Information for the Beginning of the 2009-2010 School Year for
Mrs. Stockwell & Mrs. Snow’s Kindergarten Class

Dear Parents,

Our names are Mrs. Sydney Stockwell and Mrs. Luciana Snow. We will be your child’s kindergarten teachers for the 2009-2010 school year. This letter is to give you information about kindergarten, which we hope will make your child’s transition into school easier for you and your family. Included in the letter are some of the things that your child will need for the very beginning of the school year. We will be writing to you from time to time about other things as they arise. We look forward to talking with you about your child at future meetings.

Your children are enrolled in the Sheltered English Immersion program. Our Kindergarten is quite special. The children in the class are learning English at the same time as they are being taught the standard Westfield kindergarten curriculum. The goal is for your child to enter the all English classrooms as soon as possible. This usually takes from about one to three years. Everything will be taught in English but support is always available in your child’s native language.

First of all, We would like you to know that you are always welcome to visit, observe, or help in our classroom. We will have specific afternoons for parent-teacher conferences but you can also request a meeting at other times. Your children will learn that school is important if they know that you value their experience in school and are curious about what goes on in our classroom. Please talk with them about what they have learned. We hope that each of you will come into our room at least once while school is in session to see what we do.

Please send your child with a backpack on the first day of school. Each child will need a large towel or a small blanket for their daily rest. In a separate bag a change of clothes is requested in case of accidents. Please label this bag with his or her name. We will be going outside every day and comfortable clothing which can get dirty is advised. Girls are more comfortable in pants or pants under their skirts as they sit on the floor and climb on the Playscape every day. We have gym class once each week and we will let you on know which day it will be. Sneakers are required for gym class. Sneakers are a good idea for active play on the other days too. You can always leave a pair at school. Flip flop shoes are not recommended for school. Everything you send in needs to be clearly labeled with your child’s name on it.

Your child will need one folder with two pockets in his or her backpack beginning on the first day of school. It is important to go through your child’s back pack every evening. There will be letters for you as well as daily homework. Homework that has been checked by the teacher should be removed from the pack and left at home. When the backpacks are too full they are difficult for young children to carry and can hurt their backs. In addition, we will be going to the school library once every week. Your child will be able to take home one book at each visit if they have returned the book from the previous week. Lost books must be paid for.

We will start the year with time for a small snack in the middle of the morning or afternoon depending on when we are scheduled for lunch. If we find that this is not necessary we will let you know. Please send a small bit of nourishing food for your child’s snack each day. We recommend either _ of a sandwich, fruit, cheese and crackers or yogurt (something that will not spoil as refrigeration is not available). A bottle of water is better than juice or other sweet drinks. Candy, gum and soda are not allowed. We will celebrate each child’s birthday when it occurs. At that time you may send in a treat for the child to share. (Cake or cookies are okay for birthdays or other special occasions, but preferably not for daily snack.) On those occasions water or 100% fruit juice can be sent too. We will have class parties for Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day. On two of those occasions we will request a specific item for the party from your family.

We also ask that a parent from each family come in once each semester, two times per school year, to help clean in our classroom. Please sign up with us for one of the available Friday afternoons. During the last week of school we may need some extra help. In addition, we hope to take some class trips in the spring. In order for this to be possible we will need a couple of parent volunteers per trip. We will let you know ahead of time about these types of special activities.

Expect that your children will be very tired at the beginning of the school year. In order to prevent illness they need plenty of rest. If, however they do get sick and your child needs to be absent, please call Highland school at 572-6428 in the morning to let us know. Every day is full and busy so we hope your child will not have to miss too many days of school. Please try to schedule doctor and dentist appointments after school or during vacations. If however, your children are sick, it is best to keep them at home and not pass the illness to the others.

Supplies are limited at our school and we run out of many things. We will be writing to you and requesting that each child contribute certain items to our class from time to time. For the beginning of this school year we are asking each of you to please send in the following items. We will keep track of what they have brought in.

• Glue sticks: 18-20 for classroom use. (We hope this will last the year.)
• A box of Crayola crayons
• A package of Crayola markers (Crayola is the brand that works best for the children, so please stick to this brand)
• A package of pencil erasers.
• One can of (3) tennis balls
• Large packages of hand wipes, with no scent. We use these often during the day.
  

In addition, every child must have supplies at home in order to do their homework each night. At home they need to have:

• #2 pencils,
• glue stick (please replace when it runs out)
• scissors, and
• crayons.
• Please provide a box (empty cereal boxes work well) for keeping all the little books that we send home. They can practice the letters and “reading”using them.
• We recommend a quiet place where they can do their work and can keep their school made books and supplies.
• Last but not least, we ask that you will read to your children as often as possible, hopefully every day. Read to them in whatever language you are most comfortable, and eventually let them try to read to you. Not only is this time enjoyable but they learn that reading is important to you too. The public library in Westfield has a wonderful selection of books for you and your children and there is no cost (FREE!) to use it.
  

One last thing: In an effort to conserve on paper and be more green this year, Highland will be posting a lot more of the WPS policies, school newsletters, and event reminders online. Please be sure to bookmark both the Highland website and the school news page so you can be aware of what's new, fun, and exciting at your child's school.

We look forward to a wonderful year ahead with your children and to the opportunity to talk with each of you in person in the near future. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your children. Please don’t hesitate to call me with any questions you may have. If we are busy, please let the school secretary know the times when we can return your call and the phone number at which you will be. We will try to reach you as soon as possible.

Respectfully yours,

Mrs. Sydney Stockwell
Mrs. Luciana Snow
Kindergarten Sheltered English Immersion Teachers
Highland Elementary School
Westfield, MassachusettsSupply

Supply List for the 2009-10 school year
For Mrs. Stockwell and Mrs. Snow's Kindergarten