First Grade Yellow Pages

Mrs. Poole & Mrs. Riello-Jones

ROOM 107

 

Welcome back!  We are so excited to get to know our students and their families.  We are also very excited to begin our second year of job sharing.  For those of you who don’t know, we will both be teaching your children every day.  Mrs. Poole will teach Language Arts and Social Studies in the morning, and Mrs. Riello-Jones will teach Math and Science in the afternoon.  This has been a very successful and rewarding experience for us and we are sure your children will enjoy this experience as well. 

 

BACKPACKS/NOTES/ETC.

With your child, choose a special place in your home that will be used for things going to school, and coming from school.  All notes and library books should be put there after written read, or used.  Make a habit of going through your child’s backpack with him/her EVERYNIGHT!!!  Tell your child when you put something in the bag for us or you may find it back at your house-----we don’t check backpacks!!  (We do check folders every morning.)  ALL NOTES SHOULD HAVE OUR NAMES ON THEM.  ALL MONEY SHOULD BE SENT IN AN ENVELOPE WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME, OUR NAMES, AND THE PURPOSE (lunch, field trip, etc.) ON IT.  All notes and money envelopes should be left in the left pocket of your child’s Panther Folder. 

 

BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays are very special to first graders.  You are welcome to send in a treat with your child to celebrate the occasion.  Please let us know a few days in advance.  We will celebrate summer birthdays closer to the end of the year, but we are flexible, and if your child wants to celebrate his/her “half birthday”, that is fine, too!  Just let us know.  Please mail birthday party invitations or distribute them outside of the classroom unless everyone in the class is invited.  This saves lots of hurt feelings!

 

 

 

CLOTHING

Please dress your child in comfortable clothing.  Tennis shoes or soft soled shoes are best for daily wear, since we try to get outside at least once a day when weather permits.  Please dress your child appropriately for outside play (jacket, sweater, mittens/gloves, heavy coat).  Please work with your child so they are comfortable fastening his/her own clothes and jackets/coats.  In fact, if you haven’t bought a winter coat yet, try to find one that is easy to fasten--- large buttons, a big plastic zipper.  It can get very cold on our playground--- make sure your child’s coat has a hood, or please provide a hat. 

 

COMMUNICATION

Communication between parents and teachers is vitally important to us.  If you have any questions, concerns, or feel you just need to talk about your child, please let us know.  We prefer to be contacted via e-mail:

Mrs. Poole: pooleas@pwcs.edu              Mrs. Riello-Jones: jonesla@pwcs.edu

You can also call the school and leave a message: 703-753-7741.  We will always try to return e-mails and calls as soon as possible.  Good communication is important so that we can work together and provide the best possible education for your child.  If there is a problem, please contact us first.  If we are unable to help you solve the problem, we may need to involve an administrator at that point.  Confidentiality is very important to us. 

 

CONFERENCES

Please sign up for a conference on November 6th.  Prince William County has recently designated parent teacher conference days.  We hope this gives you enough time to make any arrangements you may need to make.  Please make every effort to attend a conference for your child on this day. 

 

CURRICULUM

The Prince William County curriculum is used and covers all of the Virginia State Standards of Learning (SOL’s).  We try to present the curriculum in a fun, exciting, hands on learning environment.  You may look up the SOL’s on the PWCPS website:

www.pwcs.edu

 

 

PANTHER FOLDERS

Your child will bring home his/her Panther folder everyday, which includes a daily behavior calendar, a daily reading calendar, notes from us, or notices sent by the school.  We also send the children’s work home in this folder.  Your job is to check to folder daily: check the behavior calendar, empty out any unnecessary work/papers, and send back any papers or notes back to school.  Your child must bring the folder to school each day.

 

DAILY SCHEDULE

9:00 – 11:25 Reading/Language Arts/Social Studies

11:30 – 11:45          Recess

11:45 – 12:15          Lunch

12:20-1:55   Math/Science       

2:00 – 2:45  Encore

2:45-3:25    Core Extension

3:30            Dismissal

*Core Extension is a block of time built into the schedule to provide remediation and enrichment.

 

DISCIPLINE

We will follow the Bristow Run discipline plan.  Your child has a chance to earn a purple each week if he/she stays on green.  We will occasionally issue a purple card to a student who has done something exceptional in class.  Students earn green for having a great day, yellow for a warning, orange for several warnings, and red as a final stop.  If your child is on orange, or red, we will send a note home.  Please discuss the issue with your child so they know there is a partnership between school and home.  All behavior notes must be signed and returned the next school day or your child will miss recess.  If your child is on yellow, we will not send a note home unless it is happening with your child frequently.  If your child is on green or earns purple, please make sure to compliment his/her behavior and let them know how proud you are!

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISMISSAL

Please make sure your child knows how he/she is getting home in the afternoon.  If there is a change in his/her dismissal, please submit a note to us, in your child’s folder.  We will make a note of the change, and then send the note to the office, so they can also note the change.  The children get very confused about dismissal changes.  Please clearly explain to your child what he/she is expected to do, if there is a change. 

 

ENCORE

Students will attend one 45 minute Encore class each day.  Please note that first grade follows a 7 day rotation while the rest of the school follows a 7 day rotation.  This is due to the number of first grade classes rotating through the schedule.

Day 1 Spanish

Day 2 Computer Lab/Science Lab

Day 3 Art

Day 4 P.E.

Day 5 Library

Day 6 Music

Day 7 P.E.

 

FIELD TRIPS

YES!  We will be going on field trips this year.  We will need volunteers to go with us.  You will receive detailed information as the time for each trip approaches.

 

GRADING

Students will be graded on independent work assignments based on the following grading scale:

S: The student meets the objective independently.

S-: The student’s understanding of the objective is inconsistent. 

S+: The student meets the first grade objective and he/she has taken the initiative to explore it further.

N: The student needs assistance to meet the objective at this time.

 

We are required to take 2 grades per subject area per week.  Not all assignments sent home are graded.

 

HOMEWORK

Students are required to read for 15 – 20 minutes each night.  Please keep track of this assignment by using the Bristow Run Reading Log stapled inside your child’s Panther folder.  In addition, your child will bring home a homework packet for the week or math from our new Investigations program.  Please look for the red HOMEWORK stamp on Monday.  All homework assignments are to be turned in on Friday.

First Grade homework policy:

Students who miss 5 homework assignments during a 9 week grading period will receive an S- on their report card.

Students who miss 10 homework assignments during a 9 week grading period will receive an N on their report card.

 

LUNCH

Lunch prices are: $2.00 per day/$10.00 per week.  Reduced lunch is .40 cents per day/$2.00 per week.  Milk is .50 cents.  Breakfast is $1.20 per day/reduced is .30 cents.  The cost of an adult lunch is $3.00.  All prices are also listed on the Elementary School Menu.

You may send a check/cash to school daily, weekly or monthly.  We prefer you to send it in at least weekly.  All funds are placed on your child’s lunch card.  This card works like a credit card.  Each day your child purchases lunch, the cost will be deducted from his/her card.  If at any time you have questions about your child’s account, please call the school and ask to speak to our cafeteria manager Stacey Ervin.  This information is confidential.

Lunch choices:

Please review the lunch menu with your child each morning before school.  There are many choices, and sometimes those decisions can take some time.  This is also a good time to discuss with your child what they will be eating and to make sure they are eating a balanced diet.  If there is a food they do not like or cannot eat, this is the prefect opportunity for you to bring that to his/her attention.

 

NEWSLETTER

We will plan to send home a detailed quarterly newsletter to keep you informed of what is going on in our classroom.  In addition, we will inform you of things throughout the year as needed.  You will also receive the school newsletter “The Panther Press” every Friday.  All newsletters will be sent home in your child’s Panther Folder.

SCHOOL HOURS

The official school hours are 9:00-3:30.  Children are not allowed into the building before 8:45, please plan accordingly.  Children that arrive after 9:00 are marked as tardy. 

 

SICK CHILDREN

AAACHOOO!  Germs spread very quickly throughout a first grade classroom!  As working parents we understand the difficult decision this presents, but keeping a sick child at home is the right thing to do.  Please send a note when your child returns to school explaining the absence.  If your child has been out with a bad cold or something like the flu, consider keeping your child home an extra day to allow him/her to build strength back up.  Coming back to school too soon can often result in another sickness right away! 

Children are not allowed to carry medication to school.  If your child needs to take medication, you must hand carry it to the office/clinic.  Forms are available in the office for permission for the office staff to give prescribed medication.  Teachers cannot administer medication of any kind.

 

SLEEP/BREAKFAST

Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep.  Eight o’clock/eight-thirty is a good bedtime for this age.  A full day of school is a lot of work for little bodies!  Please make sure your child eats a good breakfast.  Those tummies start growling way before lunchtime!

 

SNACK

We will have snack each day around 10:30.  We will send home a monthly snack calendar.  Each child will be responsible for bringing a snack for the entire class once a month.  If you find you will be unable to provide a snack on your assigned day, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make other arrangements.  We are hoping this will make snack time easier for you as well as the children.  Please send in HEALTHY snacks.  Also, try to stick to “neat” snacks that do not require a lot of clean up.  Some good snack choices: pretzels, crackers, goldfish, graham crackers, teddy grahams or dry cereal.  We have no known food allergies in our classroom at this time.

 

 

 

 

VOLUNTEERS

We LOVE volunteers!  We will send a monthly calendar home so you can sign up for a day/time.  This will start in October.  If you work and have a day off and would like to volunteer, please give us some notice.  Helping our class will make your child’s learning experience richer!

 

WATER BOTTLES

The children are allowed to keep water bottles on their desks.  Water helps to hydrate our brains and in turn helps us learn better!  Please send a water bottle for your child each day.  Make sure the water bottle has a top that closes (and that your child knows how to close it!).  We do not have a water fountain in our classroom.

 

 

We look forward to an exciting year full of learning and exploration!  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

 

 

 

Mrs. Poole                                                                       Mrs. Riello-Jones

pooleas@pwcs.edu                                                            jonesla@pwcs.edu