August 13, 2018
Dear Parents,
Welcome to second grade! I am looking forward to working with you and your child this year. Hopefully, the following information will explain a little about life in 2nd grade at Boonsboro.
- At the beginning of each month, I will send home a new Reading Log. Newsletters are easiest to find by going to the Boonsboro website at bedfordbnes.sharpschool.net and clicking on Teacher Pages<Our Staff,Classroom Teachers<Mrs. Cindy McKinney, and voila, you have arrived! All kinds of wonderful information awaits you in this wonderful place on the World Wide Web! I will try to keep the information current on this site, which is the site you access by clicking on the teacher’s name. But, due to circumstances beyond our control, there will be some weeks (very few) when the pages are not updated, and I ask for your patience in these instances.
- Every week the children will bring home their Wednesday folder. It will contain some of their papers and most special notices from the school. Please sign the front of the white folder and return it to school as soon as possible with corrected work that has been checked and signed by a parent. On a special note, please make a habit of checking your child’s backpack daily in order to be kept current or in case I have to send something that cannot wait for Wednesday folders.
- Our Resource Schedule is posted on the website --- but we do have P.E. on Monday and Thursday. It is very important for the children’s safety that they always have a sturdy athletic shoe for these days or they will not be allowed to participate. They must have a shoe with a back-strap in order to play on the equipment during recess. Rubber soles are recommended.
- I must have a note from you if your child’s normal transportation method is changed. (i.e. Riding the bus home with a friend or if grandma is going to be picking up). In addition, if your child is riding the bus with another student, I must have a note from you and the student with whom he or she will be riding home.
- Please label all personal items such as backpacks, coats, lunchboxes, etc. You would be amazed at how quickly our Lost & Found pile accumulates in the cafeteria!
- I recommend prepayment for lunch and/or breakfast. When sending in a check or cash, please put it in a baggie or an envelope with your child’s name. Our lunch time is 11:06-11:36.
- Unless you say otherwise, the children will have no restrictions as to what they may purchase in the lunch line. Every day as they walk through, there are extra choices such as SunnyD’s, Fruit Roll-Ups, puddings, cookies, chips, etc. If you want to place a restriction such as No Extras, 1 Extra per day, Extra only on Friday, etc. the cafeteria can do this. Please send a note with your child’s name and your specific request(s), and the cafeteria staff will put the information in the computer system.
- About birthdays - Our school policy does not allow students or teachers to distribute birthday invitations. I encourage you to send in a special craft and/or come to lunch with your child. If your child celebrates a birthday during the summer and would still like to have a “classroom birthday”, please just choose a day that you would like to celebrate with the class, and let me know so that I can work with you. Please do not bring food items to share with the class. Bedford County Public Schools has recently changed its policy, and we have been instructed to tell our parents to avoid any confusion later. Please refer to our new STUDENT WELLNESS handout if you have questions or concerns.
- We will have snack time every day, and a healthy snack is helpful to keep all of our minds working until lunch time. Please, only finger foods and no candy or sticky foods such as doughnuts or Cheetos because snacks are eaten while the children are working. There isn’t enough time for children to go back and forth to the cafeteria to get spoons and/or forks. Students may drink water with their morning snack (no soda or juice). Again, please refer to the STUDENT WELLNESS handout for a list of healthy food snacks.
- Students are permitted to have water bottles with POP TOPS in the classroom, but they need to be filled with water only --- No Kool-Aid or Crystal Light because they are sticky when spilled! (We cannot accept water bottles with SCREW ON tops because they often get turned over and spill onto other children’s work/clothes. You can imagine the problem this creates!)
- Finally, a word about the restroom policy: Your child has the opportunity to use the restroom freely until the morning announcements are made, and then we will go as a class each morning, again before lunch, and once before the end of the day. Throughout the rest of the day, if your child feels it is absolutely necessary to use the restroom, s/he must wait until seatwork activities are occurring - not during instructional time. I realize that special allowances must be made for emergency situations, and I will work around those occurrences. Unless I receive a note from you stating a medical condition that necessitates frequent restroom visits, your child needs to adhere to this policy in order to keep disturbances to a minimum.
I am looking forward to a wonderful year! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. The phone number here is (434) 384-2881. Please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]! I will get back to you promptly because I know how important it is to get clarification and/or concerns addressed as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Mrs. McKinney