Disclosure Document Survey
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Who's ready for Kindergarten?! My name is Rachel Walton and I am so excited to share the Kindergarten
experience with you and your family! I was born and raised in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" (Minnesota). I served a religious and service mission in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for 18 months at the age of 21. I later graduated from BYU in 2008 with a degree in both Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. I also received my Teaching English as a Second Language Endorsement and have taken several other professional development courses since then. This is my 10th year of teaching (3 years of First Grade and soon to be 7 years of Kindergarten). I am married with 3 children. My passion is music and teaching at home and at school! I am looking forward to an amazing year with you and your child!
Please complete this online Disclosure Document and Survey before September 15th. Please indicate at the bottom that you have read and understand the policies and procedures outlined in this document.
Who's ready for Kindergarten?! My name is Rachel Walton and I am so excited to share the Kindergarten
experience with you and your family! I was born and raised in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" (Minnesota). I served a religious and service mission in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for 18 months at the age of 21. I later graduated from BYU in 2008 with a degree in both Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. I also received my Teaching English as a Second Language Endorsement and have taken several other professional development courses since then. This is my 10th year of teaching (3 years of First Grade and soon to be 7 years of Kindergarten). I am married with 3 children. My passion is music and teaching at home and at school! I am looking forward to an amazing year with you and your child!
Please complete this online Disclosure Document and Survey before September 15th. Please indicate at the bottom that you have read and understand the policies and procedures outlined in this document.
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Classroom Theme:
"Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain
Our theme this year is “Sail into Kindergarten” and I am truly looking forward to beginning this new adventure with you and your children! Each child will have a job on our "crew" and will be held responsible to help keep the classroom running smoothly as part of a team. I hope to create a partnership with you as we work together to help your child explore, dream, and discover this year in Kindergarten.
-Mark Twain
Our theme this year is “Sail into Kindergarten” and I am truly looking forward to beginning this new adventure with you and your children! Each child will have a job on our "crew" and will be held responsible to help keep the classroom running smoothly as part of a team. I hope to create a partnership with you as we work together to help your child explore, dream, and discover this year in Kindergarten.
Classroom Policies and Procedures:
Attendance:
Each child is expected to be in school daily. However, PLEASE do not send your child to school when they are ill. Absences or tardies require a note or phone call to the office from parents. District regulations require a responsible person to sign in at the office when taking a child out of school.
Schedule:
Mon.-Fri. 9:15-12:00
There will be an aide outside on the Kindergarten playground before and after school. Her name is Mrs. Pay. She will be out there as early as 9:05. Please do not let your child enter the playground in the morning unless you see that there is adult supervision. I will give Mrs. Pay the information you filled out on the student survey during testing with regards to who is allowed to pick your child up from school. You MUST contact the office and let them know if someone other than who you outlined is going to be picking your child up otherwise your child will remain at the school until we hear from you. This is for your child's safety.
Captain Spotlight:
Your child will have an opportunity to be our Captain during the year and will have the chance to be spotlighted. This will usually happen on a Monday and I will be sending out an online sign up for you to choose the day that works best for you and your child. A week before your child's spotlight I will send home a card stock page in a plastic page protector that you can decorate with your child for his or her captain spotlight. Feel free to decorate both sides and include your child's name, favorite food, favorite hobbies, movie, and any pictures you would like. We will enlarge the page through projection so the students can easily see it as your child presents it to the class. It will then be put in a class binder for his or her classmates to look at throughout the year.
Birthdays
We will celebrate your child's birthday at school this year by singing to him or her and giving he or she special birthday privileges. Summer birthdays will be celebrated during the last month of school. I will let you know which day. You are welcome but not obligated to send a treat with your child to share with the class. We have 24 students in our class as of right now. As per school policy, the treat must be store bought. As per Mrs. Walton policy, the treat must not be too messy (cupcakes with dyed frosting, fun-dips, and suckers stain the carpet and give Mrs. Walton gray hair)!
P.E.
I will be teaching P.E. every Monday to our class. Please make sure that on Mondays your child is wearing shoes that are suitable for P.E. activities. If you would like to send your child to school in lace up shoes then I would definitely appreciate you teaching him or her to tie them! Otherwise please send them in velcro shoes. There is so much for me to teach that having to tie several pairs of shoes each day is not feasible. Thank you!
Classroom Management:
My goal as a teacher is to create a safe and positive classroom environment and to maximize student learning by preventing and eliminating disruptive and inappropriate behavior. This begins with whole group positive reinforcement (both intrinsic and extrinsic). I have kept the rules simple and straightforward so they are easy to learn and remember. They are summed up in the following song/poem, which our class will learn and sing each day:
We’re Captain Walton’s Fleet (the name will change with each new captain)
We’re always kind and sweet (we keep our hands to ourselves, we use kind words)
We raise our hands to speak (we don’t call out)
We keep our classroom neat (we clean up after ourselves, we help each other)
We listen at our seats (we are attentive during lessons and set a good example)
There is a small class treasure chest that will hold a reward for all of the students. The reward will be anything from extra recess to a small prize/treat. Our class must earn an allotted amount of feet on our treasure map in order to reach the “treasure”. Feet are obtained through hard work and positive choices on an individual and whole group level.
If you signed up at Back to School night to "fill" our treasure chest then I will send the chest home with your child in a bag and you will have several days to fill it and send it back to school. If you weren't at Back to School night and would still like to fill it then please send me an email and I will add you to the list.
Please review our classroom rules with your child. I continually praise good behavior in the classroom and specifically mention who it was that earned a “foot” on the treasure map for our class. I also use an online behavior program called Class Dojo. You will receive information on how to sign up for this via email. Please set up an account as soon as you can so you can receive weekly notifications about your child's classroom behavior.
Children who are exhibiting difficulty following classroom rules will receive up to 2 warnings each resulting in a loss of a Dojo Point. If they receive a 3rd warning, they will miss part of recess to write an apology to me or to anyone their behavior affected and the parent(s) will be notified. They will have the opportunity to earn Dojo Points back if they decide to correct their behavior for the rest of the day. But, if it continues to be a problem we will set up a time to meet together and set goals for the student to improve.
Homework:
Homework will be given at the beginning of each month, and can be returned at the end of the month. It is designed for you to choose how much or how little you would like to do with a minimum expectation. The month of September will be primarily handwriting and reading. Regular monthly homework will begin after the first SEP conference. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the homework. I am here to help!
Each child is expected to be in school daily. However, PLEASE do not send your child to school when they are ill. Absences or tardies require a note or phone call to the office from parents. District regulations require a responsible person to sign in at the office when taking a child out of school.
Schedule:
Mon.-Fri. 9:15-12:00
There will be an aide outside on the Kindergarten playground before and after school. Her name is Mrs. Pay. She will be out there as early as 9:05. Please do not let your child enter the playground in the morning unless you see that there is adult supervision. I will give Mrs. Pay the information you filled out on the student survey during testing with regards to who is allowed to pick your child up from school. You MUST contact the office and let them know if someone other than who you outlined is going to be picking your child up otherwise your child will remain at the school until we hear from you. This is for your child's safety.
Captain Spotlight:
Your child will have an opportunity to be our Captain during the year and will have the chance to be spotlighted. This will usually happen on a Monday and I will be sending out an online sign up for you to choose the day that works best for you and your child. A week before your child's spotlight I will send home a card stock page in a plastic page protector that you can decorate with your child for his or her captain spotlight. Feel free to decorate both sides and include your child's name, favorite food, favorite hobbies, movie, and any pictures you would like. We will enlarge the page through projection so the students can easily see it as your child presents it to the class. It will then be put in a class binder for his or her classmates to look at throughout the year.
Birthdays
We will celebrate your child's birthday at school this year by singing to him or her and giving he or she special birthday privileges. Summer birthdays will be celebrated during the last month of school. I will let you know which day. You are welcome but not obligated to send a treat with your child to share with the class. We have 24 students in our class as of right now. As per school policy, the treat must be store bought. As per Mrs. Walton policy, the treat must not be too messy (cupcakes with dyed frosting, fun-dips, and suckers stain the carpet and give Mrs. Walton gray hair)!
P.E.
I will be teaching P.E. every Monday to our class. Please make sure that on Mondays your child is wearing shoes that are suitable for P.E. activities. If you would like to send your child to school in lace up shoes then I would definitely appreciate you teaching him or her to tie them! Otherwise please send them in velcro shoes. There is so much for me to teach that having to tie several pairs of shoes each day is not feasible. Thank you!
Classroom Management:
My goal as a teacher is to create a safe and positive classroom environment and to maximize student learning by preventing and eliminating disruptive and inappropriate behavior. This begins with whole group positive reinforcement (both intrinsic and extrinsic). I have kept the rules simple and straightforward so they are easy to learn and remember. They are summed up in the following song/poem, which our class will learn and sing each day:
We’re Captain Walton’s Fleet (the name will change with each new captain)
We’re always kind and sweet (we keep our hands to ourselves, we use kind words)
We raise our hands to speak (we don’t call out)
We keep our classroom neat (we clean up after ourselves, we help each other)
We listen at our seats (we are attentive during lessons and set a good example)
There is a small class treasure chest that will hold a reward for all of the students. The reward will be anything from extra recess to a small prize/treat. Our class must earn an allotted amount of feet on our treasure map in order to reach the “treasure”. Feet are obtained through hard work and positive choices on an individual and whole group level.
If you signed up at Back to School night to "fill" our treasure chest then I will send the chest home with your child in a bag and you will have several days to fill it and send it back to school. If you weren't at Back to School night and would still like to fill it then please send me an email and I will add you to the list.
Please review our classroom rules with your child. I continually praise good behavior in the classroom and specifically mention who it was that earned a “foot” on the treasure map for our class. I also use an online behavior program called Class Dojo. You will receive information on how to sign up for this via email. Please set up an account as soon as you can so you can receive weekly notifications about your child's classroom behavior.
Children who are exhibiting difficulty following classroom rules will receive up to 2 warnings each resulting in a loss of a Dojo Point. If they receive a 3rd warning, they will miss part of recess to write an apology to me or to anyone their behavior affected and the parent(s) will be notified. They will have the opportunity to earn Dojo Points back if they decide to correct their behavior for the rest of the day. But, if it continues to be a problem we will set up a time to meet together and set goals for the student to improve.
Homework:
Homework will be given at the beginning of each month, and can be returned at the end of the month. It is designed for you to choose how much or how little you would like to do with a minimum expectation. The month of September will be primarily handwriting and reading. Regular monthly homework will begin after the first SEP conference. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the homework. I am here to help!
Contacting Me:
I will be sending home regular emails and monthly newsletters to keep you informed. I also have a texting notification program called Remind that I use to send home reminders and important information. If you didn't sign up for it during testing then I will send you an invite to sign up via email.
I am a part time teacher and have only a morning Kindergarten class. My official contract time is from 9:00 AM to 12:15 PM. I have 3 young children, 2 of whom are not school age yet. I am very protective of my time with them and with my family. That being said, the 15 minutes before and after school that I have are crucial for set up and take down and it will be difficult for me to talk during that time. However, it is very important to me that you are able to reach me when you have questions or concerns. The best way to reach me is via email. I check my email every night after my children are in bed and also during my one 30 minute weekly prep. on Mondays. If there is ever a time that you prefer to meet to discuss something, I am happy tol set up a time with you to have a phone meeting or to meet in person if need be.
My email: [email protected]
I am a part time teacher and have only a morning Kindergarten class. My official contract time is from 9:00 AM to 12:15 PM. I have 3 young children, 2 of whom are not school age yet. I am very protective of my time with them and with my family. That being said, the 15 minutes before and after school that I have are crucial for set up and take down and it will be difficult for me to talk during that time. However, it is very important to me that you are able to reach me when you have questions or concerns. The best way to reach me is via email. I check my email every night after my children are in bed and also during my one 30 minute weekly prep. on Mondays. If there is ever a time that you prefer to meet to discuss something, I am happy tol set up a time with you to have a phone meeting or to meet in person if need be.
My email: [email protected]