Kindergarten

We are taking things slowly this week to ease ourselves into full days. All of the kids are doing a great job with the transition! We will continue to work these next few weeks on making sure the transition is as smooth as possible.

I will send home a newsletter on Tuesdays. This newsletter will include what we are learning for the week, as well as, important information for our classroom and the school. This information will also be posted on our class page on the Hope website.

Yellow Envelopes – Yellow communication envelopes will go home each Tuesday. These envelopes contain communication from the school office. Please remove all of the information from the envelopes, sign the outside of the envelope, and return it on Wednesdays.

Chapel Offering Envelopes – Offerings are collected during our Wednesday chapel service from the students using their weekly offering envelopes. Offering envelopes are placed in the yellow envelopes each week. You are not required to donate chapel offerings. It is a way for our school to help those in need.

Church and Sunday School Attendance – Please mark each week whether your child attended church or Sunday School in the home folders. Your child does not need to attend Hope on Sunday mornings for it to count. You may attend the church of your choice. If you do not have a church home, you are always invited to join us on Sunday mornings at 8:00 am for a traditional service and at 10:30 am for a contemporary service. Children’s Church is offered during the 10:30 am service for children age 3 thru second grade. Sunday School classes are also offered at 9:30 am.

Scholastic Book Orders – Scholastic Book Orders will come home each month, except for the months during the Scholastic Book Fair. You may order and pay for books online at www.scholastic.com. The first book order for the year is in today’s yellow envelope. There is an online code on this book order form that will link directly to our class. Book orders are a great way to inexpensively build your child’s personal library, and our class earns points for free books when you order books through Scholastic. Book orders are due on September 24.

Free Dress Fridays – Free Dress Fridays are the 1^st and 3^rd Fridays of the month.

Search Testing – In the yellow envelope is a permission slip for Search Testing for all of the Kindergartners. Leah Evjen-Bryan, who is on our staff at Hope, will be conducting an individual assessment on all of the students in the Kindergarten class. Your permission is needed for this assessment. This assessment helps us determine reading readiness and any supports that may be needed. It is a thorough assessment that is beneficial for classroom instruction. Please sign and return the permission for your child to partake in this assessment.

Makerspace – I am setting up a makerspace in our classroom. This is an area for the students to explore STEM concepts and to create objects to help them solve problems. Right now we are learning how to use the tools. I am hoping to have our first project up and going within a couple of weeks. I will discuss this more at Curriculum Night. In the meantime, most of the objects we create to solve our problems come from recyclable materials. I will send home a more detailed list at a later date, but generally, things like toilet paper tubes, tops from applesauce pouches, pieces of wire, etc. are items that are always welcome in our classroom.

Curriculum Night – Curriculum night is on Tuesday, September 24. You are invited to come to school that night to learn more about the Kindergarten curriculum. The evening begins at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary with a PTH meeting and general information about our curriculum. After that, there will be an opportunity to visit the classrooms. I will have copies of the textbooks and workbooks available for you to examine.

I am looking forward to a fabulous year in Kindergarten. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at jneafcy@hopeseattle.org.

In Christ,

Jennifer Neafcy