ABC’s of Kindergarten
Attendance
If you arrive after the second bell rings at 9:04 am, you must go to the office to sign your child in. Your child is not “officially” in school unless you signed in the office.
Monte Vista Attendance
Please call the office at 268-3520 each day your child is out of school. Please tell the attendance machine or the school clerk the reason for the absence.
Birthdays
We like to honor your child’s birthday in class on or close to the actual date of birth – therefore we will schedule your snack day accordingly. Snacks do not need to be elaborate. Cake or cupcake and ice cream are fine. We eat healthy with this one exception and we can handle it. However, if you do bring cake or ice cream we will need plates, bowls and utensils. If you want to do something healthy and fun, you can ask me about the blender bike. The children make smoothies by pedaling to make the blender work. You would need to send in frozen fruit, fruit juice, and yogurt. If you want to celebrate with the blender bike call me in advance so I can arrange it with Paula, our P.E. teacher. We ask that you or your child not pass out birthday invitations during school time (for your child’s party outside of school) unless there is an invitation for everyone. If not everyone is invited - hurt feelings can occur. Birthdays are powerful events for young children, some of the most powerful words for a five year old are “I’m not going to invite you to my birthday party.” Then we are not teaching we are dealing with broken friendships and hearts. It is hard to learn when you hurt inside and do not feel good about yourself. Here are some “hints” from previous parents: •If you invite everyone, consider that not everyone can attend. •You can give invitations to heaven or myself and we will put them in student folders for you.• You can see me for phone numbers or addresses or use the class directory.
Book Orders
Book order forms will go out as we get them, usually about once a month. Book orders are a great way to build a children’s library at home that can be used now for reading to your child and later for your child to read to you, him, or her self. Quality children’s books can be found in book orders for as little a $1.00.
Please make checks or money orders out to Scholastic and not to Monte Vista Elementary School. Every time you purchase a book for your child the class gets bonus points to use on books for the classroom. Children can be hard on books when they are so eager to learn about reading. Bonus points provide a way to keep nice, new books available for individual reading and S.S.R. (silent sustained reading).
Clothing
Please label all loose clothing such as sweaters and jackets to prevent loss. Young children often do not recognize their own clothing and much gets lost without being labeled. You should also label your child’s backpack and lunchbox.
Clothing is important. The classroom is unusually warm; I suggest students dress in layers.
In addition, kindergarteners can have accidents Please provide extra clothes in your child’s backpack. It is such a relief to the child if they can go to the bathroom and change. Please do not send your child in wearing “special” clothes that cannot be played in.
Computer
Each student will receive an ipad.
Discipline
Discipline varies as the year progresses. What once worked may not work anymore. I believe that we should never do for a child what he or she could do for him or herself. Research shows that by doing something for a child you are communicating by your actions that he or she is not capable; I believe that all children are capable and competent.
My goal is to encourage children to become independent, responsible, self-controlled students. My approach is to encourage children to maintain self-control while being respectful to self, others and the environment. Emphasis is placed on children making good decisions, using appropriate behaviors and being held accountable for their actions. Sometimes the best choice is not made and we are here to support the child while they cope with the consequences of a poor choice, while reassuring them, they can make good choices and learn from the poor choices.
I use simple rules with simple consequences. Warning, time away, note home
Treasure Box-The students can also earn rewards for positive behavior
Expectations
1.Listen and follow directions
2.Raise your hand before you speak
3.Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
4.Respect your teachers and your classmates.
5.Have fun!
Heaven Morris is our educational assistant. This is her 2nd year at Monte Vista. She plans on going back to school to become a teacher.
Field Trips
I will need parents to supervise small groups of students for field trips. I notify parents of upcoming field trips in advance, as some parents like to arrange to take the day off work to accompany the class on a field trip. Kindergarten has two licensed adults in the classroom. Parent volunteers should be fingerprinted. Here’s how to obtain fingerprinting.
1.Obtain a VOLUNTEER CONFIDENTIALITY FORM from the school site with the Principal’s signature verifying the request. (I can get this form and send it home in your child’s binder to save a trip).
2.Produce this form along with a picture ID and a $34.00 cashier’s check, money order, or credit card (no personal checks or cash will be accepted) to the Background/Fingerprinting Department at 6400 Uptown Blvd. Ste 105 between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
3.The clearance will be emailed directly to the school site. The volunteer will be notified via email or a telephone call.
Field trips too far to walk require a permission slip for each field trip. It is very important that we get these by the due date. If we have a driving field trip I need to know well in advance if we have enough parents to supervise the children in crowded areas like the NM State Fair or our yearly trek to Elena Gallegos. If these condition are not met than the field trip will be canceled for safety reasons.
Walking Field Trips
At registration you signed two half sheets of paper that are walking field trip permission slips. This allows us to take the kids on walking field trips. We might go to the Co-Op and have a grocery store tour, lunch at the Duck Pond at UNM, mail letters at the post office, etc. We will not have separate permission slips for these jaunts, but we always welcome any adults who would like to come, you do not need to be fingerprinted to join us on these walking field trips. I will give advance notice of our “walking field trips.”
Food
Snacks
Families provide snacks once a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We will also need cups and anything else needed to serve the snack, such as birthday cake will need forks or spoons. With the expected 22 children, your snack day will occur about once a month. If you forget your snack day, please send in non-perishable replacements. If you are finding it difficult to provide for your snack day, please contact me.
Our lunch is from11:30– 11:50. For most children who may eat breakfast at 7am this is too long to go without something. In order not to spoil appetites for lunch we ask for the following on your snack day:
Morning Snack – gallon of milk –This can be white, chocolate, etc.…
Afternoon Snack – small cup of juice or milk with “seconds” if enough to go around again for everybody. Healthy snack foods, this is the time we would share the birthday snack but otherwise such as:
Mini bagels with cream cheese
Rice cakes
String cheese
Yogurt
Ranch dressing and veggies
Graham crackers and peanut butter
Popcorn
100% fruit juices – we can make concentrate, it does not have to be bottled.
Crackers – saltine, whole wheat, goldfish, pretzels, etc.
Fresh fruit – a 1/2 of banana per student, we can prepare fresh fruit for snack such as slicing apples, oranges, putting out grapes, etc.
Folders- School to Home – Home to School
A critical piece of our communication is the folder you provided for your child that we send back and forth everyday. We return classwork, notices from the office, field trip permission slips, newsletters, and snack calendars. Homework packets will be placed here. Homework is due on Friday.
Without your child’s folder, we are unable to communicate with you.
Please check and send the folder everyday!
Goodbyes
Our first day goodbyes will be held in the classroom as we settle on the carpet. After the first day, goodbyes will be held on the kindergarten playground. Parents who visit the classroom will need to sign in at the office and secure a visitor’s badge before entering the classroom.
Homework(Optional)
Homework consists of a monthly calendar of activities (optional)and nightly writing. The homework calendar will be sent home on the 1st of every month. Students will also be sent home with a nightly writing notebook. Students should write or draw at least twice a week. We will share his/her nightly writing throughout the week. Families have anytime during the week to work on the activities. Homework will start coming home in September.
o By reading to your child at home you will be helping him/her:
o Learn to appreciate and enjoy reading
o Expand concepts and knowledge
o Increase vocabulary and language development
o Develop an ear for language and grammar.
o Develop auditory and listening skills.
Lay a solid foundation for the time when they begin reading on their own.
Here are a few pointers about your reading time:
•Always make reading session pleasurable.
•At times, discuss what you’ve read but don’t make it a question and answer session. Ask a question such as “What did you like about the story?” This is a quick check for comprehension.
•Pick some non-fiction books – sometimes the most difficult child to sit down and read with will respond to a book about dinosaurs, extreme sports, comic books, etc. Reading is reading.
Library
We will visit the school library once a week on Tuesday. Each week your child will be able to check out a book from the school library if he or she brings the previous weeks’ book back on Tuesday or before. As Monte Vista is extremely fortunate to have a certified librarian, the students usually work with her for about 15 – 20 minutes each week and then she dismisses the children to choose another book or look at the magazines if they do not have their book from the previous week.
She will send home overdue notices that include the cost of the book if it is lost. Her name is Jennifer Marquardt; she can be contacted at 268-3520 ext. 16. If you would like to obtain additional books for nightly reading, she will assist in setting up an adult account for parents to check out additional books.
Lost & Found
Parents may come to the school at any time to check the lost and found. Clothing
items and/or lunchboxes are usually placed in the lost and found. Money, pieces of
jewelry, or small items are kept in the office when they are found. When the lost and found rack gets full, we notify parents in the school newsletter so you may
claim items before they give them to the APS Clothing Bank. We strongly
recommend marking your child’s first and last name on clothing, lunchboxes, etc. A frequent location of missing items is in the gym.
Lunch
Free to all students!
Neither the cafeteria or the classroom have a microwave for heating food for students.
Food Allergies
PLEASE CONTACT THE NURSE’S OFFICE AND ME IF YOUR CHILD HAS AN ALLERGY OR DIETARY CHANGE OR CONCERN WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF. TO OBTAIN SUBSITUTIONS FROM THE CAFETERIA, PLEASE SEE OUR CAFETERIA MANAGER NATASHA. SHE WILL PROVIDE AN ALTERNATE DRINK WITH A DOCTOR’S NOTE. Usually it is soymilk and sometimes juice. Milk-Please let me, the nurse, and the cafeteria manager know if your student has a milk allergy. Instead of chocolate or white milk drink snack in the morning, you can provide soy or rice milk and we will serve that drink to your child. You may obtain a form for a physician to sign to secure milk substitutes in the cafeteria.
Nut are one of many allergens that children can be highly sensitive to, if your child has a nut allergy, please inform the nurse and myself. I will communicate to all families’ food allergies of my students.
Parent Visits
Please stop by the office before visiting a classroom to sign in and obtain a pass.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are held twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. Parents sign up for 15 minutes conferences to discuss their child’s progress. If a family needs more than 15 minutes, than let me know and we can set an additional meeting. Sibling conferences are scheduled by the teachers at Monte Vista who get together to find times that are back-to-back to avoid multiple trips to school. Other families are sent the schedule with the siblings filled in and are able to pick their first three choices, however it is first come, first serve.
Conferences are held on two days of conference week and there is no school for the children those two days.
Physical Education
We have PE on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:40 am. Margaret Hornbeck is our PE teacher, if you need to contact Margaret, she can be reached at 268-3520 ext. 20. Students are required to wear tennis shoes on PE days; it is a safety issue with the gym floor. The children are awarded stickers if everyone in the class wears tennis shoes to PE. As the children recognize this it becomes important to the group that they earn their stickers.
Pick Up Policy
All kindergarten classes at Monte Vista have the following dismissal policy for the protection of our students. We will not take your child’s “word” for a change in pick up plans, experience has taught me that some children are very reliable and can be trusted. Some children get confused and misunderstand communication and can end up missing the bus, the daycare van or they are not going home with friend when that friends parent comes to pick up their child. It can create too many problems for the parent who has stop work to pick up their child and pay a fee to the after-school program, etc. Parent pick up is in the classroom.
Any change from your child’s usual routine for pick-up should be given to me, Mary or sent in your child’s folder, in writing. Examples of changes would be:
•Being picked up by another adult than the usual and especially if not on the emergency contact card.
•Not riding the bus home.
•Riding the bus home.
•Going home with a friend.
•Being picked up early for an appointment – especially if it is not the usual adult.
We will NOT ALLOW a child to go home a different way or with anyone who does not have prior permission. We cannot allow a child who rides a bus to take a friend home on the bus, who normally does not ride the bus.
Walkers also need to have an adult on the playground by the time bell rings at 3:50 PM. A kindergartener will be released to an older sibling (who comes to the kindergarten playground as soon as possible after the bell rings).
At 3:55 pm the playground is unsupervised, although you may see teachers talking to parents, they are on their own time and not acting in an official capacity as an APS employee. At that time, any children not picked up by 3:55 pm will be available for pick up in the office. The office staff will help your child call for a family member to come and pick up but the office closes shortly after school and children are sent to Voyager our in-house after school program that will charge you a fee.
Recess
We have recess 3 times a day. Our morning recess is from 10:40 to 10:55, lunch recess from 11:50 to 12:15 and afternoon recess from 2:30 to 2:45 including afternoon snack. Recess is rarely called off due to weather. Please send your child in appropriate clothing for the weather.
Room Parents
After the first couple of weeks of school, the PTA will ask for the name of two parents to be Room Parents. Room parents contact other classroom parents to ask for volunteers for PTA events such as the Jog-a-thon, Art & Dessert Night, Spaghetti dinner, bring fruit for the jog-a-thon, Super Dooper Fun day, etc. In addition, our room parents help coordinate three parties a year; we have a Halloween party, Valentine’s party and Pool day party. Another possibility is the PTA asking us to join other classrooms in providing a lunch for the faculty and staff which is rotated throughout the school for one Wednesday a month; we could be teamed up another classroom to provide lunch for the faculty and staff once per school year.
School Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
9:00 AM to 3:50 PM - Tardy bell rings at 9:04 AM
Wednesday
9:00 AM to 12:40 PM – Tardy bell rings at 9:04 AM
Snow Day Schedule
Listen to the radio of television for the weather report the morning of a severe snowstorm.
An abbreviated or 2 hour delay means that school will begin at 11:04 AM and dismissal 3:50 PM, including Wednesdays – unless another severe snowstorm is coming in and the school deems it best for the students to get home before the streets freeze.
Sharing – a.k.a. Show N’ Tell
Students will have an opportunity to share on their nightly writing days. Sharing provides an opportunity for your child to practice public speaking. Five and 6 year olds can be very shy. As they grow comfortable with their confidence they want to speak in front of a group. When the student has finished sharing they are asked to take 2 questions from the audience, this is their favorite part, plus it helps the audience to learn what a question is. This will be occurring at the end of the day if time allows, it is optional nobody will be forced to share and if they do not want to at the last minute that’s okay. This is a non-stressful practice to build self-confidence.
Teacher
Lisa Troxel
Your child’s classroom is staffed with two teachers. My name is Lisa Troxel and the children can call me Lisa. I am the certified teacher but my licensed educational assistant, is just as much a teacher as I am. I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a New Mexico state license to teach kindergarten through 8th grade. I also have a gifted education endorsement and am certified to teach ESL. I have been a part of the Monte Vista community for many years. If you have any questions about my classroom, this handbook or anything else – please contact me. You can reach me through your communication folder, email or a phone call.
Lisa Troxel
[email protected]
505-944-5072.
Website
Please visit our website for updates!
http://lisatroxelskindergarten.weebly.com
Attendance
If you arrive after the second bell rings at 9:04 am, you must go to the office to sign your child in. Your child is not “officially” in school unless you signed in the office.
Monte Vista Attendance
Please call the office at 268-3520 each day your child is out of school. Please tell the attendance machine or the school clerk the reason for the absence.
Birthdays
We like to honor your child’s birthday in class on or close to the actual date of birth – therefore we will schedule your snack day accordingly. Snacks do not need to be elaborate. Cake or cupcake and ice cream are fine. We eat healthy with this one exception and we can handle it. However, if you do bring cake or ice cream we will need plates, bowls and utensils. If you want to do something healthy and fun, you can ask me about the blender bike. The children make smoothies by pedaling to make the blender work. You would need to send in frozen fruit, fruit juice, and yogurt. If you want to celebrate with the blender bike call me in advance so I can arrange it with Paula, our P.E. teacher. We ask that you or your child not pass out birthday invitations during school time (for your child’s party outside of school) unless there is an invitation for everyone. If not everyone is invited - hurt feelings can occur. Birthdays are powerful events for young children, some of the most powerful words for a five year old are “I’m not going to invite you to my birthday party.” Then we are not teaching we are dealing with broken friendships and hearts. It is hard to learn when you hurt inside and do not feel good about yourself. Here are some “hints” from previous parents: •If you invite everyone, consider that not everyone can attend. •You can give invitations to heaven or myself and we will put them in student folders for you.• You can see me for phone numbers or addresses or use the class directory.
Book Orders
Book order forms will go out as we get them, usually about once a month. Book orders are a great way to build a children’s library at home that can be used now for reading to your child and later for your child to read to you, him, or her self. Quality children’s books can be found in book orders for as little a $1.00.
Please make checks or money orders out to Scholastic and not to Monte Vista Elementary School. Every time you purchase a book for your child the class gets bonus points to use on books for the classroom. Children can be hard on books when they are so eager to learn about reading. Bonus points provide a way to keep nice, new books available for individual reading and S.S.R. (silent sustained reading).
Clothing
Please label all loose clothing such as sweaters and jackets to prevent loss. Young children often do not recognize their own clothing and much gets lost without being labeled. You should also label your child’s backpack and lunchbox.
Clothing is important. The classroom is unusually warm; I suggest students dress in layers.
In addition, kindergarteners can have accidents Please provide extra clothes in your child’s backpack. It is such a relief to the child if they can go to the bathroom and change. Please do not send your child in wearing “special” clothes that cannot be played in.
Computer
Each student will receive an ipad.
Discipline
Discipline varies as the year progresses. What once worked may not work anymore. I believe that we should never do for a child what he or she could do for him or herself. Research shows that by doing something for a child you are communicating by your actions that he or she is not capable; I believe that all children are capable and competent.
My goal is to encourage children to become independent, responsible, self-controlled students. My approach is to encourage children to maintain self-control while being respectful to self, others and the environment. Emphasis is placed on children making good decisions, using appropriate behaviors and being held accountable for their actions. Sometimes the best choice is not made and we are here to support the child while they cope with the consequences of a poor choice, while reassuring them, they can make good choices and learn from the poor choices.
I use simple rules with simple consequences. Warning, time away, note home
Treasure Box-The students can also earn rewards for positive behavior
Expectations
1.Listen and follow directions
2.Raise your hand before you speak
3.Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
4.Respect your teachers and your classmates.
5.Have fun!
Heaven Morris is our educational assistant. This is her 2nd year at Monte Vista. She plans on going back to school to become a teacher.
Field Trips
I will need parents to supervise small groups of students for field trips. I notify parents of upcoming field trips in advance, as some parents like to arrange to take the day off work to accompany the class on a field trip. Kindergarten has two licensed adults in the classroom. Parent volunteers should be fingerprinted. Here’s how to obtain fingerprinting.
1.Obtain a VOLUNTEER CONFIDENTIALITY FORM from the school site with the Principal’s signature verifying the request. (I can get this form and send it home in your child’s binder to save a trip).
2.Produce this form along with a picture ID and a $34.00 cashier’s check, money order, or credit card (no personal checks or cash will be accepted) to the Background/Fingerprinting Department at 6400 Uptown Blvd. Ste 105 between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
3.The clearance will be emailed directly to the school site. The volunteer will be notified via email or a telephone call.
Field trips too far to walk require a permission slip for each field trip. It is very important that we get these by the due date. If we have a driving field trip I need to know well in advance if we have enough parents to supervise the children in crowded areas like the NM State Fair or our yearly trek to Elena Gallegos. If these condition are not met than the field trip will be canceled for safety reasons.
Walking Field Trips
At registration you signed two half sheets of paper that are walking field trip permission slips. This allows us to take the kids on walking field trips. We might go to the Co-Op and have a grocery store tour, lunch at the Duck Pond at UNM, mail letters at the post office, etc. We will not have separate permission slips for these jaunts, but we always welcome any adults who would like to come, you do not need to be fingerprinted to join us on these walking field trips. I will give advance notice of our “walking field trips.”
Food
Snacks
Families provide snacks once a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We will also need cups and anything else needed to serve the snack, such as birthday cake will need forks or spoons. With the expected 22 children, your snack day will occur about once a month. If you forget your snack day, please send in non-perishable replacements. If you are finding it difficult to provide for your snack day, please contact me.
Our lunch is from11:30– 11:50. For most children who may eat breakfast at 7am this is too long to go without something. In order not to spoil appetites for lunch we ask for the following on your snack day:
Morning Snack – gallon of milk –This can be white, chocolate, etc.…
Afternoon Snack – small cup of juice or milk with “seconds” if enough to go around again for everybody. Healthy snack foods, this is the time we would share the birthday snack but otherwise such as:
Mini bagels with cream cheese
Rice cakes
String cheese
Yogurt
Ranch dressing and veggies
Graham crackers and peanut butter
Popcorn
100% fruit juices – we can make concentrate, it does not have to be bottled.
Crackers – saltine, whole wheat, goldfish, pretzels, etc.
Fresh fruit – a 1/2 of banana per student, we can prepare fresh fruit for snack such as slicing apples, oranges, putting out grapes, etc.
Folders- School to Home – Home to School
A critical piece of our communication is the folder you provided for your child that we send back and forth everyday. We return classwork, notices from the office, field trip permission slips, newsletters, and snack calendars. Homework packets will be placed here. Homework is due on Friday.
Without your child’s folder, we are unable to communicate with you.
Please check and send the folder everyday!
Goodbyes
Our first day goodbyes will be held in the classroom as we settle on the carpet. After the first day, goodbyes will be held on the kindergarten playground. Parents who visit the classroom will need to sign in at the office and secure a visitor’s badge before entering the classroom.
Homework(Optional)
Homework consists of a monthly calendar of activities (optional)and nightly writing. The homework calendar will be sent home on the 1st of every month. Students will also be sent home with a nightly writing notebook. Students should write or draw at least twice a week. We will share his/her nightly writing throughout the week. Families have anytime during the week to work on the activities. Homework will start coming home in September.
o By reading to your child at home you will be helping him/her:
o Learn to appreciate and enjoy reading
o Expand concepts and knowledge
o Increase vocabulary and language development
o Develop an ear for language and grammar.
o Develop auditory and listening skills.
Lay a solid foundation for the time when they begin reading on their own.
Here are a few pointers about your reading time:
•Always make reading session pleasurable.
•At times, discuss what you’ve read but don’t make it a question and answer session. Ask a question such as “What did you like about the story?” This is a quick check for comprehension.
•Pick some non-fiction books – sometimes the most difficult child to sit down and read with will respond to a book about dinosaurs, extreme sports, comic books, etc. Reading is reading.
Library
We will visit the school library once a week on Tuesday. Each week your child will be able to check out a book from the school library if he or she brings the previous weeks’ book back on Tuesday or before. As Monte Vista is extremely fortunate to have a certified librarian, the students usually work with her for about 15 – 20 minutes each week and then she dismisses the children to choose another book or look at the magazines if they do not have their book from the previous week.
She will send home overdue notices that include the cost of the book if it is lost. Her name is Jennifer Marquardt; she can be contacted at 268-3520 ext. 16. If you would like to obtain additional books for nightly reading, she will assist in setting up an adult account for parents to check out additional books.
Lost & Found
Parents may come to the school at any time to check the lost and found. Clothing
items and/or lunchboxes are usually placed in the lost and found. Money, pieces of
jewelry, or small items are kept in the office when they are found. When the lost and found rack gets full, we notify parents in the school newsletter so you may
claim items before they give them to the APS Clothing Bank. We strongly
recommend marking your child’s first and last name on clothing, lunchboxes, etc. A frequent location of missing items is in the gym.
Lunch
Free to all students!
Neither the cafeteria or the classroom have a microwave for heating food for students.
Food Allergies
PLEASE CONTACT THE NURSE’S OFFICE AND ME IF YOUR CHILD HAS AN ALLERGY OR DIETARY CHANGE OR CONCERN WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF. TO OBTAIN SUBSITUTIONS FROM THE CAFETERIA, PLEASE SEE OUR CAFETERIA MANAGER NATASHA. SHE WILL PROVIDE AN ALTERNATE DRINK WITH A DOCTOR’S NOTE. Usually it is soymilk and sometimes juice. Milk-Please let me, the nurse, and the cafeteria manager know if your student has a milk allergy. Instead of chocolate or white milk drink snack in the morning, you can provide soy or rice milk and we will serve that drink to your child. You may obtain a form for a physician to sign to secure milk substitutes in the cafeteria.
Nut are one of many allergens that children can be highly sensitive to, if your child has a nut allergy, please inform the nurse and myself. I will communicate to all families’ food allergies of my students.
Parent Visits
Please stop by the office before visiting a classroom to sign in and obtain a pass.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are held twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. Parents sign up for 15 minutes conferences to discuss their child’s progress. If a family needs more than 15 minutes, than let me know and we can set an additional meeting. Sibling conferences are scheduled by the teachers at Monte Vista who get together to find times that are back-to-back to avoid multiple trips to school. Other families are sent the schedule with the siblings filled in and are able to pick their first three choices, however it is first come, first serve.
Conferences are held on two days of conference week and there is no school for the children those two days.
Physical Education
We have PE on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:40 am. Margaret Hornbeck is our PE teacher, if you need to contact Margaret, she can be reached at 268-3520 ext. 20. Students are required to wear tennis shoes on PE days; it is a safety issue with the gym floor. The children are awarded stickers if everyone in the class wears tennis shoes to PE. As the children recognize this it becomes important to the group that they earn their stickers.
Pick Up Policy
All kindergarten classes at Monte Vista have the following dismissal policy for the protection of our students. We will not take your child’s “word” for a change in pick up plans, experience has taught me that some children are very reliable and can be trusted. Some children get confused and misunderstand communication and can end up missing the bus, the daycare van or they are not going home with friend when that friends parent comes to pick up their child. It can create too many problems for the parent who has stop work to pick up their child and pay a fee to the after-school program, etc. Parent pick up is in the classroom.
Any change from your child’s usual routine for pick-up should be given to me, Mary or sent in your child’s folder, in writing. Examples of changes would be:
•Being picked up by another adult than the usual and especially if not on the emergency contact card.
•Not riding the bus home.
•Riding the bus home.
•Going home with a friend.
•Being picked up early for an appointment – especially if it is not the usual adult.
We will NOT ALLOW a child to go home a different way or with anyone who does not have prior permission. We cannot allow a child who rides a bus to take a friend home on the bus, who normally does not ride the bus.
Walkers also need to have an adult on the playground by the time bell rings at 3:50 PM. A kindergartener will be released to an older sibling (who comes to the kindergarten playground as soon as possible after the bell rings).
At 3:55 pm the playground is unsupervised, although you may see teachers talking to parents, they are on their own time and not acting in an official capacity as an APS employee. At that time, any children not picked up by 3:55 pm will be available for pick up in the office. The office staff will help your child call for a family member to come and pick up but the office closes shortly after school and children are sent to Voyager our in-house after school program that will charge you a fee.
Recess
We have recess 3 times a day. Our morning recess is from 10:40 to 10:55, lunch recess from 11:50 to 12:15 and afternoon recess from 2:30 to 2:45 including afternoon snack. Recess is rarely called off due to weather. Please send your child in appropriate clothing for the weather.
Room Parents
After the first couple of weeks of school, the PTA will ask for the name of two parents to be Room Parents. Room parents contact other classroom parents to ask for volunteers for PTA events such as the Jog-a-thon, Art & Dessert Night, Spaghetti dinner, bring fruit for the jog-a-thon, Super Dooper Fun day, etc. In addition, our room parents help coordinate three parties a year; we have a Halloween party, Valentine’s party and Pool day party. Another possibility is the PTA asking us to join other classrooms in providing a lunch for the faculty and staff which is rotated throughout the school for one Wednesday a month; we could be teamed up another classroom to provide lunch for the faculty and staff once per school year.
School Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
9:00 AM to 3:50 PM - Tardy bell rings at 9:04 AM
Wednesday
9:00 AM to 12:40 PM – Tardy bell rings at 9:04 AM
Snow Day Schedule
Listen to the radio of television for the weather report the morning of a severe snowstorm.
An abbreviated or 2 hour delay means that school will begin at 11:04 AM and dismissal 3:50 PM, including Wednesdays – unless another severe snowstorm is coming in and the school deems it best for the students to get home before the streets freeze.
Sharing – a.k.a. Show N’ Tell
Students will have an opportunity to share on their nightly writing days. Sharing provides an opportunity for your child to practice public speaking. Five and 6 year olds can be very shy. As they grow comfortable with their confidence they want to speak in front of a group. When the student has finished sharing they are asked to take 2 questions from the audience, this is their favorite part, plus it helps the audience to learn what a question is. This will be occurring at the end of the day if time allows, it is optional nobody will be forced to share and if they do not want to at the last minute that’s okay. This is a non-stressful practice to build self-confidence.
Teacher
Lisa Troxel
Your child’s classroom is staffed with two teachers. My name is Lisa Troxel and the children can call me Lisa. I am the certified teacher but my licensed educational assistant, is just as much a teacher as I am. I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a New Mexico state license to teach kindergarten through 8th grade. I also have a gifted education endorsement and am certified to teach ESL. I have been a part of the Monte Vista community for many years. If you have any questions about my classroom, this handbook or anything else – please contact me. You can reach me through your communication folder, email or a phone call.
Lisa Troxel
[email protected]
505-944-5072.
Website
Please visit our website for updates!
http://lisatroxelskindergarten.weebly.com