Welcome New Welcome New Christopher FamiliesChristopher Families

Welcome New Welcome New Christopher FamiliesChristopher Families

August 17, 2015 August 17, 2015

• Your child should have a BACKPACK with his/her name on it. It should be large enough to hold standard pocket sized folders. Your child will have a home/school folder in their backpack daily with important notices, newsletters and homework. Please empty the folder each night and send it back the following day.

Backpacks

Effects of Media• Cartoons• Video Games• Older siblings and their friends• Private information

• Please dress your child casually and comfortably. We have active days planned. Kindergartners use paint, glue and play dough; and we’ll play outdoors. Clothes should be washable.

• Sneakers are safer for active play and required for P.E.

• Kindergartners may keep a set of clothes in a sealed plastic bag at the bottom of their backpack. Please keep it up to date in terms of size and season.

• NO HEELIES

Dress

We are a SEAL School•Art•Music•PE – Physical Education•Computer Media Center

– Ear buds.

Specials

• To help prevent lost belongings, please label all of your child’s possessions, including clothing (especially coats, jackets, sweaters, and vests).

• Lost items are placed in the lost and found box located next to the stage in the all purpose room/Cafeteria. Parents can check the lost and found anytime.

Lost and Found

• All toys, candy and chewing gum should stay home. These are not allowed in school.

• Cell phones, electronic devices, trading cards, and NO HEELIES!

Items to Keep at Home

• Christopher School policy states that homework is for reinforcing and practicing concepts learned in school.

• Kindergartners will receive homework on a regular basis and it will be sent home in their folder.

– It should take kindergartners about 10 minutes per night to complete.

– Read to your child daily

Homework

• To complete homework students will need a place at home with some basic supplies: scissors, (Kindergarten-safety scissors) crayons/colored pencils, glue, tape, and extra paper.

Home Supplies

– Students are permitted to travel to school on a bike or skateboard following the guidelines:

– Students are responsible for locking bikes to the bike racks. Christopher has two bike racks located on the side of the school. Christopher ES is not responsible for damaged, lost, or missing bikes.

– Skateboards can be stored in the classrooms with teacher approval and retrieved during dismissal.

– Students MUST not ride bikes or skateboards on school property. Students must walk the bike or skateboard once they are on school property.

– Students should wear a safety helmet.

Bikes and Skateboards

• We do offer hot lunch everyday at school.• Most information regarding this can be found on the

district website: www.ogsd.net– Select “departments” then “Child Nutrition Services”

• Printed menus are sent home monthly. Lunch menus are also posted on the Child Nutrition Services link

• Parents can also sign up and check balances and deposit money through an EZSchoolPay account. It can be found on the Child Nutrition Services link as listed above.

• Students must have money in their account in order to buy hot lunch.– There is an application that should be filled out to determine the

status of your lunch qualifications. We ask that everyone fill this out as it also provides money for other programs for the school.

– To fill out a lunch application, click the link• https://oakgrove.rocketscanapps.com

Lunch

• If your child has any allergies (food or otherwise) please notify your child’s teacher and the health office in writing immediately!

• Since children will be eating a snack daily in the classroom it is even more important that we are aware of all allergies.

Allergies

• Your child will have a daily afternoon snack in kindergarten.

• Please provide your child with 1 healthy dry snack each day.

• Examples of healthy dry snacks are: one piece of fruit, one granola bar or one snack sized baggie of dry cereal.

Snacks

• The parent conferences will be held on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. There will be sign-up sheets for appointment times at Back-to-School Night.

• The first set of conferences is a goal setting conference. It is important to go to these so that you know how to support your child.

• The following sets of conferences are to review progress.

Report Cards/Conferences

• We do not have birthday parties for the students in school; however, your child may bring a store-bought special snack to share with the class at a break time.

• If your child has a summer birthday they may bring a snack to share on his/her ½ birthday.

• Small cupcakes, donuts, cookies, or other small sweet treats work best. No balloons or candles!

• Student are not permitted to distribute invitations to individual students, unless they invite ALL students in the class.

Birthdays

• We have three class parties each year. One for Halloween/Harvest Festival, one for Winter Celebration and one for Valentine’s Day.

• Room parents help organize the classroom parties. ALL parents are welcome to volunteer. Please coordinate with the room parent.

• There is always an alternative party option if your child does not celebrate any of these days. Please inform the classroom teacher if your child will not participate in the party.

Parties

• Dismissal is at 1:20. The Kindergarten gate will be opened 10 minutes prior for parents to enter.

• It is important to be here on time as the kindergarteners can experience anxiety when everyone else is picked up except them.

• Please make sure your paperwork in the office is update because your child can not be released to anyone that you have not given permission to on the release form.

Dismissal

• Student success in school is directly tied to daily attendance. Students needing to leave school early need a note from their parent or guardian. For security reasons, you MUST always sign your child in and out of the school building when arriving or departing at a time other than the scheduled arrival and dismissal times.

• When your child is absent, please call the office at 408-227-8550 by 9:00 a.m. to let us know. When a child returns to school following an absence, s/he must always bring a dated note from a parent or guardian stating the reason for the absence.

Attendance

• Main School doors open at 7:50 am and the Kindergarten gate opens at 8:10 a.m. and students may walk and talk until the first bell. There is no supervision prior to 7:50 a.m.

• The first bell rings at 8:10 a.m. and teachers may open the rooms for students to enter the classrooms.

• The second bell rings at 8:15 a.m. and morning announcements begin. The side door will be locked at this time and you must enter through the front doors.

• If you arrive after 8:15 a.m. you are considered TARDY. Student will be marked late for the first 15 minutes by the teacher. You must stop by the office, be signed in by a parent and get a late pass. It is essential to the instructional program that all students are on time for school each day. If your child is absent for any reason, please call the office and notify them that your child will be out and write a note and send it with your child the date of his/her return.

• - When visiting or volunteering, always sign-in and wear a

visitor sticker.

Daily Arrival Routines

Please send a note granting permissionfor any schedule changes, including:

– Child to go home with Grandparent or another adult, per your request.

– Child to go home with a friend– BOTH children MUST have a note.

– Play-dates should be scheduled in advance of the school day.

– CHILDREN MUST HAVE A NOTE AND GIVE IT TO THE TEACHER FIRST THING IN THE MORNING OR THEY MUST GO HOME PER THE REGULAR ROUTE!

– *Please refrain from sending emails during the day to inform the teacher of a change in a dismissal routine. In case of an emergency, contact the office so the teacher is notified immediately.

Daily Dismissal Routines

• Christopher has limited parking and one entrance for buses. To protect the safety of the students, the driveway is blocked to auto traffic from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., and from 2:45 to 3:25 p.m. Only buses may enter to drop-off or pick-up.

• The new drop-off on the side of the building off La Torre Ave. has been constructed to help alleviate the congestion in the front of the school. You may drop-off there or park in the visitors parking spaces (only 5 of them) and walk in. The doors will be locked after 8:15 a.m.; students who arrive after that time should not be dropped off at this location since they would have to walk around the building to enter. Late students can be dropped of in front of the school office. There is a shaded pick up structure for our older students who can wait by themselves.

Parking

• Field trips are an important part of the instructional program of each class. Students will go on different field trips throughout the year.

• When a field trip approaches, teachers will send home a permission slip form and ask for volunteers. Written permission from a parent or guardian is required for a child to attend. Parent volunteers aid the teacher with supervision on these outings; however, regulations prohibit siblings from attending.

• There is usually a fee for bus transportation; often there is also an admission fee. Although we cannot require a fee, we do need to fundraise in order to afford the cost of the fieldtrip. If enough funds are not raised, then the fieldtrip will be cancelled. On average, busses cost about $400-$700 per 60 students and entrances vary from $3-$15 depending on location.

Field Trips

• Fire Drills

• Code Blue

• Code Red

• Shelter in Place

• Tornado Drills…Just kidding…no Tornado drills

Safety Drills

• Differentiated Instruction:– SEAL Initiative – Grades K-3– Raising a Reader – Kindergarten– Project Based Learning – Grades 4-8– Engage NY Math Classes – all Grades

• Recess 101 for Grades K-6• After School Activities

– School & Parent Leadership Team Sponsored• Parent Involvement Grant

– Parent Classes offered• Student Recognition

– Awards Assemblies– Cool Coyotes

• Daily picks, Weekly Class picks, Student of the Week, Student of the Month, Pictures, Coyote Dollars, Lunch with the Principal

– PBIS Matrix

Christopher Elementary School

A Great Place to Learn!

• President: Crystal Cortez• Vice Presidents: Lucy Gonzales• Treasurer: Mari Avila• Secretary: Milly Quihuiz• DELAC rep: Nancy Rivera• Officers may also serve on DAC, HABLA,

DVAC. We need a Koffee Klatch Rep.

Parent Leadership Team