Kindergarten Information

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT KINDERGARTEN BELOW:

WELCOME TO KINDERGARTEN

Mrs. Catanese

Room 25

Daily Routines

*It is important that your child enters the classroom and hangs up his/her personal items INDEPENDENTLY each morning.

*Your child will have a daily folder that will go to and from school daily. The folder will be labeled TAKE HOME FOLDER. Any homework or notes that you need to turn into me should be placed inside the TAKE HOME FOLDER. Please remind your child to place items in Mrs. Catanese’s mailbox in the morning.

*Please stress the importance of following these routines with your child. Responsibility for organizing, taking home, and returning items daily sets the stage for future homework responsibility.

Homework/Assessments

*Homework will be sent home weekly. Please make it a habit to check your child’s take home folder daily!

The Poetry Notebook will be sent home EVERY FRIDAY and must be returned SIGNED on MONDAY! Poetry Notebooks will not be sent home over long weekends. Other little assignments will be sent home throughout the year.

*KRA-Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-All kindergarten students in Ohio are required to take the KRA. This assessment focuses on 6 academic areas, social/emotional skills, and physical readiness. The KRA focuses on the WHOLE child. This assessment is lengthy and will be administered during the first two months of school.

*Various other assessments will be given throughout the year. These assessments will check for comprehension and track progress throughout the year. A few assessment examples are:

1. MAP testing reading and math

2. Letter Identification

3. Letter Sounds

4. Writing Assessments

Behavior and Discipline

*Classroom rules and expectations are based on respect and responsibility. The students spend a great deal of time the first few weeks of school learning the classroom rules.

Mrs. Catanese’s HERo’s will

Help Everyone Respect Others

*To help encourage positive behavior, Gotcha Paws, stickers, and lots of praise will be given!☺

Classroom Rules: BE A PAX LEADER

Follow the 3 R's:

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Ready to Learn

Labeling and Clothes

*Please LABEL ALL backpacks, coats, winter clothing, and lunch boxes! LABEL EVERYTHING! Many children have identical items and will not recognize their own.

*Head lice-head lice runs rapid all YEAR! It is not seasonal. Our biggest outbreaks occurred during the months of January and February. Please make sure hats are not being shared.

Snack, Food Policy, Birthdays & Allergies

*Kindergarteners have snack time everyday. Please abide by the West Geauga Snack List. In keeping with the Health and Wellness policy of the district, please make sure the snack is healthy and not a special treat. The approved snack list is posted on Westwood’s home page! Please send in snacks that can be opened independently! Snack time is quick, so NO UTENSILS

*Allergies-PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF ANY ALLERGIES YOUR CHILD MAY HAVE

*We do celebrate birthdays at school; however, again in keeping in mind with the Health and Wellness policy of the district. Some families send in non-food items like pencils or erasers. Birthday invitations can be sent to school ONLY if the WHOLE class is invited or for a girl party, all the girls are invited and vice versa for the boys.

*At school your child will be closely associated with many other children. Be alert for signs of contagious diseases or communicable infections. If symptoms are present, please keep your child home for his/her protection and that of others.

*If your child is going to be absent, you MUST call the school the night before or the morning of. If the office does not hear from you, they will call home.

*It is important that you let the office know when your child has a contagious disease (strep throat, pink-eye, flu) so that notes can be sent home alerting parents to watch for symptoms.

Pick-ups and Contact Information

*If your child is a pick-up, please send in a pick-up note. Remind your child in the morning to place the pick-up note in my mailbox.

*Contact information-Please e-mail me with any questions comments or concerns at gina.catanese@westg.org

Please give me at least 24 hours to respond. If there is an EMERGENCY, please ring into my classroom at 729.5980 x4325

TIRED YET?????

*THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! This is going to be a great year. Family participation in school & education makes all the difference!

If you have not done so, please sign the email list. I will be creating a classroom distribution list and will e-mail frequently about reminders, mystery readers, and classroom news!

*Please be patient with the learning development of your child. Each child is different and learns differently.

“With great power comes great responsibility” Spider-Man