Welcome new Kindergarten families!
July 2023
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL, MRS. HOWELL
To the parents of Wilbur Elementary Kindergarten students:
As principal at an elementary school, it is always a joy to see the new Kindergarten students enter on the first day of school. We take pride in the fact that we will be the first stepping stone in your child’s journey to a successful educational experience!
I know that you may be feeling the butterflies in your stomach right now because your baby is going to enter Kindergarten in just a few short weeks. It is usually more stressful on a child’s parents than on him or her! I hope that you will take a deep breath and know that we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that your child’s first year in school is a fantastic experience. We have an energetic group of Kindergarten teachers who work to make sure our students are successful. This work has paid off with high levels of student achievement and lots of fun.
Your first edition of my weekly newsletter, Wilbur Words, will be emailed home about two weeks before the start of school. This will have a ton of important information about arrival, dismissal, and everything else that you'll need to get the year started right.
Then, a week or so before school begins, you will receive a mailing from the district, which includes some additional information about the start of school. Finally, a few days before school starts, you will receive a separate communication from the district listing bus and homeroom information. We are not able to access this information until right before school starts so, unfortunately, we can't provide you updates on this information until those mailers go out from district.
In order to get our youngest students off to a wonderful start, we are encouraging all parents to bring their child to our Kinderduction. All eight of our Kindergarten teachers will be a part of this Wilbur tradition. Since I will have class lists finalized at that point, each teacher will be able to work with their own students on routines and procedures and acclimate them to the building. This will give both you and your child the chance to start building a relationship with the teacher that they will spend their year with. (And, will allow your kiddo a shorter time away from you for the first school experience.) Kinderduction will take place MONDAY, AUGUST 21 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. You will drop your child off with their teacher in our Multi-Purpose room and then have a few hours to go relax. A bit later on that same date, I will be hosting a “Q and A with the Principal” from 10:30 to 11:30. This will be an informal time for you to come and ask ANY questions you might have before the year starts. At 11:30 a.m., you will then join your child in their classroom to meet the teacher, get a tour of the room, and go on a tour of the building. We are hoping that this introduction to our Wilbur home will help you and your child feel more comfortable as they walk through our doors on the first day of school. Register for Kinderduction using this form: https://forms.gle/mDU9JE4nwyunq5kE7 or clicking the button below.
Can't attend Kinderduction? No problem....you will be able to see your child's classroom on our new family Walkthrough Night - Thursday, 8/24 between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. More information will be sent on this event in the August edition of Wilbur Words.
For planning purposes, Open House for Grades K-2, when your child’s teacher will meet with you about school and curriculum information, will take place on September 13 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. We believe that with school and home working as a team, all students can succeed at Wilbur Elementary, and we look forward to inspiring your child to excellence in the coming year!
SPLIT START FOR KN STUDENTS
Very Important!
The district schedules a split start for Kindergarten students in order to provide smaller class sizes to allow teachers to get to know their students and teach routines and procedures in smaller groups. Please note the two days that week that your child will attend school that first week based on the chart below.
WHAT ABOUT LUNCH???
DISMISSAL INFORMATION.....SO IMPORTANT!
COMMUNICATION
Every Friday, be on the lookout in your email box for my weekly newsletter - Wilbur Words. I try to put everything you need to know for the upcoming week in this weekly communication and always have links to important documents, like our Family Handbook and absent note link, at the bottom of the email.