Kindergarten Registration for September, 2016 – Is Your Child Eligible, and Have You Heard From Davis School?

Compiled by The Bedford Citizen

All Bedford children born between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011 are eligible to attend Bedford Public School kindergarten in Fall 2016.

If your child is eligible and you have not heard from Davis School, please contact the school at 781-275-6804.

The Davis School web page on the Bedford Schools’ website (https://bedford.k12.ma.us/) lists the Top 10 Questions Frequently Asked by Incoming Kindergarten Families

TEN: What does the Kindergarten calendar look like?

• Age cutoff date for Kindergarten is Age 5 by August 31
• The school day lasts from 9:02 AM –3:20 PM
• The first day of school will be a 45 minute visitation (parent/guardian accompany child).
• CORRECTION on 2/225/2016, according to the Superintendent’s office: The first day of school, and kindergarten orientation, will be September 6, 2016 – not Sept. 1 as previously reported

NINE: What does a kindergartener’s day look like?

• A balance of large group, small group collaborative work groups and independent learning experiences.
• Students engage in hands-on learning throughout their day.
• Students have a snack/recess for 20 minutes every day.
• Students have a lunch and recess for 50 minutes every day.
• Kindergarteners have the following electives each week:
• Art (45 minutes per week)
• Music (45 minutes per week)
• Physical Education (2 x 45 minutes per week)
• Library (45 minutes per week)

EIGHT: How does lunch work for kindergarteners?

• Families prepay for lunch cards each month.
• Information regarding the lunch program is sent home in the summer.
• Children get their own lunch card.
• Menus are posted online monthly
• There is an allergy table for students and an active allergy group for families.
• The school nurse is a great resource for families whose children have allergies.
• Lunch takes place between 11am and 1pm daily depending on the classroom schedule.

SEVEN: What curriculum do you use in kindergarten (Additional, more specific information regarding the curriculum will be provided to you during Back To School Nights in the fall)?

Reading

• We implement a balanced literacy model each day.
• The New Phonics Program (i.e. Fundations) teaches letter and sound recognition. It uses puppets and chants to reinforce skills.
• Students begin to read by identifying sounds in words. They begin to recognize letters, identify their sounds and read familiar words. Students then read short, repetitive texts that have a significant amount of picture support.
• Students are assessed throughout the year. Instruction is tailored to meet individual students’ needs.

Writing

• Students learn to write by drawing.
• Student write as a class.
• Students write in journals.
• Students use the Fundations program to learn to write their letters.
• Students learn to write the Lucy Calkins Program which is a writer’s workshop model
• Writers Workshop – children create narrative, informational and opinion pieces throughout the year.

The Bridges Math Program

• This is the 5th year Davis School has implemented Bridges. We are implementing the 2ns Edition of the bridges Program the year.
• Bridges has three components: number sense, investigations and work places.
• Bridges teaches number sense, geometry, problem solving, measurement, patterns and money.
• Bridges is hands-on and engaging. It is very appropriate for young children.

Social Studies

• Students study communities. They visit community organizations, such as the post office and fire department. Student then create their own community called Davis Town.

Social Emotional

• The Open Circle program addresses social skills.
• It provides students with problem solving strategies.
• Open Circle uses literature to address individual differences.

SIX: How do you form classes?

• Faculty members gather information about individual children at screening. Educators use what they learn from the family interview, the preschool and the screener to help guide placements.
• Kindergarten teachers and administrators gather in June to discuss the grade level and individual students’ needs (academic, behavioral, social and emotional).
• The school strives to create balanced classes, meeting the social, emotional, physical and academic needs of each classroom are even across the grade level.
• There are two adults in each classroom, the teacher and a part time aide.
• Families are mailed their child’s class placement over the summer.

FIVE: What security measures are in place?

• Teachers receive training through the District Crisis Team. Teachers and students practice crisis drills including fire drills and bus evacuation drills.
• The following elements of the curriculum address safety and bullying:
• Open Circle – The school-wide Respectful, Responsible & Ready initiative
• Personal Safety – There are several building procedures in place that address safety including the following:
• All doors in the building are locked throughout the school day.
• Adults entering the building must stop in the office and get a visitor badge. Staff will stop adults in the building who are not wearing a badge.
• All volunteers must pass a C.O.R.I.

FOUR: What support services do you offer students?

• Davis School has a strong special education team at Davis that is comprised of special educators, a speech pathologist, a psychologist, and occupational therapist and a guidance counselor.
• Davis School also has a Gifted & Talented Coordinator.
• Teachers inform the coordinator and families if they believe students need additional support.
• When appropriate services are provided to kindergartners.
• If you have concerns about your child please share them with your child’s teacher throughout the year. Your child’s teacher will do the same.

THREE: How can I get involved at Davis?

• The family organization, B.E.S.T., offers families many opportunities to get involved including the following:
• Room volunteer parents/guardian
• Volunteer in the art room or library
• Volunteer for special events, including enrichment opportunities
• B.E.S.T. will send out information to new families in the first two weeks of school.

TWO: How does dismissal work at Davis School?

• Dismissal sheets are generated in the office and distributed to all teachers each day.
• Dismissal sheets note changes in students’ general dismissal routines.
• Families must notify the office of changes via a letter to the classroom teachers.
• Please send in a note every time there is a change.
• If there is an emergency change in your dismissal plans please call the office before 1:30 PM.
• K students that are being picked up (called walkers) are called down at 3:15PM, K students that are riding the bus go to the gym at 3:20.
• Walkers meet their families in the cafeteria. A responsible adult indicated by the child’s parent/guardian must sign out the child.
• Teachers walk the students who are taking the bus home to the gym. Students sit behind a cone that is labeled with their bus number on it.
• Teachers and administrators supervise dismissal and walk the students to the bus

ONE: How do Kindergarteners get acclimated to the bus?

• Kindergarten students are invited to participate in a bus run in August (the exact date will be sent in the July mailing). Students learn about bus safety and they practice riding the bus at this time.
• Kindergarteners get a bus tag when they come for visitation.
• Kindergartners sit in the front of the bus.
• Bus routes are posted on the web and in the Minuteman the weekend before school starts.

With thanks to the Bedford School Department, and Davis School