Our school day starts at 8:45 each day. If your child arrives after the bell at 8:45, they will be considered tardy. Please familiarize yourself with school policies regarding lateness. Also, when the bell rings at 8:45 our school goes into a safety mode, which means all parents must leave the hallways.

Every day we have snack, a recess, special class, and academics before lunch. After lunch each day, we have a rest period, centers or academics depending on the day of the week, and a 2nd recess before dismissal.

Please refer to the master schedule in your B2S night packet for detailed information regarding when academics are taught, and which specials are which days. Please keep our schedule in mind when scheduling doctors appointments, etc.

Kindergarten carpool dismissal is 2:45 each day in front of the Calvary Sanctuary. Bus dismissal is 3 pm daily.

In your Back-to-School Night packet, you will find detailed information regarding the curriculum we use here at Calvary Christian Academy.

In Bible, we start our year reviewing Old Testament stories that point to to our need for a savior. Then, we spend the rest of the year following the Life of Christ from birth to His resurrection. We also learn nine key life verses as a school (one per month).

Language Arts is broken up into 4 components: phonics, comprehension, writing, and vocabulary. In addition, we spend the year memorizing 60 of the most commonly used words in the English Language. We will refer to these words as "sight words". Sight words are extremely important to your child's success here in kindergarten! Please be diligent to practice them daily!

In math, we currently use Go Math! curriculum.

Please refer to the Kindergarten scope and sequence to see when we teach each topic. Also, what we are currently working on is always on each week's hotline.

Starting in October, your child will be getting weekly homework. The purpose of getting homework in kindergarten is mainly to get them in a positive routine for the future, as well as reinforce concepts taught in the classroom. Homework will never be new information given to the kids without me first teaching it in the classroom. Please remember that homework is graded, but only on completeness!

The school policy is that I cannot give more then 30 minutes worth of homework a week for kindergarten. It will be leveled according to your child's academic ability. Most of the time, there will be a phonics section, math section, and sight words to review.

If your child is spending more then 30 minutes, you need to let me know as it is probably too hard!

I have a passion for the use of technology, which is why I will use various tools throughout the course of the year to keep our lines of communication open, and allow you a window into your child's world at school.

My class website is the biggest resource, where you will find important announcements, forms to print at home, monthly calendars, and a digital copy of our weekly newsletter. You will find this sight at ccak2.weebly.com.

I will track child's behaviors/tenancies using an app called "Class Dojo". This is a way I can keep data on what I see during a typical school day, and you can track it in real-time at home by connecting to your child's account.

We will use a digital portfolio called "SeeSaw". This is a way I can keep track of your child's progress online, and share my observations with you. We can also comment on specific artifacts to help with communication and collaboration. Finally, I will use this app to video your child's testing, which I can share with you so you can see exactly what I see during testing!

Finally, I am using a tool named Remind to help send important reminders out in a safe and secure way. feel free to give me feedback at the end of the year!

Every night, your child will bring home their take home folder. This is our main means of communication, as we will use this to return school work, send home announcements, etc.

Mrs. Hipwell stapled a ziploc bag on the left side of this folder. This is to be used for smaller things such as monies, hot lunch forms, box top donations, etc. Please make sure you zipper the bag, as we have already lost some pretzel money in book bags. Also, please label all money you put in there, so we know who to give it to. Unfortunately, we cannot accept any cash more than $20.00 in the classroom. Please amounts larger then $20 at the school office.

Your child can order hot lunch daily as long as they are enrolled in the program and have a positive balance in their account. Please see the enrollment form that was sent home the first day of school for details.

Kindergartners do not walk through the hot lunch line. Rather, you will need to send in both sides of the purple order form attached. The kitchen ladies cut the papers after the order is complete.

Please make sure you are filling out the correct day of the week, as choices change daily!

Every Wednesday is Pretzel Day! Pretzels must be pre-ordered, so please always send in money for Wednesday pretzels on Tuesday.

We are unable to make change in the classroom, so please send in exact change. Please do not put money in any envelope. Mrs. Hipwell only has a few minutes each day to go through each child's folder, so we want to make it as easy on her as possible. As long as we see $0.35 in your child's ziploc bag on a Tuesday, we know exactly what it is form.

We will send home uneaten portions of the pretzels so the children can enjoy at home!

Every month, we will participate in school store! This is a time where the children get to purchase little goodies.

You will get a little brown envelope in your child's take home folder the day before school store. Please put no more then $1.00 inside.

Whatever your child buys will be sent home so you can see their purchase. Change will be sent home in the brown paper bag with their school store item.

You filled out an information sheet online that specified how your child will be going home each day. I used that sheet to make a daily transportation log that Mrs. Hipwell uses to notify the office as to how your child is going home each day.

If you need your child to go home a different way, please send in a pink "Change of Transportation" form filled out and signed. Please only do this the day of the transportation change, as we do not want to lose it in the shuffle.

If the change of transportation happens during the school day, please call the office no later then 2:00 pm. Please never email me a transportation change, as it may not get to me in time.

If you need to make a permanent change in your child's daily transportation, please send in a handwritten signed note, and we will file that for our records and update the log.

Remember, if you would like to make a cash payment with an amount higher then $20.00, you must go directly to the Elementary office and a receipt will be issued. We cannot process any cash higher then $20.00 inside your child's folder.

If you are paying for anything through check, such as tuition, hot lunch accounts, etc, please follow the guidelines below:

- All payments must be in a sealed envelope with the following information clearly listed on the front:
1. Child's Name
2. Teacher's Name
3. What the money is for
4. Amount of money enclosed.

In kindergarten, we do not use the typical letter grading scale. Rather, we use a system of plus, check, and minus to report on student progress.

If your child receives a plus on their assignment, that means they met all expectations.

If they receive a check on their paper, that means they are still developing that particular skill.

If they receive a minus, that means that they need to show improvement in that particular skill or concept.

Please make you are familiar with school policy regarding student dress. While we do not have uniforms, we do ask that certain guidelines are followed.

Please be modest in attire. We ask that there are no short shorts, no spaghetti straps or midriff shirts. Please make sure all tank tops have straps at least the width of your child's shoulder. Please no writing on the backside of pants, and make sure all logos are appropriate for school. Please make sure the children do not wear anything with skulls, skeletons, etc during the Halloween season!

There are no hats or hoodies to be worn inside the building except for spirit days.

Flip-flops are highly discouraged solely for safety reasons. The children go outside to the blacktop and playground for recess, so they need appropriate footwear to run and play.

If your child is sick, please do not send them to school! It is hard enough sometimes to get them to focus, and you know what it feels like to not feel well and then have expectations placed on you. It also puts the other children, and teachers, at risk for getting sick as well.

You must call in absences! A parent or guardian must call the school and leave a message before 9:00 a.m. The answering machine is on from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. Please leave the name of your child and child’s teacher. Please never email absences to me directly or the school office.

Your child must be fever/symptom free for 24 hours without medicine to be able to come back to school. If they were sent home with a fever, and the next day come back to school, they will be sent down to the school nurse, and will need to be picked up.

Also, if your child complains of stomach issues, please take them seriously, and follow the same guidelines. They should be 24 hours without symptoms before returning to school.

We will take various field trips this year, and will need extra sets of hands to help us make it a memorable experience for the children! Here are some general guidelines for field trips:

- Every child must have a signed permission slip for each trip. If we do not have parent permission, your child cannot attend.
-Parents can request to be a field trip chaperone. Space is limited, and we take chaperones who have their clearances on a first come/first serve basis.
-If someone other than a parent/guardian is requesting to chaperone, a letter of recommendation from the parent is required.
-All parents attending field trips must sign in at the office before they leave.
-Siblings may not attend field trip, including young infants. If you are chaperoning a trip, you must find alternate childcare for little ones.

Unfortunately, we cannot take every parent on every trip, so we use a first come/first serve system. The first parents with completed clearances who respond with interest are selected first, and then everyone else is placed on a wait list. If you already chaperoned a trip, preference will be given to those parents who did not have a chance to join us yet.

As a chaperone, you will be responsible to watch over a small group of children. This includes keeping them seated on the bus, keeping them together while traveling to and from the field trip, and helping them with tasks throughout the field trip. You will never have a group larger then 5, and the teachers will always be there to help you. We just ask that you take the job of chaperone seriously!

If you wish to be involved in any in class activities, including class parties, centers, field day, etc, you must have completed child abuse clearances and criminal background checks on file at the school office. We are not permitted to allow any adults (parents included) into our classroom without this documentation. The process is free, and easy to follow. If you would like more information as to how to fill out the clearances, please speak to Diane SUllivan at the elementary school ofice.

Personal belongings are strongly discouraged at school. They are hard to keep track of, and it is impossible for me as a teacher to keep track of all the toys of 19 different kids.

We do realize, though, that some children have longer bus rides that requires some entertainment. Please realize that any personal belongings are your child's responsibility, and the school cannot be held liable for lost items.

it is strongly encouraged to label all of your child's belongings, even jackets, lunch boxes, etc. You would be amazed what is found in the lost and found each year. Labeling everything helps return items to the children, as well as prevents confusion and theft.