Welcome!!!

Welcome to Our Lady of Lourdes School.  The kindergarten year is an important milestone in your child’s life.  It will be an exciting year for everyone.  We hope this letter will help you to know what to expect in kindergarten this year and answer any questions you may have.  

First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Mrs. Patrice Yanoschak.  I am beginning my 27th year of teaching.  I have taught in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a kindergarten and first grade teacher.  I have also taught in the School District of Greenville County in South Carolina as a first and second grade teacher.  I am entering my 18th year as a kindergarten teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes School.  I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education.  I received a Master of Arts degree in Education with a concentration in Literacy from Furman University.  I am married and have two daughters.  Both of my daughters attended Our Lady of Lourdes School - Kindergarten through Eighth grade.

Mrs. Claire Joyce is the teacher assistant in our kindergarten classroom. She has two children, Molly, who will be in 3rd grade at OLLS and Liam, who is a rising kindergartner at OLLS. She is originally from New Hampshire and attended Providence College where she ran on the cross country and track and field teams. Up until her youngest was born, she worked in the sporting goods industry as a Global Apparel Product Line Manager at New Balance and held various other positions at Mizuno and Puma. Most recently, she has been working as a teachers’ assistant in the 5th grade as well as assisting 3rd and 4th grade. She is excited to join our kindergarten class!  

We are looking forward to working with your child this year and helping him/her to achieve his/her full potential.

Parent/Teacher Relationship

We believe a good parent-teacher relationship produces a successful school year.  We will communicate with you through newsletters, notes, telephone calls, parent-teacher conferences, and report cards.  Kindergarten report cards are given per semester, so your child will receive his/her report card in January and May.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  You may call me at school, 919-782-1670 or email me at pyanoschak@olls.org.  I will reply to you as soon as possible.

Parent Participation

There will be several school and classroom activities and events throughout the year.  Our classroom room mother(s) will be contacting you about several of the school events.   Parent participation also includes  sending in items for the classroom such as holiday treats and classroom supplies.  Any items sent to school can be recorded on the volunteer commitment timesheet .  Volunteer commitment hours can also be recorded on RenWeb.  We sincerely appreciate your support.

Internet Acceptable Use Forms and Permission to Publish Forms

The Internet Acceptable Use and Permission to Publish forms need to be signed and returned to us as soon as possible.  The forms are available online or contact the school office for more information.

Safe Environment Training

All adults who would like to volunteer with our class MUST have the following training and background checks completed: Safe Environment Training, Diocese Volunteer Form, and the Background Verification Form.  All three of these are good for 5-7 years.  The Diocese Volunteer Form must be completed every year.

School Attendance

Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is very important.  Most kindergarten learning activities involve group interaction and classroom instruction.  Therefore, some work cannot be made up at home.  If your child is sick, please keep him/her at home until the fever or illness is gone. The school handbook states that children are NOT to come to school until they have been fever free WITHOUT medication for 24 hours. Please send a note or an email explaining their absence.(see school handbook).

Changes in Transportation

If you plan to have your child go home with a friend or be picked up by someone other than yourself, then please send a written note or email.  Please do not rely on your child to tell us this information.  If no note is received, then your child will be sent home by his/her usual carpool method.

Money

There will be times when your child will need to bring money to school.  Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on it:

1.  Your child’s first and last name

2.  The amount of money enclosed

3.  The purpose for the money (book money, field trip money, etc.) 4.  Teacher’s name

Book Orders 

Once a month, your child will be bringing home a Scholastic Book order form.  If you wish to order books for your child, then please fill out the form and send a check, payable to the book company, in an envelope.  Do not send cash.  You can also order the books online by going to Scholastic.com  and clicking on the Scholastic Book Club tab.

Library

Our class will be going to the school library once a week.  Kindergarten students will be able to check out books  beginning in August through May.  All books must be returned the following week before new books are checked out.  If a book is lost, please speak with Ms. Karen Letarte, the school librarian, for further information.  Mrs. Letarte’s email address is kletarte@olls.org.� The school requires lost book fines to be paid before report cards are sent home.

P.E.

The kindergartners go to P.E. once a week.  Your child will wear his/her school uniform for P.E.   Please send a note with your child if he/she gets sick/injured and is unable to participate in P.E. We also wear the school uniform while on field trips.

Lunch

Kindergarten goes to lunch from 10:20 - 10:40.  Please have lunch and drink with your child every day.  You may purchase a hot lunch at any time. You may speak with someone in the office if you are interested in the hot lunch program.   Hot lunches are served on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  The hot lunch program begins after Labor Day.

Outdoor Recess

The children go outside for recess from 10:53 - 11:15. When it rains, we have indoor recess in our classroom.  When the weather gets colder, please bundle your child in a warm coat, hat, and gloves.  It can be very cold during our early recess time.

Birthdays

Children love to celebrate their birthday with friends.  We celebrate birthdays and half birthdays throughout the year.  Children who have summer birthdays - June, July, and August, will be able to celebrate their “half” birthday during the month of November, December, or January.  If your child would like to send in a healthy treat to share with his/her classmates, then please send enough treats to share with 22 children.  We are a peanut/tree nut free classroom. The birthday treats can be granola bars, juice bars, yogurt cups or fruit cups.  We do not need drinks.  Water will be served with the treats.  All birthdays are celebrated during snack time. 

Snacks

Snack time begins around 1:00 pm.  Please send a snack and a water bottle with your child every day including half days.  The children can bring fruit, vegetables, cookies, cheese, crackers or any healthy snack.

Rest Mats

The children love having their very own rest mat.  The rest mats are used daily during our rest time.  The rest mats are sent home each Friday to be washed.  Please have your child return the rest mat to school each Monday.  During rest time, the children listen to soft music and read/browse through books.  Stuffed animals and toys are not permitted in school.

Labels

Please label everything with your child’s name on it.  This is especially important for P.E. uniforms.  It is also helpful to label scissors, backpacks, lunch boxes, and coats.  It is very difficult to return items to the correct child without a name on the tag.  We truly appreciate your help with labeling your child’s belongings.

Star Student of the Week

Throughout the school year, we like to recognize each student as being a “Star Student.”  Once a week, a student will be selected as the “Star Student.”  We will write a wonderful class message about your child on a large poster board.  We do ask that a picture of your child be sent to us.  The picture will be taped onto the poster.  We will let you know in our weekly classroom newsletter when your child has been selected.  At the end of the week, the poster board and the picture will be sent home.  This writing activity will be yours to keep.  

Kinder Book Club

The Kinder Book Club is a club for “readers.”  Every Thursday, a child will be chosen to retell, read, or show pictures of their favorite part of a book to share with the class.  Kinder Book Club is a way for children to get excited about books and to feel comfortable speaking in front of their classmates.  We will announce our new “reader” in our weekly classroom newsletters.  We are looking forward to listening to our new students as they share their favorite book!

Closure

We are looking forward to a great year.  Also, thank you in advance for your support and for the opportunity to work with your child.  Please save this information for future reference.

Warmly,

Mrs. Yanoschak and Mrs. Joyce