Mrs.

Coffeys Kindergarten Indian Valley Elementary 2013-2014

August 20th, 2013 Dear Parents. It is my honor and privilege to be your childs Kindergarten teacher at Indian Valley! My goal is for your childs year to be the best it can be and I look forward to working with you to make this happen. We have a fantastic group of kids and it truly is a joy to be here with them each day. I appreciate you coming to Back to School Night! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about anything. I am always willing and available to talk with you about your child and will do whatever it takes to help him/her be successful. We are a team in your childs education and I am so glad to be a part of it. Heres to a great Kindergarten year! Go Thunderbirds! Sincerely, Megan Coffey (913) 239-6471 macoffey@bluevalleyk12.com

The Basics
School Day: Begins at 8:35, ends at 3:40 *Thank you for having your child here on time each day and picking them up promptly! than usual, *Please e mail me if your child will be going home a different way Early Pick-Up: Please e-mail/call to let me know when you need to pick him/her up so that he/she will be ready. You will need to sign your child out in the office- your child will come down to meet you. largest academic block of the day* *Please try to avoid scheduling appointments in the morning- this is our

not be in school that day. I will be sure to catch him/her up upon their return and some things may be sent home depending on what was missed. You are welcome to e mail me, as well, in addition to calling the office. through them quickly! Please consider sending in a large snack for our class once a semester. Your child is welcome to bring his/her own snack. Snacks: We have snack twice a day and with many little bodies, we go

Absences: Please call Indian Valley (239-6400) before 8:15 if your child will

lunch from 11:30-12:00. Please meet your child by the cafeteria. There is no need to notify me- just check in at the office. Homework:

Lunch: You are welcome to join your child for lunch any day! We eat

Homework will begin after Labor Day. The homework is in a calendar format with assignments for each night. It will go home the first of the month and returned to school each Friday. I will check it every Friday and

students will receive a sticker for responsibility for completion. Homework

will be sent home in your childs Take Home Folder. Homework in

Kindergarten is meant to reinforce skills learned in class through quick

exercises and activities. It is also meant to build responsibility with bringing assignments to and from school, preparing them for first grade. Thank you for your support! Show-N-Tell: We have a class Show And Tell Bag that is sent home with

a different student each night. Inside the bag will be a sheet (included in the bag and the completed sheet to school the following day.

your packet) for you to fill out with your child. Please have your child bring **Please help us keep a focused learning environment by leaving all toys/games home unless they are being brought in for show and tell or a marble party. Thank you!

Birthdays!: Birthdays are very special! You are more than welcome to bring in a special treat for the class (please let me know in advance so I can plan for it). We usually have birthday treats at the very end of the day unless the whole class is invited. I am happy to put these in mailboxes. (around 2:45). Please refrain from distributing party invitations at school

OWL About Me!: This is an opportunity for your child to share about him/herself with our class! With your child, please make a poster or some type of visual with information/special things about he/she on it. When it is your assigned week, please send in the poster Monday (or the 1st day back from the weekend) and your child will get to present it to the class! It will be and send an e-mail reminder*

on display until Friday and then it will go home. *I will send home this schedule

she loses a tooth! Tperr name wrll qe added to our Tootp Farry Tratker board. We will incorporate our lost teeth into various math activities (counting, graphing, etc.)

Tooth Fairy Tracker: Please have your child let me know when he or

Shoe Sheriffs: At tpe qegrnnrng of tpe year, I wrll look for our Spoe Sperrffs. Tpese are kids who know how to tie their shoes and can help others. When students learn how to tie their shoes on their own, they will

get to sut a spoe wrtp tperr name on rt on our spoe ratk. I wrll pave some continue to work with your son or daughter at home. This is a great accomplishment for kids!

fun shoes in class to practice this with during centers or free time but please

Conferences: Please sign up for a fall conference tonight. This is required for each child in the fall. Conferences in the spring are on an asneeded basis. You may request a conference or I may do the same. feel that the whole year is an ongoing conference through our time. I am a HUGE communicator! Conferences are the formal way of going over your tprlds progress but I communication. Always feel free to call me at school or e-mail me at any

Parent Involvement: I love for parents to be involved in our classroom! Please sign up to be a volunteer and let me know more specifically what you would like to do. Help is always appreciated. ?? Mystery Readers ??: This is a super fun thing I like to do! What

happens is a parent/grandparents/anyone who would like to pick a special book to read to our class sets up a time with me and the kids do not know who is coming. I will have the reader give me three clues about themselves to tell the kids and have them guess. Please sign up if trme tpat works wrtp qotp our stpedules. Wed love to pave you!

you would like to be a Mystery Reader and I will contact you to set up a

Holiday Parties: This is another great way for you to be involved in our class! Please see the sign up (@ Back to School Night) for these events.

(dates to come) A tentative list of our trips includes: Pumpkin Patch Kaleidoscope Paul Mesners Pusset Spow

Field Trips: We have quite a few fun field trips planned for this year!

If you are interested in chaperoning, please sign up!

Wildnerness Science Center (winter and spring)

Book Orders: I will be sending home monthly Scholastic book orders. This is a great way to get reasonably priced books, as well as help build our classroom library. I will let you know when the order will be placed and then once the books come in, I will send them home with your child! Please make all checks to Scholastic and send to school with your child or order online- (online is super easy and you receive free money to use next time!) Classroom Management: IVE School-wide Management System: BIST (Behavior Intervention

Support Team www.bist.org) in partner with PBS (Positive Behavior Supports www.swpbs.org): please see attached parent letter for more information. morning. Mrs. Coffeys Class Rules: I Care Rules We recite these each

1. We listen to each other. 2. Hands are for helping NOT for hurting 3. We care about each others feelings. 4. We use I-Care language. 5. We are responsible for what we say and do.

Positive Reinforcement: o Individual: Sticker Charts: Students receive stickers at random for

demonstrating responsibility, kindness, sharing, good listening, and any other type of positive behavior. Once their sticker then starts over. This is an accountability system that is given. chart is full, he/she gets to visit our treasure chest! The chart promotes doing the right thing all the time even if no reward

How was my day? Chart: Your child has a daily behavior chart in their Take Home Folder that will be filled out daily and sent home. Please initial each night.

o Whole Group: We have a class marble jar in which the kids work of positive behavior and getting along. When the jar is full, the Poor Behavior: I am a firm believer in reasonable, timely and logical wrll qe rn tontatt wrtp you aqout your tprlds qepavror rf I feel rt rs a problem and I always appreciate your support at home. Stoplight Behavior System: kids vote on a class Marble Party!

together as a team to fill up. Marbles are earned by class display

consequences. I believe in helping students learn from their mistakes. I

Students start their day on green and are always able to move back to green if they are moved to a different color. Green light: Way to go!

Yellow light: Warning (2nd warning will move them to the Safe Seat until they are able to display green behavior) Red light: Yikes! Ppone tall pome/srrntrsals offrte (depends on situation)

Important Information:

Mrs. Coffeys Contact Information: o Phone: (913) 239-6471

Always feel free to call me before 8:25 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m.

o E-Mail: macoffey@bluevalleyk12.org
This is how Im best able to communicate during the school day.

Our Classroom Blog: www.mrscoffeyskinders.blogspot.com

This will have all classroom documents (ex. Homework, newsletters, this packet), as well as links to kids games, curricular information, and much more.