Welcome to 2020
We are off to a great start!
The start of 2020
New and Returning Teachers and Staff
We also have three new Teacher's Aides joining our staff. Ms. Thomas, Ms. Dandreano, and Ms. Reid will be working with our students in the classroom and 1:1. I am excited about these additions as each of them comes to us with extensive experience working with children. They are filling two positions left open by resignations and add some time to our classroom support. This additional time creates a consistent support schedule for our Kindergarten classrooms. For the remainder of the year each Kindergarten class has an assigned aide with single aide covering their break and any remaining part of the day.
Ms. Lemon is supported by Ms. Summers and Ms. Thomas
Ms. Cretara is supported by Ms. Hyatt and Ms. Gilleo
Ms. Wilde is supported by Ms. Cherundolo and Ms. Gilleo
Toys and Pokemon Cards
As the year started gaming cards, including Pokemon Cards, and personal toys were permitted. There are benefits to alternative activities and games during recess. They offer opportunities for students to cooperate and problem solve together. Even conflict can support problem solving and social growth to some extent.
During the fall I worked with staff to monitor the issues arising from these items. We worked with individuals around conflict resolution, navigating different points of view, and problem solving. Overall I believe that issues should be handled with the specific students having difficulty and group or school wide consequences should be avoided whenever possible.
However, at this time the disruption to learning and distress to students is outweighing the lessons being learned. It is also becoming difficult to isolate the problems and those using these things well have become a small minority.
I am asking for your assistance in keeping gaming cards and toys home as much as possible. Should the items come to school we will be asking students to keep them in their backpacks during the day.
Reminders:
Reminder It is very important to have our students outside for recess and we will make every attempt to make this happen. We just want to remind everyone of the importance of winter attire, please send your child in with hats, mittens and a warm jacket.
Upcoming Dates
1/20/20 No School (Martin Luther King Day)
1/30/20 Incoming Kindergarten Parent Orientation 7:00PM
Registration information HERE