1st Grade Information Packet 

2023-2024

Woodmen Hills Elementary 

Ms. Pirzadeh

Link to District Calendar for days off  (Spanish Version: Click Here)

Link to District Breakfast/Lunch Menu (free this year for all students)

1st Grade Schedule: Click here to see 1st grade schedule 

1st Grade Special Schedule: Click here to see Specials schedule 

Birthdays 

Due to the District’s Wellness Policy, birthday treats will no longer be allowed in school.  However, students may bring a nonfood item, such as pencils, to share with classmates. Please notify me if your child plans to bring something in on or around their special day. 

Blue Tornado Folder

Students will need to bring their navy blue “tornado folder” to school each day. This is where you will find important papers, monthly newsletter, calendar of events, homework, and is a great place to stick lunch money, or a note to the teacher if needed. 

Breakfast: 

WHES offers a breakfast program in the cafeteria, and students coming for breakfast may line up outside the main front doors at 8:05am.

Class Time

School is in session from 8:30A.M – 3:40P.M. daily.  Students will be dismissed from the classroom at the end of each day. Students can exit from the back door near our classroom, however they cannot enter through that door in the morning. Students can begin entering the classroom at 8:15.

Clothing

Your child should always be dressed appropriately for the weather.  We do have recess daily unless the temperature and/or wind chill is 15 degrees or less. Please also remember to send your child to school with tennis shoes on P.E. days.

**Please have an extra set of clothes in your child’s backpack for accidents**

Communication

Email:  hannah.pirzadeh@d49.org

Classroom/Voicemail: 495-1149 ext. 6402

School phone: 495-5500

Class DOJO (Behavior Management System)

Blue Tornado Folders 

October Parent Teacher Conferences (all)

February Parent Teacher Conferences (as necessary)

DIBELS Reading Testing Days: 

• August 11, 2023: Beginning of the Year Testing: Sign up Link here

• December 8, 2023: Middle of the Year Testing

• May 3, 2024: End of the Year Testing

Discipline: 

• Class Dojo- Click here to read about how we use Class Dojo in the classroom 

• School Store- students earn money for positive behavior to use at our school store located in the library. 

• Laps- students may be required to walk what we call “laps” around the blacktop during recess time for negative behavior. 

• Tornado Turnaround- At WHES we have what is called “tornado turnaround.” This is a spot in the classroom or in another 1st grade classroom where a student can go to rethink their actions and take a break from their seat. If a student will fill out a tornado turnaround form to send home for a signature. This is a perfect opportunity to have a discussion about the behavior and help support your child so behavior doesn’t continue. 

End of Day Dismissal 

How your child will be getting home each day will be something I’ll need to be informed of preferably by supply drop off night, that way I am aware of your child’s dismissal for the 1st day of school. Please start thinking and discussing with your children the location of where or how they picked up after school each day. We dismiss from the back 1st grade doors so a perfect location may be back kiss-and-go lanes. If they are meeting older siblings, a great meeting spot is the grassy area by our 1st grade doors. If they are taking the bus, we will assist children on where to go the first week of school. 

Click here to see a map of 1st grade dismissal locations and places children can be picked up.

Field Trips

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo-End of May. We love chaperones! Need to be District approved. Please click here to do mandatory district background checks. **$5.00 background check fee applies**

Homework Policy

Regular homework assignments help students learn responsibility, perseverance, self-discipline, and time management.  Students also grow in their independence by being able to successfully complete school related tasks with a minimum of direct help. 

*Reading homework- We encourage that your child reads at home a minimum of 15-20 minutes each night. 

*Sight Words- Students are to master Yellow Pre-primer (90% mastery by October), Blue Primer (90% mastery by December), and Purple 1st grade list ( 50% mastery by March, 90% mastery by May) by the end of 1st grade (Pink 2nd grade and Green 3rd Grade are added challenges they can master if they pass all others). 

Click here to find ways to help your child with sight words at home. 

Click here to get lists from our website and start practicing early! *We will test all students and send home lists after testing day on August 11th, 2023**

*Spelling words- Spelling words will go home at the beginning of every week and your child will be tested on those words each Friday. You will find your child’s spelling list in their tornado folder. Students will take a test in the form of dictation sentences that contain the weekly spelling words.

*Math- Quick, easy math practice from Math 4 Today curriculum. 

Money

Any money brought to school should be in an envelope and labeled with your child’s name, amount, and what the money is used for.

Morning Arrival: 

At 8:15am, outside supervision begins and doors are opened for students to go directly to their classrooms for school to begin at 8:30am. Please do not drop students off at school before this time if they are not eating breakfast.

Parties

We will have 4 designated parties or celebrations throughout the year. The parties are as follows: Fall (Halloween) Winter (Holiday/Christmas), Spring (Valentine’s Day), and End of Year BBQ Celebration.  You will receive further information as each one approaches. Help with donations will be sent via email in a Signup Genius format. 

Snacks and Water Bottles

Please have your child bring a filled water bottle and a healthy snack to school each day.  An acceptable snack would be fruit, crackers, pretzels, veggie sticks, etc. Water bottles are allowed in class. Water only, no juice please. 

Student Interest Survey 

To get a jump start on getting to know your child, I have created a survey for you to fill out. This will help me to better understand the needs, interests, and strengths of your child as we begin this school year. Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill this out.  

Please click here to fill out the survey.

Toys

Toys may be brought to school for special occasions only.  We will inform you of these special occasions. If your child brings a toy for an after-school activity or daycare, it should be kept in their backpacks.

Volunteers 

If you are interested in volunteering, please let me know via email with days and activities/volunteering that works best for you (copying, cutting lamination, small group help, etc). Thank you in advance for all of your help! All volunteers MUST submit a background check through the district. Click here to be sent to the application. 

WHES Family Handbook

• View the Family Handbook & Information for more information. 

Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher whenever questions or concerns arise.  We are happy to have your child in 1st grade this year!  We appreciate your cooperation and support and want to thank you for allowing us to be a part of your child’s life.  We sincerely hope that this first-grade class will have a very positive learning experience. ☺