M. Smith’s Daily Agenda

Discipline with a Purpose and Character Values

~Listening

Active Listening: To listen carefully

Common Sense: To make good choices

Patience: To be willing to wait as part of the process to resolve a

particular situation

~Following Instructions

Effort: To try your hardest

Flexibility: To change plans without complaining

          Perseverance: To keep at it

~Asking Questions

          Courage: To be brave

            Curiosity: To want to find out and learn about new things

            Resourcefulness: To have good ideas for getting things done

~Sharing

Cooperation: To work together

Initiative: To do something because it needs to be done

Integrity: To do what is right

Problem Solving: To find a way to take care of a problem

~Social Skills

Caring: To treat in a nice way

            Friendship: To make and keep a friend

            No Putdowns: To never humiliate others

Organization: To plan and keep things ready to use

Personal Best: To do your best           

Pride: To feel good about doing your personal best

Responsibility: To take care of yourself and be trusted to do

what needs to be done

            Sense of Humor: To laugh and have fun without hurting others

Trustworthy: To be dependable

            Truthful: To be honest

            Personal Best: To do your best           

• Discipline with a Purpose values that students will focus on as they get older will be:
  • Cooperation
  • Reasons for rules
  • Completing a task
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Organization
  • Resolving problems
  • Initiating solutions
  • Fact vs. feeling
  • Service to others

                              Important Information

COMMUNICATION

→ Phone Calls –Please feel free to contact me throughout the school year.  I have attached my business card with my home and cell phone included.  If you would get my voicemail, please leave a message with the best time to reach you.  I will return all calls as soon as possible.  With this said, just as you have family and other obligations to attend to, so do I.  There will be times that I will need to discuss school matters at a later time that fits both our schedules.  Thank you. 

→ E-mail – My email address is msmith@stmarysgreensburg.com.  This is a great way to get in contact with me with various questions, concerns or comments that do not need immediate (within the hour) attention.  I check my email periodically throughout the day and over the weekend (put it this way, I’m a computer junkie).  This is a great way to communicate with limited time.  If email is not an option, notes are great too.  Place these in the take home folder and I will respond asap. 

→ Smith’s Summary – Every Friday, Smith’s Summary (our classroom newsletter) will come home with your child.  This is an easy way to keep you updated with items in the classroom and also a great way to talk with your child about the week.  (reminders about what we did when you ask ‘what did you do today?’ and you get ‘nothing’J )

TO AND FROM SCHOOL

→ To school and from school

To School – enter by the East door if arriving by car

            →ARRIVAL BEFORE 7:45 – report to gym

→ARRIVAL 7:45-8:15 – come directly to the classroom

From School

→ 2:40 bus riders on McKee St.

→ 2:45 car riders on East St.

½ day students – 8:15-12:00

            →Please pick up on McKee St. facing west

Early Dismissal Days – 8:15-12:00

→ ALL kindergarteners will be dismissed from the front (East St.) doors along with the
                 rest of the students.

→ Bus Tags – Your child will have a bus/pickup tag for the beginning part of the year.  Please keep it with your child until we have the routine mastered as to where the children are going. 

→ Sign Out – If you are picking up your child at any time during the day, you MUST SIGN out your child in the office before coming to the classroom.  This is a school policy and is for your child’s safety.

→ Red Folder – Your child will bring a red folder home every day.  This folder is to be brought back to school each day also.  The folder has two pockets, one designated for ‘keep at home’ items and one designated for ‘return to school’ items.  I cannot promise you that the items will be placed on the correct side each time, but it’s a great way for us to learn how to stay organized!  I will encourage the children to remove the ‘keep at home’ items each night as a way to help us in staying on top of items that are important…AND so that we do not ‘collect clutter’ for a semester before we realize there are papers that needed to read last month.  

→ Milk/Lunch – Lunch money will be collected on Monday mornings for the week.  Please do the following:

→ Send in an envelope, clearly marked with the child’s name, teacher, grade, and what it is for.  I.e. lunch, morning drink, etc.

→ If you send in more than a week’s worth, you will be credited for the next week.

→ Please send in $25.00 as soon as possible for morning milk/juice for the first semester.  This is a discounted price that allows a few days off for absences and days the child decides not to have milk/juice.  The choices are orange juice, apple juice, chocolate or white milk.

→Lunch Prices

o       Student Lunches - $1.85

o       Extra milk for lunch – 30 cents

Classroom

→Which Smith? - We are located in classroom 2, next to Mrs. Jenny Smith and across the hall from first and second grade.  Yes, there are 2 Mrs. Smith’s.  To help the students distinguish the 2 Smith’s within the building, we will be the RADICAL REDS, and next door will be the BIG BLUE TEAM.  I will also encourage the students refer to me as Mrs. M. Smith, or even Mrs. Mollie Smith in order to distinguish the two of us.  I know we will be fine once the year begins. 

→ Teaching Assistants - Mrs. Janet Jones and Mrs. Laura Rather will be assisting the k-2 classrooms throughout the year.  They will both help students individually, in small groups or even whole group.  We welcome them in our room as our teachers who will help us learn even more.

→ Visiting the Classroom – If you would like to plan a visit to the classroom to observe, please notify me before the visit.  It is very distracting for the students to be interrupted throughout the day and I am not usually available to talk at that time. I would be happy to schedule a time to meet and discuss matters when we would not be taking time away from the students.  Also, thanks for giving us the first few weeks as we begin to settle in to our routine and get to know one another. 

→Helping in the Classroom – If you would like to help in the classroom, please see the parent help sheet in the packet. 

→ Toys – Toys (including any kind of trading cards) are not to be brought to school. 

→ Discipline – St. Mary’s School Rules

1.      Respect Yourself and Others as Children of God

2.      Contribute to the Learning Environment

3.      Follow School Procedures

When a child does not follow these rules the following steps will be taken in the classroom:

1.      Reminders, verbal and nonverbal

2.      Removal from activity in order to allow other students to continue learning

3.      Think Sheet (see pg. 11) and loss or privilege or input of consequence.  This sheet 
  is expected to be signed and returned.

4.      Phone call  to parent

5.      Conference with parent, student, and teacher

6.        Conference with parent, student, teacher, and principal

YOUR CHILD

→ Attendance – Consistent school attendance will help your child have a successful kindergarten year.  Excused absences include personal illness, religious holiday, death in the family, and medical or dental appointments.  Please call the office to notify of your child’s absence by 9:00 am.  Upon returning to school, please send a note explaining the reason for the absence.  Your child is considered tardy if he/she enters the classroom after the 8:15 bell. 

→ Birthdays – Children may bring in treats for their birthdays.  Please notify me in advance if you would like to do so.  I would like to encourage all families to choose healthy treats to share as we are trying to set a good example for all.  Children are NOT to pass out invitations for birthday parties in the classroom unless the entire class is included. 

→ Medicine – All medication brought in with your child, needs to be taken to the clinic in the original container with a medical release form.  This is new!  I have included a copy of this form so that you can have it when needed.  No medication is allowed to be dispensed from the classroom. (This includes Tylenol, cough drops, eye drops, etc)

LEARNING

→ Mass – Students will attend mass every Wednesday as well as Holy Days.  For the first several weeks, a fifth grade buddy will sit next to your child to help guide them through and help with any necessary questions.  

→ Special Classes Schedule

            → Monday – Music

            → Wednesday – Art

            → Friday – Physical Education – Please make sure your child has appropriate gym

shoes and comfortable clothes for moving and exercising! 

→ Homework – Homework will not begin until the month of September.  At this time the homework will be sent home on Monday, in its own folder (The Homework Folder) and will be kept until Friday.  On Friday the ENTIRE FOLDER, with books and papers inside, is to be returned.  Homework will usually consist of a baggie book, a comprehension activity and/or other types of games.   The timing of homework will be minimal and will be practice of our daily learning. 

→ Curriculum

Language

-         McGraw Hill is the adopted reading series

-         Building Blocks (part of Four Block) teaching shows the importance of 4 areas –
  guided reading, writing, self-selected reading and working with words (phonics)
  appropriate for the kindergarten level

-         Writing will be encouraged and worked on through Writer’s Workshop.  This will be
  a time where students will write in various modalities, working on letter formation,
  matching correct letter to sound and inventive spelling at their appropriate
  developmental level. 

Math

-         Math Their Way is used in daily activities, giving the students hands on/minds on
  learning

-         Language is developed by connecting literature to the concept being covered

            Supplemental

-         classroom library

-         bookmobile

-         good literature

-         computers

-         author studies

-         class/individual published books

-         theme related activities

Handwriting

-         D’Nealian manuscript, see last page

Social Studies/Science/Health

-         These areas are taught in themes and frequently integrated with language arts.

All of these subject areas will also be taught through play.  This is a great way for students to experience and explore the next level of learning, while socially learning to work with peers.