Welcome to a new school year!

I am so excited and cannot wait to see all my sweet new little firsties in the morning! I have everything ready and waiting…..books, crayons, pencil pouches, cubbies, notebooks and most of all LOTS of fun learning!!  We are going to have an amazing year full of learning, love, and fun!

You may walk your little one to the room on the first day, take a few pictures and say your goodbyes.  I promise I will take wonderful care of your sweet baby. Tuesday you will need to drop off your child at the front of the school.  There will be plenty of teachers on hand to make sure everyone gets to their classroom.  Students may enter the classroom between 7:50 and 8:10.  Teachers are on duty in the lunchroom for children who are dropped off early between 7:30 and 7:50.  If your child arrives before 7:50 they must report to the lunchroom and then will be dismissed at 7:50 to come to the classroom.  Children my not be dropped of before 7:30 in the morning.

Your child will be bringing home their Take Home Notebook Monday.  There is a note in the front explaining the purpose of this notebook.  If you walk your child to the class, there will be a manila envelope on their desk for you to take home.  There is a checklist of forms that need to be signed and returned inside the envelope.  Please return the completed forms in the envelope as soon as possible.  There is a monthly newsletter from the PTA that contains news, reminders and the month’s menu for breakfast and lunch.   Our lunch time is 11:05 – 11:30.  You may sign in at the office and we’ll pick you up on the way.  Please give us two weeks to establish procedures and expectations before joining us for lunch.

During these first few weeks of school we will spend a lot of time learning the expectations of the school and our classroom. I’ll be very explicit in teaching procedures and routines so that every child knows the expectations and the consequences for misbehavior in our classroom.  You’ll have information on First Grade’s Behavior Management in their Take Home Folder that your child brings home tomorrow. (We will discuss this further in our Small Group Meetings scheduled for the last week of August.  Information will come home this week about Small Group Meetings.)

We have our Specialists time (my planning period) each day from 1:25 – 2:00.  This is a three week rotation between P.E., Art/Music and Computer Lab.  Our first rotation is Computer Lab.  After 3 weeks in the computer lab we will go to PE for three weeks, and then we will go to Art/Music for the last 3 weeks of the nine week grading period.  When the children do not go to PE I will take them outside for PE.

We will have Small Group Meetings the last week of August, more info to come on that.  This takes the place of Open House for First Grade.  I will discuss our curriculum, grading, behavior management and lots of other stuff that you’ll be interested in knowing. The first grade teachers feel that meeting in a small group setting allows for more one on one conversation and gives you the opportunity to ask questions as they arise.

One last thing, please be patient with carpool for probably the first two weeks of school.  We do have a good plan in place but it will take some time for everyone to get used to the flow. Please place a sign in your car on the driver’s side with your child’s first and last name.  Your child’s name will be called on the intercom and given a number that corresponds to a numbered cone along the side walk.  If your new to Blount, don’t worry, your child will be directed down the hall, out the front door and to the appropriate cone to await your arrival!  I’ll also give your child a slip of paper with the  number for the first week or so in case they forget it before they get outside.  Bus riders will get a similar reminder as they leave to board the bus.  Bus riders enter and leave the building at the doors to the back parking lot.  Car riders leave through the main doors at the front.  Remember, teachers are on duty each day to direct and monitor the students.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  My school email is amy.wright@mps.k12.al.us.com MPS usually sends all personal emails to my SPAM folder.  I will check it daily, however if I have not responded to your email within 1 day please resend it.  I try to be prompt at responding to your emails.

I want to say thank you to each of you for entrusting me with your greatest treasure! I hope your new little “firstie” comes home happy, excited and with a desire to love learning! We are going to have an amazing year in Room 123! See you on Monday!!

Lots of Hugs!