Welcome! Daily Instruction begins promptly at 8:15. Students will arrive on campus, place their belongings on the hooks outside and line up by the classroom door. The first bell rings at 8:10. I generally open the door a little earlier to allow students to come in and get settled before the second bell rings at 8:15. They will be marked tardy if they arrive after 8:15. Please help your child start off their day by arriving on time.
Students attending an after school program (childcare, language school, etc.) may bring a backpack to school. Otherwise, please consider leaving backpacks at home and just bringing a snack/lunch box and water bottle. For those students bringing backpacks, please practice putting items in backpacks and zipping them up at home.
Snack recess is at 10:10-10:30. Students may bring their own healthy snack each day to be eaten at snack time. Please no candy or sugary sweets. If you are using a reusable container to hold snacks, please no glass containers. On occasion, I will ask for snack donations to have some on hand in case a child forgets their snack.
Students are also strongly encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle each day. We have hydration stations on campus so students may refill their bottle with water. Please label the water bottle with your child's name with permanent marker. In fact, label everything! 😊 (jackets, lunchboxes, sweaters)
Kindergarten homework is to read to your child or have them read to you daily for 20-30 minutes. Reading to and with your child is so important to help build concepts of print, vocabulary and language skills. If you would like to provide additional handwriting, phonics or math work for your child, you are encouraged to do so. In Spring, students will be bringing home reading homework.
Communication with you will be mainly through emails and newsletters. Please look through the papers your child may bring home each day. I am also happy to have conversations with parents after all the students are picked up after school.
Please consider being a classroom parent helper for Art Vista, Create with Clay and Cornerstone. All volunteers will be required to fill out a Volunteer Code of Conduct form provided by the school, prior to being on campus. When arriving, please check in at the school office. The Volunteer Code of Conduct form (please check school website for link to the form) will need to be filled out prior to coming on campus for any event (Halloween Parade, Spring Sing, etc). You only need to fill it out once. Please bring your driver's license for identification. Click Here for the Volunteer Code of Conduct form
If your child's birthday is during the school year, we would love to celebrate with them. On their special day, we will sing and have him/her wear a special birthday crown! If you would like to provide a special treat bag for their classmates, I encourage individually wrapped treat bags (no cupcakes or food, please), with trinkets such as pencils, stickers, erasers, packaged treats, etc. which can be easily distributed at the end of the day for students to enjoy at home. I am able to forward email party invitations only if you are inviting the whole class to a party.
Our lunch and recess is from 11:35-12:20. Children will be eating lunch from 11:35-11:55. If your child is eating school lunch, I will assist them through the line to help with making their hot lunch selection. If possible, please provide a home lunch for the first few weeks of school as the children are learning lunch time procedures. Lunchtime can be hectic at the beginning and having your child bring their lunch will also allow them to begin eater sooner. Kindergarten teachers stay for the first few minutes of lunch to help students get their lunch, find their seat, open any packages, etc. Lunch recess will be from 11:55-12:20. If you are interested in volunteering during lunch or recess, please let me know.
We will be very active during the school day. It is strongly recommended your child wear closed toed shoes. Our playground has tan bark and sand. If your child's shoes has laces, please make sure they know how to tie their own shoelaces, otherwise, velcro and slip on shoes are a great alternative!
Toys and stuffies and are not allowed at school. We will have special days where students will be asked to bring in games or stuffies. Anything valuable or sentimental (jewelry) should be left at home. Any items which become a distraction during the learning day will be asked to be put away.
Since we are active every day , if your child is not feeling 100%, please keep them at home to rest. Your child must be fever free (without being on medication) for 24 hours. Also, please keep your child at home for at least 24 hours if they have vomited or have loose stool. We want our classmates (and teacher 😉) to remain healthy. Please contact the school office attendance line when your child will be absent (408) 264-8837 and for protocol to return back on campus.
If you are traveling and your child will be absent for more than 3 days, please notify the office (with 2 weeks notice) so we can set up an Independent Study packet.
Dismissal is at 1:40 (1:15 on Wednesdays) each day. Please communicate with me if there is a change in the "pick up person". I will not release your student until I see each parent/guardian/grandparent/older sibling designated to pick him/her up. The pick up person must be listed as an emergency contact person.If your child is attending after school care, their personnel will come pick your child. Please pick up your child at the classroom door.
Please be prompt in picking up your child as some children may start to feel nervous when they do not see you right at dismissal time. Also, many days I have meetings and responsibilities immediately following the teaching day. Finding parking on Wednesdays will be challenging as the whole school will be dismissed at the same time. Please plan accordingly.
**Do not park or leave your car unattended on the red curb**
I will model and stress respect and kindness in the classroom - "bucket-filling" comments and attitudes. Please follow up with your child each day after school and ask how their day went. Showing respect, making good decisions, spreading kindness and solving problems will also be reinforced daily. PAWS stands for our school's behavior expectations:
P - be a problem solver
A- act respectfully
W-make wise decisions
S- spread kindness
Please review your child's day by asking, "How did you spread kindness today? Were you a problem solver today? How did you show respect today? What was a good decision you made today?" In addition to PAWS, I will be using Kimochi curriculum for social and emotional learning.
Our Daily Schedule:
8:15-10:10 - Opening, Calendar, Social Emotional Learning, Reading, Writing
10:10-10:30 Snack Recess
10:30-11:35 - Math
11:35-12:20 - Lunch
12:20-1:40 - Social Science, Centers, PE
Our "Specials" include Cornerstone Reading, Create with Clay projects and Art Vistas lessons and projects. We will also be going to the school library once a week and have Music each week.
I realize this is a lot of information 😊. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
gustafsonl@unionsd.org
Thank you!