BES Kindergarten Newsletter

It was great meeting all the students at staggered entry and meeting you all at Meet the Teacher! We are so excited to be a part of your child’s Kindergarten journey this year and are looking forward to a wonderful school year of growth and learning! This Kindergarten Newsletter will be sent home BI-MONTHLY to share information about upcoming events, the weekly learning focus, and reminders.

If you ever have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. Have a great week!

Kind Regards,

The Kindergarten Team 🍏

Mrs. Heredia, Mrs. Oakley, Ms. Carroll & Ms. Menke

Talking Points

Talking Points allows teachers to communicate with parents via text messages easily - including parents who don't speak English. Talking Points is a two-way multi-lingual platform that allows teachers and parents to communicate in over 100 languages. Teachers use a web or mobile application to send messages to parents who receive them in their home languages as text messages or through the parent mobile app. Parents can reply in their own languages because Talking Points will automatically translate it to English for teachers. The software will sync directly to parent contact information in PowerSchool. Please sign up here: Talking Points

Email

Emailing the teacher is another way to communicate. Please understand that teachers have 48 hours to respond but try to respond in 24 hours. They do not check email, during instruction, after school hours, on the weekend, or during breaks.

Smore

Your child's teacher will send a Smore communication bi-weekly. This will include upcoming events, classroom activities, field trip details, and more.

Tuesday Folders

We will send home Tuesday Folders weekly with students. We are asking all families to return Tuesday Folders on Wednesdays or the following school day.

PBIS: Introduce and practice classroom routines, procedures, and expectations

Letterland: Fast Track

Introduce Impy Ink, Jumping Jim, Kicking King, Lucy Lamplight, Munching Mike, Noisy Nick, Oscar Orange, and Peter Puppy

Writing: Foundational Writing Skills

*Fine Motor Skill Development through hands-on activities

Close Reading: “Our Class is A Family” and “Bucket Filler”

*Social/Emotional Learning

*Building a Class Community

*Creating a Common Goal

Math: Exploring Attributes of Length, Width, and Size

Social Studies: “Building A Class Community”

Introduce & Practice PAWS Expectations: Practice Safety, Act Responsibly, Work Hard, and Show Respect

Kindergarten will have snack time during the afternoon. We ask that you please provide a snack and a bottled water for your child each day.

We know accidents can happen with kinders. Please send an extra set of clothes in a ziplock bag labeled with your child’s name.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Meal prices for the 2024-25 school are noted below.

• Breakfast Cost--$1.75
• Lunch Cost--$3.50

Pre-Pay for Meals Online:

The easiest way to pay for school meals is to create an online account at www.MySchoolBucks.com. Please remember, you will need your child's student ID number to register. Once registered, parents may load money, set spending limits, and set-up auto-loading so that your child never runs out of lunch money.

Free/Reduced Price Meal Application:

If your family is in need of meal assistance, I strongly encourage you to complete and submit an application for Free/Reduced Cost Meals. Families in need of meal assistance must reapply every school year if they are interested in receiving meal benefits. Applications may be submitted online at https://www.wcpss.net/Page/1849. Paper copies are also available at the school.

Per state law, we are required to collect vaccination records and student health forms for each kindergarten student. Student vaccine records and health forms are due no later than the first day of school. Forms may be scanned and emailed to Cecilia Sanchez at csanchezguerrero@wcpss.net or they can be dropped off directly at the school.

Please remember that students cannot receive medication (prescription or over-the-counter) at school without a signed 1702 form. This includes sunscreen. The 1702 form is linked below and must be signed by a licensed medical doctor before being submitted to the school.

• Form 1702--Parent's Request and Physician's Order Form for Medication

All prescription medication must be in original packaging with a pharmacy label. OTC medications must be in the original packaging and labeled with the student's name.

Changes to Afternoon Transportation

If your child requires a change to PM transportation this must be done prior to 1:00pm. Families must 1-call the office, 2-send a Talking Points message and 3-email. This allows the front office staff ample time to ensure that this change has been communicated to both students and staff.

If you need to pick up your student early from school it must be done by 3:15. There are no exceptions. At 3:15 families will be instructed to go through carpool. This allows us to ensure safety as we approach the end of our instructional day.

Personal Student Devices + Smart Watches

Students are not allowed to bring personal laptop devices to school. If they bring a phone, it must be kept in their backpacks and turned on silent at all times. Smart watches may be worn but need to be in airplane mode. They may not be used to play games, make phone calls and/or take pictures on campus.

• 9/9: Fall Picture Day

• 9/10: PTA Meeting @ 7pm -please attend if possible, during this meeting we will approve the budget for the 24-25 school year.

• 9/11: McDonald's McSpirit Night

• 9/13: Instructional Assistant Appreciation Day

• 9/17: WCPSS School Board Meeting
  
• 9/19: K-5 Curriculum Night @ 5:30-6:30pm

• 9/20: Teacher Workday

• 9/23: Parent Input Session for school upgrades 6:00-8:00 pm

• 9/30: Spirit Wear Pre-Orders Window Opens

WCPSS Traditional Calendar

WCPSS Volunteer

Every year you are required to re-registers to volunteer. We would love to have you help in classrooms, in the media center, on field trips, with clubs and more. To do this you must be registered as a volunteer. Register as a WCPSS volunteer https://www.wcpss.net/Page/55232

PTA

• Donate to scholarship fund, hospitality donations and or TSC- https://briarcliff.givebacks.com

• Sign up for Memberhub Hub https://briarcliff.givebacks.com/w/get-involved

• Download RCityRocks, register for Harris Teeter VIC, etc. https://briarcliff.givebacks.com/w/fundraising

• Here is our sign up for the Spirit Rock: https://briarcliff.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true