The ABC’s of Ms. Hayward’s Class: Helpful Hints for a Successful School Year
Attendance – Daily attendance is strongly encouraged to help your child succeed this year. If your child must be absent, please remember to send a note when he/she returns explaining the reason. You can also email me either before or after the absence.
Birthdays/Holidays – First Step does not devote class time to birthday celebrations. In accordance with the NNPS Child Nutrition policy, as well as for students with potential food allergies, parents are asked not to bring in any food treats to celebrate birthdays or other events. You may recognize your child’s birthday with non-food items, such as pencils, stickers, etc. We also do not celebrate holidays in the classroom (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc). Parents are asked to support this policy by not sending in any treats or other items for holidays throughout the year..
Communication – Communication between home and school is essential for a successful school year. We will keep you informed of classroom events and activities, as well as your child’s progress. In return, we ask that you keep us informed of things at home that may have an effect on your child’s performance in school. Examples include if someone moves in/out of the home, if a parent or other family member gets deployed, or if there is a new sibling on the way. Please let us know of these or other situations.
Dress Code – WECC has no official dress code. However, students need to wear clothing that allows comfortable and safe participation in class activities. Sneakers are preferred to enable safe playing. Your child also needs to be able to handle his/her clothing independently to use the bathroom. Items such as belts, suspenders, overalls, etc. are often difficult for children to manage on their own. Masks are required for children daily as well!
Email – This is the best way to reach me during the day. I check email frequently throughout the day and can read/respond with minimal interruption of class activities. My email address is kristin.hayward@nn.k12.va.us. You can also click here for a contact form!
Facebook – Do you have a Facebook account? If so, that is a great way to stay up to date on school information! There are public pages for NNPS and Watkins ECC. Please note that NNPS uses an opt-out policy for posting pictures on social media. If you do NOT want your child’s picture used on either the class or school pages, you must send a note in writing. Let me know if you have questions!
Google Forms – I use Google Forms as an easy and convenient way for parents to schedule conferences and fill out other papers. Links to forms will be sent home in nametags, but will also be texted, emailed, and posted to our class Facebook page and website to let parents simply click on the link. You can use Google Forms from any web-enabled mobile device or web browser, and do NOT need to have a Google email address. Let me know if you have questions!
Home Reading – Home reading is an expectation for all students. A calendar will be provided each month to document which nights you read. Calendars should be returned on the first day of the following month. While home reading participation will not be part of the First Step progress report this year, it is important to participate. Home reading is an expectation for all grade levels, and we want to start building good habits!
Injuries/Illness – If your child gets hurt or sick at school, he/she will be taken to the nurse as quickly as possible. The nurse will either call or send home a note to let you know about the visit. Remember that if your child is sent home sick, he/she should not return to school until being symptom free for at least 24 hours without medicine.
Jobs – All children will have a classroom job each week. The jobs are changed each Monday morning. This helps to teach the students responsibility.
Kindness – We stress kindness and being a good friend in our classroom. While we realize that children will not always get along all of the time, we expect them to only use kind words and to show manners and respect to everyone in our class.
Library – Starting at the end of September, we will visit the WECC library each week. Your child can choose 2 books to borrow for the week, which must be returned the next week in order to choose new books. We will provide a library bag to help students keep track of their books. If books become lost/damaged, parents will be asked to pay a $10 replacement fee (per book) before children can continue checking out books.
Mail – We refer to items sent home for parents as “mail”. We will put classroom information, items from the office, any individual notes for students, etc. in your child’s nametag each day. We ask that you check this “mail” each evening to be sure that you do not miss any important information. Your child may remind you by saying “You’ve got mail!” when he/she arrives home, as this is our way of telling the children there is something being sent home.
Newsletters – We will send home a newsletter each Friday to let you know what we worked on during the week. The newsletter will also inform you of upcoming events.
Outside – We go outside each day, weather permitting. On very hot or cold days, the nurse checks the temperatures and lets us know if we are able to go outside or not. If weather prevents us from going outside, we will do our PE activities in the classroom and/or the gym. Because we have PE each day, it is important for your child to always wear safe shoes (closed toe, rubber soled; sneakers are preferred).
Potty Training – In order for your child to attend First Step, he/she must be fully potty trained, which encompasses more than just knowing how to use the bathroom. It includes recognizing the need to go and communicating that need. To help prevent accidents, we suggest having your child practice asking to use the bathroom at home to get used to doing so. We need to have a change of clothes at school at all times in case of accidents. If your child has frequent accidents, you will be asked to attend a conference to discuss how we can correct the problem.
Questions – If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask! You can send a note, email me, message me through Remind, or you can call the school. Please note that the office may not put the call through to the classroom and I may get a message to return your call after school. See below for more information on Remind!
Responsibility – One of our goals is to help student develop independence and responsibility. You can support this at home by setting up routines to allow your child to be responsible for their own nametag, backpack, and other school items.
Scholastic – Scholastic Reading Club book order forms will come home monthly, offering a variety of books at low prices to build your child’s home library. Ordering instructions will come home with the flyers. Participation is completely optional!
Transportation – Our primary concern at the end of the day is getting your child home safely. To help with this, all changes to daily transportation must be made in writing. For example, if your child typically rides the bus but you will be picking him/her up on a given day, you must write a note and send it in the nametag. Changes cannot be made over the phone for security reasons.
Understanding – Please remember that your child is 4 years old and his/her understanding may not be the same as yours or ours. If your child says that something happened at school and you have questions, please check with us first.
Visitors – Due to COVID safety precautions, visitors are not allowed in the building at this time. We will keep you updated if this changes!
Website – I maintain this class website to keep parents informed of classroom events and activities. There is also general school and classroom information provided. I update the website at least once per unit, and more often as needed. If you have any problems accessing the website, or if there is something else you would like to see on the site, please let me know!
EXpectations – We maintain expectations for both students and parents. We expect students to give us their best efforts during class activities, make positive learning choices in the classroom, and be supportive of other classmates. We expect parents to work with their child at home, attend parent conferences/workshops, and encourage their child to be the best that they can be. We also expect parents to check the nametag daily for parent notices and return anything that needs to come back promptly. Thanks in advance for your cooperation!
You – As already stated, your support is important for your child’s success!! We look forward to working with you!
Zzzz – Please be sure that your child gets plenty of rest every night! We do not have naptime at WECC, and we keep the children busy learning all day. Having a set bedtime each night will help them adjust to our school routine and allow them to stay awake and alert at school every day.
We are looking forward to a GREAT year with you and your child!!