Kindergarten

Handbook
2013-2014





Cat Jenkins: cjenkins@junctioncity.k12.or.us
Shannon Harty: sharty@junctioncity.k12.or.us
Jaynie Wiser: jwiser@junctioncity.k12.or.us

Backpacks
It is important that you help your child become responsible for his or her backpack. For
many kindergarteners, a backpack is a symbol of being a big
kid in a big school. He or she needs help developing a
system for remembering to bring his or her backpack
back and forth every day. It is helpful if they have a
special low hook or space in the closet or in their bedroom
where they are always expected to put their backpacks
when they get home and from which they pick it up in the
morning. This routine will help build important habits around
a home-school connection that will follow your child
throughout school. Please make sure that your childs backpack is of an appropriate size
to hold school items (folders, notebooks, etc.) and fit into his or her cubby easily at
school.


Homework/Tuesday Folders
Your child will bring home a green homework folder every Tuesday that will contain
homework and important notices from the classroom and from the school. The
homework should be completed and returned to school by Friday. Homework
assignments focus on concepts that we have practiced in class, so the content should not
be a mystery to your child, though he or she will need help understanding the directions
for the homework activity. Kids need a chance to practice skills at home to reinforce
what we have done in class. Just as important, you need a chance to see the concepts
that we are working on so that you get a sense of how your child is understanding the
content and so that you can consider ways to support his or her academic learning at
home. Please use homework as a time to talk to your kids about what they are
learning, and look over what they have done before you sign the page and return it
to school.

Homework is another chance for your child to develop routines and habits that will
set the tone for the rest of his or her education. Its a great idea to have a special
place where he or she works on homework that is stocked with a pencil, crayons, glue,
and scissors. Different routines work for different families. Some kids are eager to
come home and get it all done on Tuesday afternoon. Others need play time or rest time
before they work on homework and need the time spread throughout the week. For
some families it works to set a timer for five minutes per evening when your child has to
work; then he or she can choose an activity that she loves. Play around with it to figure
out what works for your family; then stick to the routine that works. Although
homework is only assigned once a week, reading is something that should happen every
day.

Reading at Home
A child who reads or is read to for 20 minutes a day will read 3600 minutes and
1,800,000 words in a school year. A child who is read to one minute a day will have
read 180 minutes and 8,000 words in a school year. Thats 1,792,000 more words per
year for the first child!

Research has shown again and again that reading is the most important homework
you can do with your child. Children need to hear you read so that the language of
stories, the vocabulary of science, and the points of view of others are things they are
familiar with for when they are ready to start reading independently. They need to
discuss books with you so that they know that reading has meaning and so they can
practice with the new ideas and vocabulary that they encounter. They need to hear
you read because you are the most important person in their life, and they need to
see how much reading matters to you.

Sometimes we will send home books your kids have created or practiced with in class. It
is important that you allow your child to read these over and over with whatever support
he or she needs. Save them in a special place so he or she can
pull them out and show off when grandma comes to visit or as
entertainment on a long car ride. It is just as important,
however, that you find books that hold your childs interest that
you read to your child or that you read together. The Junction
City Public Library has options, and kids sure do love library cards
of their own. A few times a year the school has Scholastic Book
Fairs that you may visit to buy books. We also send home book
orders occasionally, and ordering from those not only can get you
some great deals, but also helps earn points for us to build up our
classroom libraries. Some kids are way more into the newspaper,
magazines, road signs, atlases, the text on cereal boxesfind what motivates your child
and read, read, read!

We will also sometimes send home Poetry Notebooks that should be returned on that
Friday. Specific instruction will come home with the notebook.


Behavior Expectations
Our three big rules at Laurel are: be safe, be responsible, and show respect. Much of
the kindergarten year is spent practicing what this looks like in the classroom, on the
playground, in the hallways, etc.

Positive behavior is often rewarded with a leopard spot. Any child may receive a spot
from any adult in the school for showing safe, responsible, or respectful
behavior. Your child will need to figure out a good place to collect
these leopard spots (a pocket in the backpack, a special basket at home),
and a few weeks into the school year, his or her classroom teacher will
let you know privileges he or she can earn with accumulated spots.

If your child makes a choice that is unsafe, irresponsible, or
disrespectful (but relatively minor in naturei.e. running in the hallway, being silly in the
bathroom, pushing in line) he or she will bring home an Uh Oh. An Uh Oh is a
chance for us to communicate with you what the inappropriate behavior was. You
will sign it, and your child will return it to school. At school, your childs classroom
teacher will have discussed the behavior with the child and the child will have had a
chance to practice the appropriate behavior. It is important for you to talk with your
child about what happened and what could go differently next time.

For a more major behavior or repeatedly displaying the same minor behavior, your child
will receive a Level 1 or a Level 2 referral (depending on the severity of the behavior.)
In this case, we will contact you to discuss what happened and solutions and next steps
to help your child be successful in the future.

We have an outstanding behavior specialist and a phenomenal counselor along with a
behavior support team dedicated to figuring out how to encourage and support behavior
that will help your child be a happy, successful student. If this is an area in which your
child needs extra help, we will work together to help make school the best it can be for
him or her.

Toys from Home
Please help ensure that toys, lip gloss, trading cards, stuffed animals, etc. do not sneak
into your childs backpack. These things can become major distractions to your child and
to others in the classroom.

Arrival/Eating
Morning Kindergarteners:
The school doors open at 8:00 am. Children eat breakfast in the classroom, so if your
child plans on eating, he or she must be to school at 8:00. The tardy bell rings at
8:15 (and for safety reasons we must lock the doors to the kindergarten at that time),
so if your child arrives after that he or she will need to check in at the office before
coming to class. The first part of the school
day is an important time for routines and check-
ins, a chance to play and catch up with friends,
and a time when teachers schedule one-on-one
support with kids who need extra help on a
topic. Please help your child arrive on time so
that he or she does on miss out!

Afternoon Kindergarteners:
If your child attends afternoon kindergarten and will be eating lunch at school, he or she
will need to arrive by 11:20. If your child is not going to eat lunch, please do not drop
him or her off before 11:45. The doors are locked at that time and there may not be a
teacher available to help. Doors open for afternoon kindergarteners at 11:45.

Attendance
Kindergarten attendance rates are linked directly to high school graduation rates.
Kindergarten is a critical year for developing foundational academic and social skills that
your child will need for his or her entire life. For both yours and your childs sake,
please establish school as a routine that happens every day like brushing teeth and
eating dinner.

That said, your child does need to be fever- and vomit-free for 24 hours before
returning to school after an illness. Please keep sick children at home in order to aid
their recovery and to ensure that others do not get contagious illnesses. If your child
is diagnosed with strep throat, chicken pox, pink eye, impetigo, or another
infectious illness, please notify the health room so that they can help protect
others who might have been exposed.

Dismissal
The school day ends at 11:00 for morning students and 2:30 for afternoon students. If
your child is getting home from school in a different way from what is your usual
arrangement, please get us a note or call the office as soon as you can. Anyone
who picks up your child needs to be on file at the office. We must get a pink slip from
the office that allows us to release your child (even to you). Once we have this on
file in the classroom, you may pick up your child every day without having to check out at
the office. Although it is a little tedious at first, it ensures that your child is safe. If
your child needs to leave early for any reason, you are required to check him or her out
at the front office before coming to the classroom.

Volunteering
Children benefit immensely from the involvement and attention of lots of caring adults!
Additionally, children feel a strong sense of pride and dedication to school when their
family members are connected to their work at school. (And, of course, having
parent/grandparent helpers allows us to maximize our time with the students.) Talk with
your childs teacher for more details about volunteering.

Birthdays
Birthdays are a huge deal to kindergarteners! If you would like to send in a special treat
to celebrate the big day, please do so (let your childs teacher know in advance to expect
something). Children enjoy cookies or cake, but, due to health codes, treats must be
store-bought (not homemade). Also, please do not send in whole cakes because its
difficult to cut and serve them. We recognize childrens birthdays by singing, giving a
sticker, and having a special snack (if provided).

It is Laurels policy that birthday party invitations not be sent to
school unless the entire class is invited.

Clothing
Research has shown that the more physically active students are, the
more they learn. Daily we have recess, weekly we have P.E., and we do a
lot of dancing, stretching, (sometimes messy) artwork, and playing in between. Please
help your child choose clothing and shoes appropriate for an active day. When the
weather gets rainier or colder, this includes wearing layers to keep him or her warm and
dry.

Additionally, please make sure that your child is at least beginning to learn to put
on and take off whatever clothes he or she is wearing to school. Practice zipping,
buttoning, tying, Velcro-ing, putting on mittens, hanging up coats, etc. so
that your child can be independent in caring for these items at school.

It is a good idea to label with a Sharpie your childs sweaters, coats,
backpack, lunchboxanything that might not be connected to his or her
body at some point in the day. Our lost-and-found becomes full of
similar-looking items.

Communication
We genuinely welcome your input in making your childs experience at school a positive
one. If you ever have a question or concern, please contact your childs teacher either
by email (Miss Cat: cjenkins@junctioncity.k12.or.us, Miss Shannon:
sharty@junctioncity.k12.or.us, Mrs. Wiser: jwiser@junctioncityk12.or.us) or by calling
the school at 998-2386. Due to teaching responsibilities, we cannot receive calls during
the school day, but leave a message with the office so that we can get back to you as
soon as possible.

Another extremely important form of communication are our kindergarten newsletters
sent out in Tuesday Folders. These will keep you informed about our learning, upcoming
events, volunteer information, and much more. Every other week a school newsletter
comes home, and our school website always has upcoming events and information about
policies and resources: http://www.junctioncity.k12.or.us/Laurel/index.html

Family conferences occur twice a yearonce in October and once in March. At these,
we will discuss, with your child, friendships, social skills, academic growth, academic
challenges, and any other relevant issues. Naturally, if questions, concerns, or exciting
developments happen at other times, please contact your childs teacher. The more
information passing between home and school, the more meaningful school will be for
your child.