Monday, August 31, 2015

Newsletter Aug. 31 - Sept. 4th


Here’s what’s coming up for this week… 

·        Thank you to all those who attended our Back to School Night last week!  We had a fabulous turnout!  We are very fortunate to have so many invested and concerned parents!  You all make the difference in your child’s education! On a similar note…As I attended my own Back to School Night for my own high schoolers (sigh), I was not at all surprised to see that the majority of the students who are now in the Advanced Placement classes in high school, were from Nelda Mundy.  We truly have awesome kids and parents around here and their ambitious education starts right here in Kindergarten!

·        A second Emergency card went home with your child last week.  These are required by the office.  Please send them back as soon as you can, so that we can have a copy of your emergency information in the classroom. 

·        Homework will come home every Monday and be due back to school every Friday.  Your child should always complete their homework in pencil unless specifically asked to color something in crayon.  Please do not return it to school earlier in the week.  It will not be collected until Friday.

·        Homework this week~ So far, we are only requiring handwriting practice of letters and our high frequency words.  We cannot stress enough, the importance of proper formation for handwriting.  We may have returned some of your child’s handwriting homework last week with notes explaining what we expect.  Please be sure to sit with your child to ensure proper formation of letters, spaces between each letter, and writing ON the lines.  This is hard for them.  They need your support and encouragement at home.

·        This week we are working on the letters Dd, & Gg.  They were chosen because they both start with making the “magic c.”  Here’s what you need to know about them:

o      To make a g—make a “magic c”, go up, then down into the basement and give it a tail.
o       To make a d—start with a “magic c”, go up to the top line, then trace back down to the bottom line.
o       To make the word (and letter) I—start at the top and make a tall man down, give it a hat and shoes.  Lower case, make the line going down and then put the dot above it. 
·        Our theme this week is Shapes AND building and making Patterns.  This is an important skill for Kindergarteners.  You can always find patterns all around with your child, as well as make them yourselves at home! 

·        Our new word wall word is the.  We will introduce a new word wall each week that your child will be expected to learn and use.  These are displayed in the classroom for them to reference and use in their writing.  So far, we know the following words: I, see, a, like & the.

·        Folders~~ folders go back and forth to school EVERY DAY, with the exclusion of Wed.’s.  Please have your child to put their folder in the bucket every day.  Do NOT do it for them, as they will not learn the routine.  We are encouraging independence! 

·        Please be sure that EVERYTHING you bring to school is    LABELED with your name!!!!

·        Parent Volunteers~~We have begun our parent volunteer hours!  If you signed up to volunteer, you are welcome to start coming in this week.  Thank you to all those who have already started coming in each day!  We appreciate you!

·        School Spirit Fridays!!!~Every Friday is School Spirit Day.  Please have your child wear school colors, green & gray.


·        We have severe nut allergies in Kindergarten every year.  Please NO NUTS at snack time!!!  

Thursday, August 20, 2015

August 24th-28th Newsletter

DONATIONS!!!! Thank you to all who have donated to our school supplies!  Kindergarteners need lots of supplies and with your help, we are hoping to have plenty to last for a long time!

 Here’s what’s coming up for this week… 

·        Upcoming Important Dates~~ August 25th is Back to School NightKinder-2nd grade 6:15-7:15.  3rd – 5th grade 5:00-6:00.  Please start in the MPR at 6:15.  We will then meet in our library for a brief overview of Kindergarten.  Finally we will go to the classrooms.  There will be paperwork for you to take home on your child’s desk.  Please have your child show you their Pete the Cat and their rainbow book.  The rainbow book and the Pete the Cat art work are assessments on both your child’s ability to listen to and follow directions, as well as being an assessment of their fine motor skills (ability to cut, color and write).  As you will see, several of our students are in need of daily practice with both cutting and writing their names.

·        Parent Volunteers~ We can’t wait to have your help in the classroom!  A sign up sheet for Parent Volunteers will be out in your child’s classroom at Back to School Night.  If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom this year or chaperoning a field trip, you will need to be fingerprinted with the school district.  You can get this process started early by being fingerprinted at Back to School Night in the front office, or calling the District Office and scheduling an appointment to be fingerprinted.  

·        FINGERPRINTING will be available in the front office from 5:00-7:15pm on Back To School Night.   Fingerprinting is $44 and cash, check or credit card will be accepted.

·        PLEASE make sure that we have your email address.  If we don’t, you will not know what’s going on!!! 

·        Homework will come home every Monday and be due back to school every Friday.  Your child should always complete their homework in pencil unless specifically asked to color something in crayon.  Please do not return it to school earlier in the week.  It will not be collected until Friday.

·        Homework this week~ So far, we are only requiring handwriting practice.  We cannot stress enough the importance of proper formation for handwriting.  Please be sure to sit with your child to ensure proper formation of letters, spaces between each letter, and writing ON the lines.   

·        This week we are working on the letters Dd, Ee, & Ff.  Please help us reinforce proper letter formation by using the same phrases we use at school:

o      When you make the lowercase letter d, start with a “magic c”, don’t pick up your pencil, and go up, then back down on the same line.
o      When you make a lowercase e, start on the middle line, make a straight line out, then up and around.
o      When you make a lowercase f, always start from the TOP, make a candy cane down, pick up your pencil and cross it.

·        Folders~~ folders go back and forth to school EVERY DAY, with the exclusion of Wed.’s.  Please encourage your child to put their folder in the bucket every day.  Thank you for  NOT do it for them, as they will not learn the routine.  We are trying to encourage independence! 

·        Please be sure that EVERYTHING you bring to school is    LABELED with your name!!!!

·        Please have your child use the BATHROOM BEFORE school every day.

·        SNACK~~ please send your child to school every day with a snack. We do not provide snack for your child.

·        We have severe peanut allergies in Kindergarten every year.  Please NO PEANUTS at snack time!!! 

·        Paperwork~~ If you have not returned the paperwork from the first week of school, please do so NOW!!!! 


Thank you again for all that you do at home to support your child’s learning.  We appreciate all that you do!  Please feel free to email with any concerns or questions!  Thank you!! 

The Kindergarten Team
Sarah Barnes sarahba@fsusd.org,  Erin Barron erinba@fsusd.org
Theresa Davila theresad@fsusd.org  and Kim Ron kimr@fsusd.org

Friday, August 14, 2015

Newsletter August 17-21



PHEW!!!!!  Welcome to the official 2nd week of Kindergarten!  Hopefully you have all gracefully made it through and are feeling a bit more comfortable!  Many thanks to those of you who donated supplies. We truly appreciate it!!! Please look for our newsletter in your email each Monday to find out about the happenings for the upcoming week. 

Here’s what’s coming up for this week… 

·        First and Foremost~~~~if you are reading this via email, yay.  If you are reading it on a piece of paper, we NEED YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, or, the one you gave us isn’t working!!!  If someone tells you that he/she is NOT receiving any information from the teachers, please tell them to EMAIL us!!!  

Homework will come home every Monday and be due back to school every Friday.  Your child should always complete their homework in pencil unless specifically asked to color something in crayon.  Please do not return it to school earlier in the week.  It will not be collected until Friday.  Please encourage your child to use a proper pinching pencil grip and to write all of their letters with the correct top-down letter formation.  Your child should be able to write their names independently at this time. Only the first letter should be capitalized, all others need to be lower case.  If they are not, PLEASE continue to practice daily until it is effortless for them.  Thank you!!!

·        Please be sure that EVERYTHING you bring to school is LABELED~~ backpacks, folders, lunch boxes, water bottles,
jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts…

·        Please have your child use the BATHROOM BEFORE school every day.

·        We have severe peanut allergies in Kindergarten every year.  Please NO PEANUTS or foods containing peanuts (ie. peanut butter) at snack time!!! 

·        Folders~~ folders go back and forth to school EVERY DAY, except Wednesdays.  Please encourage your child to put their folder in the bucket every day.  Do NOT do it for them, as they will not learn our routine.  We are trying to encourage independence! 

·        Paperwork~~ If you have not returned the paperwork from the first day of school, please do so NOW!!!! 

·        SNACK~~ please send your child to school every day with a SNACK!!!!  We will NOT provide snack for your child!!

·        Parent Volunteers~~We will have a sign up sheet for Parent Volunteers at Back to School Night.  If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom this year, you will need to be fingerprinted with the school district.  You can get this process started early by calling them and telling them that you need to be fingerprinted.   

·        Upcoming important dates~~ Kindergarten t-shirt orders are due by August 24th (please, make checks payable to MCA; no cash). August 25th is Back to School Night.  More info to come later!


Thank you again for all that you do at home to support your child’s learning.  We appreciate all that you do!  Please feel free to email with any concerns or questions!  Thank you!! 

The Kindergarten Team
Sarah Barnes sarahba@fsusd.org,  Erin Barron erinba@fsusd.org
Theresa Davila theresad@fsusd.org  and Kim Ron kimr@fsusd.org


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Kindergarten newsletter Aug. 12 - 14th

Welcome to Kindergarten!!!

We'd like to welcome all of our families to a new year!  We are so excited to meet all of you!  There are a few things that we need you to know about the first day/week...

1. For the first day, your child will attend school like a NORMAL day.  If you are AM, your day is 8:15 - 11:35 and PM is 11:35 - 2:45.  Our Wacky Wednesday schedule will not begin until Aug. 19th, when all students attend school from 8:15 - 11:35.  

2.  Please send your child to school with a small healthy snack every day, as we do not provide snack.  Water only, please no juice.

3.  Please remember to never leave your car unattended at the yellow drop off curb in front of Kindergarten.  This applies to picking up as well.

4.  You are welcome to accompany your child into the classroom for first 15- 20 minutes, helping them to find their cubbies and seats.  We will wave goodbye shortly thereafter.  At that time, please plan to make a quick exit in order to help calm any possible anxieties.  


5.  Supply bins will be outside in the kindergarten playground for any donations.  THANK YOU!

6.  Your child needs a folder, labeled with his/her name, that will be used daily.  He/she needs to place it in the Homework Bin on the bench in front of their classroom.  In order for your child to establish this daily routine, please encourage them to do this on their own every day, including the first day.  

7.  Please make sure to label all personal items for your child, such as jackets, lunch boxes and water bottles.  Donated supplies, other than folders, do not need a name. 

8.  At the end of your child's day, your teacher will be dismissing each student one by one, so that we can become familiar with each child's parent. Please be patient, as this is important and will take a few extra minutes.  Please plan to park in the lot or neighborhood, as you are never allowed to leave your car unattended at the curb, even to pick up.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation with our crazy traffic!