Hello PreKPals Families!

Did you know that RQES is ranked #9 in the WHOLE state?  Whoo Hoooo! We have a great school! You can review the rankings on School Digger if you’d like to see for yourself.

This is Red Ribbon Week for Tuscaloosa City Schools. There are dress up days every day! The schedule is detailed later in the blog. This week we will work on identifying the letters Cc and Ff. We will continue to work on learning solid (cone cube, rectangular prism) and plane shapes (circle, square, tringle, rectangle, rhombus) in math. We are going to investigate the inside and the outside of pumpkins this week. We will do some float and sink with pumpkins on Friday. Lots of pumpkin math and science going on this week!

TCS does not have Halloween parties. However, we are going to have cookies for snack on Thursday. Your child may also have their regular snack in addition to the cookie. Please remember that we do not have juice for snack. Please only send water (flavored is fine) in the water bottles. Juice causes ants inside and we have enough trouble with ants outside! Thanks for your understanding.

October-

28-November 1: Red Ribbon Week. Daily dress up days.

• Monday: Wear Crazy Socks/Mismatched Socks: Students will receive a “pop socket” for their devices from TCS
• Tuesday: Wear Red
• Wednesday: Wear Sunglasses (sunglasses will be provided by TCS)
• Thursday: Costume day (PLEASE read and follow ALL requirements below)
  • Costumes must allow for student to go to the bathroom unassisted WITHOUT completely UNDRESSING (no unitard/one-piece outfits)
  • Costumes must be comfortable enough to wear all day.
  • NO accessories (wands, swords, weapons, or anything that needs to be carried in the hands)
  • NO masks or full-face paint
  • No horror/scary costumes
  • NO fancy shoes. Tennis shoes must be worn for PE
  • If you do not want your child to wear a costume, they do not have to. They can wear a Halloween shirt or their regular clothing. We do not want anyone to destroy their costume before Trick or Treating on Thursday night
• Friday: Jersey Day (wear a shirt from your favorite team) Don’t have a favorite team? Wear your RQES shirt.

October 31-November 7: RQES Book Fair (any parent who volunteers to work the book fair will get 2x the volunteer hours! See Mrs. Pilsch for more information on Volunteering!)

31:  Our reserved time for the Book Fair is from 9:00-9:30. If you are not able to come shop with your child, please send your child’s book fair money in an envelope labeled with their name and book fair. Please put this money in their Bear Binder in the zipper pocket.

November

7: PTA/Veterans Day Program at RQES 6 pm (book fair shopping will be available!)

11: No School – Veterans Day

21: Turkey Bowl (4/5^th grade flag football game under the lights at Northridge High School)

November 23-December 1: Thanksgiving vacation

December

3: CHOM fieldtrip “The Gingerbread Man”

Get your 5 snacks packed in a big ziplock bag (Please do NOT pack snacks inside the lunchbox). Find your water bottle (with a valve) and fill it up MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT LEAK. Find your  nap mat, Put your Bear Binder in your backpack along with your library book if you are ready to get a new one and you will be all ready for the week!

Ms. Hoffman and I cannot wait to see you bright and early in the morning!

Have an amazing week! Alicia

Hello PreKPals Families!

Happy Fall Y’all!

I am so glad the weather is cooling off so it will feel more like fall outside! It’s beginning to look a lot like ALL THINGS FALL in our classroom. On Friday, during choice time, several PreKPals helped to paint a backdrop for our Pretend area. We are turning the pretend area into a pumpkin patch! This week, we are painting paper bag pumpkins to add to our fall leaves and rakes. We are having a great time in Pretend! We are going to be doing some pumpkin investigations and some apple activities during the next few weeks. If you would like to send in a pumpkin (any size: tiny pumpkins, bumpy pumpkins, BIG pumpkins and/or apples in any color: red, yellow or green) we would appreciate it! We have plenty of activities to use them all!

Now that the weather is getting cooler, you may want to send in a light weight jacket to leave at school. Please send one that zips or buttons all the way down as opposed to an over the head sweatshirt. We want the children to be able to put them on and take them off with ease and sweatshirts that go on and off and on and off and on and off over the head and that require adult help each time……… times 18 students is a nightmare! Ha!

Please sign and return 2 forms tomorrow. The first is the pink CHOM fieldtrip form and the second is the yellow 50’s day coke float form.

This week we will work on identifying the letters Pp and Jj and also on positional words. Help your child learn above, over, under, around, beside, behind, in front of, between, etc as you are working together at home cleaning up or playing. Ask your child to put the cup beside the plate, or to walk behind or beside brother or sister. You will be amazed at how quickly your child can pick up these often-difficult concepts.

Reminder: No medicine (prescription or over the counter) or sunscreen is allowed in backpacks. ALL MEDS must have a signed note from the doctor and must be taken straight to the nurse at RQES (not sent in the backpack). This is a TCS policy and is included in the student code of conduct booklet that was sent home and signed and returned at the beginning of the year. If you have any questions you can call 205-759-8347 and ask to speak to the nurse. Thanks!

And now…..a message from OSR PREK.

Over the next several months, you will be receiving newsletters to focus on building stronger homes for our children. This is our state’s First-Class Pre K implementation of the national program Strengthening Families. The purpose is to focus on 5 areas to help you as a parent build a strong home, so your child will be ready for anything.

The five areas are:

• Parent Resilience: Strong parent builds a strong family
• Social Connections: Strong social connections provide support to the family
• Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development: Parent education makes your family strong.
• Concrete Support in Times of Need: When hard times come, knowing where to go keeps a family strong
• Social and Emotional Competence of Children: Strong relationships build a strong family

Please keep an eye out for these short newsletters over the next few months!

October

16: Last day for school picture orders. Please follow the directions on the pink sheet attached to your proofs. Checks should be made to Bill Miller Photography.

17: Rock Fest/International Day: This is a super fun day that celebrates the different cultures at our school. There is an opportunity for parents to volunteer. Look for more info coming home from the PTA about this day.

18: 50^th Day of School! Wear your 50’s attire! There will be a sock hop and “coke” floats at PE (caffeine free soda) Parents will have to sign a permission slip for students to participate in the coke float treat.

18: Book Orders due: Class Code – GRCDC

24: Class Picture Day. This will be our day to have our group picture made for the yearbook. This will also be your opportunity to have do-overs for your child’s individual picture. You will need to send a note or a dojo message for your child to have re-makes done.

October 31-November 7: RQES Book Fair (any parent who volunteers to work the book fair will get 2x the volunteer hours! See Mrs. Pilsch for more information on Volunteering!)

November

7: PTA/Veterans Day Program at RQES 6 pm

11: No School – Veterans Day

21: Turkey Bowl (4/5^th grade flag football game under the lights at Northridge High School)

November 23-December 1: Thanksgiving vacation

Get your 5 snacks packed in a big ziplock bag (Please do NOT pack snacks inside the lunchbox). Find your water bottle (with a valve) and fill it up MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT LEAK. Find your  nap mat, Put your Bear Binder in your backpack and you will be all ready for the week!

Ms. Hoffman and I cannot wait to see you bright and early in the morning!

Have an amazing week! Alicia

Hello PreKPals Families!

Happy Tuesday!

Can you believe that tomorrow is already Wednesday? So strange! We hope you enjoyed your long weekend with your family! My family ended up not going to the beach because Annelise had pneumonia! She never had a fever at all but had a horrid cough that we just couldn’t get rid of and from the pediatrician visit a week ago Saturday to the repeat visit last Thursday – it turned into something nasty! I felt like the mean momma who was making her go to school (I just kept saying – “she didn’t have a fever!!”) So, heed my warning, if your little one is coughing and just can’t get rid of it – go straight to the doctor. It turns out that several people in her grade have had it. Yuck! That being said- we are cloroxing the PreK room daily to keep germs at bay.

Friday was the last day for our friend Nisan! She is moving back to Turkey with her family, but might be back for kindergarten! We are wishing her and her family well as they travel and get settled into their new home. In PreK, we always strive for 18 students, so we are happy to welcome Salih Kurum to room #216. He and his family have moved to Tuscaloosa from Starkville. You will find a new class list in the Bear Binder today.

Book Orders are coming home today! Please read the attached letter and let me know if you have any questions. There are MANY more book choices listed online, so follow the directions to view those books as well. Our important info is-

Class Code – GRCDC

Order Due Date – 10/18/19

Ms. Hoffman and I did some rearranging in the classroom yesterday, so there will be some chatter about some new and fun things. We may have to redo some other areas so stay tuned! We may all be tripping all over one another tomorrow until we get used to it.

We have some important dates coming up! Grab your calendar and jot these down so you won’t miss out.

October

16: Last day for school picture orders. Please follow the directions on the pink sheet attached to your proofs. Checks should be made to Bill Miller Photography.

17: Rock Fest/International Day: This is a super fun day that celebrates the different cultures at our school. There is an opportunity for parents to volunteer. Look for more info coming home from the PTA about this day.

18: 50^th Day of School! Wear your 50’s attire! There will be a sock hop and “coke” floats at PE (caffeine free soda) Parents will have to sign a permission slip for students to participate in the coke float treat.

24: Class Picture Day. This will be our day to have our group picture made for the yearbook. This will also be your opportunity to have do-overs for your child’s individual picture. You will need to send a note or a dojo message for your child to have re-makes done.

October 31-November 7: RQES Book Fair (any parent who volunteers to work the book fair will get 2x the volunteer hours! See Mrs. Pilsch for more information on Volunteering!)

November

7: PTA/Veterans Day Program at RQES 6 pm

11: No School – Veterans Day

21: Turkey Bowl (4/5^th grade flag football game under the lights at Northridge High School)

November 23-December 1: Thanksgiving vacation

Get your 3 snacks packed in a big ziplock bag (Please do NOT pack snacks inside the lunchbox). Find your water bottle (with a valve) and fill it up MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT LEAK. (We kept nap mats last week, so do not panic!) Put your Bear Binder in your backpack and you will be all ready for the week! (For the past several weeks we have had LOTS of drop offs for forgotten items. Please send everything with your child first thing in the morning. It helps us tremendously if you do!)

Ms. Hoffman and I cannot wait to see you bright and early in the morning!

Have an amazing week! Alicia