Dear Kindergarten Families,

Welcome to Kindergarten!  We are very excited to meet our new students.  We hope that they are excited as well.  We know that this year will be a fun and rewarding experience for all of us.  This year will also pass by quickly.  You will be amazed by how much your child will grow and learn.  By the end of kindergarten, your child will be reading, writing, adding, subtracting and doing much more.  We will also cover concepts in Geography, Science, Social Studies, Computers, Music, Art, Spanish and Religion.  Please check your child’s backpack daily for projects, homework and notes sent home.  Education is a partnership between home and school.  We want to keep the lines of communication open.  Monthly newsletters, sign-up sheets for classroom donations, classroom helper assignments and other important information are located on the Parent Information board in each classroom.  Much of this information is accessible through Ren-Web, our school communication system.

Class begins at 8:00 AM.  We will meet the children on the front patio and escort them inside.  The children will be dismissed at 3:00 PM.  This time is 15 minutes earlier than grades 2 to 8.  Children going home will be dismissed from the east door of each classroom.  These are the doors closest to the green gate by the Gramer parking lot.  Children going to Aftercare will be escorted and signed in at this time.  Any child that is not picked up by 3:15 will be taken to Aftercare.  When you pick up your child from Aftercare, please make sure that a designated person signs out your child.  On all Early Fridays, we will have a school-wide mass at 8:30 AM and children will be dismissed with the rest of the school at 12:30 PM.  Please note that for the security of all students, the gates will be locked 15 minutes after school has been dismissed.  If your child has an older sibling who is to pick up the child, please have the older sibling come to the kindergarten classroom to pick up the kindergartner.  If your child is to be picked up by someone other than the regular ride or is going home with a friend, please send a note to school.  It is our policy not to release the children to someone else without written consent.

Kindergarten will have a regular snack time in the morning.  Lunch break is from 12:05 to 12:35 p.m.  Information about the Hot Lunch program should already have been given to you.  Please make sure that your child’s snack is separate from his or her lunch so that they don’t eat all the lunch at snack time.  Also, make sure that your child’s name is clearly printed on the outside of the lunch box and backpack.  All lunch boxes and backpacks look the same to us.  If you have not done so, you may purchase milk for the entire year.  You may do this at the front office.  Water bottles may be used in class.  Please have them in a sleeve or an old clean sock so that the water does not leak onto your child’s papers and make a mess.

If your child wants to bring a snack to school for the whole class (for birthdays, Child of the Week, parties, or special occasions), we ask that you remember that many children have food allergies.  Please send in healthy snacks.  If you do wish to send a snack for the class, let us know ahead of time.

Once school is underway, we will be having Parent Helpers on a regular basis.   We hope to have enough people sign up to have a rotating schedule.  The schedule and calendar will be posted on our school website.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., are also welcome to help.  All helpers must be fingerprinted and on file in the office.  This is the policy for the whole diocese.  Anyone coming to help or visit the school must sign in at the office to receive a special visitor badge.  Helpers will earn commitment hours.  Each family (not per child) will need to donate 65 hours to the school.  Please see the Parent Handbook for more information about commitment hours.  At times, we will need parent volunteers to do things at home.  This may involve tracing and cutting, putting things together, tearing pages out of books, and much more.  This is a good way to earn commitment hours.  Please let us know if you are interested.

Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday.  Homework is due on the following day unless specified by the teacher.  Please go over your child’s homework every night.  Homework is meant to enrich or review concepts being learned in class.  At times, we will send home papers that need your signature.  These will be stamped with a “sign and return” stamp.

We will have many activities in our classrooms during the school year.  One of the favorites is the classic “Show-and-Tell”.  This activity is scheduled for Fridays.  All items must fit into your child’s backpack.  PLEASE do not send pets or anything alive.  Friday is the only day toys may come to school with your child.

If at any time you have a question or concern, please contact us through the school website.  We ask to meet with you before or after school so that there are not interruptions to class.  When we are with the children, our focus must be on them.  Regular conferences will be held on October 21 and 22.  You will be notified of the times available.

Following is a list of supplies needed for your child: 1 pencil case, 8 glue sticks,  3 rolls of paper towels, 2 boxes of tissues, 1 box gallon ziplock bags, 1 box sandwich bags, 2 packs incentive charts (the ones with a 20 box grid), 1 box-8 ct. markers, l box-16 ct. crayons, 2 pocket folders, l can play-doh, 2 packs 4-count fine black Expo 2 dry erase markers, 1 container Clorox disinfecting wipes.  Please label the following supplies with your child’s name: pencil case, markers, crayons, pocket folders, and play-doh.  We also ask that you send in an accident kit in a plastic gallon-sized bag with your child’s name printed on the outside.  Inside the bag should be socks, underpants, and a school uniform.  The kit will be kept in your child’s cubby and may be updated later.

With all of our cooperation, we know this school year will be a positive, rewarding, and exciting experience for our kindergartners.  To our new families and our returning families, welcome to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School!

Mrs. Kristy Leon – Room 17
Mrs. Liliana Raptis – Room 19