A Short Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday!  I couldn't resist this meme.  I Love Lucy is my favorite television show EVER!  It's been a long week, but I'm so grateful to head into the weekend both having met my new class of firsties, and having met many of you.

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!  *Please do not skip this step.*   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 that contains the 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.  

Have you signed up for the Remind text messaging service?  If not, please take a moment to download the Remind app (look for the white text bubble on a blue background) from the app store and join my class.  After you download the Remind app, you can join my class by texting @jlombardo to 81010.

My update will be fairly short this week since we've had a short week of school.  We are continuing to work on community building, routines, and procedures.  Next week, I will begin to introduce some of our academic routines, such as morning work and morning meeting.  However, in a school environment -- and particularly with younger children -- the most important things I can do in the first few weeks are establish explicit and reliable routines and procedures, establish specific behavior expectations, and build a solid foundation for relationships in our room. Those things will remain a priority for the next 2 weeks.

A couple of reminders:

• Don't forget to send a daily snack with your child.  Snack should be something that can be eaten independently (no utensils, please) while we work.   
• Don't forget to send a water bottle with your child.  We do not have a water fountain in our classroom, so a water bottle is the only way for your child to get a drink of water during the day.
• Please help your child to bring his/her homework folder and agenda to school each day.  Please do not simply pack and unpack your child's backpack each day.  Please begin to establish a routine at home whereby your child is responsible for these items.
• Next week, the kids will begin to list their homework in their agendas.  For about the next month, homework will be nightly reading.  Please refer to the instructions in the inside pocket of your child's agenda for how to log your child's nightly reading.  
• If you have not returned your "First Day Forms", please take the weekend to complete them, and return them to school on Monday.  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. Pinebrook Handbook Acknowledgement Survey -- This is an online form you should complete and submit via the Pinebrook website.  Click HERE to access the form.
4. Yellow "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
5. Green "Technology Use" Form 

I think that's all I have for you this week.  Please reach out at anytime with questions, comments or concerns.  This weekend, I'll update the "Important Dates" section of this blog with many upcoming school and classroom events.  Stay tuned!

It's our family's last free weekend before soccer starts!  I suppose I should go grocery shopping.  Apparently, crayons and composition notebooks can NOT sustain my boys during the first weeks of school.  I will also spend some time around the fire pit, pull some weeds from the mulch beds, and find out more about Savey and Jonah's first days of school.  Savey is a freshman at Champe.  Jonah is in 6th grade at Mercer.

I hope you have some family time planned too!

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 or Back to School Night, 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 on Tuesday.  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. Pinebrook Handbook Acknowledgement Survey -- This is an online form you should complete and submit via the Pinebrook website.
4. Yellow "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
5. Green "Technology Use" Form 

• 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.  It should travel back and forth each day with your child.
• 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.  This will also travel back and forth each day with your child.  Please note...I did not speak much to the kids about their agendas today.  I'll explain more about them tomorrow.  However, I sent them home today to begin establishing the physical routine of bringing agendas back and forth, and knowing what to do with them at school. 

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 tomorrow.  

Thank you so much!  Please let me know if you have any questions!  You will find me asleep on our classroom carpet.  :)

Thanks for Attending Open House and Back to School Night!

Hello, 1st Grade Parents!

A HUGE thank you to those of you able to attend Open House and/or Back to School Night! If you weren't able to attend, I will send home a folder with all pertinent information tomorrow.  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!  *Please do not skip this step.*   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 that contains the 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.  

Have you signed up for the Remind text messaging service?  If not, please take a moment to download the Remind app (look for the white text bubble on a blue background) from the app store and join my class.  After you download the Remind app, you can join my class by texting @jlombardo to 81010.

I have to say....I love the energy and excitement of both Open House and Back to School Night, but I do NOT like how fast they go!  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 the next couple of weeks 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.  This will be especially important as I begin to introduce flexible seating choices in our classroom.

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 tomorrow.  (Bonus points if they remember my name!)  Tomorrow 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 tomorrow.  THE ABSOLUTE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME TO KNOW IS HOW YOUR CHILD IS GETTING HOME EACH DAY.  If you were not at Open House or Back to School Night yesterday, and did not complete a form to tell me how your child is getting home, please expect an email from me before tomorrow 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 11:27-11:57.  Due to our later lunch time, please begin to send your child's daily "power snack" to school tomorrow.  Please refer to the green sheet in your Back to School Night folder for more specific guidelines about snack. Remember...we do not have an in-class water fountain, so water bottles are okay too.

If you didn't bring your student's school supplies to school yesterday, please kindly send those as soon as possible.  Many thanks!  :)  If your child is missing a critical supply, I will send a note home so you may send the missing item as soon as possible.

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!  I am old.  *womp, womp*  Parents calling me "Mrs. Lombardo" makes me feel older! 

If you have any questions, please email me.  You may do so 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!!

Welcome!

Hello!

Welcome to your child's 2017-2018 school year!  I am excited to meet you and your child, to get to know your family, and to work together as we watch your child learn and grow.

Please take some time to "poke around" on my blog...you'll get to know me and our classroom a bit better.  While you're here, please subscribe to my weekly updates by inputting your email address in the box to the right marked "follow by email".  After you input your email address, you will receive a subscription confirmation in your inbox.  You must click the confirmation link in the email to complete the subscription process.  Don't worry if this sounds confusing!  I'll explain more in person.

Speaking of explaining in person, I hope to see you and your child at our Open House on Tuesday, August 22nd at 10:00 am in our classroom at school (Room 9). Please bring your child's supplies with you on that day.  Later that evening, parents are invited back to our classroom for Back to School Night.  The first session begins at 6:00 pm; the second begins at 7:00 pm.  You only need to attend one session to get a comprehensive overview of the year ahead. 

I'm looking forward to Tuesday!  In the meantime, you can email me with comments, questions, or concerns by sending a message to jenna.lombardo@lcps.org; or by clicking the envelope in the yellow circle to the right of this post.  

See you soon!