We Made It!

Hi Everyone!

We made it through our first day!  Expect your sweet littles to be tired...they took in a good amount of information today, but handled it perfectly!  Your children are a lively bunch of enthusiastic kiddos with tons of personality!  We are going to build a strong community and have great fun this year in Room 9.

Please check your child's backpack for a few important items:

• If you did not attend Open House last Thursday, your child will have a large manila envelope containing forms from the school office and a folder from me.  Both of these items were distributed at Open House.  Please complete all forms inside both the envelope from the office and the folder from me, and send them back to school as soon as possible.  Per our school office, I must have the following forms from you:

1. Blue "How Is My Child Getting Home?" Form
2. Yellow "Emergency Dismissal" Form
3. White Handbook Acknowledgement Form (this is a half-sheet of paper)
4. Orange "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
5. Orange "Technology Use Form" (this form went home today; it was not in your manila Open House packet)

• Your child has his/her homework folder today.  Please check the front clear pocket for an explanation of how we will use this important communication tool.  I will also review this information at Back to School Night on September 15th.
• Your child has his/her agenda today.  Please check the front clear pocket inside the cover of the agenda for an explanation of how we will use this tool.  Again, I'll review this information at Back to School Night.

Please keep plugging away on all those forms.  I know they can be a lot and I promise that as a parent of kids who attend Loudoun County Schools, I feel your pain.  :)

I'll be in touch again throughout the week.  

Thank you so much!  Please let me know if you have any questions!  

Hello, 1st Grade Parents!

A HUGE thank you to those of you able to attend Open House / Meet the Teacher yesterday!  I am excited to get to know each of you this year as we work together to help your sweet kiddos be successful.

First things first...if you were directed to this post by a link in an email, please kindly take a moment to subscribe to my blog.  I use this blog to communicate all school and classroom news, information, and dates.  You can follow my blog by typing your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email".  After you input your email address, you'll receive a message to verify your address.  Simply click the link in the email to verify your email address, and you'll be subscribed forevermore with no worries about missing important information!   My blog publishes each day between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.  This means that if I have content to share, you will automatically receive an email between 3:00 and 5:00 pm to let you know I have posted new content.  If you don't receive an email, I don't have anything new posted. I typically post new content every Friday, and on other days as needed.  

I have to say....I love the energy and excitement of Open House, but I do NOT like how fast it goes!  There never seems to be enough time to address the myriad of questions, comments, and emotions running through the kids, you, and me.  So, I'm sorry if I spent less time with any of you than you were hoping.  I promise the 10,000 blog posts and emails I send over the next 9 months will MORE than make up for it. :)  

Meantime, I'd like to tell you that next week will really be about getting the kids used to a full school day, and introducing them to the rules, routines, and procedures of both our classroom and our school.  Actually....the next 2 weeks will be about those things.  We'll start off slowly on the academic side in favor of both building community and solidly knowing the rules, routines, and procedures before we jump into the heavier academics.

I shared with some of you yesterday, but it's worth repeating...I really just want the kids (and you!) to know that a "nice lady" will be at school to take care of them on Monday.  (Bonus points if they remember my name!)  Monday is about getting to school, making sure everybody eats lunch, and making sure everybody gets home safely!   (And then maybe taking a nap.)

On that note....please kindly complete as many of yesterday's forms as possible and send them to school with your child on Monday.  THE ABSOLUTE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS FOR ME TO KNOW HOW YOUR CHILD IS GETTING HOME EACH DAY.  If you did not bring the dismissal form attached to your teacher assignment email to Open House yesterday, please print it, complete it, and send it to school Monday, and please also expect an email from me before Monday to ask how your child will be getting home.  I can not stress enough the importance of this information.  

If you haven't yet put money on your student's lunch account, you can sign up for an account on www.myschoolbucks.com and manage your child's lunch account on-line.  You can also send a check to school with your student, but our cafeteria staff really encourages www.myschoolbucks.com to avoid lost checks between home and school.  If you need a lunch menu, please visit the school website (www.lcps.org/pinebrook) and click "school menu" in the upper right hand corner.  Our lunch time is 10:34-11:04.  We eat early and do NOT have any in-class snack.  (Water bottles are fine.)  Expect the kids to be hungry after school.  

If you didn't bring your student's school supplies to Open House, please kindly send those as soon as possible.  Many thanks!  :)

Finally.....this is the first of many, many communications.  Thanks for your patience with me as I overuse emoticons, sometimes babble, and perhaps give you more information than you ever wanted.   OH!  And please feel free to call me Jenna, both in writing and in person! 

If you have any questions, please email me.  You may email me by clicking the envelope in the yellow circle under my picture to the right of this post.

Welcome to 1st grade and Room 9!  Here's to a great year!!