WELCOME To First Grade. From Mrs. Hogge and Mrs. Johnson

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1 WELCOME To First Grade From Mrs. Hogge and Mrs. Johnson First Grade Heritage Elementary School

2 Dear Parents, Welcome to first grade! We are very excited to be your child s teachers this year. Many doors will be opening for him/her and we have an exciting year planned. I believe learning should be fun and I incorporate many different teaching and learning styles to meet the needs of all of my students. Your child will be involved in many hands-on, meaningful activities that will enable him/her to become enthusiastic readers, writers, and problem solvers. Throughout the year we will incorporate character education so that our students learn to be good citizens too. Following is some information we would like you to become familiar with as we begin our year together. 1. The first few weeks of school we will be getting to know your child. Literacy assessments will begin tomorrow and I will be doing some math pre-testing during the first week, to assess your child s current math abilities. 2. Transportation: We need to know your child s regular means of transportation as soon as possible. Please notify us in writing if at a later time, there is a change in transportation. Occasionally, you may need to have your child go home by a different means than usual. Please be sure to send in a note or call the office by 2:15 on these occasions. If you do not notify us and we cannot reach you, we have to send your child home by his/her regular means. Please do not me transportation changes the day of the change, as I cannot guarantee that I will receive it in time. 3. School Hours: Our hours are 8:10-2:45. Students may begin arriving at 7:40. If your child enters the classroom after 8:10, he/she will be marked tardy. If your child needs to leave early, please send a note that morning if at all possible. For safety reasons, you must go to the office to check your child out. The office will then notify us and we will send your child to meet you there. In order to maximize

3 instructional time, we will not send students to the office to wait for parents to arrive. 4. Attendance: Students need to bring a signed note stating the reason for absence as soon as they return to school. This us allows us to correctly record the absence as excused or unexcused. 5. Folder/Homework: Every Monday, your child will bring home a brown envelope called his/her Monday folder. Within the envelope you will find a newsletter, the previous week s work, and important notices from the school. Please review your child s work and practice anything which he/she had difficulty with. This lets your child know you are interested in what he/she is doing at school. The brown envelope should always be returned on Tuesday. In first grade we place a heavy emphasis on the importance of reading to your child and later listening to your child read to you at home. All homework is due the day after it is assigned (ex. Monday s assignment due on Tuesday, etc.) 6. Conferences: I will initiate conferences with you during the first and third quarters to discuss your child s progress. Report cards will be sent home each grading period. Please feel free to contact me if you desire a conference at other times during the year. 7. Medicine: Completed medicine forms must be on file in the office for your child to receive any medications (prescription and nonprescription) at school. Students are not permitted to self administer any medications (prescription and non-prescription.) Be sure we are aware of any allergies (including food) or medical concerns for your child. This information should be provided on the attached Student Information Sheet.

4 8. Snack: Please provide a healthy snack for your child each day. If you would like to provide a special snack for your child s birthday, just let us know! Keep in mind that these shared snacks must be store bought items only as per Wake County rules. 9. Postcards: As you or your family members travel out of town during the school year, please consider sending us a postcard! We will locate the place the postcard originated from on the map and display it in the room. Plus, the children love to get mail. The school address is: Heritage Elementary School Attention: Mrs. Hogge s Class 3500 Rogers Road Wake Forest, NC Volunteers: Yes we need you! After the first few weeks of school we will begin implementing volunteers in the classroom. Please fill out the attached form if you are interested in volunteering. All volunteers must be approved each year by Wake County before they are allowed to begin. Volunteer registration must be done on site. There are computers available in our Media Center for this. Instructions are at the computers. 11. Behavior Management Plan: In an effort to ensure good citizenship in our school environment, and subsequently the community, our classroom management system is as follows: Individuals Rewards: (For making good choices) Each student will have a paper bird s nest which he/she will be allowed to punch holes in for exemplary behavior. After he/she has punched ten holes in this nest, a trip to the Treasure Chest is rewarded.

5 Individual Consequences: Each student also has a bird on a tree and begins each day as a high flyer on the top branch. If misbehavior occurs, initially a verbal warning is given. Misbehavior after that will result in moving his/her bird to lower branch on the tree and consequences are as follows: 1 st ~ warning, remain on top branch 2 nd ~ move to green branch, 5 minutes off lunch recess 3 rd ~ move to yellow branch, silent lunch and loss of lunch recess 4 th ~ move to the grass beneath the tree, sent to office and office determines consequences ** Please note that serious misbehavior at any time will result in a trip to the office. Please see the student handbook for more information about behavior expectations and referrals. LET S BE HIGH FLYERS ALL DAY! Whole Class Rewards: As an incentive for excellent whole group behavior, we have a large tree on which students will be able to put their very own bird. This might be after receiving a 4 in Specials or a compliment in the hall from adults. After the whole flock is on the tree, the class will celebrate their accomplishments! We are looking forward to a wonderful year with your child! We believe that by working together we can ensure your child has a successful first grade year. If at any time you have any questions, please contact me by note or phone at school ( ) so that we can arrange a time to talk. You can also me at bhogge@wcpss.net. Please complete the attached information forms and return them as soon as possible. They are important for our record keeping. Sincerely, Mrs. Hogge & Mrs. Johnson

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