Welcome to Kindergarten! Dear Parents, Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!

It is such an exciting time for your child as he/she begins real school. I would like to take this time to introduce myself. My name is Subi Chacko. I am beginning my third year teaching Kindergarten here at Hunt Elementary. I attended college at Texas A & M Commerce where I received my Bachelors in Elementary Education for pre-school through sixth grade with a certification in ESL. I became a teacher because I love seeing young minds grow. My goal is to change the life of every student that comes into my classroom. I want to inspire them to be responsible individuals who desire to be life-long learners. I want my classroom to be a safe environment that fosters growth, love and success. I will be flexible with each student and I will keep an open mind to new and innovative educational methods. I will support my students by my dedication and willingness to acquire new knowledge. Not only are my students learning new things everyday but so am I! My hope is that each student will be positively impacted by what and how I teach. I want to provide my students with knowledge that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Most importantly, I will always encourage each student to dream big and dream out loud! When Im not at school, Im at home with my husband. We live in Carrollton. I enjoy playing tennis, reading books, shopping, gardening, watching movies, working on crafts as well as home projects. I grew up in Mustang, Oklahoma (Go Sooners!). Most of my family lives in Oklahoma and Texas. I look forward to this fun filled year with your child, filled with learning, growth and educational success! If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact me at subi.chacko@pisd.edu or you can reach me at the school: 972-555-0770 ext 3142. Sincerely,

Subi Chacko

Mrs. Chackos Classroom Rules and Consequences for Rule Infractions Rules:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. We We We We We listen and follow directions. raise our hands to speak. keep hands, feet, and objects to ourselves. are kind to others. do your best!

We will be using the Rainbow Caterpillar Behavior Plan. There are seven colors: green, blue, purple, pink, yellow, orange and red. Each student will start off on green, Ready to Learn, at the beginning of the day. Whenever appropriate or inappropriate behavior is detected, a childs name will be moved to a different color. At the end of the day, stickers will be placed on the classroom behavior chart. By the end of the week, students with high amounts of stickers will take a trip to the Treasure Box. The following is the explanation of the colors:

Consequences:
Green Ready to Learn: We expect each child to come to school prepared with materials and a ready to learn attitude. Appropriate Behaviors: Blue Good Day: Students who follow the school and classroom expectations will move their clip to reflect their positive behavior. Purple Great Job: Students who have followed all school and classroom expectations until the end of the day will move their clip to reflect their appropriate behavior. Pink Outstanding!: Students who exceed the school and classroom expectations in all areas of the school will move their clip to reflect their outstanding behavior. Inappropriate Behaviors: Yellow Think About It: Students who continue to demonstrate an inappropriate behavior, after a verbal warning has been given, will move their clip. Orange Teachers Choice: If a student continues to display inappropriate behavior, the teacher will choose an appropriate consequence for the student. Examples: Refocus Area, loss of center choices or loss of special privileges. Red Parent Contact: Parent contact will be made if the student continues to demonstrate inappropriate behaviors. An office referral will be made if these behaviors continue to be a problem that interferes with the individuals learning or the classroom learning environment.

Student Expectations
We We We We We We will will will will will will arrive on time and be ready to learn! use good manners such as please and thank you. share. apologize. have fun! try our best!

Students will be required to bring home their work and reading folder. Work folder needs to be reviewed and signed by parents Monday through Thursday. Reading folder and log need to be reviewed and signed by parents once child has completed 15 min reading time with parent.

Parent Expectations
Bring students to school on time. Be sure students are prepared for school (i.e. materials, snacks) Inquire about what student learned at school. Encourage students independence Read with your student at home. Review students work/reading folder and sign all logs. Believe in your student.

Mark Your Calendars Parents!

8/4: Kindergarten orientation- This orientation takes place over three time blocks in the morning. Orientation consists of a one-hour visit to your childs classroom to provide an introduction to his/her new learning setting. The class is divided into 3 groups of 6-7 children for this visit. Children have an opportunity to explore their new classroom. 8/8: First Day of School 9/2: School Pictures-Near the end of the month, students will have their individual and class pictures taken. If youre not happy with your childs picture, there will be an opportunity to have it retaken later in the fall 9/27: Gift Wrap Fundraiser- This is the first PTO fundraising event of the year. Students receive a catalog of items (gift wrap, stationery, candy, and more) to sell to friends and family, with a significant portion of the sales going to the school. This event happens early in the fall to ensure that gifts arrive in time for the holidays (mid-November). 10/11: Professional Day- No School 11/12: Book Fair- During one week in November, students will have a chance to participate in the Scholastic Book Fair. Books will be displayed and available for purchase in the school library. Students visit the fair during their regular scheduled library time. A flyer with a list of books and an order form will be sent home ahead of time. You can send in a check to cover the cost of books with your child, or attend the fair during your childs assigned time. Parent volunteers will be on hand to assist children with their purchases. 11/28: Thanksgiving Recess- School closes at 12:00 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. There is no lunch provided on that day. School is closed both Thursday and Friday that week. 12/3-6: Parent-Teacher Conference- Conferences are held during the first week of December for all grades. They are scheduled over 3 afternoons, and students are released early (11:15 a.m.). Progress reports are sent home prior to the conferences so that parents have time to review them before meeting with their childs teacher. Sign-up for a time slot will be available on line. On these early release days, bagged lunches will be available for students to take with them.

12/24-1/6: Christmas Break 1/18: Field Trip to Dallas Aquarium 2/7: 100th day Celebration- Kindergarten classes will engage in a variety of activities, which could include creating collections of 100 items (e.g. pennies, buttons, etc) or working with the number 100 in math centers in the classroom. 2/14: Valentines Day Party-students will be assigned what to bring for this event 3/10: Music Concert-A school-wide concert may be held in March. The concert, which is usually held in the morning at around 9:00, provides an opportunity for all children in all grades to participate, and family and friends including younger siblings -- are invited to attend. If at all possible, plan to stay for the entire concert. Students in all grades enjoy having an audience. 4/15: Science Night- The PTO science committee organizes this event, for which the Hunt and Sigler Schools team up to offer an evening of science. Projects and demonstrations are presented in several venues at one of the schools. (The two schools alternate hosting.) Parents and students at all levels are invited to do demonstrations for the event. Many of the demonstrations offer opportunities for hands-on learning for children in all grades. 4/25: Game Night- This PTO event consists of an evening of playing games and socializing open to all grades. A number of Gamewright brand games are available for both testing and purchase. Parents can even buy games to donate to their childs classroom. 5/10: Parent-Teacher Conference- Conferences are generally conducted throughout the day with the children still in school with a substitute teacher. As with December conferences, progress reports are sent out ahead of time and can serve as a focus for discussion of your childs progress over the year. You can sign up for your conference on line through the schools website 5/20: Field Trip to the Dallas Arboretum-please refer to the April newsletter for details. 6/2: Last Day of School!

Parent/Guardian Volunteer Opportunities

Materials Preparation (1 volunteer): Volunteer will work on several mornings for an hour on activities for lesson plans, art projects, displaying students work and laminating materials for teacher and student use. Classroom Help (several volunteers): Assists students according to Mrs. Chackos direction Special Events (4 volunteers): Throughout the year there will be 3-4 special events (holiday parties). Volunteers will help run different centers as per Mrs. Chackos directions. Cafeteria Assistants (2 volunteers): Assist with lunchroom schedule. Contact Mrs. Chacko for more information. Library Volunteer (1 volunteer): Assists children with book selection on library trips on Fridays 2:00pm-2:45pm

Volunteer Expectations: All opinions of students work must be kept confidential Be flexible and understanding if classroom schedule is not on target Make sure to spend equal amounts of time with all students If a problem occurs between students, please let them work it out. If it gets out of control, please notify Mrs. Chacko.

REMEMBER:
If you would like to volunteer, all parents/guardians MUST pass a Criminal Background Check prior to volunteering in the classroom or school.