Course Syllabus

Mrs. Dunn's Kindergarten

Cassingham Elementary School

School, at any level, should be filled with positive experiences. One of my goals each day is that your child’s school experiences be warm, caring, and comfortable times. Young children need to know that school is a good place to be. I want children to like coming to school every day. I know that young children develop best in a supportive environment where they can flourish.

 

Parents and teachers who work together for mutual understanding can create an environment that will help bring harmony into the child’s world. The understanding between home and school is essential in order to approach maximum continuity in guiding a child’s growth. Your child will bring home a weekly newsletter with information about the classroom and upcoming events. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or by note in your child’s home envelope when the need arises.

 

This handbook contains information that I think will be helpful in the development of our home and school relationship. It is important to know the routine of school procedures, as well as, to share plans for each child’s growth in the kindergarten environment.

 

Mrs. Amy Dunn

 

General Policies for Our Classroom

Absences

 A phone call to the school absence line the day of the absence or a written excuse prior to the absence is required. Please notify the office of planned absences in advance. The Absence Line is 237-4309 (press option 6 twice).

Appointments

When your child has an appointment and needs to leave school early or arrive late to school, you will need to sign your child out or in with Mrs. Poczik in the office. A note prior to an appointment will help me to prepare your child for leaving on time or transitioning back into the classroom.

Bathroom/Drinks 

The girls use the bathroom located just down the hall from our classroom. The boys use the bathroom located just down the hall from our classroom, but it is upstairs. Children simply tell me when they are going to the bathroom. Some go with a friend. We have a drinking fountain in our room for drink breaks. 

Celebrations

A treat for your child’s birthday may be sent in to the classroom to share. Please send the snack at the beginning of the day, with napkins, plates, etc. if it is a particularly messy snack. We will celebrate the birthday at a time convenient for us that day. We do not have a peanut and tree nut allergy in our classroom, but we do have some intolerances to dairy. Room parents will plan Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and End-of-the-Year parties for us.  

Communication

I will post all pertinent information about our classroom on my Canvas site through the Bexley Schools website. A classroom newsletter will come home each month. This will be a place to see and write down information important to that particular month. It will give an overview of our curricular focus and end with an Ask Me About…format that you can use with your child to talk about his/her learning. E-mails and notes are easy ways to communicate with me on a daily basis. We will have a student-led conference in the last weeks of October. We will have parent conferences in April. Report cards will be sent home in January and June.

Extra Clothes

Please make sure your child has an extra set of seasonal clothes in his or her locker for spills and accidents.

Homework

Homework assignments will come home occasionally. There will not be homework every week. Reading homework will begin soon! 

Home/School Envelope

Your child should return this envelope to the orange basket on the big shelf in our room with the crate of hanging file folders. I will check for notes and papers in the morning.

Illnesses

If your child has been ill during the night or early morning, please keep him or her at home from school that day. Fevers and excessive coughing are symptoms that are hard to manage during the school day for the children. Please call the absence line to let us know that your child will be absent.

Jobs

We have weekly jobs that the children rotate through over the course of the year. These are posted in the classroom with the children’s pictures.

Lunch

The children line up from recess for lunch at 12:15 PM. The children eat at assigned tables for our class. Children who are buying a milk or lunch, go straight to the line and use their student number to make their purchase. We return to the classroom by12:45.

Marbles

We put marbles into baskets when we are observed Living the Learner Profile! We use this collection to vote as a class on celebrations of our positive behavior as people, learners, and friends.

Parent Volunteers

I welcome parent volunteers for the classroom. There will be a sign-up genius for this purpose. Please let me know if the dates I scheduled won’t work for you. I can make adjustments.

Pick-Up Plans

I have pick-up plans for the children with the home folders in the classroom. Please send a note or e-mail to let me know if your child is going with a different person that day.

Kindergarten Notebook

We are working on filling a Kindergarten Notebook. These will come home to share frequently throughout the year.

Recess

We have a lunch recess from 11:45-12:15 each day with the rest of the school. We can also have a morning and afternoon recess with the other kindergarten classes, too. During inclement weather, we may sometimes use the gymnasium during lunch recess.

Sharing

Each child will have a sharing day assigned to him or her. We have a set routine for sharing that will come home with our sharing schedule. This is a special day for the students as they sit on the ladybug bench, use the computers during choice time, and sit on pillows and special chairs during chapter book time.

Snack

We have time for two, healthy snacks each day. We typically eat our snacks during our morning and afternoon recesses.