August 19, 2012

Dear Parents, Welcome to transitional kindergarten and kindergarten! Transitional kindergarten may be new to your vocabulary. Transitional kindergarten is the same class formerly known as young fives. The Diocese of Kalamazoo has decided to have a common name for this grade and decided on transitional kindergarten! Young fives will now be referred to as transitional kindergarten or TK. For those of you who are new to the school I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Angie Mulder and I am the transitional kindergarten, kindergarten and preschool teacher here at St. Stanislaus. I have been teaching for several years. I have also previously taught fourth grade, fifth grade, and seventh grade. I graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in elementary education and minors in math and science. I also have an early childhood endorsement from Grand Valley State University. I live in Dorr with my husband and two daughters, and am a member of St. Sebastian Parish. A fun and exciting year is being planned! I look forward to becoming acquainted with you and your child. It is my goal that you and I will be able to work together as partners to provide your child with a quality education. Following you will find some basic information about our classroom. Clothing ID: Please label all clothing (jackets, mittens, hats, snow pants, shoes, etc.) with your childs name. There are a lot of blue

pants and white shirts! Be sure to label school bags and lunch boxes also. Shoes: The children will need to have a pair of outdoor recess shoes and gym shoes in addition to their uniform school shoes. This means the children will need three pair of shoes! The students are provided with a shoe locker where they keep their recess shoes. The gym shoes are kept in a basket in the classroom. The shoe locker is nice because in the winter this is where the wet boots are kept. Please let your child know what shoes they are to wear home. Many children are confused at the end of the school day as to what shoes their parents want them to wear home, school shoes or outdoor recess shoes. Snack Time: The students will have the opportunity to have a snack each day right before recess (about 9:30). They are responsible for bringing in their own snack! I encourage you to send in a snack with them each day. I usually have some back up snacks for children who forget their own, but when two or three children forget, I run out quickly. Drinks are not necessary as we have a drinking fountain in our classroom. Also, please let your children know where in their backpacks the snacks are kept so they know right where to find them. In the past I have had many children say they have no snack only to find it in their backpacks later. On birthdays, your child may bring in a special treat to share with the class. Lunch: The children will be eating lunch here at school. They may either bring a lunch from home or purchase hot lunch here at school. I will take them into the lunchroom each day and help them get set at lunch time. There is also a lunchroom aide in there to help assist the children also.

Money: When sending in money, please put it in a sealed envelope with your childs name and the purpose for the money (hot lunch, book money, field trip, etc.). This helps me out and reduces the likelihood of errors. School Bags: Please send in a bag that zips or snaps with your child each school day. Please stay away from rolling backpacks as these do not fit in the lockers. I will be providing a two-pocket folder that we will use exclusively for communication between home and school. When you have any notes or lunch money, please send it in the folder. Likewise, any notes or papers from school will come home in the folder. This system helps to ensure that any papers get to and from school without getting ruined. School Newsletter: Every week the school sends home a newsletter and other important information with the oldest child in the family. This will be sent home via email. Please read through the information as it contains important information regarding school wide activities. Homework: The children will be receiving homework about once a week. Homework helps the children practice and show off what they are learning at school. It also builds responsibility. The homework the children receive in TK and kindergarten should only take about 5-10 minutes to complete, and will usually require your help. They will bring home a book to read to you each week. These are books we have read in our guided reading groups during the week and will be practicing rereading them with you. This reading homework is usually assigned on Fridays and due on Monday. When homework is assigned it is due on the next school day. Please make sure you check your childs folder nightly for any assigned homework.

Bus/Pick-up routines: At the end of the day all the children will be in the cafeteria sitting at tables. There will be a teacher in there every day and will dismiss them as the busses arrive. If you are picking up your child, you must come in and have your child with you so the person doing bus duty can see you sign them out. This is for the safety of the children. If for some reason your childs end of the day routine will be different, please call or send a note to school. If your child is in after school care, the after school care leader will pick up your child from the gym and escort them to the after school care room. Church Schedule: We will be going to mass once each week and also on holy days. The TK and kindergarten children will have a seventh or eighth grade big buddy that walks and sits with them at church. Teacher/Parent Communication: I will be sending home newsletters each week and will communicate with you either over the phone or with a personal note with any concerns or comments (positive too!). Newsletters will be sent home electronically. If this does not work out for you, please let me know. I have also started a classroom blog this year that will highlight what is going on in our classroom. This is another tool to help keep you updated as to what is going on in our classroom! The web address is www.mrsmuldersclass.blogspot.com. I hope you find this helpful this year! I have already posted some information, stop by and take a look! I am also hoping to attach newsletters to the blog as well, but I am still working out the bugs in the blog. Please feel free to send me a note, email, or phone call. I can be reached by phone at school 269-793-7204, and my email is mulder@st-stans.net. If I cannot answer your call, please leave a message and I will get back with you as soon as possible.

We are going to have a wonderful year! Sincerely,

Angie Mulder

Special Notes: I am having a meet the teacher day for preschool students on Tuesday, September 4. If any transitional kindergarten or kindergarten student wishes to come in, drop off supplies, and see the classroom, they may come in that day as well. The times for meet the teacher are from 9:00-11:30 and 12:30-3:00.