Welcome to Kindergarten Virtual Orientation 2020 2021 School

Welcome to Kindergarten Virtual Orientation 2020 -2021

School Information Belle Valley Elementary 5300 Henderson Rd. Erie, PA 16509 (814)835 -5600 Fax: (814)835 -5623 Principal: Dr. Smith Assistant Principal: Mrs. Law

Kindergarten Teachers Rm 1 – Mrs. Carrie Leeds (KL) Rm 2 – Mrs. Julie Ottavio (KO) Rm 3 – Ms. Megan Romines (KR) Rm 4 – Mrs. Jennifer Hunt (KH) CONTACT INFORMATION – School Email Teacher’s Last Name@mtsd. org

Quick Meet and Pick-up THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 rd 3: 30 - 4: 30 PM Drive by, meet your teacher and pick up some special items. • Student Folder • Transportation Tag • Lanyard with Mask • Ready Confetti

Support Staff Secretary – Ms. Bonnie Platz Office Assistant – Mrs. Patrice Kocher School Nurse – Mrs. Deb Gerlach Student Intervention Specialist – Mrs. Courtney Abbate School Guidance Counselor – Mrs. Tracey Merlino School Psychologist – Dr. Erin Connel Speech – Mrs. Amanda Connors ESL Teacher – Mrs. Sarah Thompson-Samec Cafeteria Manager – Mrs. Sue Staaf Custodian – Mr. Tom Phillips

School Times START Time: 9: 15 AM BREAKFAST Time 9: 15 AM Cost of Breakfast - $1. 45 If your child will be purchasing breakfast, please let your child’s teacher know so that we can assure they get their breakfast bag. The children who purchase breakfast; will walk in, take a bag from the table and then head to their classroom to eat.

School Times Car Rider Dismissal Starts @ 3: 00 PM • Kindergarten students first • Then grades 1 – 5 at approx. 3: 02 PM • Front doors (by large rock) – students line up behind their grade level cone/sign We will start calling for buses at approximately 3: 05 PM

Attendance

Infinite Campus

Lunch LUNCH Time 11: 00 – 11: 30 PM Cost of Lunch – $2. 50 Cost of Milk -$. 60 Lunch M en will be po us sted at mtsd. org If your child is buying lunch, please review the menu choices. They will need to tell us their lunch choice each morning. When students are packing their lunch, please know we will not be able to heat up their lunch.

Lunch Account You can access your child’s account on Infinite Campus. You can electronically add money to their account.

Meals To Go On Mondays, the district will be providing meals. These meals will include breakfast and lunch for Monday and the days that your student is not physically in the school building. • 3 breakfasts and 3 lunches You will need to pre-order at: mtsd. org Pick up will be held: To Be Determined

Names Please put your child’s name inside/on everything. . . • Book bag • Lunch box • Masks • Boots • Coats • Sweatshirts • Umbrellas

Masks We will be providing your child with a mask and a lanyard. We are asking that they wear that particular mask the first 2 physically days they are in school. They will be used as indicators as to which classroom they belong. Please place an extra mask in your child’s book bag. Your child’s name will be on the mask that is given to them. We suggest if they want to wear that mask outside of school they reverse it so their name is not showing in public.

Transportation If your child is not riding the bus, please complete the opt out form: https: //www. mtsd. org/assets/documents/Tr ansportation-Opt-In. Opt-Out. pdf

First Week Requirements Tuesday, Sept. 8 th – Friday, Sept. 11 th • We ask that your child wears their transportation tag daily for the first week of school. We will collect them in the morning and pass them back out at the end of the day. This helps us to make sure your child is where they need to be at dismissal. • We also ask that your child wear the lanyard and mask that we provided for the first week. The mask designs/patterns are specific to one of the four kindergarten teachers. They will be used to make sure your child makes it to the correct classroom.

Infinite Campus It is highly encouraged that you login to your child’s Infinite Campus daily. Step 1 Click FOR PARENTS Step 2 Click INFINITE CAMPUS INFORMATION

Infinite Campus con’t. Step 3 Click ACCESS PARENT PORTAL Step 4 Click OK Step 5 Click on New User * If you have been on IC before enter your Parent username and password

Communication Home Every child will receive a folder. The folder will need to come when your child is physically in the school building. LEFT/STICKER Side – Anything that needs to come to school and/or be returned to school. RIGHT Side – Anything that goes HOME and can stay at HOME. • We will not check your child’s book bag.

Check Folders Daily * Notes from the office * Homework * Scholastic Book Orders PTA information- PLEASE FOLLOW https: //www. facebook. com/groups/165668616842005

TEACH E R Technology TIP Make sure y ou plug in your i. P ad before y o u g to bed o , so it is all charge du the ne p for xt day. • Each student will be issued an i. Pad. • The i. Pad will follow them/be theirs until they are in 2 nd grade. • The i. Pad will need to come when your child is physically in the school building. If you want your child’s i. Pad to remain in school, please let your child’s teacher know, but you must have a device for them to use at home. • i. Pads must be charged for the day – We will not be able to charge i. Pads at school.

Technology DAILY REQUIREMENTS Please have your child login to CLEVER on their virtual days, including Mondays. I will be taking attendance on Clever. After logging into Clever, the students will need to visit our Google Classroom to see their assignments for the day.

Login Info.

Learning Space at Home • Find/Create a space where your child can be productive. • Children are used to routines when it comes to learning – create consistent routines at home as well. • Think about what things at home may distract your child and set guidelines to help limit those distractions. We will be providing a packet with some resources that you and your child can reference.

Homework Each Teacher/Classroom is a bit different. Some assignments will be online and others will be done on paper. * Math and Language Arts * Starts in JANUARY – Accessing the Code (ATC)

Weekly Helper and Specials Calendar When your child’s name is on the calendar, they are the classroom helper for that week on the days that they are physically at school. The weekly helper can bring in one item for Show and Tell, which must fit in their book bag.

Suggested Snacks Students are encouraged to bring in their own healthy snack each day. Please pack their snack in their book bag and not in their lunch box. We do not want it to accidently be eaten at lunchtime. We will be eating lunch at 11: 00 so we anticipate that the students will be hungry in the afternoon. • • Goldfish Crackers Animal Crackers Pretzels Applesauce Yogurt/Gogurt Cheese Sticks Teddy Grahams Cereal Bars • • • Fruit Snacks – please NO fruit roll-ups Fresh Fruit Graham Crackers Popped Popcorn Cheez-Its Granola Bars * Due to allergies – NO peanut butter or nuts

Birthdays Unfortunately, we are unable to allow your student to bring in a snack for the class on their birthday. We will do our best to make your child’s birthday special in the classroom.

Language Arts We will be using the Wonders series through Mc. Graw Hill and other supplementary materials. At the beginning of the year we will focus on the letter names, letter sounds and high frequency words. • We will move on to putting letter sounds together to create words. • We will introduce the elements of a story which include the characters, setting and details of the story. •

Mathematics We will be using the My Math series through Mc. Graw Hill and other supplementary materials. • • • We will focus on counting, identifying and writing the numbers 1 – 20. We will be asking the students to count to 100 by the end of year by 1 s and 10 s. We will explore addition and subtraction as well as measurement 2 D/3 D shapes

Accessing the Code (At. C) In January we will begin our At. C lessons. Accessing the Code is a systematic approach to spelling and reading instruction. We will be focusing on: • Phonemic Awareness • Letter and Sound Identification • Blending • Reading m • Writing sounds and words a p

Writing “KINDERGARTEN” Writing – We encourage the students to use inventive spelling (letter sounds they have mastered) to write what they hear along with high frequency words. • We will be focusing on the correct way to form letters, using capital letters to start sentences, using spaces (finger spaces) between words and punctuation at the end of a sentence.

Specials run on a 6 day A/B schedule. Specials are 40 minutes long. Art and Music will take place in your child’s classroom. For Gym, the students will be going to the Gym or outside when possible. SNEAKERS are a MUST. • ART – Mrs. Jill Ekas • MUSIC – Mr. Brandon Maxwell • GYM – Ms. Lori Hirtzel

Supplies We provide your child with a Home-School Communicator folder, crayon bag and pencils. We ask that each child please bring in the following items. . . • • 1 – pack of THIN CRAYOLA Markers • 1 – pack of TWISTABLE CRAYOLA PENCILS (12 colors) please NO MORE THAN 18 • 1 – set of EARBUDS or HEADPHONES (please NOT WIRELESS) 1 – WATER BOTTLE - Suggested Reusable Water Bottle – CONTIGO NO GLASS BOTTLES in SILICONE SLEEVES, please NO LOOSE STRAWS, please * features a pop-up straw that operates with one hand protective spout cover keeps out dirt and germs for cleaner drinking and lid is leak proof ** sending in bottled water daily is also an option **

Supplies • 3 – ELMER’S LARGE Glue Sticks – Washable School Glue Stick Disappearing Purple -. 77 oz. or 1. 4 oz. • 2 - Boxes of CRAYOLA 24 Pack of Crayons label with name • 1 - Pair of FISKARS BLUNT Tip (rounded) Kid Scissors label with name • 2 - Box of Tissues • 1 – SOLID Durable 2 Pocket Folder – for classroom use (please DO NOT LABEL) • 2 – small tubs of Play-Doh

Supply Closet WISHLIST These items will be used throughout the school year by all the Kindergarten classrooms. . . • Zip-top Snack Bags (not the fold over kind, please) • Zip-top Gallon Bags • CRAYOLA Washable THICK Markers • CRAYOLA Washable THIN Markers • Packs of CRAYOLA TWISTABLE Colored Pencils • Packs of THIN Expo ODORLESS Markers • Thick Yellow Highlighters and/or Assorted Colored • Highlighters

Supply Closet WISHLIST • Clorox Wipes • Outside Chalk When donating these items, please make sure to bag them separately from your individual child’s kindergarten supplies and put your child’s last name on the outside of the bag.

Pillars Of Character T is for TRUSTWORTHINESS R is for RESPECT R is for RESPONSIBILITY F is for FAIRNESS C is for CARING C is for CITIZENSHIP At Belle Valley we learn about the six pillars of character and how we can incorporate them at home, at school, on the bus, and in the community.