Crocker Highlands Elementary School

(NOTE: the updated Kindergarten Handbook for 2011-2012 is now available!)

Dear Incoming Kindergarten Families,

First of all, we would like to welcome you to Crocker Highlands!  We are looking forward to you and your child becoming part of our wonderful school community.

Kindergarten is an exciting time for our new students. The first three days of school for all our students are minimum days, 8:40 – 1:40.   A full school day can be a challenge for the younger students, particularly after a long summer.  Therefore, in order to make it a gentle transition for our new kindergarten students, we are extending minimum days for the first two weeks.  The schedule will be:

Monday – Friday, August 29^th – September 9th Minimum Days (8:40 – 1:35)

(Monday, September 5^th – Labor Day Holiday for all students)

On Monday, August 29^th, the first day of school, we are inviting all kindergarten families to meet us downstairs in the multi-purpose room (also called the cafeteria) at 9.00a.m, 20 minutes after the 1^st – 5^th graders arrive. This will give the parents with other children time to get their older student(s) to their new class.  Please do not bring your child into the building beforehand. Parents are invited to stay for a welcome reception with the principal, Beth Rhine, and the PTA co-presidents, Jessica Tagami and Wendy Ghorai, in the Library.  We will have coffee and bagels and be available for any questions that may arise.

We are excited to start the year off right and are eager to get to know your children.  Information about the classroom routines, expectations, and what your child needs to bring on the first day of school can be found in the Kindergarten Handbook which we have attached, and which is posted on the Crocker Kindergarten website. Kindergarten is an exciting time for everyone and we want to make sure everyone – students, families, and teachers – are successful!

For those of you whose children were unable to attend the Kindergarten Round-Up last May, we are having Round Up II on Monday, August 22^nd at 9.30am.  Please bring your child to school and meet us in the school office. You will have 30-45  minutes to relax and go get a cup off coffee while we spend some time with your child.   And don’t forget about the New Families’ Picnic on Sunday, August 28^th at the North Temescal Picnic Area.  Details will be posted on the Crocker website.  We also begin the year with two PTA meetings, one on Thursday, August 25^th and the second on Thursday, September 8^th.  We would like to encourage new families to come to the meetings and hear what is happening at Crocker Highlands.

There are so many great things happening at Crocker Highlands.  In order to get the most current information, be sure to visit the Crocker Highlands website, http://crockerschool.org/ , and subscribe to the Weekly Email Bulletin and the Crocker yahoo group.

We are looking forward to meeting you soon!

On behalf of the PTA, welcome to Crocker Highlands Elementary School!

We want to get to know you better and would also love to help you get to know each other better.  Please come with your family for an afternoon of fun, food and conversation.

Place:  North Temescal Picnic Area

(http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rlz=&q=lake+temescal+north+entrance&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl for directions)

Feel free to bring scooters, bicycles, soccer balls, Frisbees, etc.

Date:  Sunday, August 28

Time:  11:00-1

Please bring a dish to share based on your child’s last name:

A-K:  Appetizer or Salad

L-R:  Main Dish

S-Z:   Dessert

The PTA will provide the plates, napkins, drinks and eating utensils. We hope to see you there!

Parents and guardians, find out what’s happening in your child’s classroom. Please join our teachers and other parents for Back To School Night.

I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, September 15, at Back to School Night. Because it is an adult only event, childcare can be an issue. Reach out to someone in the school community and either share childcare or offer childcare if you already have some in place. Back to School Night is the time for parents/guardians to find out what is happening in the classroom and it’s important for everyone to be there. You will hear about the classroom curriculum, projects, field trips, and the expectations for the year. You will also hear about ways to support your child at home. It’s also a nice time to meet other families and to make those community connections.

When: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

6:30 to 7:15 pm individual teacher to present in your child’s classroom for grades k to 2
7:15 to 7:45 pm everyone is invited to meet the principal in the multipurpose room
7:45 to 8:30 pm individual teacher to present in your child’s classroom for grades 3 to 5

Please respect the teachers’ time and agree to make this an informational, question and answer time about the content of the school year. If you need to hold a conference about your child, please contact your child’s teacher via email, telephone message, or a note.

Crocker Highlands Elementary School

August 30, 2010

Dear Crocker Highlands’ Families,

Summer sure goes by quickly!  Here we are again, ready to start another great school year.  A lot of work has gone into getting the school ready, and we are excited about our students coming back to school.

Together, teachers, students, and parents/guardians make a strong Crocker family.  We appreciate your support as your child enters the classroom, learns, and grows throughout the year.  Let’s all commit to have a good school year, setting everyone – students, as well as teachers – up for success.

One of our goals this year is to build a strong community at Crocker Highlands.  I encourage families to get to know each other so that we can build new friendships and support each other.  Our Annual Spaghetti Feed is a great time to meet new people and visit with old friends.  It’s scheduled for Friday, September 10^th, starting at 5:30 p.m.  It’s a wonderful time to have a delicious dinner and visit with the Crocker community.  Another upcoming school event is Back-to-School Night on Wednesday, September 15^th. The primary presentations (K-2^nd) are from 6:30 – 7:15; the upper grade presentations (3^rd – 5^th) are from 7:45 – 8:30.  In between, from 7:15 – 7:45 is our time to get together, all of us, in the Multi-Purpose Room.  I’ll do a brief presentation, as well as the PTA.  Back-to-School Night is an important time for parents/guardians to meet in the classrooms, and teachers will review curriculum, projects, and grade level expectations.

Please help us to be good neighbors.  The traffic flow around the school is clockwise; the passenger door always opens to the curb for safety reasons.  Make sure to park legally; be aware of blocking driveways.  And, as tempting as it might be to bring your dog up to school, pets are to remain off campus.  If you must bring your dog up to campus for some reason, please keep him/her on a leash across the street from the school.  Be considerate of children and adults who might be allergic and/or who might be uncomfortable around animals.

This will be the only letter that I send home via paper copy.  I would encourage families to sign up for the school bulletin via the Crocker website, http://crockerschool.org/.  School information is also posted on the website, so be sure to check it out regularly.  A couple of our Crocker dads have put a lot of time and energy into updating our website and posting all current information.

We are ready to begin the 2010-2011 school year. The teachers have been hard at work for several weeks.  At Crocker Highlands, the staff, faculty, and administration are honored that you entrust us with your precious ones. The hours that your children are with us each day are so important.  Here’s to a great school year!

Sincerely,

Beth Rhine, Principal

Welcome to Kindergarten!  This is a very important year in the academic advancement of your child. We urge you to take time to read this booklet carefully so the year can get off to a good start. After you have read this – we will be happy to answer any more of your questions at BackTo School Night.

2010/11 Crocker Kindergarten Handbook (click here)

We strongly encourage parents to participate in their children’s education.  In fact, the research clearly shows that when parents are involved in education, academic standards increase, and children’s self esteem improves.  We credit our students’ outstanding progress, and our wonderful experiences with them to the parents who come into the classroom regularly. We are hoping to have a lot of parental support this year, although it is important to remember that we are trying to build “independence” in each child, and if your child is having a hard time with this, you should limit your time at school.

We are looking forward to getting to know each one of you in the course of the year, and hope that your child’s kindergarten experience will be WONDERFUL!  You will be receiving information about the plans for the first day of school shortly.

In order to transition the children as gently as possible into all day school (which, by the way is very different from all day pre-school or daycare), we have minimum days scheduled for the first week of school, and we strongly encourage you to take advantage of the optional minimum days we are offering for  the second week.

Please feel free to share any concerns you or your child might have regarding school, and we will do our best to help. The best way to reach us is by email.

Anna: anna@thearchitects.com

Molly: mollyshannon@gmail.com

Nica: nica.uk@gmail.com

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