Mrs. Sherrod & Mrs. Wilson

          Irwin County Elementary

       Kindergarten

        Room # E-3

Dear Parents,

Hello! My name is Mrs. Sherrod and I am thrilled to be your child’s teacher! It’s going to be an exciting year -- full of learning and new adventures. I can’t wait to see what the year has in store for us. I have compiled this packet to hopefully provide answers to your questions about policies, procedures, and expectations for the new school year.  Please review the ICES school handbook for more detailed information.

Attached you will find:

·  About Me

·  Classroom rules & discipline plan

·  Schedule

·  Supply List

·  FYI / FAQ

· Kindergarten Skills & Learning Expectations

About Me:

I can’t wait to get to know you, but first I’m going to tell you a few things about myself. I graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Elementary Education from Georgia Southwestern University. After graduation, I was a substitute teacher and then a paraprofessional. I value my experiences in those positions and believe they helped  shape me into the teacher I am today. The 2024-2025 school year will be my 12th year as a teacher and 14th year in education. Some of my biggest accomplishments include receiving the ICES Teacher of the Year award and first place at Field Day. Outside of teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, cooking, and taking pictures. My favorite place to be is outside, especially at the beach or in the mountains! I love to travel and experience new things. My husband and I have been married for 10 years and we have two children, Carter and Avery.

Mrs. Wilson is my teaching assistant. This will be her second year as a paraprofessional at ICES. Outside of school, she enjoys spending time with family, watching her two sons play ball, working out, reading, and attending church.

This year, I will be mentoring a student teacher, Mrs. Roberts, from Georgia Southwestern University. She will join us for a few weeks this fall and then begin her student teaching experience in January.

We are looking forward to interacting with you and your child this upcoming school year.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.           

                       Mrs. Sherrod:  dsherrod@irwin.k12.ga.us                    Mrs. Wilson:  kawilson@irwin.k12.ga.us

 Discipline Plan

In Kindergarten, we use a color-coded behavior plan. Each student has a clip of their own. Clips begin on green each day and will be moved as needed. Once a clip has been moved down, it will not return to green until the next day. Each student has the opportunity to move up to blue. However, this is a very special privilege and will only occur in OUTSTANDING situations. Please remember that yellow is just a warning and an opportunity to make better choices.

 ICES also uses a school wide Positive Behavior Reward System that includes good behavior celebrations, as well as earning and spending Indian Bucks. In order to attend the celebration at the end of each 9 weeks, clips must remain on green for the majority of the 9 weeks. If a student moves off of green more than 7 times in a 9 weeks, they will not be invited to the PBIS Reward Party.

              Classroom Rules

1.     Raise your hand to speak

2.     Listen when your teacher is talking

3.     Follow directions quickly

4.     Show respect -- to others, yourself, & school

5.     Be safe, be honest!

6.     Always do your best

Color Explanation

Blue = Super Student

Green = Ready to Learn

Yellow = Make better choices

Orange = Loss of a privilege -Teacher’s Choice

Red = Parent Contact & Time Out/Principal

In addition, I also use Classroom Dojo for rewards and parent communication. You will find more detailed information attached. Students have the opportunity to earn points throughout the day for behavior. They will be rewarded at the end of the week by spending their points on coupons for our classroom. Some coupon examples are: barefoot for the day, wear a hat, sit by a friend at lunch, piece of candy, and homework pass.  

      Sample  Class Schedule –  May change slightly

    Mrs. Sherrod’s Supply List

•  Full-size book bag
•  2 boxes of Kleenex
•  1 bottle of hand sanitizer
•  1 large container of disinfecting wipes
•  1 pack of Ticonderoga pencils
•  1 pack of Elmer’s School Glue sticks
•  1 pack of Pink Pearl Erasers
•  2 packs of Crayola crayons - 8 basic colors
•  1 plastic folder with pockets and prongs
•  3 paper folders with prongs: Blue, Green, Yellow
•  Over-ear headphones (braided cord please)
•  Pencil Box
•  Blunt-tip Kids Scissors (5 in.)
•  Girls: 1 box of Quart Ziploc bags
•  Boys: 1 box of Gallon Ziploc bags
•  Change of clothes, to be kept in bookbag

FY I  ~  FAQ

·School begins at 8:00am. Your child will be tardy if they are not in the classroom by 8:00am. If your child needs breakfast, they should arrive earlier. Absences, early checkouts, and tardy days add up quickly. Any student checked out before 11:15 will be considered absent. If your child must be absent, please send a note when they return explaining the reason for their absence. See the ICES student handbook for full attendance policy. Dismissal is 3:00pm. Parent pick up is in the front parking lot at 3:00pm.

·Homework folder- Folders will go home every day except Friday. Please check it nightly and put notes from home inside. Please sign and return homework paper each day, as well as clean out any old homework or papers on a weekly basis. Once a week, your child will bring their school work home in their homework folder. It is important that you look over their work with them. This will help reinforce what we do at school.

·Ice Cream is sold in the lunchroom each day for $1.00 but we will not get ice cream until after the first two weeks of school.  Students will keep their money in their book bag until lunch so please do not send more than one day at a time. I highly recommend using a change pouch or ziploc bag . We view ice cream as a privilege so if your child reaches orange on the behavior log, I will hold their ice cream money for them until their next green day.  

·Breakfast and lunch are FREE again this year. Your child will not eat breakfast in the classroom. They will need to go to the lunchroom for breakfast before school begins..  

·We do not have much control over the air conditioner in the classroom. EVEN ON 90 degree days, it gets COLD. Please send a light jacket for your child to keep in their book bag. Write their name somewhere inside.

·Extra clothes - Accidents happen! Please use the ziploc bag provided to keep a change of clothes in your child’s book bag. This is extremely helpful as we do not have a lot of extra clothes and it keeps you at work.

·Towels - In the past, we have kept towels in bookbags for rest time. We no longer have rest time. Please do not send towels or a blanket.

·Bus changes – If your child needs to go home a different way than usual, YOU MUST SEND A NOTE or CALL before 2:00. I cannot go on a student’s word. This is very important.  I am unable to accept bus changes through email, Class Dojo or Remind.

·Exploratory- Students will receive PE, Music, Art, and Tech on a 10 day rotation. All students should wear tennis shoes during PE and girls should wear shorts under their dresses. We will remind you on the homework sheet.

·Phone Calls- If you call during the day, the secretary will take your message and deliver it before the end of the day. My planning block is early, so if you do not hear from me during the day, please know that I am not ignoring you, I am teaching. Please allow 24 hours for me to respond. If it is urgent, you will need to let the secretary know.  The same applies to Class Dojo and emails.

What will my child learn in Kindergarten?

Kindergarten is a huge year of growth; academically and socially. Your child is like a sponge and you will be amazed at what they soak up. The following information is an overview of what you can expect your child to learn this year.

·By the end of Kindergarten, our goal is for your child to be able to read and write. They will also learn how to add and subtract. Kindergarteners will practice math addition and subtraction facts in order to better prepare them for the rigors of first grade.

·I have attached a chart of Kindergarten goals to give you an idea of the skills your child will learn. In the coming weeks, you will receive a copy of the state mandated skills that we teach. We use these skills to test for report cards each 9 weeks. I will also send home the 1st Nine Weeks Academic Expectations.

·In addition, we teach sight words that will be important to master for reading. I will also send a list for you to keep at home on.  A good goal to work towards: Oct. ~ 25 words, Dec. ~ 50 words, March ~75 words, May ~ 100 words. Your child will be recognized for reaching sight word goals.

·ICES utilizes several computer programs that are designed to fill in any gaps in your child's education or accelerate them in their learning. We will also use these programs as a tool to monitor your child's progress throughout the year. Your child will use these programs daily on their chromebook and you will hear more about them once we get started with our year.

·Lastly, in order to be considered for promotion to First grade, Kindergarten students are expected to recognize all letters, know all letter sounds, identify numbers to 20, read CVC (3 letter) words, and recall most of their sight words. Students are expected to leave Kindergarten reading on level C/D or above, as well as add and subtract fluently within 5.

Please Sign and Return to Mrs. Sherrod                                    Student’s Name ___________________

By signing below, I confirm that I have read and understand all of the information included in Mrs. Sherrod’s classroom packet, including but not limited to:

• Attendance
• Homework Folder
• Bus changes
• Phone calls & messages
• Academic expectations and promotion requirements

_____________________________                                  ___________________

                            Parent / Guardian                                                                                            Date