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A Students are given an agenda on the first day of school. This agenda will also have our school handbook. Your child will write his/her homework in the agenda daily. They will also have their spelling list for the week glued into their agenda. This book, along with their red homework folder, should come home daily and be returned the next day. When your child begins his/her homework, please check the assignment in their agenda. After they have completed their homework please sign the agenda. This certifies that you saw their assignment and they’ve completed it. Also, the agenda is used for any notes you may have for me as well as any notes I may have for you. It is vital that it get checked daily! Attendance It is important for your child to attend school regularly. We utilize a hands-on, collaborative learning style in our classroom. If your child is not present they are missing important experiences, some of which are unable to be made up. Therefore, please schedule doctor appointments, vacations and other appointments after school hours. School begins at 9:05. Sometimes it is necessary for a student to stay home due to illness. If your child has been ill throughout the night or awakens with a fever or vomiting please keep him home. Please notify the school by 10:00 am to report your child’s absence. B Birthdays Birthdays are an important part of a person’s life experiences. In second grade they are celebrated within our classroom. You may send a small treat to be shared with our class. Please make sure it is something easy to handle and precut. Please do not send in a whole cake. Also, please send in napkins, cups, (if sending in juice from a can or bottle, I recommend juice boxes) and plates if necessary. Please let me know 2-3 days in advance when scheduling a birthday. Summer birthdays may be celebrated on their half-birthday. Again, please contact me to schedule.
Party invitations may be handed out in school if you child is inviting all the boys in our class or all the girls in our class or the entire class. If you are inviting individual students you must make other arrangements to distribute invitations.
Book Orders Throughout the year you will have the opportunity to order books through Scholastic Books. These are wonderful, affordable books and a great way to build your child’s home library. Please make checks payable to Scholastic. They also offer the option to order the books online. Our user name is: ktrovarelli and our password is: books. Utilizing this resource earns points and free books for our classroom.
C
If your child is going home a different way then he/she normally goes home, please send a note to school. This note should be written in your child’s agenda or it could be a separate paper. All changes must be documented in writing. If there is not a written note, your child will return home in the usual manner in which they go home. For the safety of your child, I can not go by what your child may tell me.
Communication I believe communication from home-to-school and from school–to-home is very important in our success in educating our student. The best form of communicating is through your child’s agenda. I check agendas each morning for notes. I may also be contacted via email. My email address is: ktrovarelli@vineland.org or you may call the school and leave a voice mail message for me. I check my email several times throughout the day. I will return telephone messages after 4:00. If it is something I need to know right away, please leave a message with the office. They will be sure to contact me regarding emergency messages.
D
School dismissal is 3:40. Car riders and after school students will be dismissed first. Busses will then be called for dismissal. If your child is a car rider you must join the single lane of traffic in the driveway. You may not park your car and come into the school to get your child. Your child will be dismissed to you by security based upon the order of traffic.
E
Please make sure
your child’s emergency information sheet is on file in the office. Each
year a new one is sent home during the first week of school. Please have
F
Second graders have had the opportunity to attend many field trips throughout the year. We have been very fortunate to have the support of our PTO to assist us with these trips; however, we must also supplement this with our own fundraising efforts. We begin with a mum sale in the fall and a poinsettia sale during the holidays. We may also participate in other fundraising throughout the school year. The success of these events will determine what we are able to do and where we are able to go for our students. Please make every effort to support them. G
Students will be graded in various ways. They will receive grades for: participation, homework, classwork, quizzes and tests. Many times their grade is on their individual accomplishment but sometimes they are graded on collaborative efforts within their group work.
Vineland Public Schools uses the following break down for grades:
A: 90-100 B: 89-83 C: 82-76 D: 75-70 F: 69 and below
H
Your child will receive homework Monday through Thursday. It usually consists of: spelling, math and language arts. It should not take any more than 20-30 minutes to complete this written homework. In addition to written homework, your child will be responsible for 20 minutes of reading each night. Many nights it will be “free choice” reading. Sometimes it will be a book or story I’ve assigned. You must sign in their agenda or their “sticky note” to verify completion of their reading homework. Students should also practice their math facts for 10-15 minutes three (3) times a week. They are expected to know their addition and subtraction facts to 18.
I Children will enjoy many fun and meaningful learning opportunities. They will participate in a variety of activities which will utilize different learning styles. There will be many incentives for our children to do well and do their best. First and foremost they will want to do their best, and when they do they will receive rewards in a variety of ways. In our classroom each student has a star. The goal of this star is to not be moved. If a student is having a difficult time demonstrating caring, respect, or responsibility they will need to move their star. Each time a student moves his/her star there is a different consequence. The consequences are as follows:
1st a warning- blue
2nd time out- yellow
3rd loss of recess -green
4th note home
5th send to principal
If a child has moved his/her star they will color their homework folder for the day to the color of where they moved their star. When a parent sees their student’s folder colored in they should ask their child why and what has happened to make them move their star.
If a child does not move his/her star they will receive a punch on their behavior card. When their card is filled they will receive a frozen treat.
Students’ desks are arranged in tables or pods. There are four pods in our classroom, red, blue, pink and yellow. Each student is a member of one of the tables and their corresponding color. Each table begins the week with 15 fish in our classroom fishbowl. It is the goal to have the most fish at the end of the week. If someone or an entire table is not demonstrating caring, respect or responsibility then they will need to pull a fish from the fishbowl. At the end of the week each member of the table with the most fish will have an opportunity to visit the prize box.
J JoinJoin the Mennies School family. Have an active role in your child’s education. Be a part of PTO, attend parent/teacher conferences, be available for the many informative parent nights, and support our school during author nights and other kids’ nights. Your active role assists in the success of our school.
K
We will practice the pillars of good character. One we will spend a lot of time on developing will be kindness. We will practice being kind and tolerant of others. We will learn about filling buckets for others and in doing so we will fill our own buckets. We will know and demonstrate caring, responsibility and respect.
L
Lunch in the cafeteria is from 12:20 – 12:45. Children will then go outside for recess from 12:45 – 1:05. Children will go outside each day weather permitting. Please be sure to send your child to school with appropriate clothing. Their clothing should be labeled with their name as sometimes children come to school with the same items.
M
Mystery Readers are special guests who come to our classroom to read a story to students. Mystery Readers are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, any special person in the child’s life. Mystery Readers come to our classroom on Fridays. However, if a Mystery Reader needs a different time to suit their schedule, we'll be glad to accommodate! Students love to see their parents, grandparents, and special friends get involved in our classroom. The Mystery Reader program allows any one who wants to become involved because it requires little time, but the memories will last forever for the surprised students! The Mystery Reader program will not begin until October. Mrs. Trovarelli will notify you in our class newsletter when you may sign up for this program. She will also send a reminder home, or you can let her know through email that you would like to be involved in this program. Your child will be SO excited that you participated, but remember to keep it "top secret" until your big day arrives. Once you've signed up for a date to come read to our class, you can start thinking of a book you would like to bring to read. If you don't have a book, Mrs. Trovarelli will be glad to have one for you. The week prior to your visit, Mrs. Trovarelli will send you a reminder, along with a request for five clues to read to the students the day of your visit. These should be 5 clues that start general and become more specific. By the fifth clue, your child should be able to guess that you are the special mystery reader for the day!
N
Newsletters will be sent home in Wednesday Folders. Classroom newsletters will give updated information about the happenings in our classroom. Please look for them on Wednesdays. O OrganizeHelp organize your child for a successful school year. Set up a consistent location and time to complete homework. Equip the area with the tools necessary to finish his work. Check the homework and agenda before signing the agenda and place everything in a bookbag ready for the next morning. Praise your child for a job well done.
P Our Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) meets regularly on the second Monday of each month. Meetings are held in the Media Center and begin at 7:00. Babysitting is available. Our PTO works tirelessly for the benefit of our children. They raise funds to provide programs for our children. Their success lies in its membership. PTO is a wonderful way to get involved in your child’s education. It would be wonderful if we could have 100% of our parents signed up and involved with PTO.
Q
Please feel free to contact me via email at ktrovarelli@vineland.org or by telephone at 856.794.6957. My voicemail extension is: 7628. You can also send a note in your child’s agenda. I will answer it the same day.
R Daily reading is vital for a student’s success in reading
fluency. When a student develops fluency, he will then develop
comprehension skills. Therefore, students are expected to read at home
every night for 20 minutes, as part of their nightly homework. Sometimes
this reading will be “free choice” and sometimes it will be an assigned
reading from a book we are reading in our classroom. Encourage
him/her to
bring their library books home to read as well. We will also take
Accelerated Reader tests. These tests are from their AR (Accelerated
Reading) books which they check out from the library. Each student will
check one AR book from the library and read it on their own. They will
take a computer generated test on their book after having the book for one
week. The children will receive points based on the reading level of the
book. Children are encouraged to choose books on or about their reading
level. They will accumulate their points for rewards from Mrs. Bermudez
in the library.
Share an interest or hobby with your child. Take time to give the gift of time to your student. Show him the importance and love you have for one of your interests. Children learn a great deal from behavior they see.
T School begins at 9:05. Children entering the classroom after 9:20 will be marked late. Please make every effort to arrive on time.
U
Each child is unique. Everyone has their own special talents and qualities. We will celebrate our differences and utilize them in learning about one another.
V
Visitors are asked to sign in at the front security desk. If you are coming to our classroom you will get a pass from the security guard. Please be sure to have identification available. Volunteers Volunteers are always welcome. Volunteering for our students involves many opportunities. You may be able to help from home if your schedule does not allow you to help out during school hours. Anyone interested in volunteering for our classroom please contact me.
W Students are permitted to bring water bottles to school. Studies show that drinking water throughout the day aides in cognition. Their bottles must be plastic and may only have water in them.
X,Y,Z
I am super eXcited to work with You and your child this year! Make sure he/she gets plenty of Zzzz's each night as we have many exciting days planned this year!
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