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Welcome to Queen Anne Elementary and Room 203! I am so excited to begin
this new learning year with this amazing group of kindergarteners! I feel so lucky to be a part of the QAE learning community, as a teacher and a parent. I love to teach and I love our youngest learners! As a kindergarten teacher, I am passionate about helping my students become academically, socially and emotionally confident and competent learners. I want my students to leave kindergarten loving school, eager to learn and inspired to make positive contributions to the world around them. As a parent, it has been so satisfying to experience the amazing learning opportunities this amazing staff of teachers has provided for my son and to see so much evidence of our five pillars in the 5th grade learner he has become. Before coming to QAE in 2010 as a founding teacher and a parent I had most recently held administrative positions in Seattle Public Schools, at the elementary, middle and K-8 levels. Before my first employment with Seattle in 2001, I taught elementary and middle school for seven years in the Edmonds School District. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Washington State University, K-8 Teaching Credentials from University of Washington, and a Masters of Education Administration from Western Washington University. In 2013, I completed my National Board Teaching Certification in Literacy. When I am not at school, I enjoy reading, traveling, playing soccer and spending time in the mountains with my husband John, my son Jack and our dog, Gracie. |
Introducing Ms. Katz!
Our generous PTSA funds a support tutor position in all of our K classrooms. Room 203 is SO lucky to have Mindy Katz as our K Tutor again this year! In this role, "Ms. Katz" will spend every morning with us, providing a ton of classroom support for our learning. She will also be with the students during morning and lunch recesses when I am not, providing consistent and caring social and emotional learning support!
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Beginning of the Year Info
Parent/Family CommunicationPlease stay connected! I will be using this classroom website, along with our classroom Twitter account, to share all of the exciting learning that is happening in Room 203. I will regularly (my goal is each Sunday afternoon) post photos, videos, student and teacher reflections and logistical information on the Class Blog! tab of this site. So often students come home and parents ask, "what did you do at school today?" only to get a response of "nothing." If you want to keep up to date with the amazing learning going on in Room 203, please make a commitment to visit our Class Blog with your student on a regular basis (I recommend every Sunday evening). This important activity will help your student reflect on his or her learning and help us extend our learning beyond our classroom walls! Follow us on Twitter to know when updates to our blog happen, and encourage extended family members interested in the learning of your student to do the same. You are all real world resources that can add so much to our learning with your comments and questions!
At Curriculum Night, I will walk you through our classroom website and the resources it contains. I will also introduce you to your student's e-folio and teach you how you can help me capture your student's growth this year!
Classroom SuppliesIInstead of having students bring school supplies, our school asks for a $150 supply donation from each child. $100 of the supply donation will be used to fund our 1:World technology fee that allows your student access to their personal iPad for the year where they create, capture, and share the amazing learning they are doing. $50 of the supply donation will be used to buy all of the classroom supplies and project materials needed. Using community supplies teaches students how to share with others and treat materials with respect. You can pay this fee on-line by clicking the button below. If you are financially unable to make this donation, just let me know.
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Pick up/ Drop off
On the first day of school, you are welcome to walk your child into our classroom and greet other kindergarteners and family members. When the 9:30 bell rings, I will ask the students to wave goodbye to their family members and come sit with me on the teaching carpet. Please do your best to say goodbye and leave. It is usually much harder for the parents than the students!! Before leaving the building, please take time to look at the "how do we go home" chart on the table outside our door. Make sure your information is correct if you gave it to me at Open House. If there is no information listed for your student, please fill in how they will get home. If they are picked up, please provide the names and positions of the people other than parents that have permission to pick up (ie. nanny, grandparent, family friend. )
After the first day, you are welcome to drop your students off at the playground 15 minutes before the first bell rings. When the bell rings, your students will line up on our class spot and I will come get them to start the day. At the end of the day, I will walk the students out as well. You are welcome to meet your student in the hall, out on the playground or in the designated pick up spot. Before taking your student, please make sure you make eye contact with me so we know they are safe. I will have an adult walk students riding a bus out to the bus lines as well. If your child is ever to go home in a different way than indicated on the "how we go home" chart, it is really important that you write an email to let me know. Often, kindergarteners will get mixed up! SnackThis year, we are moving away from a rotation of family-provided snacks and asking families to send an individual snack to school with their student each day. Please send healthy, nutritious snacks. During snack time, students will take turns sharing (show and tell with a theme). A sharing schedule will be handed out on curriculum night and then posted on our class blog.
Extra Clothes
Accidents happen! Please send an extra pair of clothes to school in a plastic bag with your child's name on it. Your student will store the bag in his or her cubby to be used if needed. If you notice them wearing their back up clothing home for any reason, please send it back in because often accidents happen more than once a year in kindergarten!
HomeworkWe will talk about this more in depth at curriculum night. However, the kindergarten team believes that kindergartners work very hard throughout the day and we don’t want them (or you) stressing about homework at home. Therefore, we will give families ideas of activities (both on-line and off-line) that can be done at home to help students’ learning - but it will be done on your own time frame.
BirthdaysAt QAE we love birthdays. We love to celebrate them and realize this is an important part of elementary school. We also believe that we can celebrate them in a meaningful and fun way without filling our kids with sugar. Therefore, if you choose to celebrate your child’s birthday at school, you may do so by donating a book in their name to the classroom. We will sing happy birthday, read the book and celebrate without treats, snacks or gifts. Teacher birthdays will be celebrated the same way.
Orange FoldersEach child will have an orange folder that they will bring to and from home daily. They will bring home their daily work to show to you, as well as field trip forms, etc. Please get in the habit of checking this folder daily. If you have anything for me, please send it back to school in the orange folder as I check them daily.
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