We had a fantastic first week of school! Four days into a new year, and we have learned all the routines of arrival, transitions in the hallway, learning expectations in the classroom, recess, lunchroom and departure.
One of my favorite parts of the day occurs at 3:35 when our PK and kindergarteners are picked up at their classrooms by their BUS BUDDIES and escorted to their busses. Walking side by side, chatting about their days, you see an older student with a younger headed to the busses. The photo above is of Rachel, a 5th grader and someone who has been at Georgetown since her preschool days, with Lily, a kindergartener who is just starting her educational life at Georgetown. As I watched the two of them walk to the bus together, I could still picture Rachel walking to the bus five years ago with her bus buddy. Just think how choked up I will be in five years when Lily is with her bus buddy!
Our second week of school involves more routine building along with setting expectations for the BE NICE part of our school mission. Our school mission statement is simple and to the point: Be Nice • Work Hard • Learn Well. While working hard and learning well are constant companions of academic settings, establishing guidelines for friendship, play and day-to-day communications at school are different from other settings.
At Georgetown, we not only want all children to welcome one another, we also want to make sure that children know how to identify when they are teased or bullied. In addition, we want to teach children how to respond to teasing or bullying done to them or to others.
We have a common set of lessons that we teach throughout the week in grades K-5. We call them the BE NICE • BE SAFE lessons. Each grade modifies these to meet the development needs of their class. Also, these lessons serve as a kick off to lessons that occur throughout the year. At the end of the week, your child will bring home a school pledge to share with you. Our hope is that you will go over this with your child and sign it and return it to school next week. The BE NICE BE SAFE lessons are below.
I have also included a snapshot of our weekly events. This week we have two JET’s PIZZA nights. These are organized by our Parent Club. A percentage of the JET’s PROFITS on these two nights goes back to our school, funding PTC activities (books for classrooms, student/family activities and events). If you order a Jet’s Pizza on Tues or Wed, provide your child’s class name (teacher name). The class that orders the most pizza’s wins a PIZZA LUNCH PARTY compliments of Jet’s.
School pictures are coming on Monday, September 15. This comes at the beginning of the year when everyone is still getting used to busy fall events…so mark your calendars!
Here’s to a second great week!
Mrs. Reagan
