GLENN PUBLIC SCHOOL

News from Ms. Burghard’s classroom

                                                                                

 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

                 Welcome to Glenn School and the Upper Elementary!  Our first day is going to be very exciting.   We have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for this school year. 

                 We believe that it is important to maintain communication between students, parents/guardians and the teaching staff.  We encourage you to contact us as soon as any questions or concerns arise.  The school telephone number is 269-227-3411

School Attendance

                 Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is very important to his/her success.  Most school activities are group oriented and involve interaction with classmates.  Therefore, much of the work they miss cannot be completed at home.  In the event that your child is absent, please call us and let us know the reason for the absence.  If you know in advance that your child will be absent, please send a note to school and we will send classwork home.  If your child will be absent for an extended period of time, he/she will need a doctor’s excuse in order to satisfy the State of Michigan’s truancy regulations.  Please advise the staff of any disease that may be infectious to other students.  We will then be able to take proper precautions to limit the spread of infection.  We will be instructing students on proper hand washing and hygiene the first week of school.  Please reinforce this at home.

                 Students are expected to attend school from 8:00 a.m. until 3:15 p.m.  If your child arrives after 8:00, your child must come into the building through our classroom door.  If they come to the back entrance door, we may not be able to hear their knock.

Breakfast

                 Glenn School offers a breakfast bar and juice to students who have not already eaten breakfast.  Students can come into the school at 7:50 a.m., put their things away and eat.  They should be finished eating by 8:10 a.m.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Students should get in the habit of having a well-balanced breakfast before school in order to get their brains ready for learning.  We do realize that there are times when breakfast has not been eaten before school and that is why we provide something for the students.

Lunch

Glenn School does not have a hot lunch program.  Students are required to bring a lunch from home.  When sending a lunch with your child, please keep in mind the importance of having a balanced meal.  While it is always a treat to have something sweet, please be sure that a fruit, vegetable, and/or a dairy product are included with some sort of protein.  A thermos (the kind that stays hot or cold) works well for soup, raviolis, or other items that need to stay warm.  White and chocolate milk are both available at the school free of charge.  All other drinks should be brought from home. 

Hot Lunch

                 Hot lunch will be offered once a month on the last Friday of the month.  A menu for that day will be sent out ahead of time.  The cost of the lunch will be $3.25.  Lunch money will need to be turned in by Tuesday of the week scheduled.  Hot lunches may be brought in for students; however we do ask that all lunches be brought to the kitchen so that its arrival will not disturb students in class.  Please put your child’s name on the lunch.

Transportation

                 At the back entrance we have a student drop off area.   Please do not park at this entrance.  If you want to enter the school with your child please pull up as far as possible in the half circle drive or park at the church.  This will allow other vehicles to drop off students at the safest drop off point.  If vehicles are blocking this drop off point students must walk in front of or behind other vehicles.  It is also very important that your child exit on the passenger side of the vehicle so they are closest to the sidewalk.  We appreciate your cooperation in making our transportation system run smoothly.

                 For their protection and ours, children are allowed to change their regular daily transportation routine only with permission from you.  If your child is going to be riding home with someone else please send a note or call the teacher ahead of time.  If you do this before the end of the school day our dismissal process will not be interrupted.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Outdoor Recess

                 The class will be going out for recess every day, weather permitting.  Please keep this in mind when helping your child select clothing and shoes for the day.  Keep in mind that we do get some breeze off the lake and it is easier for your child to bring extra clothing to school than to not bring it and want to wear it.  Each child has a hook and cubby where they can keep their outer clothing.  We would like to ask that items go home on the weekend so they can be laundered.  When it starts to snow students will need to have a pair of inside shoes or slippers with a non-skid sole to wear.  Tuesdays are Physical Education days and all students should wear gym shoes or have them to change into. 

Book Orders

                 Your child will be bringing home book orders from Scholastic about once a month.  If you wish to order, simply fill out the form and send either cash or a check made out to Scholastic, in an envelope with their name on it.  We will also open up the on-line classroom ordering where you can use a credit card.  Additional information will be sent home about on-line ordering.   

                 As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books through these orders, our classroom earns bonus points that can be used for free books and other instructional materials for our classroom.  Not only do you get quality books for your home, you are also helping to provide quality literature for our classroom.

Birthdays

                 Birthdays are very special to children and we try to help make it a special occasion for students.  If you would like to send in a treat for your child’s birthday please specify if you would like to include all students or just your child’s classroom.  There are 43 students at Glenn this year.  We have 12 students in the upper elementary.  If your child has a summer birthday, we can celebrate his/her birthday toward the end of the year.  We will let the child pick a day to make their special day.   Also, if your child’s birthday falls on a weekend or during a holiday, we can celebrate on a different day, either Monday, Friday or before or after the holiday.  If your child is having a party and is sending out invitations, we ask that this be taken care of outside of school so no students get their feelings hurt or feel left out.   In other words, students may not put invitations to parties in student mailboxes.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Toys

                 Please leave all toys at home!  We have many things to play with at school.  At this age, when toys come from home, they often end up misplaced or broken.  Toys are a distraction, and therefore, will not be allowed in the classroom.  The only exception would be if the toys are required for a class project.  Video games, iPods, mp3 players, etc. are not allowed.  We are not able to properly supervise the use of these items.  Some of these things may be used in class with other educational programs, however they are used only with proper supervision and screening.

Snack

                 A nutritional snack will be offered each morning, around first recess, in order to keep students energized and focused throughout the school day.  To make this possible, we need parents to send in donations of nutritional snacks.  Some snacks that work well are animal crackers, soup crackers, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, carrots, celery, and any other nutritional snacks.  Students can also bring their own nutritional snack and keep it in their lunch box until recess time. 

Water

                 We do have a drinking fountain in the hallway by the bathrooms where students can periodically get a drink of water.  Your child may also keep a water bottle on their desk as long as it does not become a distraction to their learning or the learning of others.  All water bottles must be brought home on Fridays for proper sanitization.

Homework

                 Your child will occasionally be given homework assignments.  Some will be in the form of projects and others will be review of what we are working on in class.  Most often the work that students will need to complete at home is classroom work that did not get completed in class.  When work comes home please ensure that your child completes it and brings it back to school the next school day, or as soon as possible. 

                 The most important homework that your child can do is to read each night.  Your child may read to you, with you, or listen to you read.  Books, magazines, the newspaper-exposure to all kinds of print are important.  Literacy is the most important skill your child will learn.  We will be reading every day in school, but at home is when the child will have a chance to read more things that they have chosen, show their parents how well they are reading or spend some quality time just listening to someone else read.  Practicing this skill is essential to success.  Together, we can help your child succeed.

                 Another important skill for your child to practice is their basic math facts.  It is important in the upper grades that students know their basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  We will have very little time in class to practice the facts.  Some simple flashcards or just quizzing on the way to and from school is really helpful.

                 It is important to establish good study habits at an early age.  Please help your child find a place where they can do homework and study.  We are using planners again this year.  Please encourage your child to write their assignments in this book.  Planners will need to be signed by a parent/guardian once each week.  Planners will be checked on Monday for the previous week. 

                 We will also be using www.teacherease.com  again this year for electronic grades.  Please be sure that you have given your email address to your child’s teacher so you can get set up to view your child’s information.  Announcements about tests and upcoming projects will also be sent out using this program. 

Volunteers

                 We are asking for a few volunteers for the classroom.  We need one that will be responsible for the Box Tops for Education Program and one for the Campbell’s Labels for Education.  These are two important programs that help our school get extra funds for the school and for field trips.  If you are able to take over either of these please let Mrs. Burghard know. 

Art

                 Ms. Cavanaugh, our new Art teacher, has asked that each student bring in an old, long-sleeved shirt to use when they are working on painting projects.  I will keep these in the classroom so they are available on those days.  Thank you very much.

We are looking forward to working with you and your child to make this a productive and memorable year. 

 

                                                                                                      Sincerely,

                                                                                                      Mrs. Burghard and Mrs. Swanson

Email addresses:  bburghard@glennpublicschool.org   and dswanson@glennpublicschool.org