Welcome to Stargate’s Kindergarten program. We want you to know that your child’s welfare is always foremost in our thoughts and actions. We are proud to introduce our Kindergarten Team of Teachers: Mrs. Kelly Jackson, Ms. Darlene Gelakoska, and Ms. Cheryl Sneeuwjagt. Our wonderful Classroom Assistants are: Mrs. Sheila Morelli, Mrs. Tarelle Taide-Durant, and Mrs. Lori Bender. By working closely together we have found that our basic philosophy is similar; children’s first experiences away from home should be positive and happy. School needs to be personally exciting and meaningful. Children form an opinion of school from their early educational experiences. We as a team strive to help students become self-confident and independent. Independent children can be productive, competent, and creative. We look forward to helping to instill a positive self-image and promoting an enriching education for your child.
The Kindergarten Team is including our Classroom Rules which have proven to be very practical. If you could please go over these with your child, it will benefit all of us. We work on the rules with the students quite a bit at the beginning and then throughout the year.
A huge thank you to everyone for signing up to volunteer on Meet the Teacher Night. We realize some of you are eager to begin helping in the classroom. We appreciate this, and want you to know we’re looking forward to this as well. However, in order to have an effective classroom, Teachers need time to practice classroom management. At the beginning of the year, we clearly communicate, model, and reinforce procedures until they become routine. The students need to know the Teachers are in charge. Once students are confident and know what to expect the transition from parent to Teacher is easier. Sometimes if a parent is in the room, the student may pay more attention to the parent, and may miss instruction and expectations. Children thrive on consistent routines, so once this is accomplished we’ll be more than happy to have you volunteer in the classroom.
These first few weeks are spent on rules and procedures, evaluating reading and writing skills, and our self-concept theme, “Me and My World.” This theme helps us to get to know everyone, and sets some ground work for home-school connections. To help with this we are asking parents to please help your child to fill out the child inventory, “Getting to Know You” for homework this week. We would also like to have a 3x5 photograph of your child we could use for a classroom project. Thank You!!
Have a great week,
Kindergarten Team