Kindergarten

Your guide to Kindergarten at Starbuck School

To register your child for Kindergarten, please go to: NEW STUDENT REGISTRATION

About Our School:

Busses

Your bus driver should be contacting you toward the end of August or early September to arrange for a pick up
time for your child.
Busses arrive at the school between 8:20 and 8:45
If your child is not going to be on the bus for any reason, please contact your bus driver
(they should give you contact information when they get in touch with you
before the start of school) This prevents your driver from stopping at your house and waiting
for your child.

Arrival

Many kindergarten parents choose to follow the bus to school and greet their child once they get there.
Kindergarten students use the entrance at the north (rink) side of the school. They leave their backpacks by the
stairs and have recess time until it’s time to come inside.
I will be outside greeting the students. This is a good time for parents to say their goodbyes – while the kids are
busy playing – to avoid any tearful goodbyes when it is time to go in.

Bus loop

Please be mindful of the bus loop when parking in the parking lot. You may not drive or park in the area designated
as the bus loop (there are 2 signs marking this area)
– even if there are no busses there at the moment – this is for the safety of the students
If you are dropping your child off, or picking your child up, please monitor your child in the parking lot ensuring
that he/she never walks BETWEEN busses
A great place for drop off and pick up your child is the Lutheran Church Parking lot. It’s a little bit farther away,
but if you need to park and walk your child to the building,
there is much less stress coming and going because you can avoid the busses and staff coming into the school
parking lot.

Snacks and lunch

We have 2 snack times per day in kindergarten, they happen after recess. Morning snack is at 10:30 a.m.,
afternoon snack is at 2:15.
Students are encouraged to eat their healthiest snacks in the morning – I try to get them to eat their cold food
first (yogurt, cheese, etc) so that it doesn’t get warm in their lunch kits
Typically, if a child is not eating well, or throwing out half eaten food, I will contact you to let you know that this
is happening
Please send lots of food for your child during the first week or two of school. It is amazing how hungry those
little bodies can get during the day…better to have too
much food, than to be hungry throughout the day. Let your child be involved in the lunch making process –
ask him/her what kinds of food they would like to eat for snacks/lunches.
The lunch hour is from 11:50 to 12:50. Students eat from 11:50 -12:20, then go outside to play. They are
given approximately 20-30 minutes to eat their lunches.

Footwear

Students are required to have an indoor pair of running shoes at school. These shoes will be left at
school throughout the year.
Please make sure that your child can independently put on and fasten his/her shoes and that the
bottoms of the shoes are non-marking.

Recess

Kindergarten students go out for recess with the rest of the students in our school. There are usually
3 adults supervising students as they play. The older students will often
look out for the little ones and friendships tend to form across the grades.

Recess times are:
8:25- 8:55, 10:15-10:30, 12:20 - 12:50, 2:00 – 2:15

Please make sure that your child is dressed for the weather, if your child normally wears sunscreen,
please make sure that he/she has it on for school.
If your child needs assistance to reapply at noon, please let me know.
Students will have indoor recess if it is raining heavily, or if the temperatures are colder than
-25 degrees Celsius.

Book bags

Throughout the year, your child will be bringing home a book bag. In this bag, they will take home
books from the classroom that they would like you to read to them.
As the year progresses, your child will be bringing home books that he/she can read to you.
Notes are also sent home in the book bag. I tend to send most of my information home via email,
but school notes may still come in paper format.
Please check your child’s book bag often to keep informed on what’s going on at school.
Many school notes are also posted on the Starbuck School website, so check that site frequently
as well.

Extra clothing

Please send a bag with a complete change of clothing for your child (pants, shirt, underwear and
socks) that can stay at school.

There are any number of reasons why a child might need to change throughout the day (falling
in a puddle, spilled food or drink, bathroom accident),
and having a spare set of clothes to change into can spare your child embarrassment and make
him/her more comfortable.
I will try to contact you if your child has used some of the spare clothes at school so that you can
replenish the supply!

Strong Beginnings:

In September, there will be two dates for teachers to complete assessments with students one on
one. There will not be regular classes on these days.
Students will make appointments to come to school for approximately 1 hour. During this time, I
will have a chance to get to know your child and do some
early assessment.
This assessment gives me a starting point for what I need to teach your child during small group
learning sessions. It helps ensure that each student is
learning material that is just right for them.
If the content is too hard or too easy it is not fun for anyone!
Busses will not run on these days and your child will need to be dropped off at school for the
appointment slot chosen.