School Hours
School hours for the morning session are 8:45-3:30. Children arrive between 8:30 and 8:45. Children may not enter the room before 8:30. Children may wait in the lobby if they are dropped off before 8:30.
Early Pick-Ups
Please send a note to school or call the office if you are going to pick your child up from school.
Transportation Changes
If you need to make a change to your child's transportation for the day, please do so either in writing or by calling the office. We cannot change a child's transportation without your direct consent.
Classroom Parties
We will have four parties in kindergarten: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day. and the End-of-Year party. The parties are planned and arranged through parent helpers and PTO.
Volunteers
Parent volunteers are welcome in kindergarten. We will have certain special days when helpers will be needed. More information regarding parent volunteers will be sent home as they are needed. Please arrange for child-care for younger siblings when you plan to volunteer.
Newsletters
You will receive a monthly newsletter highlighting the events of the month.
Absenteeism
When your child needs to miss school, please call the office to notify us that your child will be absent. Whenever possible, I will send any missed work home with your child. However, due to the nature of the activities, I cannot always send the work home with your child. Most of our activities in kindergarten are “hands-on” in nature rather than pencil-paper tasks.
What can I do at home to help my child at school?
The easiest and best thing that you can do at home with your child to help him/her succeed at school is to read aloud to your child every day. Research has shown time and time again that children who are read to every day become good readers.
Letters
Starting the second week of school, we will introduce two letters each week. We work on identifying the letter, the letter sound, and writing the letter correctly. I will send home the letter handout each week, so you will always know which letters we are working on. We will begin our instruction with lowercase letters. Typically, children need more practice/experiences with lowercase letters than capital letters. Please spend about 3 minutes each day reviewing the letters that we are covering.
Phonics
During the months of September to December, our phonics program focuses on teaching the children to produce the letter sounds (ex. B says “buh”) and identifying the beginning sounds of words (ex. table starts with T). We also practice the ending sounds of words (ex. doll ends with L). Beginning in January, we will practice medial sounds, or the sound you hear in the middle of the word. We also begin sounding out three letter, short vowel words, such as bat, let, lid, mop, rug.
Sight Words
Sight words are the most frequently encountered words in children’s books. Sight words are words that we want children to be able to read by sight, rather than sounding the word out. Mastery of sight words leads to increased reading fluency. Although some sight words can be “sounded out”, these are words that should be memorized because of how frequently they appear in books. Beginning in October, we will begin learning sight words. Each Friday, a list of the words that we have learned that week will be sent home. Please spend 3 minutes a day reviewing sight words.
Birthdays
You may send in a small treat for your child’s birthday (a cupcake, cookie, muffin, etc.) which we will enjoy during lunch. Please do not send in treat bags. We will celebrate “summer birthdays” in May and June. If your child is having a birthday party, he/she may not pass out invitations at school. I would be happy to send home a class address list for you to mail them.
Folders
Please check your child’s folder every day. I also check for any notes from home. If you are sending a note to school, please put it in your child’s folder. Please send the folder to school every day!
Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are held in November and February. However, you may contact me at any time with any questions or concerns you have.
Report Cards
Report cards will be sent home after each 9-week grading period.
Contacting the Teacher
Please contact me whenever you have any questions or concerns. You may send a note in your child’s folder or call the school at (330)-533-9806 and leave a message. I can return phone calls before and after school.
Any other questions? Please refer to the Hilltop handbook, or contact the school.
School hours for the morning session are 8:45-3:30. Children arrive between 8:30 and 8:45. Children may not enter the room before 8:30. Children may wait in the lobby if they are dropped off before 8:30.
Early Pick-Ups
Please send a note to school or call the office if you are going to pick your child up from school.
Transportation Changes
If you need to make a change to your child's transportation for the day, please do so either in writing or by calling the office. We cannot change a child's transportation without your direct consent.
Classroom Parties
We will have four parties in kindergarten: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day. and the End-of-Year party. The parties are planned and arranged through parent helpers and PTO.
Volunteers
Parent volunteers are welcome in kindergarten. We will have certain special days when helpers will be needed. More information regarding parent volunteers will be sent home as they are needed. Please arrange for child-care for younger siblings when you plan to volunteer.
Newsletters
You will receive a monthly newsletter highlighting the events of the month.
Absenteeism
When your child needs to miss school, please call the office to notify us that your child will be absent. Whenever possible, I will send any missed work home with your child. However, due to the nature of the activities, I cannot always send the work home with your child. Most of our activities in kindergarten are “hands-on” in nature rather than pencil-paper tasks.
What can I do at home to help my child at school?
The easiest and best thing that you can do at home with your child to help him/her succeed at school is to read aloud to your child every day. Research has shown time and time again that children who are read to every day become good readers.
Letters
Starting the second week of school, we will introduce two letters each week. We work on identifying the letter, the letter sound, and writing the letter correctly. I will send home the letter handout each week, so you will always know which letters we are working on. We will begin our instruction with lowercase letters. Typically, children need more practice/experiences with lowercase letters than capital letters. Please spend about 3 minutes each day reviewing the letters that we are covering.
Phonics
During the months of September to December, our phonics program focuses on teaching the children to produce the letter sounds (ex. B says “buh”) and identifying the beginning sounds of words (ex. table starts with T). We also practice the ending sounds of words (ex. doll ends with L). Beginning in January, we will practice medial sounds, or the sound you hear in the middle of the word. We also begin sounding out three letter, short vowel words, such as bat, let, lid, mop, rug.
Sight Words
Sight words are the most frequently encountered words in children’s books. Sight words are words that we want children to be able to read by sight, rather than sounding the word out. Mastery of sight words leads to increased reading fluency. Although some sight words can be “sounded out”, these are words that should be memorized because of how frequently they appear in books. Beginning in October, we will begin learning sight words. Each Friday, a list of the words that we have learned that week will be sent home. Please spend 3 minutes a day reviewing sight words.
Birthdays
You may send in a small treat for your child’s birthday (a cupcake, cookie, muffin, etc.) which we will enjoy during lunch. Please do not send in treat bags. We will celebrate “summer birthdays” in May and June. If your child is having a birthday party, he/she may not pass out invitations at school. I would be happy to send home a class address list for you to mail them.
Folders
Please check your child’s folder every day. I also check for any notes from home. If you are sending a note to school, please put it in your child’s folder. Please send the folder to school every day!
Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are held in November and February. However, you may contact me at any time with any questions or concerns you have.
Report Cards
Report cards will be sent home after each 9-week grading period.
Contacting the Teacher
Please contact me whenever you have any questions or concerns. You may send a note in your child’s folder or call the school at (330)-533-9806 and leave a message. I can return phone calls before and after school.
Any other questions? Please refer to the Hilltop handbook, or contact the school.