September, 2020





Dear Families,
                       
We are happy to welcome you to the 2020-2021 school year! We are looking forward to teaching your child in our Pre-K for All program.  Pre-K is a big milestone in your child’s life and we are excited to travel this journey together.  We are eager to create a productive partnership with you to ensure a successful school year.  In our classroom, we believe that every child is unique and has the ability to learn.  We promise to provide meaningful experiences and create a love for learning in your child.

Throughout the year, we will provide your child with many opportunities to grow as active, independent learners, engage themselves with hands on tasks, develop awareness of various concepts all while having fun!  We believe that parents are our partners in education and a strong parent-teacher relationship is important for overall success.


Pre-K for All Curriculum
In our class, we will be following the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) Interdisciplinary Units.  The units of study are researched-based and support student learning in all domains using developmentally appropriate practice.
The interdisciplinary units, grounded in the New York State Prekindergarten Learning Standards, follow the Scope and Sequence for the Units of Study.
Curriculum Units:
 

1. Welcome to Pre-K
2. My Five Senses
3. All About Us
4. Where We Live
5. Transportation
6. Light
7. Water
8. Plants
9. Babies
10. Transformation

Listed is some general information on classroom and school procedures:
 

1. Attendance:

• Students are encouraged to attend school daily, unless they are sick.
• When a child is absent, parents are required to call the school by 9:00am.
• Absence notes are required in addition to the phone call.
• Absence forms can be found in the Parent/ Student Handbook (https://stsrstreamacademy.com).

 

2. Health and Wellness:
   • Your child is required to wear a properly fitted mask daily to school. It is recommended to keep an extra mask in your child’s backpack. 
   • If your child becomes ill or hurt in school, he/she will be brought to the school nurse. You will receive a phone call regarding what has occurred. If your child has a fever, vomits or diarrhea, you will need to pick your child up from school.  

Parents should take their child’s temperature every day before their child leaves for school. If your child has a fever of 100.0 or over, your child should be kept home from school. A fever is a key symptom of COVID-19. You should ask your child if he/she has any other symptoms of COVID-19 (see below). If your child complains of these symptoms or has a fever, or you answer yes to a question in section two, please, keep them home, call your child’s doctor and contact the school to report your child’s absence.  If your child is sick with a common cold or other ailment your child should stay home until symptoms subside and they are fever free.

Symptoms:

Before you or your child leaves for school each day – Consider all that apply:
_______ fever or chills – Is fever 100.0°F or higher?
_______sore throat, congestion, or runny nose?
_______new or worsening cough that cause’s difficulty breathing?(If your child has chronic  
                                  allergies, or an asthmatic cough, is there a change in their cough from baseline?)
_______diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting?
_______onset of severe headache, especially with a fever?
_______ fatigue, muscle or body aches; loss of taste or smell?

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19. This list does not include all possible symptoms. CDC will continue to update this list as they learn more about COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov.

 Close Contact/Positive Test/Potential Exposure & Travel

______had close contact (within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 10 minutes) with a person confirmed positive in the past 14 days or tested positive for COVID-19 yourself?
______have traveled internationally or from a state with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 per the New York State Travel Advisory in the past 14 days? (https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory)  for Official State List.

 

3. Arrival/ Dismissal:
   • Arrival and dismissal takes place at designated door in the parking lot.
   •  Arrival is at 8:15am.
   • Dismissal is at 2:35pm.
   • Please utilize the school parking lot located on Windsor Ave for arrival and dismissal.  Enter the parking lot on Windsor Road and exit on Slosson Ave.
   • There is no parking in faculty/staff spots during school hours. 
   • Any changes in pick-up procedure must be submitted to the school office in writing and presented to the teacher a day in advance.

 

4. Allergies:
   • Any known allergies should be reported to the nurse and myself. 
   • With that said to ensure the safety of all students, our classroom will be a “Nut Free Zone.” 

 

5. Bathroom:
   • Please review appropriate toilet training for four year olds.
   • Please encourage your child to independently perform self- care tasks
   • Please be conscious of your child’s clothing during dress down days as they will be independently using the restroom.

 

• • Please review proper handwashing techniques with your child.  For example, singing “Tops and bottoms, tops and bottoms, in between, in between, rub them all together, rub them all together, now they’re clean, squeaky clean.”  

 

6. Birthdays:
   • Birthdays are welcome in our classroom.
   • You may bring in a small treat to celebrate this momentous occasion, brownies, cookies or a choice of two munchkins is welcomed.  ***At this time, this is on hold due to the pandemic.
   • Please inform me a few days prior to your child’s birthday.
   • Parents may not bring in favors or “goodie” bags for students.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Please be conscious of our “Nut Free” policy too.  Thank you!
 

7. Daily Folder and Notebook:
   • Your child’s folder and notebook will be sent from home to school daily.  The folder and notebook provide a means of communication between home and school.
   • Please check for daily notices and return all correspondences in your child’s folder. 
   • Please feel free to communicate with me via your child’s communication notebook. 
   • Your child’s other folder will be used for suggested home-school activities.

 

8. Dress Code:
   • Students are required to wear the St. Teresa- St. Rita STREAM Academy gym uniform.
   • Students wear the sweat suit (shorts or pants and gym t-shirt or long sleeve shirt) with white ankle socks and uniform Velcro all white sneakers. 
   • School uniforms must be purchased at Flynn and O’Hara.

9. Monthly Correspondence:
   • Each month you will receive a packet of paperwork.  The packet will include: a newsletter, calendar, home school connection, community happenings and a family engagement invitation.
   • The calendar will be sent home with activities planned for that month. 
   • The newsletter will discuss the unit of study along with any important dates to save.
   • The home school connection packet is suggested activities to complete that will strengthen your child’s writing skills, fine motor skills, math skills, etc.

***As mentioned, the activities are suggested but completing the activities will help reinforce material learned in school as well as provide great family fun time!
 

10. Outdoor Motor Play:
    • Your child will enjoy gross motor play daily on our school playground.  We visit the playground in the morning. 
    • Please be cognizant of the weather for the day and have your child dressed appropriately.  In addition to appropriate clothing, you may choose to apply sunscreen or bug spray before coming to school. 

 

11. Rest Time:
    • Students are required to bring in a crib sized fitted sheet to be used during rest time.  The fitted sheet will be used to cover the mat. 
    • The sheet should be sent in a clearly labeled bag with your child’s name. 
    • Every Friday, the sheet and blanket will be sent home to be washed and returned to school again on Monday.

 

12. Supplies:
    • Student Supply List:
      • 2- two pocket folders (child’s choice) for correspondence to and from school and suggested homework activities
      • 1- notebooks for parent- teacher communication (preferably a marble notebook)  
      • Smock or adult sized t-shirt to be used for painting
      • Change of clothes (include: shirt, pants, underwear, socks) in a CLEARLY LABELED Ziploc bag
      • Extra mask

 

• • Classroom Wish List:

If possible, please help make our wishes come true by donating any of these items to our class:

• Hand sanitizer
• Paper towel
• Tissues
• Baby wipes
• Clorox/ cleaning wipes

***Please CLEARLY label ALL of your child’s belongings to ensure the safe return of any items and to avoid confusion with other students.  Thank you!***
 

13. Snack/Lunch:
    • Your child will be provided with snack and lunch daily.
    • Snacks usually consist of Goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc.  Please feel free to send in a snack if you think your child will not eat what is provided.
    • Lunch is provided by the school’s lunch program (Nucci’s).  A menu is available online at ( https://stsrstreamacademy.com/)
    • Lunch consists of a main course, fruit, vegetable, water and milk. 
    • Please feel free to send in an extra snack for lunch time. 

****If your child has any know allergies or aversions to food, please be sure to inform the nurse and myself. 





 

14. Seesaw Platform: We will be using an online learning platform called SeeSaw this school year. All students, in person and remote must set up a SeeSaw account. Although we will be posting activities for the remote learners, in person students will also have access to activities to enhance their learning. This is a great way for us to share what the children are doing in school too! You have received an email with instructions to set up your child’s account

 

15. Website:
    • For further information in regard to any school or class activities please visit  https://stsrstreamacademy.com/ .  
    • Furthermore, please visit our individual Class Pages for more information.  This can also be found on our school website https://stsrstreamacademy.com/ .

We are excited to begin this Pre-K for All journey with you and your child.

                                                                                   
Warmly,

Mrs. C. Esposito
Mrs. A. Kinzel
Mrs. J. Macaluso