Welcome to the Flushing Early Childhood Center 2018

Welcome to the Flushing Early Childhood Center 2018 -19

All About : Mrs. Zook All About Mrs. Zook Number of Year Teaching: 14 Family: Mr. Brent, Brody & Everly Undergrad Work: CMU Masters Degree: Oakland University Favorite things to do outside of school: Fishing, biking, swimming Hobbies: Running, crafting, Crossfit, photography

School Staff

Arrival • School starts at 8: 40 am. No early entries. Please stay in designated areas until then. • Parent drop off lane: Chamberlain St. in front of the building. Stay in your car and let the ECC staff help your child out of the car. They will walk children up to the appropriate spot by the front doors of the school. • Bus riders will be accompanied by safety patrol/adults into the building. • Students will be marked tardy if they are late--arriving to school 9: 00 am or later. • Students are responsible for independently walking in the hallway to their classroom, hanging up belongings in lockers, and bringing into the classroom necessary things. • Students are expected to start morning procedures independently upon arrival. (Making lunch choice, putting snack in cubby, starting activities at tables, etc. )

Dismissal • Students are dismissed to latchkey/parent pick up areas, supervised by ECC staff and teachers, at 3: 30 p. m. Our school day ends at 3: 36 p. m. • Classroom teachers walk students, who ride the bus home, to their buses. • If there are changes to the dismissal routine for your child, you MUST either send a note or call the office before 3: 00 p. m. to make changes. No changes will be made after 3: 00 p. m. • Parent Pickup is located in the computer lab for 100 hallway students. Students will sit and wait in designated areas until parents are allowed to pick up their child (shortly after dismissal time of 3: 36 p. m). • You MUST show your green card in order to pick up students. If you do not have the card, you will have to go to the office.

Bus Tags and Bus Routines • Each student is given a “bus tag” which needs to stay zip tied to his/her backpack. The bus tags give important information to teachers and adults so they can help direct students to their classrooms. They also help the bus drivers know student’s address and the bus that will take them home. • ECC students will ride a shuttle bus to their home “elementary” school. You will see this on their tag. They also have a “take home bus” which is what they will ride to get home. • Teachers and bus drivers are very helpful at getting students on correct buses during the first weeks of school. Bus Variances have special paperwork and approval needed before any changes will be made to your child’s bus schedule.

Latchkey • Latchkey is available before and after school. If you would like to sign your child up for latchkey, please visit the latchkey coordinator’s office. Paperwork must be filled out before they can attend latchkey services. • Latchkey entrance is located off Chamberlain St. entrance. Latchkey students are walked to classrooms in the morning at 8: 40 a. m.

Attendance • Students who come to school each day and are on time, set up a successful academic career. • If your child is absent please call the office at 5912326. • If you know your child will miss school in advance, please let the teacher know so work can be made up if necessary.

Breakfast/Lunch My School Bucks (Student Breakfast/Lunch Money Accounts) https: //www. myschoolbucks. com/ ● Free or Reduced lunch forms need to be filled out ASAP (Online is the fastest way, see school website). Until paperwork is completed and processed, full breakfast and/or lunch charges will be made to your child’s account. ● If your child is to eat breakfast at school, please make your child’s teacher aware so it is ensured that your child is eating when he/she arrives to school. Students eat breakfast in the cafeteria as soon as they arrive to school and are returned to their lockers once they are done eating.

How to turn in money All money MUST be turned in using an envelope or baggie. MONEY CANNOT BE ACCEPTED without the following information on it: • Student’s First and Last Name • What the money is for (lunch, field trip, library dues) • How much is enclosed • Teacher Name/Room Number

Snack Every child is responsible for bringinghis/her own healthy snack EACH day. Please make sure these snacks are easily opened and manageable by your child (pre-cut apples, oranges peeled, small bag of crackers, etc. ) If the snack requires utensils please make sure to send them. Candy is not considered a snack. Snacks need to be kept separate from lunch bag. Students often forget to take their snack out of their lunch bag in the morning, or they eat it at lunch and then do not have a snack for later in the day if snack is put in lunch bag. Ask teacher if a classroom fridge is available to use for snacks. Water is available at the drinking fountain during snack time. Please do not send juice box for snack. Water bottles are fine.

Communication/Orange Folders My main form of communication to parents will be: Our classroom STAR folder. (located on your students table) Your child is provided with one orange folder at the start of the year. This folder MUST come to school EVERY day. If it is lost you will need to provide a replacement. This is your child’s main communication tool to connecting home and school. Please make sure to EMPTY and READ through any papers each night. Home side is what you need to keep at home, Return to school side is where you send anything back to school needing signatures, money, unfinished classroom work.

Birthdays Children are welcome to celebrate birthdays at school if they choose to. Classrooms will recognize birthdays with their classmates. However due to allergies and other concerns, please send in only NON-EDIBLE treats. NO FOOD ITEMS will be accepted to pass out to the class. Some examples are: -Donate a book to library, glow sticks, pencils, erasers, stickers etc. Birthday itemssent in will be distributed at the end of the day to be opened at home.

Specials Kindergarten students will attend the following specials this year: - Art - P. E. (Please make sure your child wears running shoes on P. E. days in order to participate in the class) - Science - Computer Lab (2 x a week with classroom teacher) - Library (once a week, students may check out one book at a time) Once our specials schedule is finalized, I will get the information to you right away!

Change of Clothing / Self Help Skills • Independence is an important part of kindergarten! We would like students to be able to: • Take care of all bathroom needs on their own • Zipping and buttoning clothing • Work on tying shoes--please aid in teaching your child this skill or choose other options • We understand accidents may occur, please provide a change of clothing to keep in their locker or cubby

Promoting Positive School Climate Promoting a positive climate at the ECC is so important for our children in learning to be part of a school family, and to learn the expectations of being a positive participant in any community. Below are support systems used at the ECC to promote positive behavior. You may hear about these exciting programs in your home. Below each item is explained so you may celebrate with your child. Students will be taught the school wide expectations of Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful. Throughout the year, our positive behavior lessons are reviewed by book read alouds, character education lessons, videos, modeling, and specific teaching in classrooms. Be Safe! Be Respectful! Be Responsible! Junior Raider Tickets- Students will earn individual orange “raider tickets” for positive behavior. Look for orange raffle tickets to come home acknowledging your child for being responsible, respectful, and safe. It means so much to our children when you take time to celebrate this acknowledgement at home! Junior Raider of the Month- Each month a student is chosen as the Junior Raider of the Month from each classroom. Specials teachers, lunchroom supervisors and ancillary staff also have the opportunity to recognize a Jr. Raider of the Month. These students have shown our 3 Schoolwide Expectations of being respectful, responsible, and safe throughout the month. They will be acknowledged with a special Junior Raider Flag at their table during lunch, receive a certificate with a Junior Raider rubber bracelet, have their name announced to the whole school, have their name posted near the office, and receive a free ice cream certificate from Cops and Robbers. It is an honor to be the Junior Raider of the Month at the ECC! Big Orange Ticket Contest -Quarterly, students will participate in a school-wide contest. Classrooms “caught” being safe, respectful, and responsible by any staff member (other than their teacher) will be awarded a BIG ORANGE TICKET. Teachers will display them outside classrooms as a visual reminder. When the contest time window closes, Big Orange Tickets will be tallied and the winning classroom will be announced and rewarded. Classroom Positive Reinforcement -Each classroom may have their own positive behavior systems in place as well. Teachers may do drawings with the junior raider tickets, DOJO, give classroom points, fill a marble jar etc. Please discuss this with your child’s teacher if clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help and support to make your child’s kindergarten year successful! Please contact me with any questions. donna. zook@flushingschools. org or 810 -591 -2315.