Southern Coffey County

 

ATTENDANCE

We have a school attendance policy. Please refer to your school

handbook for specific information. I would like to add how important it

is for your child to attend school every day if possible. We do a

variety of activities throughout our day. Many of them involve

materials that cannot be sent home easily or made up. Please let

me know by calling or e-mailing the school if your child will not

be attending that day. Occasionally there may some work to be

completed at home following an absence.

 

BIRTHDAYS

Students are welcome to celebrate their birthday with us at school.

Please let me know in advance when you would like to do so. I would

like to have the parties at the end of the school day, around 3:00 p.m.

Most of the time parents supply a snack and treat bag. You may

supply a drink or we can drink our milk.

Please do not send invitations for birthday parties to school unless

everyone in the class is going to receive one. If your child has a

summer birthday, you may want to celebrate a half - birthday or you

may choose to do it at the end of the school year.

 

CLASS RULES/DISCIPLINE

Students recite a school pledge before school every morning. We

discussed the five things we do to be a good listener. Here are a few

rules that we discussed at the beginning of the school year:

1. Follow directions.

2. Work quietly. Do not disturb others who are working.

3. Respect others. Be kind with words and actions

4. Respect personal and school property.

5. Work and play safely.

If a discipline problem does arise, I use time-out. The student will be

removed from the group or activity for a short time (usually just 2 or 3

minutes) so that they learn that their inappropriate actions have

consequences. Students at this age do not want to miss anything

and are usually very eager to get back with the group. I have found

this to be a very successful discipline technique. Most of the time a

gentle reminder from the teacher is all that is needed. However, I will

contact you if I feel that a specific discipline plan is needed for your

child.

I use a more structured system with the Kindergartners. Each

student  will start the day on Ready to Learn. 

 If they break a school rule or act inappropriately in some

way, they will be moved to Think About It.  This is a warning and a

reminder. Hopefully no further action will be required. If the student

continues to misbehave then they will be moved to Parent Contact.

The student will be taking a note home explaining their misbehavior or I will 

contact you in person, by phone or e-mail.

 A student will always have the

opportunity to move their person back to Ready to Learn if they

correct their behavior and act accordingly. I want them to learn that they 

are in control of their behavior and that there are consequences to misbehavior.

 

HOMEWORK

Kindergarten students will have homework assignments after the first

couple of weeks of school. I will send home one language arts

(reading or phonics) paper and one math paper on Thursday. The

assignment will be a practice sheet for a skill that has already been

taught in Kindergarten. This gives your child the opportunity to show

you something that they have learned and should be able to do

independently. All homework is due back in school on Monday.

Students will receive a homework star for each time they return their

homework on time. I hope that this will begin to instill in the students

a sense of responsibility and pride in their work.

 

LIBRARY

I will take all of the students to the library to check out books together

the first time. After that whenever you are finished with the books,

send them back to school and I will try and get your child to the library

to check out more books to take home. We have so many great

books in our library and I don’t want to limit the students’ ability to

check out more books if they are reading them or being read to on a

regular basis. They may check out two books at a time. Read them

and send them back as soon as you can. I hope this will give the

students an opportunity to have lots of books read to them at home.

 

BOOK ORDERS

You are not obligated to order books. I just want you to have the

opportunity to do so if you wish. Many times they offer great bargains

on kids’ books. By ordering, we can accumulate points and receive

free items for our classroom. We usually have a Scholastic Book Fair

sometime during the school year. This is another excellent

opportunity to get great books!

 

SHOW-N- TELL

I call this Sharing Time. If your child has something

that they would like to share with the class, they may bring it to school

on any day. During our Morning Meeting session, for Kindergarten

and during the

afternoon session for Preschool, I will ask if anyone has something to

share. If your child has brought something to school then they will

have the

opportunity to show us and tell us about their item. Please help limit

the number of items that your child wants to bring. They are only

allowed to share something once a week. You can choose the day or

they don’t have to bring anything that week. It helps if you discuss a

few things about their sharing item before they bring it to school. I

really appreciate those items that are educational and not just toys.

Remember – We cannot have any guns or weapons for Sharing-

even toys!

 

RECESS

We will go to recess outside on most days unless the weather is

prohibitive. Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately

for the weather. Even just a little bit of fresh air can be invigorating

on a cold day. That may mean sending mittens, hats, or gloves as

needed. We will follow the rules as listed in the school handbook for

extremely low temperature days. If your child should not go to

recess, please notify me in writing or call the school. We have a

morning and afternoon recess.

 

PICTURES

You will have the opportunity to order pictures. A note will be sent

home prior to that day explaining the cost. All money must be

received before pictures are taken if you wish to order. It is nice if

you can order exchange pictures for the students to give their

classmates. I also take a lot of pictures of the students throughout

the year. Some of them will be used in the district yearbook. Please

let me know if you have any concerns or questions about your child’s

pictures. Each student will receive an album of pictures from me at

the end of the school year.

 

DAILY FOLDERS

Please look for the folder each day. Take a moment to remove the

papers and praise your child’s work. I will put all notices in the folder

along with your child’s schoolwork. Please return any messages you

may have for me in the folder also. This also helps the students be

more responsible and provide better communication between home

and school.

 

LUNCH MONEY

The school secretary will give me a note to send home with your child

if they need lunch or milk money. Send the money to school in their

folder. I will make sure that it is turned in to the secretary. Please

contact her at the Middle School if you have any questions about

money owed.

 

BOX TOPS

Please help our school earn some extra money by collecting box

tops. These can be found on many grocery store items. We have a

collection box in our classroom. You can send them in at any time.

 

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

This is something we used to do years ago and is back by popular

demand. I will ask the Kindergarten students to tell me their “news”

on Monday morning. This can be about anything that they did over

the weekend-someplace they went, visitors they had, etc. I try and

censor anything that I think would not be appropriate to publish. You

may want to discuss certain things with your child if you don’t think

they are news worthy. It is always fun to hear what their little minds

remember!!

 

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

We will have scheduled conferences twice during the school year,

once in the fall and once in the spring. Please know that you do not

have to wait until conference time to discuss concerns or check on

the progress your child is making. I will be happy to meet with you or

discuss any concerns that you may have at any time. You can

contact me in one of the following ways:

School phone: 620-836- 2182 Ext. 1506

Home phone: 620-364- 2288

Cell phone: 620-364- 9208

E-mail: trostlej@usd245ks.org

You can even find me on Face book if you prefer!

Thanks again for your continued support! It’s going to be a great

year!

Jerilee Trostle

Preschool & Kindergarten Teacher

Gridley Elementary School