Artifact #2: Newsletter

The second artifact included in this section is a beginning of year Kindergarten

Newsletter that I send home to the families of my students each September when school begins.

This is one of the first steps I take each year towards building a great home/school connection. It

gives parents manners in which to get in touch with the classroom teachers, it shares ideas of

needs for children, and requests that will make life in our classroom more enriching. For

example, we ask for their ‘beautiful junk’ (string, tissues boxes, paper towel rolls etc.) to use for

creations in our art center. I often have parents who haven’t had a child in school yet, and they

really aren’t sure what their child needs to do or to bring. My newsletter helps to bridge the gap

between being unsure of what is expected, and having ideas that give families peace of mind.

One of the ways in which we communicate with families in using the SeeSaw app. Our

newsletter introduces this app so that parents know to watch for it and to join when the note gets

sent home. Communication is very important so I make sure that current contact info, including

the SeeSaw classroom code get sent home. This newsletter helps the families feel more

connected to the school and the classroom right from day one.

Standards and Ethics

CAEP Standards

1.5 Providers ensure that candidates model and apply technology standards as they

design, implement and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; and

enrich professional practice.” (CAEP, 2013) Is demonstrated as the newsletter is trying to enrich

student learning by bringing parents into the circle and work as a team. This includes asking for

expendable materials from families to add to our art area.

InTASC Standards
 10(d) The teacher works collaboratively with learners and their families to establish

mutual expectations and ongoing communication to support learner development and

achievement”.

1(k) The teacher values the input and contributions of families, colleagues, and other

professionals in understanding and supporting each learner’s development.

New York State Code of Ethics for Educators

Principle 5 Educators collaborate with parents and community, building trust and

respecting confidentiality. Educators partner with parents and other members of the community

to enhance school programs and to promote student learning. They also recognize how cultural

and linguistic heritage, gender, family and community shape experience and learning. Educators

respect the private nature of the special knowledge they have about students and their families

and use that knowledge only in the students’ best interests. They advocate for fair opportunity for

all children’ (University of the State of New York).

Ontario ethics Standards

Trust The ethical standard of Trust embodies fairness, openness and honesty. Members’

professional relationships with students, colleagues, parents, guardians and the public are based

on trust’ (Ontario College of Teachers, 2016), as I am working to build a foundation with

families, based on trust.

New York State Code of Ethics for Educators

Principle 5 Educators collaborate with parents and community, building trust and respecting

confidentiality. Educators partner with parents and other members of the community to enhance

school programs and to promote student learning. They also recognize how cultural and

linguistic heritage, gender, family and community shape experience and learning. Educators
respect the private nature of the special knowledge they have about students and their families

and use that knowledge only in the students’ best interests. They advocate for fair opportunity for

all children.

Ethical Standards by the Ontario College of Teachers

Trust The ethical standard of Trust embodies fairness, openness and honesty. Members’

professional relationships with students, colleagues, parents, guardians and the public are based

on trust.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

3. Promoting meaningful and inclusive participation of individuals with exceptionalities

in their schools and communities.

Welcome to room 103.
We are very excited to be welcoming many children to school for their first time
and for the return of the year 1 students from last year for their year 2 of
kindergarten. This year, the implementation of the inquiry based program will be
facilitated by Mrs. Cameron.
Following is a list some of the items that your child will need for kindergarten:

 A backpack big enough to hold snacks, lunch, and library books

 a pair of running shoes that they can put on and take off independently (no
laces)
 a bag of extra clothes labelled with his/her name
 outdoor clothing suitable for weather conditions that day (e.g., rain coat,
rubber boots, spring/fall jacket, sun hat, winter coat, snow pants, warm hat,
warm, waterproof mittens, snow boots, scarf). Please remember to label
clothing items with his/her name
 a reusable, child friendly water bottle. Please clearly label all reusable
bottles and containers

Communication
We will have set up a Seesaw account for our classroom. The account will provide
information when there are upcoming events and/or news and it will include
occasional photos of activities and inquiries in the classroom. A personal set-up
page has been sent home with your child.
If you wish to contact us by telephone, please call 905-xxx-xxxx, extension 103.
If the call is urgent, you must dial ‘0’ for the extension and speak to the office. It
is often not possible to check classroom voicemail messages during school hours.
In addition to the Seesaw account, your child will bring home a bag that is used to
ensure that notes arrive to and from home safely. This will usually come home on
Fridays, but could happen any day. Please remove mail from this bag so we know
that you have received it and send back the empty bag or include important
information to be returned to us.

Lunch and Snack

Your child will need to bring a healthy lunch and snacks to school each day.
Healthy eating will be promoted as part of the Kindergarten Curriculum.
Please do not send any snacks containing nuts or nut products. Water bottles are
encouraged as opposed to fruit juice and other drinks. We do also have a water
fountain in our class. As of right now we do plan to eat our ‘big lunch’ at 11:45am.

Clothing
When you are purchasing clothes for your children, look for items that are easy
for them to fasten and unfasten on their own.
We will be exploring the outdoors twice everyday. Remember to dress your child
for the weather conditions.
We ask that you label all of your child’s clothing with his or her name.

Supplies
If you are interested in donating any consumable supplies, the following is a list of
some of the items that we go through a lot of:
Kleenex
Band aids
Liquid hand soap
We also collect items to create with, such as:
Water bottle caps paper towel rolls Paper towel
Corks tissue boxes
Bread tags other ‘beautiful junk’

Birthdays
Birthdays are an exciting time for many children. We celebrate birthdays with a
song in class and a special message of the day for the birthday child.

Thank you and we look forward to working together.