WELCOME!!!
Kindergarten
Open House/Curriculum Night
Mrs. Benedict’s Classroom
Franklin Smith Elementary
August 11, 2014
Meet Your Teacher
Hello! My name is Mrs. Benedict. I can’t wait to get to know you and your
child. I thought I would start tonight off by letting you know a little about me.
This is my first year at Franklin Smith. Last year I long term subbed 1st grade
in this school and immediately fell in love with the Mustang family. Previous to
that I taught Pre-K for 6 years. I am thrilled to be teaching in the school district I
grew up in. I attended William Yates as a child and graduated from Blue Springs
High School. Go Wildcats! My early childhood and elementary education degree
is from Graceland University.
My husband and I have been married 15 years this November. Together
we are raising three children, 12, 10, and 6 years old. My youngest is starting
Kindergarten this year too. This is my third time sending one of my children to
kindergarten, so I can relate to the excitement and nerves that this day brings.
Don’t worry, we are all in this together.
This year will involve lots of learning, new friendships, and tons of fun! I
can’t wait to learn and grow with all of you! So welcome to KINDERGARTEN, the
BEST YEAR of our lives!
A few of my favorite things:
Favorite color: I love them all but mostly blue and greens.
Favorite season: Fall
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite Drinks: Coffee, Starbucks Refreashers and Diet Dr.Pepper
Favorite Animal: My two big dogs.
Favorite Book: I Love You Forever
Favorite Movie: The Notebook
Favotite Hobbies: Reading! I love to read! I also teach Barre Fitness, Pilates, and
coach cheerleading. I love watching my girls dance, and cheering my son on in
baseball, but most of all snuggling with my children.
Daily Schedule:
See attached schedule
Special Class:
Our special class schedule spells out L-A-M-P. Please make sure your student
wears tennis shoes on P.E. days.
Transportation:
Please notify the office if there is a change in your child’s transportation to and
from school. If you plan to pick up your child who normally rides the bus, you can
send a written note to school with your child and/or contact the office informing
us of the transportation change. If no written note or phone call is received, your
child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.
ALL CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION MUST BE GIVEN BY NOTE OR PHONE CALL.
Classroom Work/Take Home Folder:
Check backpacks each day for student behavior, work, teacher notes, important
documents, and newsletters. Please make sure your child brings their backpack
and binder every day to school! Some papers, i. e. behavoir report, important
documents will need to be returned, please leave these in their binder. Checking
the folder daily will help us all stay organized! 
Please initial daily.
Behavior Plan and Clip Chart:
Students will begin each day on “Ready to Learn”. If a student is making a good
choices or showing leadership they can move up the clip chart. Students can also
be given a B.E.S.T. card for good choices. If they receive a B.E.S.T. card they may
also move their clip up. If they get to Pink they are an exceptional leader and will
receive an award and get to go to the office and choose a treasure chest item! 
If a student is not making good choices and/or not following class or school rules
they will move down the clip chart. After they have moved down three times
they will end up on red. At this point the student may need a break from the
group and possibly time in a buddy or focus room. If the behavior is more
substantial I may call home or send a note/email informing you of the situation. It
is my goal for every student to succeed and be safe in this classroom. We can do
it! 
Toys at School-Students are not allowed to bring toys of any kind to school unless
given permission. These items interfere with the normal routine. Including but
not limited to; crazy pens and pencils, candy, stuffed animals etc.
What is PBS and Leader in Me
 PBS, (Positive Behavior Support), provides a framework for a school wide
continum of positive behavior support for all students in both classroom
and non-classroom settings (such as playground, restroom, etc…)
 The Leader in Me is the “process of taking the 7 Habits, as defined by
Stephen Covey, and integrating them into the school culture to support the
students in becoming confident, responsible, self-disciplined people.”
 The focus of both LIM and PBS is developing proactive strategies and habits
that empower students to take responsibility for their behaviors. These
skills assist students in making positive choices and prevent and reducing
inappropriate behavior.
 All students and staff are taught school wide expectations with regular and
frequent opportunities to practice them and be acknowledged when they
use them.
 Interactions between students and staff focus on positive as opposed to
negative reinforcement.
 Staff uses data to make decisions regarding school behavior expectations.
 This classroom and school is a community in which lots of support,
intervention, praise, and acknowledgments are given.
Leader of the Week!
Each student will have the opportunity to be Leader of the Week. I will give you
notice in the Newsletter. Please send in pictures they may share with the class. I
will return them the following week. The students will be given time to share
about themselves. Such an exciting time as we celebrate the Leader in each one
of them!
Class Incentives:
 Compliment Party-The class will have many opportunities to earn
“compliments” as a class and receive a party. Students earn “compliments”
by being respectful in the hallways, remaining on task, and following and
displaying the 7 habits. Every time the class earns a compliment a link will
be hung on our “Compliment Chain”. Once the chain touches the floor, or
the ceiling if we are on our way back up, the class earns a party. The class
will vote on what they would like to do. Examples are popcorn party, extra
recess with bubble and chalk, p.j. party, stuffed animal party, rootbeer
floats, and many more!  You will receive a letter home informing you of
their reward.
 B.E.S.T. Cards-Every student has the opportunity to earn B.E.S.T. cards for
getting caught being kind to others, following the rules, displaying the 7
habits, and doing their BEST. BEST cards mean the student can move up on
the clip chart.
 Skittles, M&M’s and stickers are items I love to share with those that are
making good choices
Recess:
Kindergarten has 3 short recesses per day. We will be outside
weather permitting. The only times we will NOT be outside are when there is
precipitation falling, when there is lightning in the area, when the wind chill is
below 20 degrees, or when the heat index is over 95 degrees. Once the weather
changes, please dress your child accordingly by sending coats, hats, gloes etc.
When it is cold outside. Labeling your child’s items is a great idea. Thanks for
your help with this.
Snacks and Birthdays:
We will have a snack time once a day in the afternoon. Each child will be
responsible for sending a healthy snack for the class. Please send at the
beginning of each month. Please make sure you send enough snack for 20
students. Snacks need to be peanut and tree nut free, this includes coconut. It is
fine if the snack is manufactured in a facility that produces nuts. When sending
snacks the healthier the better. Goldfish, crackers, pretzels are all great choices.
We are not allowed to have homemade, baked goods.
Students may bring treats for the class for their birthday. Birthday treats will be
eaten at snack time. Please don’t send noisy party favors, balloons, or flowers as
these items are not allowed on the bus. Birthday Party invitations may not be
passed out at school unless everyone is invited, for example, all girls or all boys.
We will celebrate summer birthdays together at the end of the year
Lunch:
Your child will have a lunch number. This is your child’s student i.d. number with
the Blue Springs School District. It will follow your child all the way through High
School. Your child’s number will go home with them in their folder. Please work
with them on memorizing this number.
When pre-paying your child’s lunch, the cafeteria manager suggests that you put
the check or cash in an envelope marked with your child’s name, grade, my name
and child’s account number. If you prefer to add money to yoiur childs account
via the internet, simply go to our school district’s website www.bluespringsschool.net Click students and parents then click on Revtrak, where a new window
will pop up. There will be more than 1 choice for lunch each day and brought
from home is always an option. Take a few seconds the night before each school
day to discuss the choice with your child so that he/she can make an informed
decision about what he/she wants for lunch. Free and reduced lunch forms are
available in the office for those of you who feel assistance is needed. This is a
discreet process but if you don’t feel comfortable asking at the office, I would be
more than happy to get you a form. Just let me know.
Quiet time:
We will begin the year with a rest time; the children will spend this time lying
down on the carpet for about 30 minutes. As the year goes on I will have them
decrease the time they rest so we can incorporate as much learning as possible.
However, I understand that there are children who will need to rest more than
others and they are more than welcome to continue resting longer if need be.
Please provide a towel for your child. I will have them take their towel home
every Friday, please have them bring it back every Monday. Due to limited
storage space, I ask that you do not have your child bring blankets, pillows, or
stuffed animals.
Absences:
It is very important to come to school. Please let me know if your child plans to
miss school for any reason. You may contact me by phone or e-mail, or by
sending a note to school with your child in advance. Thank you for your
cooperation in helping your chlid to have a wonderful school experience!
Clothing:
Please understand that your child’s clothes may get dirty in school, among other
things! Kindergarteners tend to get dirty when playing outside or messy during
school projects. I will do my best to keep your child tidy but please realize that
during the many fun activites we do in class things may sometimes happen. 
Libray Books/Scholastic Book Orders/Hightlights:
A library book must be returned in order to check out another book. Books not
returned at the end of the year will require you pay a fee to enroll for the
following school year. If a book is returned before the library day you may check
out a new book.
Scholastic Book Orders will be sent home periodically. You may order online or
make checks payable to Scholastic. I strongly encourage you to order books from
these clubs. It is such an inexpensive way to acquire literature for your child and
it helps us earn books for our classroom. It’s a Win-Win!
Homework and Book-It Program:
For now the only homework your child has is to read with you for 15-20 minutes
each evening. As the year progresses I may send home a homework calendar.
Homework will vary depending on what we are learning. Also, I will be
communicating concepts with you via the class newsletter. You are more than
welcome to work with your child on the skills we are working on in class.
Book-It Program- This program starts in October and ends in April. The students
may read any appropriate book, whether these are library books or books from
home. Once the book is read and you have written the title, have your child color
the graphic to represent the number of books read. Once the monthly calendar
is filled out you may return it and recieve a Book-It pizza coupon from Pizza Hut.
Grade Card:
In your child’s take home folder there will be a grade card skills sheet. You may
review these skills with your child for a few minutes each night or at your
convienence.
Field Trips:
A $10 activity fee can be paid upfront to cover the trips and many other activites.
All the dates are tentative at this time. We always need volunteers, so look for
more information to come.
Pumpkin Patch-October 15
Kaleidoscope-Februar 13
Arts Partners- TBD
Final Field Trip (last year we went to the zoo)-TBD
Join PTA:
PTA provides many wonderful things for our students including assemblies, field
trips, and holiday parties. Spirit Items-you will receive a list of spirit items and
prices before Spirit day. Please send money and a list of items in a marked
envelope if you would like to purchase spirit items. Thank You!
Please consider joining FSE’s PTA Board to become more involved. Cost to join is
$7.
Each class that has 100% participation recieves a special treat! 
Communication:
I believe that one of the best ways to ensure success for your child is through the
communication that is established between the home and school. I will be
sending home newsletters containing important information regarding what we
are working on as well as important dates and activities that you may want to
know about. If you have any questions, suggestions, concerns, please feel free to
call me at school, 816-224-1375. Be sure to leave a message with the date and
time of your call. I can also be reached through email at [email protected]. If
possible I will return phone calls and emails within 24 hours. You can also visit
our class website at www.bssd.net, here you can find information and documents
you will need to help your student have the most successful school year.
Volunteers:
If you would like to volunteer in our classroom please let me know via email. I
would love to have parent involvment in our class. 
Facebook:
I do have a Facebook page, however, I do not accept parent/student friend
requests. Please do not take this personally…It’s just my policy. Thank you for
understanding
Thank you so much for coming tonight. If you have any questions
or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. Let’s keep
communication open at all times. I am committed to keeping you
informed about your chld’s success and hope that you will let me
know of anything that you think may affect your child at school.
I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptures there.
The clay they used was a young child’s mind, and they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher; the tools he used were books and music and art.
One parent with a guiding hand, and a gentle, loving heart.
Day after day the teacher toiled, with touch that was deft and sure.
While the parent labored by her side and polished and smoothed it o’er.
And when at last their task was done, they were proud of what they had wrought,
For the things they had molded into the child could neither be soiled nor bought.
And each agree he would have failed if he had worked alone.
For behind the parent stood the school, and behind the teacher, the home.
--Author Unknown