Open House Notes

  Mrs. English’s Open House Notes 09-10

Welcome to Kindergarten!
About Me:
-	7th year teaching
-	3rd year teaching K
-	previously taught special education K-12 at DCS and Schenectady High School
-	I live in Rotterdam with my husband of 1 month

Sign-Up sheets
-	Classroom volunteers- 10:00am-11:00am; indicate days of the week available and frequency; 
helping with centers, crafts, activities, and disinfecting; Begin mid-October
-	Refreshments for Parties- I need a coordinator for each party to remind parents what they 
signed up for and the date, please indicate on the sign-up if you are interested
-	Parent/Teacher Conference Dates are: November 19th 5-8pm and November 20th 8am-3pm
-	PTSO Phonebook- great way to contact your child’s new friends and arrange play-dates
-	Reading Incentive Coordinator/Co-coordinators- let me know if you are interested

Communication
-	Notes- put all communication in your child’s gold folder- this goes back and forth between 
home and school everyday
-	E-mail- best way to contact me; I check this at 9:00am, 12:00pm and 3:00pm everyday
-	Phone-Ext. 418
-	School News Notifier- Communication from the school automatically e-mailed to you; complete 
form even if you are not interested
-	Class website- Please go to this-I will write weekly updates under announcements

Birthdays
-	Celebrated during snack time
-	You can bring in the treat the night before or that morning
-	tree nut allergy- please do not bring in any treats that contain tree nuts!
-	Invitations can only be handed out in school  if the entire class, all girls or all boys is invited

Reminders
-	Picture Day is October 2nd
-	CAI headphones- you may send in a pair of headphones for your child or purchase a pair 
through the school; they will be kept in a plastic bag 
-	Make yourself familiar with the new drop off/pick-up procedures
-	All visitors must sign in at the office

Class Rules
-	Raise your hand if you have a question or something to share
-	Respect yourself and others
-	Do your best
-	I refer to these throughout the day

Consequences
Green- Keep up the great work
Yellow- Warning, “You need to make better choices”; miss 5 mintues of recess
Red- Miss 10 minutes of recess and parents are contacted
Orange- Outstanding behavior! 2 stickers on the chart and pick from the prize box
-	Extreme behaviors are handled by the principal
-	If they are on green by the end of the day, they get a sticker on their chart, when complete they 
can pick from the prize box.

Class Schedule and programs
-	Fundations- Phonics program; hands-on; continue with program in first grade
-	Daily five- independent literacy centers; Read to self, read with some one, work on writing, word 
work
-	Math- many manipulatives, songs; touchmath- used in first grade; helps students with 
addition- counting forward and subtraction- counting backwards
-	Science- new program with experiments, songs, hands-on fun
-	Social studies- usually related to the theme for the week; the Weekly Reader is typically used for 
this
-	Snack- pack this separately so they do not each at lunch
-	Afternoon Special: CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction), FLES (Spanish), and Library; on days that 
we do not have a special the classes will rotate and work on Technology with Mrs. Minute, Science 
with Mrs. Johnson or Readers Theater with me

Conclusion

You are your child’s first teacher and I look forward working with you to make this year a great one!
Any questions????