Dear Parents/ Guardians:

Welcome to Kindergarten! I would like to welcome students and parents/guardians to our class. I’m sure that you and your child are waiting eagerly (and with some trepidation) for that big yellow bus to arrive. The beginning of a new school year always brings excitement for students, parents and teachers alike. It signals a whole new phase in your child’s life. How exciting for everyone! I am thrilled to be part of your child’s first introduction to school. This will be the first of many letters documenting our kindergarten explorations. We are going to have an outstanding year! Your child will make new friends, learn many new things, read interesting stories, and sing fun songs.

It is important that your child see that his/her parents and teachers are taking an active, caring role in his/her learning process. Let’s work together to help make your child become all he/she can be.

This year your child will learn all about the alphabet. To help you learn about our Kindergarten class, I have put together the ABC’s of our Kindergarten classroom! I have created this packet to assist you with some of the questions that you may have.

If all of your questions are not answered, please remember that my door is always open! I’m looking forward to our working together to make your child’s year exciting and rewarding!

Ms. Clark
Kindergarten Teacher
Rymfire Elementary
Room 2111

Attendance ~ It is very important to be present everyday possible. We learn so much everyday. If your child is absent, please send a note on a separate piece of paper with the reason why and I will turn it into the office.

Alphabet ~ Knowledge of the alphabet is key to learning to read and write. We will cover the alphabet however; many children enter Kindergarten already knowing their letters and many of their sounds (not just able to sing the alphabet song), which is great! If your child does not know their letters, please begin to work on this at home immediately to give your child a good start. Begin by teaching the letters in your child’s name.

Book Bags ~ Children will need a back pack or school bag big enough to fit their planner, folder and projects coming home. Backpacks with wheels are not allowed at school. Please write your child’s name, teacher name, and how your child gets home on their backpack.

Bus Transportation ~ Children riding the bus must fill out the transportation form and turn it in to the office. You can find out your child’s bus stop at www.flaglerschools.com.

Birthdays ~ Birthdays are a very big deal for all children. Students will receive a birthday sticker, pencil and crown on/around their birthdays and the class will sing “Happy Birthday” to the birthday boy/girl. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday at school, you may bring in a store bought treat for the class. Please let me know at least a day in advance. Please see the birthday letter in your parent folder.

Book Orders ~ Scholastic book order forms will be sent home throughout the year. Scholastic offers great deals on age appropriate books and our classroom earns free books from your purchases.

Behavior ~ Good behavior is essential so that all students have the best learning environment possible. The number one rule in our class, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” It is my belief that children learn better when they feel secure. I strive to develop a classroom community where students work together and are surrounded with structure and creativity. I redirect students and provide positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors.

Car Riders ~ Car riders are picked up using a number system. Please help your child learn their number; it will make the car rider process much smoother. The car rider line does tend to be long the first few weeks, but does improve quickly. Please be patient as our little ones get accustomed to this routine.

Classroom Management ~ It is my belief that children learn better when they feel secure. I strive to develop a classroom community where students work together and are surrounded with structure and creativity. I redirect students and provide positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors.
Please take the time to review our school discipline and dress code policies and feel free to discuss any behavior/discipline concerns you may have about your child. Every child is unique!


Conferences ~ There will be two mandatory conferences scheduled during the school year; usually at the end of the 1st and 3rd nine-weeks. I am also available for conferences by appointment as needed during the school year. Please feel free to contact me to schedule and appointment at 206-4600 x2111 or clarkje@flaglerschools.com.

Centers ~ The students will participate in centers everyday. During this time, I will meet with a small group in order to target specific instructional needs. The center activities are designed for individual learning time.

Dress Code ~ Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for school. As a general guideline, shorts should come to their fingertips and tank top straps should be the width of two fingers. Please dress your child appropriately for the weather. You may want to send a sweater/jacket to keep at school due to the air conditioning working hard during the hot months of the year. Remember to put your child’s name. teacher name, and room number in their clothing.

Discipline ~ All students will begin their day on the green happy face. If at any time during the day your child chooses to act inappropriately he/she will receive:

1st offense: Verbal Warning/Friendly Reminder (now is the time to correct the behavior)
2nd offense: Yellow Straight face: five minutes of group activity/note in planner
3rd offense: Time to think (move away from group) Red Sad face: 10 minutes or non-participation in group activity/note in planner
4th offense: Warning is written / note in planner
(3 warnings in a 9-week period are equal to a referral)
5th offense: Referral and sent to the office for further consequences

*Your child may also earn his/her way to a Blue WOW student during the day for outstanding behavior!
*Your child’s behavior will be noted in the planner each day. Please sign your child’s planner each night.

Students who have made good choices and/or done an exceptional job listening and following directions will change their card to “Blue Star.” A purple/blue star will be marked in their planners for recognition at home!

Dibels ~ Three times a year your child’s early literacy skills will be assessed using the state wide Dibels test. The oral test is administered on an individual basis by another teacher. After each assessment, a letter will be sent home explaining your child’s results.

E-mail ~ My e-mail is clarkje@flaglerschools.com. This is the best way to contact me.

Eat Breakfast ~ You have always heard, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it is! With our schedule, children have a long morning and lunch is not until 1:30, they will need a good breakfast. Breakfast is available at school, but the children will be very rushed to eat it.

Early Dismissal ~ If you will be signing out your child from school early, please write a note in your child’s planner. You will need to go to the front desk to have your child called for dismissal. Regular dismissal begins at 3:15.

Extended Day ~ Students will walk to the cafeteria in groups at the end of the day.

Folders ~ Students will use at least two folders in class. One folder will be used to bring home work and important papers. Please remove and review your child’s work with them. This folder should be brought to school daily, however homework can stay at home until it is due. Your child’s homework will be sent home in this folder. Return the folder, with your child’s homework inside it, by the following Friday. The second folder will be used for reading groups and will remain at school throughout the school year. A binder will be used for journals. This binder will stay at school.

Foot Wear ~ Your child will be running and playing everyday. Flip-flops or shoes without backs are not allowed. Please make sure that your child wears sneakers during PE special area weeks.

Field Trips ~ If you would like to be a chaperone, you must be an approved volunteer. The volunteer approval process takes several weeks, so please complete the paperwork at the beginning of the year.

Flexibility Grouping ~ By the end of the first nine weeks, all students will be placed in a reading group. This will be based on their Dibels results and reading level. My office partner will take half of the students and I will have the other half for the reading block part of our day. The students will be moved as their needs change. Homework patterns may change for some of the students based on their reading teachers procedures.

Getting Home ~ Please make sure your child and I know how your child will be getting home. On days that your child will be going home a different way, a note must be written in the planner. I cannot change your child’s dismissal routine without a note from home.

Grades ~ Letter or number grades are not given in Kindergarten. Our grading system is as follows:
“+” = all items are correct/consistently demonstrating
“√+” = more than half of the items are correct
“√” = half of the items are correct/making progress
“√-“ = less than half of the items are correct
“-“ = needs improvement

Holidays/Celebrations ~Throughout the year we will have several celebrations. I will send a note home with information for each party. I will also include requests for certain items we will need for each party. Please return the form whether you are able to provide something or not.
Also, please let me know if you do not celebrate certain holidays so we can make special arrangements for your child.


Homework ~ Homework for the week will be sent home every Monday and your child will have a week to complete the assignments. It is up to your child to turn in his/her homework. I will ask the children for their homework, if I do not see it in their folder on Friday. In addition to the assigned homework, you should be reading, writing and reviewing letters and words with your child nightly. In addition to homework, every child should read or be read to every night. Even though some of your children are unable to read words yet, they are able to look at the pictures, tell a story about the pictures, or retell the story to you. There may also be family projects in addition to the regular scheduled homework based upon themes we will have throughout the year. These are meant to be fun and creative projects for your child and family to do together.
You will also be able to check online soon for some of our class activities and pictures. Go to www.flaglerschools.com and click on “schools” in the top right corner, click on “Rymfire” then you can scroll down to our class webpage.


Help at Home ~ Please “help” your child with his/her work, but do not do it for him/her.

High-Frequency Words ~ (Also called Sight Words) You will receive a list of words most frequently used in reading and writing every week. Please help your child learn these words. Flashcards and bingo are great ways to help your child learn these words. The more fluently (automatic) a child can read these words, the better a reader he/she will become

Illnesses ~ Please do not send your child to school sick. If your child becomes ill at school, he will be sent to the nurse. If the nurse feels the child needs to go home, she will call the parents. Please make sure there are at least two contact numbers on file for your child.

Jackets ~ When the weather starts to cool off, please make sure your child’s name and teacher’s name or room number is in your child’s jacket. You would be amazed at the number of jackets in the school lost and found with no name on them.

Jobs ~ Every other week or so each student will be assigned a job in the classroom. These jobs range from line leader to teacher helper, to custodian. These jobs teach the students responsibility.

Keep your Readers ~ Your child will come home with little reading books some weeks. These are great books for your child to read throughout the year. I suggest buying or making a special shoebox size box to store your child’s little readers “library”.

Labels ~ Please label all of your child’s personal belongings (backpacks, lunch bags, sweaters, school supplies) with their first and last name, teacher’s name, and room number.

Library ~ Our class will go to the school library on the same day every other week. Children are allowed to checkout a book to bring home. The book must be returned in order to check out another book. Children will also learn library skills during our visits.


Lunch ~ I encourage bag lunches the first week of school while students are adjusting to the cafeteria process. Children can bring their lunch or purchase the school lunch. Lunch can be prepaid as far in advance as you would like. Any money sent to school needs to be sent in a sealed envelope with your child’s first and last name, teacher name, and child’s lunch number. Please remember to pack a nutritious lunch for your child. Help your child learn to open all juice boxes, chip bags, and any other snacks that you may pack. Kindergarteners are not allowed to bring soda or candy for lunch. When buying lunch, check the school lunch menu to make sure your child will eat the meal being served. Our cafeteria offers PowerAde, Yoo-Hoo, fruit snacks, cookies, rice crispy treats, ice cream and other treats everyday for an extra charge. Kindergarteners are allowed to buy ice cream on Fridays. We encourage the students to eat the lunch provided instead of snacks due to our limited time to eat lunch. Once our 30 minutes of lunch are up, the students must throw away or pack up any food left on their plate. You may come visit your child during lunch if you would like.
Please help your child learn their lunch number.

Money Matters ~ When sending in money with your child, please place it in a sealed envelope labeled with your child’s first and last name and what the money is for. The easiest way to pay for school lunches is to put money in your child’s account for several lunches. Your child will be given notice when their account is getting low.

News ~ A newsletter will be sent home most weeks. The newsletter will inform you of what skills will be covered in class the following week, upcoming events, things to know and important dates, words and letters for the week, and theme information. Please take time to read the newsletter.

Names ~ Your child should be able to write his first name, and know his first and last name. During the year we will work on writing first and last names with capital first letters and the rest lowercase.

Open House ~ We will have a kindergarten parent open house scheduled during the beginning of school. We will discuss kindergarten expectations and answer parent questions.

Phone Numbers ~ Rymfire telephone number is 206-4600. You may ask to be transferred to the department of choice. My extension is X2111. Important Phone Numbers ~ The school telephone number is (386) 206-4600.
Nurse Extension: 1132
Sick Line: (386) 206-4622
Extended Day: (386) 206-4623
Cafeteria: (386) 206-4624

Planners ~ We will be using school wide planners this year. It is an important tool used for communication between school and home. This planner should go home each night with your child and be brought back to school signed the following day. Along with your child’s planner there will be a folder to keep inside the planners. Please make sure to check your child’s folder! In both the planner and folder there will be homework assignments, behavior notes, and any important notices sent home by the school or me. Please check and sign your child’s planner every night. Your child’s daily behavior and any notes will be written in the planner. This is also the place to write notes to me.

PTO ~ The RES Parent Teacher Organization is a great group in which to become involved. The PTO helps with various aspects of RES. Many things would not be possible at our school without the PTO.

Playground ~ Kindergarteners will have the opportunity to play on the playground during the school year. On rainy days, we will be inside.

Pictures ~ During the school year, I will take pictures of the children participating in class. I will use these pictures for class books, crafts and slide shows. Occasionally newspaper photographers or other school staff may also come in for pictures. Please let me know if you would not like your child’s picture to be taken or used.

Positive Reinforcement ~ The students will receive stickers when they are “Caught Being Good”. They will receive these for making good choices, following directions the first time, staying on task, and setting a good example. As a class, we have a marble jar. Anytime the entire class is “Caught Being Good” or they are given a compliment, they will receive a handful of marbles to add to the jar. Once the jar is full, we will have an ice cream party and/or a pizza party. However, marbles can be taken away if the entire class is “Caught” not making good choices. Students who have all green “smiley” and blue “star” stamps for the week will be able to pick a prize from the “treasure box.”
A “Star Student” will be chosen weekly. The “Star Student of the Week” will have their picture and some information about themselves put up on our “Star Student” board in the classroom. They will also receive a “Star Student Award” to take home.
Also, the students will receive stickers, compliments, good notes home, etc when they are “caught” making good choices.

Questions ~ Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions. If I do not know the answer, I will find it out for you. The best ways to contact me are via e-mail or in the planner.

Reading ~ It is so important to read everyday! Read to your child, with your child and listen to your child read. It is also important to let your child see you read for pleasure. We will send home readers and your child will bring home library books. While reading, talk about the story and help your child understand the story. Predict what will happen, summarize what has happened, discuss how you could change the story, and ask reading comprehension questions.

Reading Mastery ~ Curriculum based on letter sounds. The students will be participating in Reading Mastery everyday. A sound chart will be sent home for you to use. These sounds may look funny to you, but, the students will learn how to recognize these sounds fluently and put them together for reading and writing success.

Report Cards ~ In kindergarten, official report cards are sent home at the end of the 2nd and 4th nine-weeks. A skills assessment will be discussed with you at conferences at the end of the 1st and 3rd nine-weeks.

Rest Time ~ We will have quiet time for the first few weeks of school until the children are adjusted to the school day. The students are not required to nap but will be asked to quietly rest for 30 minutes.

Rules ~ Our classroom rules are:
1. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
2. Listen when others are talking.
3. Follow directions.
4. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
5. Use good manners.
6. Raise your hand.
7. Share/take turns
8. Work quietly and so not disturb others.
9. Show respect for school and personal property.
10. Work and play in a safe manner.
During the first few weeks, we will be going over the rules and procedures everyday. I am harder on the students in the beginning to ensure that they are clear as to what is expected of them. All students will be held responsible for their own behavior.

Schedule ~ Ms. Clark’s Schedule

9:15-9:45 Arrival & Morning Responsibilities
9:45-10:00 Morning Meeting/Calendar
10:00-10:15 Journals
10:15-10:30 Snack
10:30-12:00 Reading Block
10:30-11:00 Reading Mastery
11:00-11:30 Harcourt
11:30-12:00 Literacy Centers/Reading Groups
12:15-1:00 Special Area
1:00-2:00 Structured P.E./Lunch
2:00-2:30 Math
2:30-3:00 Science/Social Studies/Theme
3:00-3:15 Show n’ tell/Story/Songs ChoiceTime
3:15-3:30 Dismissal

If your child must miss part of the school day, please try to avoid missing academic portions of the day.

Harcourt ~ This is our reading series. We will be reading stories, working on letter knowledge, working on phonics and phonemic awareness, and learning how to put all of the components of reading together.

Supplies ~ Rymfire:

2 Pink Erasers
1 Backpack (no wheels)
1 Box of Ziploc Storage Bags
1 Pair of scissors (Fiskars if possible)
2 Pkgs. #2 pencils
2 Pkgs. White index cards
4 Boxes of 24 count crayons
2 Containers of 4 oz Elmer’s glue (no gel or glitter)
2 Pkgs. of glue sticks
1 Box of tissues
1 Hard 1 inch plastic three ring binder
1 Standard size pencil box
1 Pkg. Paper plates, 1 small white paper and 1 large white paper
1 Extra set of clothes to be kept in you child’s cubby for emergencies in a labeled plastic bag.

Ms. Clark’s Additional Requests:

1 Box band aides
1 Pkg. Plastic utensils
1 Box of baby wipes or clorox cleaning wipes
1 Bottle of hand sanitizer

Snack ~ We will have a designated snack time every morning in the classroom. Please send your child daily with a small snack they can eat neatly during this time. I suggest packing their snack in a separate Ziploc bag (not in their lunch box). Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide a snack for your child if they do not have one of their own. The students may bring an extra juice box or water bottle for snack time.

Spelling ~ During writing, your child will not be expected to spell all words correctly. Your child should spell a word as it sounds. An example may be spelling “army” as “rme”. The only words we will work on spelling correctly will be our high-frequency words. Otherwise, I encourage the children to sound out their own words. I do not spell words for the children.

Sentences ~ Your child will be expected to compose and write sentences on his/her own. This process begins with stressing that children speak in complete sentences, and then we will get them to put it in writing. We are looking for sentences that begin with a capital letter, have spaces between words and ending punctuation. Generally children begin writing simple sentences during the second nine weeks. At the close of the school year, the students will need to be able to write at least three sentences that are complete and on topic.

Special Area ~ Your child will be attending a special area class daily. We rotate to and from these classes every three weeks. Special areas include: Health, PE, Music, Art, Spanish, Science, Math, and Computer. Please help your child to remember to wear sneakers on PE days.

Show and Tell ~ We will have show and tell every Friday. Your child will have to be a detective to figure our what each classmate brought in to share. Hint: The object begins with the letter of the week. Please refer to the “Mystery Bag” information letter in your folder.

Tardies ~ All students need to be in class by 9:25. Students arriving after 9:25 must report to the office before coming to class.

Tying Shoes ~ If your child is unable to tie shoes, please double knot his/her shoes. Continue to have your child practice tying their shoes!

Toys ~ Toys, video games or trading cards are not allowed at school. (The exception is show and tell days) Toys brought to school will be confiscated.

Units & Themes ~ During the school year we will cover various units and themes. Units include: The Gingerbread Man, Nursery Rhymes, Apples, Fall, Thanksgiving, Holidays Around the World, Seasons, Dr. Seuss, 100th Day, and Earth. If you have valuable information (books, pictures, guest speakers) relating to our themes, we would love for you to share them with our class.

Volunteers ~ If you would like to volunteer to work in the classroom or to go on field trips, please fill out the volunteer paperwork. Once you are approved, you can start volunteering. If you are unable to volunteer in the classroom, but would still like to help, there are several ways to help from home. Please let me know if you have an interest in volunteering so that we can discuss what will work for each of us during the year.

Walkers ~ Students who are walking home will be escorted to the South Side of the building. Two staff members will walk the students down the path and to the parents. Kindergarten students will only be released to a parent.

Website ~ The school website is www.flaglerschools.com/RES. It is full of useful information.

Writing vs. Handwriting ~ “Writing” refers to students independently composing and writing words or sentences related to a topic. “Handwriting” refers to forming the letters and words correctly.

Water bottles ~ Students can keep a water bottle with water in their desk to drink and refill during the day.

X-tra Special ~ The students in my class are X-tra special to me!

Yearbook ~ The RES Roadrunner yearbook will be pre-sold during the second nine-weeks of school and will be delivered the last few weeks of school.

Zaner Blouser ~ Zaner Blouser, or traditional, is the handwriting style we use in class.