Parent

Survival Guide
aka
Kindergarten, First and Second Grade
Handbook
St. Paul Lutheran School
Austin, Texas
2014-2015
1
August 2!"
#ear Parents,
$t is indeed a %leasure to have &our child in our classes. To start o' the &ear
right, (e are sending &ou this Parent Survival Handbook that has been
asse)bled to hel% &ou beco)e *a)iliar (ith in*or)ation that (ill enable us to
)ake this a ver& %ositive and re(arding &ear. +e *eel o%en lines o*
co))unication bet(een the %arent, student, and teacher are one o* the ke&s
to %ro)oting an educational cli)ate that is conducive to learning. +e are
looking *or(ard to (orking (ith &ou and &our child. Together (e can )ake a
di'erence, -ou can hel% b& sending us (ell.rested children (ith *ull tu))ies
and a hug and a kiss still *resh on their )inds. This sets the stage *or a great
da&.
Please *eel *ree to contact us at an& ti)e i* there is a /uestion or situation
&ou (ould like to discuss. +e look *or(ard to building a relationshi% (ith &ou
and &our child and thus %roviding the best education that (e are ca%able o*
giving.
This docu)ent is an addendu) to the Parent Student Handbook. Please
revie( that docu)ent also.
$n Service to the 0aster Teacher,
Suzanne Braun
Jane Anne Pohl
Marie Torres
2
Ho)e(ork
Students (ill be assigned ho)e(ork. Please check &our child1s *older
2kindergarten3 or 4otebook 2!
st
and 2
nd
grade3 nightl& to )ake sure all
assign)ents are co)%leted.
$* students do not co)%lete dail& class (ork, the& )a& be
ex%ected to 5nish these assign)ents as (ell as assigned
ho)e(ork.
6nless s%eci5ed, all ho)e(ork should be turned in the
*ollo(ing school da&.
-our child is ex%ected to co)%lete ho)e(ork assign)ents
inde%endentl& in %encil.
Ho)e(ork should be co)%leted (ith adult su%ervision.
Guidelines *or Grading
The *ollo(ing guideline is used to evaluate student (ork in
kindergarten, 5rst and second grade.
7 This is reserved *or excellence. Student exceeds
ex%ectations. Student sho(s extra e'ort and (ork is al(a&s
co)%lete.
S +ork is consistentl& co)%leted on ti)e and done accuratel&.
7x%ectations are )et.
4 4eeds i)%rove)ent. Student sho(s inconsistent
%er*or)ance Student needs extra %ractice at ho)e.
6 4eeds i)%rove)ent. Student sho(s inconsistent
%er*or)ance Student needs extra %ractice at ho)e. Little or
no e'ort is exhibited.
The *ollo(ing guideline is used in second grade *or reading, language,
s%elling and )ath. This is intended to be a transition bet(een 5rst and
third grade.
3
A This is reserved *or excellence, a ste% above ever&one else.
The student %er*or)s (ell above average. +orks hard and
(ork is al(a&s co)%lete.
8 9onsistentl& strong %er*or)ance. +ork is co)%leted.
9 Average. Learns ne( conce%ts through )an& re%etitions.
Student co)%letes (ork.
F The student is not accuratel& co)%leting (ork. Little or no
e'ort is exhibited.
The student behavior section in the Parent Handbook is the basis *or the rules
in the Kindergarten, 5rst and second grade classroo)s.
Throughout the da& the students )ake choices and are re(arded (hen the&
do so.
There is a s&ste) in %lace to deal (ith choices that do not *ollo( the
classroo) rules. +hen a student chooses to break classroo) rules, he:she
receives a conse/uence.
The teacher )a& contact the %arent de%ending on the severit& o* the
student1s choice.
7ach grade has develo%ed a )anage)ent s&ste) uni/ue to their class.
+ith these s&ste)s in %lace, the students, teacher and %arents kno( the
rules, re(ards, and conse/uences *or behavior choices. This s&ste) re;ects
the )ission state)ent and disci%line %olic& o* St. Paul Lutheran School as it
<nurtures the gro(th o* our students as 9hristian %eo%le, in s%irit, character,
)ind and bod&.
4
Absences and Tardies
Attendance at school is i)%ortant *or ever& student. Fre/uent
absences or tardies signi5cantl& a'ect &our child1s %er*or)ance and
success. -our child should be %resent and on ti)e ever& da&. Ho(ever,
(e understand that there are ti)es (hen children need to be absent
due to illness or other un*oreseen circu)stances.
Please send an e.)ail to both teacher and school o=ce i* &our child is
absent and the reason *or the absence. $* &ou kno( that &our child (ill
be tard& or (ill be leaving school earl& %lease in*or) the teacher in
advance.
Please re*er to the St. Paul Parent Handbook regarding s%eci5c %olicies
regarding absences and tardies.
Accelerated >eader
Accelerated >eader gives &our child the o%%ortunit& to increase their
reading skills b& reading books and then taking co)%uteri?ed /ui??es
at school on (hat the& have read.
All books included in the Accelerated >eader %rogra) have been given
a reading level. So)e o* these books &our child )a& read
inde%endentl& and so)e )a& be read to &our child or so)e(here in
bet(een.
Accelerated >eader is used in t(o (a&s. First, &our child (ill be
encouraged to choose an A> book to read at ho)e and, (hen read&,
take an <A> /ui?@ at school. Secondl&, there (ill be ti)es that the&
read an A> book at school and take a /ui?.
-our child )a& 5nd A> books in a variet& o* locationsA school or
classroo) librar&, ho)e collection, or the %ublic librar&. $* there is a
s%ecial book that &our child (ants to read and cannot 5nd it, (e (ill be
ha%%& to hel% the) locate it. 6se the *ollo(ing (ebsite B
(((.arbook5nd.co) . to search A> books.
8irthda&s
St. Paul Lutheran School re/uests that %arents no longer send edible
birthda& treats to school. $n an e'ort to su%%ort a health& environ)ent
and due to the increased nu)ber o* dietar& restrictions, along (ith the
5
a)ount o* classroo) ti)e invested in birthda& treat deliver&, (e *eel
this %olic& (ill best )eet the needs o* our students overall.
+e (ill certainl& still recogni?e childrenCs birthda&s and &ou are
(elco)e, but never re/uired, to send an& o* the *ollo(ing to honor
&our childCs s%ecial da&A
DA *avorite book donated to the classroo) (ith &our childCs na)e
inside.
DA *avorite book donated to our school librar& (ith the childCs na)e
inside.
DPencils *or the class.
D8alls to use on the %la&ground.
DEther non.edible tokens that can be shared (ith the class.
+e are asking that birthda& celebrations re)ain in the childCs
classroo) onl& to avoid other classroo) disru%tion.
+e thank &ou in advance *or &our understanding and su%%ort as (e
(ork together to kee% all students in a sa*e learning environ)ent.
8ook Erders
8ook Erders (ill be sent ho)e. $* &ou (ish to %lace an order, %lease
*ollo( the online instructions %rovided b& Scholastic.
These %rogra)s are not )andator& but are greatl& encouraged
because the& %rovide an excellent o%%ortunit& *or &our child to get
good books to read at a'ordable %rices and &our classroo) librar&
bene5ts.
9hange in Trans%ortation
$* &our child is to go ho)e a di'erent (a& than usual, %lease send an e.
)ail to both teacher and school o=ce indicating the change in
arrange)ents.
7arl& Pick.u%
Please tr& to arrange a%%oint)ents outside o* school hours because
an&ti)e &our child co)es in late or leaves earl& the& )iss valuable
instruction. Ho(ever, i* &ou )ust check &our child in or out during the
6
da&, %lease in*or) &our child1s teacher and school o=ce in advance.
-our child (ill be at the o=ce at the a%%ro%riate ti)e. $* &our child is
not at the o=ce %lease ask the o=ce sta' to call *or &our child. Please
do not co)e to the classroo) to %ick u% &our child because it is
disru%tive to the class.
9o))unication
9o))unication bet(een ho)e and school is ver& i)%ortant. Please do
not hesitate to e.)ail or call the teacher i* &ou have an& /uestions or
concerns.
The kindergarten classroo) has a *older. The 5rst and second grade
classroo)s have a classroo) notebook. The %ur%ose o* these is t(o*old.
First, it is a (a& to hel% organi?e the %a%ers &our child brings ho)e *ro)
school. Second, it is a co))unication tool bet(een the teacher and the
%arents. 7ntries and changes (ill be )ade regularl&.
The notebook:*older )a& include the dail& behavior %age, (eekl&
assign)ent sheet, )e)or& (ork and s%elling (ords in addition to other
a%%ro%riate in*or)ation.
The notebook:*older co)es ho)e (ith &our child each da&. Parents should
revie( the notebook:*older and sign the dail& behavior sheet. -our child is
res%onsible *or bringing the notebook:*older back to school the next da&.
Periodicall&, %lease clean out &our child1s notebook:*older.
Ether *or)s o* co))unication )a& include e.)ail, ne(sletters, blogs
and in*or)ation %osted on >en+eb.
#ress 9ode
St. Paul Lutheran School does *ollo( a dress code. Please check >en.
+eb *or s%eci5c in*or)ation. +e (ill in*or) &ou i* there are an& ite)s
out o* dress code.
#ro%%ing E':Pick 6%
+hen the school da& begins %lease sa& <good.b&e@ to &our child in the
ca*eteria or in &our car then &our child should (alk to the classroo)
inde%endentl&.
At the end o* the da& there are t(o o%tions *or %ick u%.
7
!. The best o%tion is to %ick u% &our child in the %ick u% line on the
school side. Please check the Parent Student Handbook *or
details on this %rocedure.
2. Parents )a& %ark on the church side, co)e into the school lobb&,
and )eet their child there. Parents should not %ark on the school
side i* the& intend to (alk in and %ick u% their child.
Forgotten $te)s
$te)s *orgotten b& &our child )a& be dro%%ed o' in the o=ce. The
o=ce sta' (ill bring the ite)s to the classroo).
Part& $nvitations
School is not the best %lace to %ass out invitations.
Parent Folunteers
Parent volunteers are (elco)e in the classroo). The classroo)
teacher )a& send ho)e a volunteer signu% sheet indicating (here
hel% is needed.
Snacks
7ach class has a snack ti)e at )orning recess. -our child )a& bring a
snack. Please )ake sure that this is a s)all, si)%le, nutritious snack.
So)e suggestions *or a health& snack includeA dr& cereal, crackers,
%o%corn, a%%les, carrots and raisins. #o not send drinks, an& ite)s that
are )ess& or an& ite)s re/uiring a s%oon or *ork.
9and&, cu%cakes, cookies, chi%s, donuts and other s(eet treats are not
a%%ro%riate *or snack ti)e.
8