Author: Patricia Howell

Welcome Home
Kindergarteners

Lowell Joint School District
District of Destination Since 1906

Board of Trustees
Fred W. Schambeck
William A. Hinz
Melissa A. Salinas
Anastasia M. Shackelford
Karen L. Shaw
Jim Coombs
Superintendent of Schools
Elementary Schools
El Portal Elementary Meadow Green Elementary
200 N. Nada St. 12025 Grovedale Dr. La Habra, CA 90631 Whittier, CA 90604 (562) 902-4211 (562) 902-4241 Principal - David Sermeno Principal - Matt Cukro
Jordan Elementary Olita Elementary
10654 Jordan Rd. 950 S. Briercliff Dr. Whittier, CA 90603 La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 902-4221 (562) 902-4251 Principal - Marikate Wissman Principal - Krista Van Hoogmoed
Macy Elementary
2301 W. Russell St. La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 902-4231 Principal - Patty Jacobsen
All Lowell Joint School District schools have
received the California Distinguished School Award as well as the California Gold Ribbon Award!

The Lowell Joint School District is committed to providing a strong academic program of 21st Century Skills with a well-rounded program of diverse and innovative subject offerings. At all of the District Schools, we emphasize the importance of education, the family, and traditional values. We stress the value of personal integrity, social responsibility, and a respect for our national heritage.

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

General Information
Age Requirement
Children are eligible for Kindergarten for 2020/21 if they will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2020.
Attendance
Regular attendance and punctuality play key roles in the success a student achieves in school. Please attempt to schedule vacations and family outings and doctor, dental, or other appointments outside of the school day. If your child is ill, please call the school’s office to report his/her absence.
Field Trips
Field trips supplement and enrich classroom learning, encourage new interests, make children more aware of community resources and help them relate school experiences to the outside world. Field trips vary by grade level and school. Check with your child's classroom teacher for more information.
Kindergarten Oral Health Requirement
California law now requires that your child have a dental check-up by May 31 of his or her first school year. Dental evaluations that were completed within the 12 months before your child enters school meet this requirement. Your school will give you the required form to take with you when your child has his or her check-up.

Enrollment Timeline for the 2020/21 School Year
February 25 Kindergarten Parent Meeting
February 26 Kindergarten Registration Packets Available at Schools
August 12 School Starts

Enrollment Timeline for the 2017/18 School Year
February 21 Kindergarten Parent Meeting
February 22 Kindergarten Registration Packets Available at Schools
August 16 School Starts

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

General Information
Volunteering
You are welcome and encouraged to participate as a volunteer. Your participation will benefit all of the students and staff members at the school where you will be volunteering. The Lowell Joint School District realizes that parents and grandparents serve as valuable resources to our schools by enriching the daily learning of children. By volunteering, you will be making a direct contribution to the instructional program. Please contact your child’s teacher or school for more information.
Registering Your Child
All neighborhood schools accept registration forms for incoming Kindergarten students. Parents who wish to register their child for Kindergarten must provide up-to-date immunization records, proof of residence, and a birth certificate. Call your local school or (562) 943-0211 for more information.

Registration Checklist
Is your child 5 years of age on or before September 1? If so, continue on to the next box. If not, your child is not eligible for Kindergarten enrollment for the 2020-21 school year, but may be eligible for Transitional Kindergarten.
Pick up the registration packet beginning February 26, 2020, from your neighborhood school or access the registration packet on the District’s website at www.ljsd.org.
Make sure your child has had all necessary immunizations prior to enrollment.
Return all forms to the school office as soon as they are completed. Be sure to provide a copy of your child’s birth certificate and proof of residence (such as a utility bill) or inter-district permit. NOTE: Registrations occurring later in the spring may have an impact on a child’s priority placement in his/her home school vs. an overflow Kindergarten class at another school in the District.
Work with your child over the summer on Kindergarten readiness skills.
Attend the scheduled Kindergarten readiness testing date in August.

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

Readiness
Helping Your Child Get Ready
for Kindergarten
Ask yourself: Does my child . . .
Sit still for 10 to 15 minutes?
Listen to a story or participate in an activity and respond to questions related to that activity?
Have confidence to separate from a parent or caregiver and stay with another adult?
Retain information?
Follow simple two-step directions?
Have an interest in reading, listening to stories, letters, and numbers?
Count to 10 and understand simple number concepts?
Focus on an activity?
Finish what he/she starts?
Name colors?
Enjoy coloring and drawing?
Express himself/herself verbally?
Speak in complete sentences?
Label or name things appropriately?
Answer open-ended questions?
Ask questions?
Know the correct way to hold a pencil, crayon, and scissors and work with them comfortably?
Work individually and in small groups?
Understand the ideas of sharing and taking turns?
Cooperate?
Take care of his/her own toilet needs and wash his/her hands without assistance?
Know how to roll, throw, and catch a ball? Also, run, hop, jump, swing, and gallop?
Respect rights and belongings of others?
Recognize his/her own name?
Write his/her own name?

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

Kindergarten Curriculum
English/Language Arts
The English/Language Arts curriculum provides rich, engaging, hands-on learning experiences that build content knowledge in science, social studies, mathematics, health, the arts, and more.
In Kindergarten, children learn the purposes of print through engagement with a wide variety of texts across content . Children are taught to recognize that reading is a meaning-making act and are provided instruction in comprehension that promotes literal and higher-level thinking. They will make great advances in the acquisition of vocabulary and in understanding and using complex sentence structures. Students in Kindergarten will share ideas about texts and topics that they study. Instruction, includes a significant focus on how print works and the logic of alphabetic code, with a rich exposure to literature stirs the imagination and ignites curiosity about their world.
A sample of what your child will be working on in Kindergarten includes:
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text
Understand and use question words (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, and how)
Identify characters, settings, and major events in a story
Retell familiar stories, including key details
Print upper and lower case letters
Spell words phonetically, using sound-letter relationships
Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges
Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun “I”
Identify new meanings of familiar words and apply them accurately
Explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers
Participate in shared research and writing projects
Use a combination of drawing, dictation, and writing to compose opinion pieces, narratives, and information/explanatory texts

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

Kindergarten Curriculum
Mathematics
In Kindergarten, students are introduced to the relationship between numbers and quantities and build a foundation for place value as they count, represent and compare whole numbers, initially with sets of objects. Students also describe and model objects in their environment using simple geometric shapes and vocabulary.
A sample of what your child will be working on in Kindergarten includes:
Counting in sequence
Counting objects to tell how many there are
Comparing numbers
Understanding addition is putting together and subtraction as taking apart or taking from
Working with numbers 11-19 to gain foundations of place value
Adding and subtracting very small numbers quickly and accurately
Adding with a sum of 10 or less; subtracting from a number 10 or less; and solving addition and subtraction word problems.
Classifying objects and counting the number of objects in each category
Identifying and describing shapes
Analyzing, comparing, creating, and composing shapes
Learning number names as they count (to 100 by 1s and 10s)
Writing number names (from 0 to 20)

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

Kindergarten Curriculum
Science
Kindergarteners use their senses of sight, sound, and touch to investigate a variety of objects and learn how to classify, compare, and sort these objects. They observe, measure, and predict the properties of materials.
Science topics are organized into four areas:
Physical Sciences: Students learn how to compare objects on the basis of characteristics and physical properties, such as color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility, attraction to magnets, and floating or sinking in water.
Life Sciences: Students study plants and animals. They learn about the major structures of living things and the needs of all plants and animals for air, food, and water in order to grow and be healthy.
Earth Sciences: Students observe and record weather changes (such as rain, wind, and temperature) over periods of days, weeks, and months. They observe the effects of weather and seasons on the land and living organisms.
Investigation and Experimentation: Students are taught to compare and sort objects based upon their properties and are encouraged to use mathematics, oral descriptions, and drawings to communicate their observations.
History/Social Studies
Students explore the meaning of good citizenship by learning about rules, working together, and the basic idea of government. They learn about people in American and world history who exhibited honesty, courage, determination, individual responsibility, and patriotism. Students deepen their understanding of good citizenship by identifying the behavior of characters in the stories, observing the effect of this behavior on others, examining why characters behaved as they did, and considering whether other choices could have changed the results.
History/Social Studies topics are organized info five areas:
National and State Symbols: Students learn about and can recognize national and state symbols such as flags, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty. Songs such as “America the Beautiful,” the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and “This Land is Your Land” all support student engagement and learning.
Working Now and Long Ago: Students learn about the different types of jobs and work of people in their school and their community.
Geography of the Neighborhood: Students begin the study of geography by exploring the immediate environment of the school and neighborhood, including its topography, streets, transportation systems, and structures.
Time and Chronology: Students learn about the calendar, days of the week, and months of the year.
Reaching Out to Times Past: Students study the past and consider how life was the same as or different from their lives today.

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

How Parents Can Help
Parents are their child’s first teachers. Your involvement is critical to your child’s success in school. Studies have shown that when parents are involved, children feel better about themselves and learn more.
Seven Things You Can Do:
Make sure your child is well-fed, well-groomed, and well-rested for school.
Encourage your child to behave in positive ways.
Take time to read with your child each day.
Schedule family vacations or outings and doctor appointments around the yearly school calendar and outside of the school day.
Be sure your child attends school every day.
Work as a partner with your child’s teacher.
Talk to your child and expose them to new vocabulary words.
Other Ways Parents Can Help Their Children:
Create a positive attitude toward school.
Encourage your child to share his/her school experiences at home. Ask specific questions about their day to encourage more discussion (e.g., What was your favorite activity today and why?).
Help your child assume responsibility at home.
Allow your child opportunities to play with other children.
Help your child to learn to respect the rights and property of others.
Show an interest in your child’s work by visiting his/her classroom and talking about his/her work brought home.
Encourage your child by praising him/her for efforts and accomplishments.
Be sure to send a note explaining any absence from school or call the school attendance line. This is a State of California requirement.
Attend school functions such as Back-to-School Night, parent conferences, Open House, and PTA meetings.
Develop a relationship with your child’s teacher at the beginning of the school year.
Play word games like I Spy, sing songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider, and make silly rhymes together.
Look for math “word problems” in real life, like at the grocery store.
Play “write the next number.” You write a number, and your child writes the next number.
Ask your child questions that require counting as many as 20 things. For example, ask, “How many books do you have about wild animals?”
Ask your child questions that require comparing numbers. “Who is wearing more bracelets, you or your sister?”

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

The Road to Kindergarten
The following timeline gives you important dates to remember and activity suggestions to help your child be better prepared for school.

February
Attend
Kindergarten
Kick-off Parent
Meeting

February –May
Return completed enrollment packet to neighborhood school

August
School starts

August
Attend
Kindergarten Readiness
Testing
Appointment

June-July
Attend local
library reading program and work on
Readiness skills

WELCOME TO THE LOWELL JOINT FAMILY!

#