Hello Dearest Aviator Families! 

I am so glad you visited my page, today!  I am sure you are as excited as I am to launch the new school year and soar!  We will learn SO much, this year and have a great time in the process!  Here are a few reminders, so we have a smooth Kindergarten experience:

* Please remember to label all your child's belongings: water bottle, coats, sweaters, jackets, hats, lunch containers, lunch pails, crayon boxes, pencil boxes, and other items you don't want to be lost.  If your child leaves an item for more than a week (unless s/he is ill, or out of school for that week), we have to put those items in the Lost and Found.  Check with the Office for the location of the Lost and Found cart, if your child has lost an item.

* Study the 100 Kindergarten Sight Words.  Your child should learn to read at least one color list per month.  There are ten lists.  The first list is the Green List.  I will test your child at least every 2 weeks to monitor their progress.  It is very important that your child knows how to read the words and, after New Years, for your child to know how to use those words in their writing.  It averages to about one word list per month, that your child should know. If your child can learn more than that, wonderful!  Knowing the words will make the transition to First Grade that much easier, as there is even more reading, and writing there!  Once your child has read all the words, s/he will receive a very nice certificate from me and a special surprise! 

* All academics in Kindergarten are very important.  It's like building a house.  Preschool, Pre-K, etcetera, and Kindergarten, of course, are the foundations of their academic structure,  like the concrete foundation is to a building.  Learning what we are teaching each week, each month, will help support a solid college education, and a successful life.  :-)  We are here to help make that happen.  Thank you for supporting your child's Kindergarten education.

*Remember that Kindergarten arrival is from 11:10-11:20 (we close the gate at 11:20).   Dismissal is at  2:50PM.  If your child arrives after the gate closes, please check in at the Office and a secretary will bring your child to our classroom.  Minimum days are Thursdays from 7:50-11:30.  There are other minimum days.  We will let you know when those will be.  The Cal Aero's website will announce other minimum days.  Please check in regularly with the school's website for other special activities and special information that you might need to know. 

* Your child needs his/her crayons at school.  Please explain to your child that their pencil box must stay at school at all times.  If your child needs work tools at home, please purchase a second set.  I prefer that homework pictures be colored and directions to be followed when doing homework.  Coloring works the fine motor muscles in their fingers.  This helps with writing his/her name neatly, coloring within the lines, etcetera.  We need a pencil box with crayons, pencils, glue sticks,  a large pink eraser and a good pair of scissors.  I like Fiskars scissors.  They are great cutting tools.  Please do not send ink pens, permanent markers or hand pencil sharpeners.  Those items are not needed in student pencil boxes, nor in their backpacks. 

* We are very positive, here, in room K-1.  Please praise your child for all the work s/he does.  When we hand out homework, please let your child do all of it by himself/herself.  If you want to show him/her how to do a task, that's okay, such as writing words lightly for your child to trace.  As long as your child is doing it themselves, the work is fine. Homework is sent out Fridays and is to come back the following Friday, at which time I will give your child the next week's homework. 

*Absences If your child is absent from school, please call the Office and let them know the reason for the absence.  If your child vomits in the morning, please do not bring him/her to school for at least 24 hours.  If your child has a fever, please do not send your child to school.  You must wait twenty four hours after a fever has broken for the last time, in order to return to school.  Students will have missed assignments in their cubbies, to take home and do, and given to me once they return to school.  

*"The Three Bs"  Please review the Three Bs, with your child.  Be respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe.  The chant is, "Calling all loyal Aviators, enthusiastically reminding you that the Three Bs is the only way to be:  Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe!"  Safety is of paramount importance to all Staff at Cal Aero Preserve Academy.  Being Safe is following all of the Three Bs.  

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at julie_bliss@chino.k12.ca.us, or before/after school, or through Parent Square, in AERIES.  I am here for all of you 100%, so feel free to contact me anytime.

Please come back to this page and look for more important information during the school year, for updates, et al.

Thank you for letting me teach your children this school year!  They are such wonderful little treasures.

Ms. Bliss