August 20, 2019

Dear 1st Grade Families:

Welcome to our classroom! I am so happy that your child is in my class. We are going to have a great school year! I will share lots of information at Back to School Night this Wednesday, but I want to share a few things with you right away.

Some things to ask your child about the first day of school:

*Students they met, including those in their class

*What they learned about the school, the playground, or the parking lot

*Our classroom and its procedures

*Recess and Lunch

*P.E.

*Stories we read aloud today

*Anything else your student wants to share!

My Behavior Policy:

I believe that positive reinforcement of good behavior is the best way to maintain a healthy classroom environment. Every day is a fresh start at school, and students have the opportunity to earn rewards for great behavior. Some rewards for great behavior include verbal praise, notes home, Golden Tickets, classroom coupons, and other fun things throughout the year. Sometimes, when a student struggles to make good choices, a warning is needed. A warning is not a bad thing, and students will always have a chance to practice making smarter choices. If a student requires more than one reminder, however, there will be additional consequences. I will explain my behavior policies in more detail at Back to School Night. Please ask your child each day how the day was, and celebrate the great days!

Contacting Me

Email is the best way to contact me this year. I check my email regularly, and will get back to you as soon as I can. Please visit my website for important information! I use my website as a way of communicating with you – this is a great way to keep up-to-date on what’s happening in Room C-14!

First Weeks of School

First grade is a fun and exciting time for students. It also represents a big change for them, and you – they are experiencing a full day of school for the first time, the big playground, making new friends, meeting a new teacher, and learning procedures and school behavior all over again. For this reason, I ask that parents do not come in to volunteer for the first few weeks of school, but instead say goodbye when the bell rings at the beginning of the day. By allowing your child to be at school without you, he or she is establishing him/herself as an independent student. Some students may struggle the first week of school, but it is essential to their development that we allow them to transition independently. Once this transition period is over, I invite you to volunteer in the classroom as needed.  I will have a sign-up sheet at Back to School Night with volunteer opportunities. Thank you for respecting your child’s growth and development in the first weeks of school.

Parking Lot Procedures

*Pick at LCM is different this year, here are a few things that are important:

*If you walk to pick up your child after school, please wait for your child in front of the Kindergarten gate. Your child will be looking for you there.

*If you drive to pick up your child after school, he/she will walk out the breezeway, and wait for you. Please attend the parent meeting on Back To School night for more information. Window cards will be given out for you to add your child's name to. These will help teachers know who you ae picking up and speed things up.

*If your child goes to KOC after school, he/she will walk down with other students to the KOC room. It is your child’s responsibility to get to KOC immediately.  The first week, we will have a 4th grade student walk them down.

I will walk students out each day, but it is essential that your student knows exactly where he or she needs to wait for you. This will help to eliminate the stress of the crowd, and pick-up will be much easier. Thank you for discussing pick-up with your child.

Healthy Snack

Snack time is a new concept for first graders – they are used to eating their lunch and going home! Please discuss this with your child, and be sure to pack a healthy snack for him or her each day. Also, please make sure to include water so students stay hydrated. If your child has a reusable water bottle, he/she will be able to fill it throughout the day. Thank you!

I am so excited to work with all of you this year! We will enjoy a year of learning, thinking, and creating. If you have any questions, please feel free to email. I will see you all at Back to School Night on Wednesday, August 22nd !

With gratitude,

Mrs. Pratel

[email protected]

(760) 290-2121