Classroom Procedure Letter
August 27, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to first grade at Washington Elementary School! My name is Mrs. Pace, and I am so excited to have your child in our class this year. This is my 19th year teaching and my 14th year teaching 1st Grade. I have an absolute passion for teaching reading, and my hope is that my love for reading will be contagious for your child this year! Your child is going to have a very exciting and busy year learning new things! Our days will be spent exploring, working together, growing, and having fun while learning. I expect the children to follow classroom and school rules at all times, try their hardest, respect themselves and others, use manners, and above all else, be kind to one another. Below are classroom procedures, as well as other information that will help make the transition to first grade successful.
General Information: School begins at 9:00 a.m. and students are dismissed at 4:00 p.m. Breakfast is served from 7:50 a.m.-8:55 a.m., for those students eating at school. Our principal is Dr. Sheri McFarlane and the school phone number is 635-6629 (classroom ext. is 5613). My email address is space@eupschools.org. Washington has a school wide positive behavior plan that includes the following four expectations: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Ready to Learn. Students are expected to follow these four expectations in all areas of Washington School at all times. As students are “caught” following any of the four expectations, they are rewarded with a “Pawsitive” Behavior Award. Please encourage your child to follow the four expectations and praise them when they do.
Stay-Tuned: Please ask your child what he or she is learning in school, and look in their backpack/red home folder every night (please make sure the red home folder comes back to school each day). Students will be given a red home folder that they will bring home every night and back to school each day. The home folder is where you will find the newsletters and notes that are sent home, completed work, as well as any homework that needs to be completed. Please send any notes, milk money, or any other home-school information to school with your child in the red home folder. Students are expected to turn in completed homework assignments the next day. Students’ corrected assignments will come home periodically; however, there may be weeks where papers are not coming home as we do a lot of interactive, hands on activities within our classroom and not just worksheets. Please take the time to look at your child’s work and help him or her correct things that they got wrong. Our weekly newsletter (which will come home every Monday) will help you keep up with important happenings in our classroom. It is extremely important that you take the time to read over the Monday newsletter each week so that you know what your child is learning as well as other happenings within our classroom and school. I will also be using ParentSquare in my classroom this year as another form of communication. Please be sure to download the app so that you are notified when I have posted important information.
Ask Questions: If you have any concerns or are wondering why something is happening, please feel free to call, email me, or come in to talk to me. I welcome all concerns, ideas, and feedback that affect your child or our classroom. If something is not working, I am more than willing to talk. I welcome all feedback!
Classroom Rules and Consequences: In order to provide your child and all students in my class with the comfortable learning environment they deserve, the following discipline plan will be in effect at all times.
Rules:
Be Safe
Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Be Ready to Learn
*Our classroom rules are also our school wide behavior expectations.
Consequences:
If a student chooses to break a rule:
1st time (yellow card) warning
2nd time (orange card) loss of one recess
3rd time (red card) loss of another recess or activity
4th time (purple card) parent contact and/or sent to the principal’s office
We will be using the pulling cards system. Each student will start the day on green. As a child engages in inappropriate behavior, he or she will pull a card. To encourage student engagement and appropriate behavior, students will have the opportunity to earn an “x” on a behavior chart when they are following the expectations in our classroom. Once a student’s chart is filled up, they will be able to pick a prize. Students will also have the opportunity to get “caught you doing something nice” tickets. This should be a fun way to promote on task and positive behaviors throughout the day.
Homework: Your child will be expected to read for 20 minutes each night at home. Reading at home is very critical for your child’s literacy development. In the next couple of weeks, your child will be bringing home a “Reading Book Bag” with books that are at their appropriate reading level to read. I also expect students to practice sight words each night. Throughout the week, students will also have math homework, which is a brief math review on concepts that we have already learned in the classroom (this takes about 5-10 minutes and will be sent home nightly most weeks). If your child is bringing home homework in addition to what was mentioned above, it is because he or she did not use time wisely and was unable to complete the assignment in class. Students will have more than enough time to complete daily assignments in class. I expect homework to be brought back the next school day finished or corrected, unless the due date is otherwise specified. If you notice that your child is not able to do an assignment on his or her own, please send a note.
Absent: If your child is absent, please call the office at
(906) 635-6629 to let Mrs. Ranta (our secretary) know or email washington@eupschools.org. Please send an excuse for your child’s absence when he or she returns to school. When your child is absent, he or she will have as many days as they were out to complete and bring back missed assignments.
Book Orders: Book orders will come home each month. Ordering books is optional. Deliveries can take about 1-2 weeks.
Weekly Specials Schedule: Monday: STEM
Tuesday: Gym
Wednesday: Gym
Thursday: Art
Friday: Music
Snack: All students may bring 1 nutritious snack to school every day & a bottle of water. Snack time will be mid-morning. Snacks will not be provided, so if your child is going to want a snack, it will need to come from home. If your child brings in a bottle of water, please try to send a bottle with a nozzle rather than a screw top. This prevents spillage. Your child will have the opportunity to refill their water bottle as needed. Please label your child’s water bottle.
Lunch: Our lunch time is 1:00-1:30 p.m. Lunch will be free to all students this year. Milk is $0.70 if purchased separately. Lunch account information can be found in the MISTAR Parent Portal. You may place as much money into your child’s account for the year as you wish. This may be done online or by having your child deliver money or a check to me. Please keep it current with funds. If sending lunch money to school, use an envelope with your child’s name on it and put it in your child’s Home Folder. If you have questions, please email saultfoodservice@eupschools.org or call 906-632-5656. Please go to the website below to access your child’s lunch account.
https://mistar.oakland.k12.mi.us/saultschools/parentportal/
Transportation (Bussing): If you have any questions, concerns, or need to contact the transportation department about bussing, please call (906) 635-6608 ext. 5650.
Clothing: Please label ALL jackets, shoes, gloves, boots, snow pants, etc. Many things can be easily misplaced or mistaken. Please also send your child in clothing that is warm enough for the weather. Recess is very important for your child’s body and mind. The children rarely miss recess due to weather conditions (unless it is raining or extreme cold temperatures). If you are able to, please send in a pair of tennis shoes that can be worn and used for gym class.
Toys: The children may not bring in toys and items from home to school. We do not have show-and-tell time and personal items tend to get broken, lost, or possibly stolen. Please keep these items safe at home.
Birthday Celebrations: Please let me know in advance (at least a day ahead of time) if your child is planning to bring a treat for his or her birthday to share with the class. Please do not send items with nuts because of allergies. Please also ensure that birthday treats are store bought and also individually wrapped from the store as this is our school’s policy.
Arrival Time: School begins at 9:00 a.m. If families need to drop their child off earlier than the start time, Washington School will be offering before school supervision that starts at 7:30 a.m. and is located in the gym. Upon arrival, please drop your child off at the front door entrance. Your child will enter the main entrance of the school and go straight into the gym if they are eating breakfast at school and/or going to before school supervision. If your child is dropped off after 8:30 a.m. and he or she is not eating breakfast, they will still enter the building through the front doors, hang up their backpack at their cubby, and then go straight outside the doors that are located on the southside of the building (the doors that are at the end of the kindergarten wing) to the playground. A recess supervisor will be outside with the children from about 8:30 a.m. until school starts at 9:00 a.m. (weather permitting). Students are not allowed to go into the classroom until I pick them up outside when school starts at 9:00 a.m. When the bell rings, all 1st grade students will line up outside by the basketball court and wait for their teachers to get them before entering the building. Please do not walk your child down to the classroom in the morning. Due to safety precautions, parents will not be permitted into the building besides going into the office if needed (this is our school policy). If your child is late, please walk with your child into the office and sign them in.
Dismissal Time: School ends at 4:00 p.m. At the end of the school day if you are picking your child up, please pick your child up outside in the front of the building; this is where 1st graders will be dismissed (I will walk your child out to you, please remain outside due to safety concerns). We will stand in the same spot each day so that it is easier for you to find your child. Please let me know that you have your child before taking them. Children walking home will leave the building through the main, front doors. Bus riders and extended day program students will go to designated cubbies to wait for the bus. If you pick your child up early, please go to the office rather than our classroom to sign your child out and the office will call down for them. Please do not come down to the classroom to get your child as this is not school policy for safety reasons. If there is a change of plans for how your child is getting home, please send a note in with your child letting me know. If there is a change of plans for how your child is getting home that day and your child is already at school when you realize this, please call the office and let them know. Please do not email me the change of plans as there are times I may not see it before the end of the school day. Thank you.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. I look forward to working together to make this a successful and terrific year for your child! Thank you for your support. It is going to be a wonderful year!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Stacey Pace