular day, please note the following guidelines:
A parent or guardian will need to either send a note in the take-home folder (or contact the office) explaining when they will be leaving school and who will be picking them up. When you (or other named by you) pick your child up, you will need to enter the building through the front doors and go to the office to sign your child out. The office staff will call down to the room, letting me know it is time for your child to leave.
2-Hour Delay Days: If school should be delayed due to weather, or other circumstances, students attend school from 10:50 until their normal dismissal time. (Please note: Breakfast is NOT served on delay days.)
Homework and Daily Folder
Friday Folder: Each Friday your child will bring home their Friday Folder. This folder will be used to transport notes to and from school, payments, a monthly calendar and your child’s work. This folder must come back to school on Mondays. Please help make every effort to see that your child’s folder does not become “lost”. Have your child return it to their backpack in the evening after its use. If your child’s folder is lost, please contact me so we can discuss how to replace both the folder and its contents. Thanks!
Home-School Communications: Each week a classroom newsletter is created and will be sent to you via email. If a hard copy of the newsletter is needed please let me know so that I can send it home with your child. Wyandotte Elementary has a bi-weekly newsletter, Hawk News, which can also be accessed online. Please NOTE: The menu is also online. We will also use ClassDojo for updates about our classroom!
Kindergarten Homework: This consists of occasional homework and/or projects. Several times a year, items are requested for classroom activities, such as environmental print samples or graphing items. My newsletters often contain activities to enjoy with your child as time allows. As the year moves on, the students will begin bringing home a homework book bag that will have activities to be completed at home and returned. I appreciate your support in helping teach your child the responsibility of doing homework.
More Information
Clothing: Please have your child dress in clothes that are comfortable and good for play. We are quite active at school and are often involved in messy projects. We try to protect clothing, but are not always successful. Also, be sure to label your child's coat, sweater, raincoat, boots, hat, mittens, etc., before he/she wears them to school. Flip flops are not a good choice for play at school. Please refer to the
school dress code for further information. Gym shoes are required for gym classes for full day students. Room 10 students will be going to gym class on Thursday.
Recess: Weather permitting; Full Day students will have DAILY outside recess. Please dress your child for the weather. If your child is in school, We will assume he/she can go outside unless you send a written note stating otherwise. Please refer to the guidelines in the student handbook should your child need to be in at recess.
Birthdays & Treats/Snacks: We know how important birthdays are to children and we celebrate them at school. We also celebrate ½ birthdays for those students who have summer birthdays while school is not in session. Note: If you are planning a party for your child away from school, please do not pass out party invitations at school unless you are inviting the entire class. This will hopefully avoid hurt feelings. Thanks! If you would like to add to your child's birthday by sending in a special treat, that would be great, but it is optional, not required. Please notify me when your family plans to bring in treats. This year, treats must be packaged from a store.
Rest Time: We will have rest time each afternoon, approximately 30 minutes. The children relax quietly while they listen to soft music and work one-on-one with the teacher.
Classroom Management
This year I will be using a web-based program called Class Dojo to help track students’ behavior. It is an excellent communication tool to help keep parents updated about their child’s behavior.
In Class Dojo, students can earn points for positive behaviors such as being on task, following directions, helping others, etc. Students can also lose points for negative behaviors such as being off task, not following directions, etc. Students love being able to track their points on the board throughout the day, as well as, encourage their classmates too. I will award the students a sand dollar for every positive point they have at the end of each day. After earning twenty sand dollars they will be allowed a reward from our class coupon box.
Once you have joined our class you will be able to check your child’s progress anytime. You will also be emailed a report every Friday. Students can create their own account so they can check on their own progress as well. (There’s even an app!) Parents love having instant access to how their child is doing. Another great feature of Class Dojo is the ability for me to send messages to parents and for you to message me.
Along with behavior tracking this app allows me to keep a class story of all of the things happening this year. I will post updates of what we are doing and pictures of the fun activities we will do.
Students and parents from previous classes have loved it and I hope you will find it helpful too!
Payments
Payments for lunch and textbooks can now be made online. Visit TSC’s website to learn more. All payments sent to school with your child should come sealed in an envelope with the following information clearly explained on the front:
To:
From:
For:
Toys and Gum
Please do not let your child bring toys to school. They frequently get lost or broken causing an unhappy experience. We have plenty of activities available. Also, students are never allowed to chew gum in school. Please support these important school rules.
Book Clubs
I will be sending home book offers approximately once a month. You are under no obligation to buy. This is an excellent way to build a library for your child at reasonable prices. The book orders and money will be accepted until the date stated in the newsletter or on the order form itself. Please be sure to write your child's name on the order form and include your check made out to Scholastic in the envelope. It is also optional to order books online and I will send the needed info each month.
Questions?
Once our school year gets underway, hopefully most questions will be answered through newsletters, etc. I do want to address any questions or concerns promptly, before they become problems for you or your child. You are more than welcome to contact me either at school or at home in any of the following ways:
Send a note to school and I will either send a note or call you sometime that day.
If you call the school (772-7000) and I happen to not be available, you will be sent to my voice mailbox. I do try to check this daily; however, do NOT leave any information of a time-sensitive nature. (For instance, if your child’s dismissal routine is being altered for that day, please inform the office of this change when you call.)
I am looking forward to one awesome year with your kindergartener!