Open House

Wow!   What a great night last night at Hamilton Elementary!  We had our open house from 6:30 to 7:30, and had a huge crowd!   It was so nice to meet and greet so many of my new students and their families.  Our class had a great turn out as well, with 20 out of 23 families visiting!   Thanks for taking the time to come in and show your interest and support.  Please make every effort to turn in those forms on the very first day of school.

I had many questions about snacks, milk, specials, etc.  I have a specific note that I will send home the first day of school that outlines all of that, but will cover the basics here for you as well. 

We do have a snack time every morning, as we have no morning recess.  Our typical time for snack will be around 9:45, and will last for about 10 minutes.  I encourage you to send a healthy type snack, like fruit, a granola bar, etc.  We do not have milk for purchase like you did in kindergarten.  If you would like to send a box of wrapped snacks for your child to keep in his/her locker, that is fine as long as they are wrapped.  We do get those pesky ants who seem to find unwrapped snacks very quickly.

One parent asked if water bottles could be sent in.  Great question!   I have no problem with water bottles coming from home - especially as the beginning of the year is quite warm.  I will ask the children to keep their bottles on our counter to avoid spills in their desks or lockers.  I would like only water to be sent in, as juice spills stain our carpet.  I also highly suggest writing your child's name on the bottle or initials on the cap, even if it is not reusable.  Many water bottles look the same.  We do have a drinking fountain in our room, so a water bottle is not required.

If you did not bring a pair of 'inside' shoes last night, please be sure to send them in the first day!   If your child is not able to tie shoes well, please feel free to send slip-on shoes or shoes with velcro instead.  We do have P.E. the very first day, and children without tennis shoes are asked to sit on the side during activities, so please remember to send those in!

Here is our specials schedule until January:

Mondays: InfoTech - 1:35-2:05

Tuesdays: Spanish - 1:00 - 1:35

Wednesdays:  P.E. - 10:45 - 11:15

Thursdays:  P.E. - 10:45 - 11:15 and Spanish 12:25 - 1:00

Fridays:  InfoTech 9:45 - 10:15 and Art 10:45 - 11:45

Lunch and recess is from 11:45 - 12:20

Afternoon recess is from 2:10 - 2:30

Our doors open at 8:25, school begins at 8:33, and ends at 3:46.  If you are picking up your child, I will bring your child to the south doors by the gym entrance after the buses clear out.  You may park in the south parking lot and watch for your child to come out.  If your child normally rides a bus, but you are picking him/her up instead, please send in a note or email me early in the day.  You can also call Mrs. VanderZwaag in the office and she will let me know to hold your child off the bus.  If you leave me a voice mail, please do that before 3:20, as we are busy packing up and lining up in the hallway around 3:30.  I would hate to miss your message.  If I do not have a note or message from you, I am required to send your child on the bus.  I cannot hold a child off the bus if I do not have contact from a parent.  

If you have a question before the year gets started, please feel free to email me.  I do get my emails at home on my phone and would be more than happy to email you back!    jferrell@hamiltonschools.us

Looking forward to a great start!   Thank you again for visiting my blog!  I did add some neat links to web sites that have great games for first graders.  If you have others for me to check out, let me know.  I will add photos of our class after the permission forms are all turned in.