Kindergarten Handbook
St. Raphael Catholic School, Naperville, IL
Phone Number: 630-355-1880, Ext. 135
Kindergarten Teachers: Mrs. Susan Burke
sburke@st-raphaelcatholicschool.com
Mrs. Nancy Wieszcholek
nwieszcholek@st-raphaelcatholicschool.com
Student Support Specialist: Mrs. Mary Dzieginski
Welcome to a new school year! We want your child to have a fun and
successful year in Kindergarten. Above, we have listed the school phone
number and our email addresses are next to each of our names. Please feel free
to contact either of us if there are situations that need to be discussed.
The best times to reach either of us at school are 8:00a.m.-8:30a.m. and
3:15p.m.-3:30p.m. We both are always willing to schedule a conference at
any time!
School Hours: Children begin to arrive at 8:15a.m. School begins at 8:40a.m.
and ends at 3:10p.m.
Attendance:
A successful school experience is the responsibility of the children,
parent, and the school. Your child’s progress, both academically and
socially, is influenced to a great extent by daily participation. Regular
attendance without tardiness is a key.
Transportation:
If you plan to pick up your child who normally rides the bus or if you wish
for your child to ride a different bus than usual, you must send a written
note to school or contact the office with this information. This also
applies to the children that are car riders. If your child is going to go
home with someone other than the person with whom she/he usually goes home,
you must send a written note. Do not rely on your child to tell us this
information, because children often become confused and relay the information
incorrectly. If no written note or phone call is received, your child will
be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.
School Work:
Please look in your child’s backpack each day. Your child will bring home
a “Take Home” folder each day. These folders will come home daily and are to
be sent back the next day. Please send all notes, money and other important
things you want us to deliver to school in your child’s folder. Be positive
and value the work your child has done at school. Your child will also use
this folder to carry work and notes back and forth to school in her/his
backpack.
Kindergarten Curriculum:
Language Arts: Reading Readiness, Writing, Phonemic Awareness, and Phonics.
We use the Houghton Mifflin Reading program. The Houghton Mifflin program
combines phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Guided Reading will also be included in the curriculum.
Math: For Math, we use the Houghton Mifflin program. The children will be
taught concepts in number, basic operations, measurement, geometry, and
classification. Each lesson begins with a hands-on activity for the children.
Religion: The children learn the Sign of the Cross, Hail Mary, and the Our
Father. We talk about the Holy Family. We also learn about how Jesus loves
us and cares for us and that we should do the same for others. We also learn
about the seasons of the church(Advent and Lent). We also teach the children
about the Mass. The children learn the proper responses for the Mass. They
will also participate in Masses during the school year. The children will do
the readings, set up the altar, bring up the gifts, etc.
Writing: We use the D’Nealian method of writing.
Social Studies: We will learn about maps, land forms, states, communities,
community helpers, neighborhoods, holidays, recognition of patriotic symbols,
presidents, and the election.
Science: In Science, we will learn about weather, our 5 senses, teeth,
nutrition, living and nonliving objects, animals, migration and hibernation,
plants, bugs, and butterflies. We will also have weekly hands on science
activities.
Writing: The children will learn sentence structure; nouns; verbs;
adjectives; punctuation. We will also write daily in journals.
Lunch: You have the option of sending a lunch with your child or you can
order a lunch through our Hot Lunch Program. This program is available Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. You order these lunches a month in advance. A
lunch calendar is sent home every month. You may also order milk through this
program. Children who have peanut and other allergies will be grouped at a
separate table in the lunchroom.
There is also a special “Hot Lunch” program that is on Wednesdays. It is
run by Home and School. These lunches are provided by outside vendors, such
as McDonalds, Dominos Pizza, etc. These lunches are purchased at the
beginning of the year and then again in January. Forms will be sent home.
If your child brings her/his lunch, please label lunch boxes or sacks with
your child’s name.
Snacks:
We will have a snack time each morning and afternoon. Please send a small
healthy non-peanut snack with your child. The children can also bring a water
bottle which will be kept in their lockers.
********************Please Note************************
In both of the Kindergarten classes, we have children who have peanut
allergies. Please be careful when you choose treats to send to the class.
Make sure the word “peanut” is not listed in the ingredients. Also, there
may not be peanuts in the food, but it will say on the box “made at a plant
that produces food with peanuts or uses peanuts”. These are not acceptable
either. We also can not have homemade treats for birthday treats.
Some suggestions for birthday treats are: vanilla ice cream cups,
marshmallows, fruit snacks, pretzels, Oreos, Nabisco Chips Ahoy cookies (no
store brand).
Birthdays and Treats:
Birthdays are Wonderful!! Simple treats may be sent to school (or brought by
you) on your child’s birthday. Sending a birthday treat is optional. We
celebrate birthdays in the morning. Each class celebrates their own
classmate's birthdays. We also celebrate half birthdays for the children who
have a summer birthday. If you want to send in a treat for your child’s half
birthday, that would be great!
We also encourage the children to bring in a Birthday Bag for their birthday.
The Birthday Bag can contain the following: cake mix, frosting, candles,
balloons, streamers, plates napkins, Happy Birthday banners, invitations,
party hats, etc. We donate these bags to Loaves and Fishes so those who are
not as fortunate as us may enjoy a Happy Birthday.
Weekly Newsletter:
Please read our weekly newsletter on our Kindergarten website. This
newsletter will contain important information on what we have been learning,
important dates and changes that may affect your child! To access our
newsletter go to the St. Raphael School Home Page. Click on Staff. Then
click on the Teacher Web next to either of our names. This will take you
directly to our website.
Behavior and Discipline:
Our classroom rules are:
Be kind to others.
Raise your hand to speak.
Listen while others are talking.
Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
Always do your best work.
We believe in having high expectations of the children to follow classroom
rules and to help them understand the reasons behind the rules. We want all
children to have the opportunity to learn and for no student to keep another
student from being able to learn. We strive to provide a safe and comfortable
learning environment for the children so we can work and live as a family in
our classroom.
Room Needs:
We are always in need of parent volunteers for classroom parties, field
trips, etc. The Room Parent will contact you to volunteer for these things.
Again, please contact us if you have any questions. We are excited to be
your child’s teacher and we want all of us to have a wonderful year!
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Susan Burke and Mrs. Nancy Wieszcholek
