Summer 2018

 ***PLEASE NOTE: There was an error in the letter that went home regarding the first day of school for the p.m. classes. THE FIRST DAY IS A MODIFIED SCHEDULE. Please arrive at 10:00 if your child is in the p.m. class.

 We are all looking forward to meeting our new kindergartners on Tuesday, August 14th!

Kindergarten Orientation is Tuesday, August 14th, from 10:00 to 10:30 (a.m.) and 10:45 to 11:15 (p.m.). Class lists for each session will be posted 15 minutes before the orientation.

Supplies that we usually ask for in kindergarten include glue sticks, white board markers, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer. These are not mandatory, but just appreciated donations. Check Back-to-School sales for these items-- we appreciate it!!

School begins on Wednesday, August 15, 2018-- morning session is 8:05 to 11:25 and we begin with a modified Wednesday in the afternoon session: 10:00 to 1:20. Child care for both sessions is available at Champions (408) 356-3178 or Holy Cross (408) 356-6828.
**Please note that this school year, the afternoon session will have weekly modified Wednesdays. The schedule on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday is 11:30 to 2:50.

Kindergarten Back-to-School Night, a meeting for parents only, is Wednesday, August 15th at 5:30 p.m.: This is an important informational night where the teachers will go over the curriculum and program for the year and answer any questions you may have. Please plan accordingly and book those babysitters! The schedule is:
5:30-6:15: a.m. class presentation in rooms K1 & K2
6:15:6:45: Home & School Club presentation in the cafeteria
6:45-7:30: p.m. class presentation in rooms K1 & K2

You will receive a letter the week of August 5th stating whether your child will be in the morning or afternoon session.  Due to fluctuation in enrollment, we cannot let you know before that time.

For kindergarten readiness, the AV kindergarten team highly recommends that your child comes into kindergarten:

• recognizing most letters
• writing his/her name legibly, using one upper-case & the rest lower-case letters
• recognizing numbers to 10 & beyond
• knowing names of basic shapes
• having good cutting/scissor skills
• able to sit attentively for the duration of a picture book

We highly recommend LeapFrog's "The Letter Factory" or starfall.com for a good review of letter recognition and letter sounds.

If you have any other questions about our program, please feel free to e-mail me at: gristn@unionsd.org

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you in August!

Week of 6/4

It's exciting and a little sad at the same time, but we are heading into our last week together. What a wonderful year it's been! I'd like to thank you for the fantastic support you've given me all year long.

Here is a day-by-day run-down of the week:

MONDAY: No special activities. Please send your child with a backpack as we continue to send things home. On Monday, I will be sending home their Art Vistas portfolio. This is all their work throughout the school year from the program. If your child goes to day care after class and you'd like to pick up their art in the morning, I will leave their portfolios out on the picnic table.

TUESDAY: Promotion Ceremony in K2 @ 9:00 a.m. Be prepared for a brief presentation from the children and a great walk down memory lane of our wonderful year together. Please plan on attending this event or sending another family member who can attend! This is a special time to share with your children. No snacks or backpacks needed-- refreshments will be served. Approximate schedule of events for those who need to arrange around work schedules:

• 9:00 to about 9:30: Children perform songs we've learned throughout the year, followed by presentation of memory binders
• 9:30 to about 10:00: Video review of our year. If you need to leave after the 9:00 presentation, this would be a good time to leave, as I will be sharing out the video presentation.
• 10:00 to 10:30 or so: Refreshments and conversation!
• If you need to take your child home after the ceremony, please be sure to sign him/her out in the office. Otherwise, children will stay at school and have choice time and outside fun for the rest of the day.

A final note about the Promotion Ceremony: Because this event will be in the classroom, space is extremely limited. I really like to keep this event to parents and preschool siblings only-- if two parents come and a handful of younger siblings, that's already around 60 people in our classroom. Unfortunately, we simply don't have the space for many more people than that. If you have a special circumstance, please email me. Per school policy, older siblings are not to be taken out of class for this event.

WEDNESDAY: Olympic Day. This is a school-wide event. Please wear class t-shirts and appropriate footwear! Sunblock would also be a good idea, and hats, too. The event starts at 9:50 and goes on until dismissal.  We will have an early snack time, so please send snacks and backpacks on this day. I have several helpers to walk around with us-- thank you! If you are still interested in helping, here is the link to the school-wide sign-ups:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084cafae29a64-alta4 Children who ordered yearbooks will also be receiving them at the end of the day.

THURSDAY:  All children in kindergarten are on an early schedule (8:05-11:25), so we will have 44 children in the room! Children will clean the classroom, sign yearbooks, and have some last day fun with their friends from the p.m. class. Please send a snack on this day if you think your child will get hungry. Otherwise, with so many kids in the room, it would be better to forego the snack bags and backpacks.

Happy Summer!!!