Disclosure

           

                      Mrs. Scalise’s Kindergarten Class Disclosure                          

                                                   2017-2018

Welcome to kindergarten!  We are the Kindergarten Eagles!  This is going to be a year of discovery and learning!  Just like eagles, your child will be soaring to great heights!   In our class we like to say, “It’s Good to Do Hard Things!” Then we THINK, OBSERVE and MAKE GOOD CHOICES.

Our Responsibilities:

• ·         I will work as part of a team with my teaching assistant, Mrs. Karren, to insure that all of your child’s needs are met.
• ·         We will set high standards and expectations for your child socially and academically.
• ·         We will challenge your child to be a lifelong learner.  As I teach I focus on the various learning intelligences and encourage children to think intelligently, creatively, and independently.

Your Child's Responsibilities:

• ·         Willingness to be proactive by thinking, observing, cooperating, and making good choices.
• ·         Respect towards me and their classmates.
• ·         A desire to accept the challenges set before them.
• ·         To learn to take responsibility for turning in his/her homework each week.

Parent's Responsibilities:

• ·         To sign up and attend both Parent-Teacher Conferences throughout the    year.
• ·         Support and follow through with the goals we have set for your child at Parent-Teacher Conference.
• ·         Help guide your child through their homework each night.
• ·         Help teach your child to return their Home Learn Folder each Thursday.

                               Communication   Between Home & School

·         My Email:  jscalise@ogdenprep.org

·         My  Blog:  http://janetscalise.blogspot.com/   

     REMIND App 

·         School Phone Number:  801-627-2066

I will check my emails daily and respond at that time.  I will also be sending the majority of my correspondence to parents through Remind, emails and on my blog.  I will be updating my blog each week with new and important information.  If you do not have access to a computer or email, please notify me.

Phone Calls & Personal Visits…

The best time to call and/or visit is after school.  You may also call and leave a message.  To ensure that we’ll have enough time to thoroughly address your child’s needs it is always helpful to schedule a specific date and time. 

OUR SCHOOL & CLASS RULES 

    

Our school has adopted the Leader In Me program by Stephen R. Covey.  This program equips students with the self-confidence and skills they need to be successful in their lives.  It teaches them how to be a leader at all times and in all situations by following these:

BE PROACTIVE – I’m in charge of me

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND – Have a plan

PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST – Work first, then play

THINK WIN-WIN – Everyone can win

SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD – Listen before you talk

SYNERGIZE – Together is better

SHARPEN THE SAW – Balance feels better

We will teach these 7 Habits and incorporate them into everything we do throughout the day.  

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

REWARDS & CONSEQUENCES                 

We will be using a “RESPONSIBILITY CHART".  Each child has a clothespin with their name on it that will be placed on a colored chart.  Every morning they will start on the color green (ready to learn) and can move up to light blue (good job), then dark blue (great job), and then to purple (outstanding).

At the end of the day the children whose names are on  Outstanding (purple) get to:

·         Pick a prize from our Treasure Box

·         We give them a “shout-out”

A child can also choose to move down the chart from green to yellow (think about it), then orange (fix-it), and then to red (parent contact) by phone, email, or in person.

FOLDER    

·         Each student will have a blue folder which will be used for all notes and weekly home assignments.  (Replacement fee is $1.00)

·         These will go home each MONDAY.

·         Please return the folder, completed each THURSDAY.

·       

READING LOGS   

The school’s policy is that each student read a minimum of 60 minutes each week.  You will be keeping track of your child’s minutes on the Homework Bookmark (the cover page of the homework packet each week).  We will begin to track those minutes in September.  Reading minutes can be time you read to your child, time they read to you, and/or time they spend working on Raz Kids(an at home leveled reading program that you child will begin after they pass off all of the alphabet letter names/sounds)

We will be celebrating each student throughout the year as a Star Student.  We will do that on or as close to their birthday as possible.  Summer birthdays will be celebrated randomly throughout the year.  You do not need to come to class or send anything that day.  OPA’s policy does not allow food, snacks or candy to be brought for birthdays.

KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM

Language Arts

We will begin the year learning & reviewing the alphabet and letter sounds (phonemes).  Then we will put these phonemes together to create words and sentences.

I will be using a program called, Draw to Read and Write by Jim Stone as well as other resources to ensure that each student experiences a variety of opportunities to master these skills at his/her own learning level.

Once students have become fluent in the alphabet they will begin an at-home reading program called, Raz Kids. 

Our spelling program is Words Their Way.  This is an individualized program that will begin in October. 

Math

We use the Singapore Math & Engage New York programs.  Students first encounter math concepts through the use of manipulates.  Then move on to the pictorial stage in which pictures are used to model problems.  When students are familiar with the ideas taught, they progress to a more advanced abstract stage in which only numbers and symbols are used. 

Science and Social Studies

These will be integrated into our language arts program.  We will be doing a lot of discovery, hands-on activities, and writing about what we are learning. 

Music, Art, PE & Spanish

These classes are taught weekly by specialists.  Our curriculum will also be integrated into each of these subjects. 

In Spanish the students will be introduced to colors, numbers, and many other basic Spanish words, greetings, and phrases.  We will also learn songs in Spanish.  These will all be incorporated throughout the curriculum.

*Please visit the Utah State Office of Education website for more details on the Core Curriculum.      

Drop off and Pick-up Schedule

We have school Monday – Friday: 8:05 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Minimum (1/2) Days – school is dismissed at 12:45 p.m. (please refer to the school calendar for further scheduling needs.  You may access that on the school website).

·         BREAKFAST:  7:40 – 8:00 a.m.

·         LUNCH: 11:25 – 11:55 a.m.

DROP OFF

Students may enter the building as early as 7:40 a.m.  They may hang up their coat and backpack on their hook and do one of the following activities:

1.      Eat breakfast

2.      Go to the library to read books or play board games

3.      Go outside (weather permitting) and play on the playground

At 8:05 the bell will ring and they will line up quietly outside our class door in front of the coat hooks where I will greet them.

DISMISSAL – PICK UP                 

Our class will exit out the side kindergarten door on the east side of the building and wait for you by the light post.  Study the map provided to understand how the pick-up circle works.  If you are only picking up a kindergartener the easiest thing to do would be to park on Lincoln in front of the apartments or on 14^th street and walk across the crosswalk. 

**Students will need to have written permission if anyone besides their legal guardian is to pick them up.  Also, send a note if an older sibling is going to be picking them up.

PLEASE be on time to pick your child up.