Helpful Information
School Hours
Our school day at Thomas Elementary is 8:10 a.m.- 3:10 p.m. All students will report to the commons area before school begins. The doors open at 7:40am. If your child rides the bus, please be sure s/he has his/her bus pass! If something comes up and you need to change arrangements for pick up, please notify the office and send an email to me. The busy world of teaching makes it difficult for me to check emails. If you send me something after 2:30 I may not get to it, so notifying the office is much appreciated!
Recess
We will have a morning and afternoon recess each day. Please be aware of the late morning temperatures and send your child to school with “layers”. Jackets, sweatshirts, or sweaters are easily removed for the afternoon warm-up. We go outside as long as the feels like temperate is above ten degrees.
Lunch
Our first graders go to lunch from 11:25-11:55. I will send your child’s lunch code home so you can help him/her remember it quickly! Your child may bring a cold lunch from home or eat the school’s lunch. Students have three lunch choices each day: hot lunch, sandwich, or yogurt & cheese. If students bring a cold lunch they may get a milk from the school and the money will be taken out of his her/her lunch account.
Birthdays
We will celebrate each child’s birthday in our classroom. If your child’s birthday is during the summer, we would love to celebrate on his/her half birthday. Parents are allowed to send individually packaged, store bought treats with their child for birthday celebrations.
It is school policy that we do not allow birthday party invitations to be handed out at school. However, if all the children in our class are to be invited, I can discreetly put the invitations in backpacks. We cannot give out phone numbers or addresses of our students. A school directory will be coming out soon. Please help us comply with this school policy.
Daily Communication
Your child will bring home a “Communication Folder” each day These folders will be used to take notes and papers back and forth from school to home DAILY. It is your child’s responsibility to remember the folder, but subtle assistance from you at the beginning will be appreciated until the daily habit is well established. So, please check the folder each evening for papers, remove them, and return the folder to the backpack for the next day. The folder will come home every night even if there are no papers that day.
A zipper pouch will also be kept in the” Communication Folder” that will contain books, flashcards, and activities for you to complete with your child at home. Please keep the materials in the folder when you are not using them. The black and white books will be taken out every Monday.
Homework
The boys and girls will have nightly “suggested” homework. We have weekly spelling lists that I would encourage studying for each evening. I will also send take home books each week with your child to read. The more repetition a child has with reading, the quicker he or she will pick up on the skills. Homework should take no longer than 20 minutes a night!
Star Student
Each week we will have a star student in our class. The week before your child’s assigned week I will send home an envelope to collect your child’s materials for the following week.
Monday: “All About Me” Pennant
Tuesday: Bring 3-5 pictures to share
Wednesday: Favorite Book
Thursday: Show and Tell
Friday: We will create a class poster
Communication
Communication is extremely important to your child’s education so if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email, call, or set up a time to meet with me. Weekly newsletters will be sent out on Friday of every full week of school.
Our school day at Thomas Elementary is 8:10 a.m.- 3:10 p.m. All students will report to the commons area before school begins. The doors open at 7:40am. If your child rides the bus, please be sure s/he has his/her bus pass! If something comes up and you need to change arrangements for pick up, please notify the office and send an email to me. The busy world of teaching makes it difficult for me to check emails. If you send me something after 2:30 I may not get to it, so notifying the office is much appreciated!
Recess
We will have a morning and afternoon recess each day. Please be aware of the late morning temperatures and send your child to school with “layers”. Jackets, sweatshirts, or sweaters are easily removed for the afternoon warm-up. We go outside as long as the feels like temperate is above ten degrees.
Lunch
Our first graders go to lunch from 11:25-11:55. I will send your child’s lunch code home so you can help him/her remember it quickly! Your child may bring a cold lunch from home or eat the school’s lunch. Students have three lunch choices each day: hot lunch, sandwich, or yogurt & cheese. If students bring a cold lunch they may get a milk from the school and the money will be taken out of his her/her lunch account.
Birthdays
We will celebrate each child’s birthday in our classroom. If your child’s birthday is during the summer, we would love to celebrate on his/her half birthday. Parents are allowed to send individually packaged, store bought treats with their child for birthday celebrations.
It is school policy that we do not allow birthday party invitations to be handed out at school. However, if all the children in our class are to be invited, I can discreetly put the invitations in backpacks. We cannot give out phone numbers or addresses of our students. A school directory will be coming out soon. Please help us comply with this school policy.
Daily Communication
Your child will bring home a “Communication Folder” each day These folders will be used to take notes and papers back and forth from school to home DAILY. It is your child’s responsibility to remember the folder, but subtle assistance from you at the beginning will be appreciated until the daily habit is well established. So, please check the folder each evening for papers, remove them, and return the folder to the backpack for the next day. The folder will come home every night even if there are no papers that day.
A zipper pouch will also be kept in the” Communication Folder” that will contain books, flashcards, and activities for you to complete with your child at home. Please keep the materials in the folder when you are not using them. The black and white books will be taken out every Monday.
Homework
The boys and girls will have nightly “suggested” homework. We have weekly spelling lists that I would encourage studying for each evening. I will also send take home books each week with your child to read. The more repetition a child has with reading, the quicker he or she will pick up on the skills. Homework should take no longer than 20 minutes a night!
Star Student
Each week we will have a star student in our class. The week before your child’s assigned week I will send home an envelope to collect your child’s materials for the following week.
Monday: “All About Me” Pennant
Tuesday: Bring 3-5 pictures to share
Wednesday: Favorite Book
Thursday: Show and Tell
Friday: We will create a class poster
Communication
Communication is extremely important to your child’s education so if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email, call, or set up a time to meet with me. Weekly newsletters will be sent out on Friday of every full week of school.