Please send your child to school in comfortable clothing that is appropriate for indoor and outdoor play. Children will interact more readily when they are not afraid of ruining their clothes.
All outerwear, including hats, mittens, boots and sweaters, should be labeled with the child’s first and last name. It has been our experience that children often wear identical clothing and cannot always recognize their own.
Spare clothing is available in the nurse’s office in case of emergency.
Backpacks
All children are required to bring a weatherproof bag or backpack to school each day.
This bag should be easy for your child to open and close.
Zippers are usually easier than ties for younger children to manage.
The backpacks should be large enough to accommodate large projects, quiet time towels and school notices.
Backpacks need to be labeled with first and last names.
Other Supplies
All materials needed are supplied in the classroom.
If desired, children are welcome to bring a marker box, washable markers, and 1 or 2 gluesticks.
Please be sure that all items are clearly labeled with your child's name.
Lunch
Lunch is available for $1.50; milk (chocolate or white) is included in that price.
Children have a choice of hot lunch (which is described on a menu that you will receive monthly), pizza, lunchable, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or tuna sandwich. Please be aware that lunchables are not the store bought kind.
Milk may be purchased for $.30.
Please discuss lunch choices with your child each day as this can be confusing the first few weeks of school.
Ice cream and cookies are not available for Kindergarten children.
Lunch or milk money must be sent to school each day in a labeled envelope or baggie.
Snack
Children have snack time daily. Please send a healthy snack and drink each day.
Drinks should be in a juice box or in a thermos. No glass containers, please.
Toys
Please do not let your child bring any toys to school, unless specifically requested by the teacher. It is distracting to the school experience and encourages other children to do the same.
Quiet Time
All children will participate in a quiet time each day.
We ask that a bath towel, clearly labeled with your child’s name, be sent to school each Monday. On Friday, the towels will be sent home to be washed.
During this time, children can rest on their towels, look at books or do other quiet time activities.
Parent-Teacher Communication
All notes, permission slips, and especially money need to be enclosed in an envelope or baggie labeled clearly with the child’s and teacher’s name as follows:
Mrs. Smith
Lunch Money
$1.50
It is important that you tell your child whenever there is a message (intended for the teacher) in his/her backpack. Although we instruct the children to check their backpacks for important notes, homework, etc., they do need reinforcement of this idea from home.
All of the kindergarten teachers offer email as an additional means of communication with families. Please visit your child's teacher's page of the Kennedy website for his/her email address. However, all important information such as dismissal changes must be sent to school with your child. If a teacher is absent, the substitute would not have access to email and could miss this important information.
Scholastic Book Club
About once a month, we will send home an order form to purchase good quality, low cost books. You are not obligated to make any purchases.
If you do choose to purchase any books, you must send a check for the exact amount made out to the name of the book club, Scholastic Book Club.
The total purchases provide classroom bonus points for free literature and equipment.
Parent Communication Council (P.C.C.)
The P.C.C. meets once a month, usually in the Kennedy School cafeteria. This is a wonderful forum for parents, teachers, and administrators to come together in the interest of our children’s education.
Please visit the How Can I Get Involved? page of the Kennedy Website for more information on the P.C.C. or other parent programs at our school.
We welcome parent participation in our kindergarten program. This includes volunteering to help in the classroom or at home preparing materials for class activities. You will receive more information regarding this.
Super Kid
We like to promote self-esteem and develop language skills through our “Super Kid” program.
This program begins in October. The children are scheduled alphabetically for their week of honor.
Your child’s classroom teacher will provide you with some ideas and suggestions as well as a detailed outline of how this program works.
Birthday Celebrations
We are happy to celebrate birthdays during snack time. This is a low-key classroom activity.
Children are welcome to bring in a special snack or treat to share with their classmates. If you are unable to do so, please contact your child’s teacher and s/he will provide one.
In order to avoid hurt feelings (of children whose parents are not available during the day), we ask that parents not attend. Snacks may be sent in with your child or dropped off at the office in the morning.
To avoid hurt feelings, we ask families not to send birthday invitations to school for distribution unless the entire class is being invited.
Holidays
We have classroom celebrations on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and on our 100th day of school. We also have a celebration at the end of our Gingerbread theme in December.
In spirit of Thanksgiving, we celebrate with a simple classroom feast.
One of our thematic units in December is the study of December holidays and traditions. The focus of this unit is family traditions.
Student progress reports are designed to give you an understanding of how your child is developing academically and socially in the kindergarten setting. Close communication with home and school is a key to the success to all students.
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