Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of
students and parents.
- What time do we eat lunch?
- How do I get in touch with you?
- How can I improve my student's reading skills?
- How and where do I pick up my child?
- How can I volunteer if I work during the day?
- How and where do I drop off my child in the morning?
- How can my family or business support our classroom and school?
- What in the world is DIBELS?
- Is breakfast offered at CCPS?
- What about class parties?
- What is the "Letter Expert?"
- May I bring birthday treats?
What time do we eat lunch?
We eat lunch at 11:45. Please sign in at the office and meet us
in the
lunchroom if you would like to eat lunch with your child.
An adult visitor lunch is $4.00.
How do I get in touch with you?
If there is an emergency during the day or if you unexpectly
need someone
else to pick up your child, please call the office (775-0234).
To discuss your student's progress or other questions or
concerns, you may send me a note or an email or schedule a time
to meet with me during my planning time. My email
address is k.hays@cullmancats.net.
How can I improve my student's reading skills?
Read to your student every night; this is the most important
component of
early literacy. As they progress as a reader, you may want to
take turns
and let them read words they know in each sentence. Begin the
habit of
helping your student to read to you every night. Help them with
difficult
words they encounter and explain why we read the word that way
('This is
tricky--S and H together say shhhhh'). Playing games like
"I Spy" ('Oh, I
see a sign with a letter S on it...') during car rides, trips to
the store,
etc. will also help your student be more aware of the text in
their everyday
environment.
How and where do I pick up my child?
Our class waits under the canopy in front of the office to be
picked up.
Please pull all the way up to the white line (or directly behind
the car in
front of you) and a teacher will load your student. Please
display our
class car tag in the bottom right corner of your windshield. If
you walk up
to pick up your student, please come to the area where we load
and make
verbal contact with me before leaving with your child. **For
the safety of
your child, I will not release him/her if an adult whom I do not
recognize
comes to pick them up without a car tag. The adult will have to
verify
his/her name and relationship to the student with the school
secretary
before leaving with your child if they do not have a car tag.
If someone
different is picking your child up, please send me a note that
morning to
let me know. Also, PLEASE send a note to both the school
secretary and to
me if your child has any pick-up or custody restrictions. An
effective
school is a safe school, and thank you for your help with pick-
up matters!
How can I volunteer if I work during the day?
There are many opportunities for parental involvement through at-
home
projects. I appreciate your willingness to contribute to our
class! There
are often projects that can be pre-cut or pre-assembled by
parent volunteers
at home, and I welcome your help with these projects. Please
send a note
letting me know the types of projects you would prefer helping
with
(stapling books, cutting laminated materials, etc.). Also,
there will be
numerous times during the year when you will be able to
volunteer to send a
special snack item or holiday item (100's day snack or Halloween
gourd
pumpkins, for example).
How and where do I drop off my child in the morning?
Beginning at 7:30, you may drop your child off under the canopy
in front of
the office. A resource teacher will walk him/her in. If you
would like to
walk your child in, you must sign in with the school secretary
beforehand.
*After the first couple of days, please allow your child to walk
to his
classroom by himself as this fosters confidence and independence.
How can my family or business support our classroom and school?
We have a variety of ways through which families and businesses
throughout
our community can make a lasting impact on our school and our
students. Wal-
Mart corporation works with its employees (distribution and
retail) to
donate $250 for every 25 hours volunteered to a classroom.
(This may be
helping in or out of the room with different events and
projects. The hours
add up very quickly, and the money goes directly to our
classroom, so check
with me if you or a family member are employeed by Wal-Mart
Corp.)
Businesses or individuals may donate items or monetary donations
to a
variety of projects throughout the year, such as our end-of-the-
year
book/literacy campaign. Donations to our classroom are much
appreciated and
will be used to purchase items such as books and interactive
learning
centers.
What in the world is DIBELS?
DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)is a
set of tests
which measure a child's early literacy skills. Students are
tested at the
beginning of kindergarten on Initial Sounds Fluency (Example--
Can the
student identify that the SOUND at the beginning of the word
"cat" is /c/?)
and Letter Naming Fluency (correctly naming letters within a 1
minute time
constraint). In January, students are assessed again in the
areas of
Initial Sound Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency, and Phoneme
Segmentation
Fluency (breaking words apart into their sounds--for example,
the
word "grab" has 4 sounds /g/-/r/-/a/-/b/). In May,
kindergarten students
are tested for a final time in the areas of Phoneme Segmentation
Fluency,
Letter Naming Fluency, and Nonsense Word Fluency (decoding words
such as
vat, nix, etc.)
The DIBELS assessment is simply used as an indicator of a
student's progress
and to identify areas of strength and areas which need further
instruction.
Please see the "LINKS" section of our class website
for the
official DIBELS website link.
Is breakfast offered at CCPS?
Breakfast is served in the lunchroom every morning beginning at
7:30. If
you would like your child to eat breakfast at school, please
drop them off
at 7:30 at the exterior door adjacent to the lunchroom (drive
around the
school/door is at end of building next to dumpster). Students
who receive
free or reduced lunches may eat breakfast for free. All other
students'
breakfasts are $1.80.
What about class parties?
We have two official class parties during the year at Christmas
and
Valentine's Day. Parent volunteers coordinate the snacks,
drinks, and
minimal decorations for the parties. For Christmas, our class
takes up $5
per student and the homeroom chairman uses this to purchase the
same gift
for all the girls and the same gift for all the boys. This
prevents
disappointment and hurt feelings. For Valentine's day each
child brings in
a card for each of his/her classmates. These do not have to be
fancy--
homemade or store-bought are both fine. We encourage all
parents and
grandparents to drop in for our parties!
What is the "Letter Expert?"
Your child will have a turn being the class letter expert for a
particular
letter. Follow the instructions and return the folder and
object beginning
with that sound the very next day for your child to teach the
class all
about his/her letter and the sentence he/she learned!
May I bring birthday treats?
We always try to accommodate special treats for special
occasions! *Please
let me know ahead of time and we will coordinate a time for you
to bring a
birthday treat. The children like any type of cupcake or cookie
(the easier
to pass out individually, the better!) but please no soft
drinks. If you
wish to provide a drink, Capri Suns or fruit juice boxes are
perfectly
fine. Also, I request for children's safety that all items
brought in be
purchased rather than homemade.