The first day of school is Monday, August 12th.  Please keep in mind that kindergarten participates in Staggered Start, so your child may start on the 12th, 13th or 14th of August.  All Kindergarten students will come to school on Thursday, August 15th.

Many schools in Palm Beach County implement a staggered start entrance for their Kindergarten students.  This allows teachers to divide their class into three small groups and meet with each individual group separately over the first three days.  This gives the students an opportunity to meet their teacher, some classmates and their school in a much smaller setting.  Staggered Start helps ease the transition for students who may feel anxious about beginning Kindergarten and attending a new school.

You will be notified of your child’s teacher and Staggered Start day before school starts. The first three days of school are Monday, August 12th, Tuesday, August 13th and Wednesday, August 14th.  Your child will attend school only one of the three days and return to school on Thursday, August 15th to continue for the remainder of the school year.

If your child’s start date is… They will return to school on
Monday, August 12th... Thursday, August 15th    
Tuesday, August 13th... Thursday, August 15th    
Wednesday, August 14th... Thursday, August 15th

Parents, please make sure your child knows how to  unbuckle their seatbelt and get out of the car on their  own for parent drop off. They should also know what  their car looks like for pick up.  A blue flag will be given at Meet The Teacher and safety patrols will assist students until they can navigate independently. Families will be given a placard to hang from the rear-view mirror to keep our car line moving quickly.

• Walker 
• Car rider
• Coral Reef After School Program
• Private daycare bus
• County Bus

All changes in dismissal must be made in advance in writing/email and should be sent to your child’s teacher.  If there is a last-minute change, you may call the office and give them your password (the one you put on your child’s registration form).  We cannot take your child’s word for it, so please put it in writing/email.

Once students are in the classrooms, they unpack their backpacks.

At 8:00 a.m. the late bell rings and teachers will take attendance. The morning announcements will come on shortly thereafter and we do the Pledge of Allegiance and listen to the information on the announcements.

We start our day off with the calendar and Skills for Learning and Life (SLL). This includes a Greeting, Sharing, Movement and Morning Message and helps to build our classroom community.

Each day, we have a Reading & Writing Block, Math Block, Science/Social Studies Block and typically a quick, 10-minute snack time throughout the day. Additionally, we have a lunch, recess and fine arts block daily.

The subjects taught are Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  Palm Beach County aligns the curriculum with the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for Literacy and Math and the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) for Science and the Social Studies Florida Standards.  The specific expectations for kindergarten will be given in greater detail on Curriculum Night, which is held within the beginning weeks of the school year.

Language arts: Reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills
Mathematics: Counting, geometry, number sense, algebraic thinking, measurement/data, and problem-solving
Science: Exploration of the natural world through hands-on activities
Social Studies: Building an understanding of  our community and the world
Skills for Learning & Life (SLL): self-awareness & self-management, communication, and collaboration skills

Literacy: 

Students in K-2 will be immersed in reading, writing, phonics and word study instruction through materials that support the science of reading. They will grow their content knowledge in the areas of science, social studies, social emotional learning and literacy topics.   During each unit, students are deeply immersed in a topic for three weeks. At the end of each unit, students will show what they know through culminating tasks. They will meet with the teacher for small group instruction to allow for differentiation so that we ensure we are meeting the needs of all of our students. Students will listen to read-alouds, read along in shared readings, learn songs and rhymes to support the development of phonemic awareness and read a variety of books.  Benchmark Advance is the name of our literacy program.

*For students in K-5, iReady is implemented for approximately 45 minutes per week and provides valid and reliable growth measures and individualized instruction for students in reading.

Math:

The Math consumable text, practice book and online component for grades K-5 is EnVision Florida by Savvas.  Additional supplemental materials are utilized to meet students’ individual needs.  Hands-on activities and technology resources are incorporated into the curriculum. The online component of the math curriculum and students are expected to accumulate 45 minutes per week.

Science:

The Science Curriculum includes supplemental materials and grade leveled readers which are utilized to meet students’ individual needs. Labs, hands-on activities and technology resources are incorporated into the curriculum and part of the scope and sequence for kindergarten.

Social Studies:

The Social Studies curriculum is infused into the reading curriculum in grades K-5.  Thematic units are implemented across grade levels which allow teachers and students to work cooperatively to access information and create projects and presentations.  All grade levels cover curriculum based on Florida Statute 1003.42 in addition to teaching the Florida Standards.

Technology:

Technology is utilized throughout the curriculum and school to support instruction and learning.  Each student has a personalized portal with a range of technology resources, including textbook accessibility. 

Some examples of how Kindergarten uses technology programs in the classroom are iReady, Benchmark and Starfall to support Reading; iReady and Starfall to support Math; PebbleGo and BrainPop, Jr. to support Science and Social Studies.

Each student will be issued a chromebook and a charger. We are connected to many educational programs, including platforms for Reading and Math.

We also teach and strongly reinforce “Character Education” at Coral Reef.  This includes the 7 character-developing pillars: kindness/empathy, trustworthiness, respect, tolerance, responsibility, generosity and citizenship.  We also encourage a Growth Mindset. We have common Splash Rules for all Coral Reef students: Be Safe, Be Responsible and Be Respectful.  These rules and what they mean are posted in all common areas of our school.

Each student has 30 minutes of structured physical activity daily.  This will be covered during playground time, indoor recess and/or during Physical Education (P.E.).

• Write his/her name, say his/her name and be able to recognize (read) his/her name
• Write, say and recognize the letters of the alphabet 
• Say a letter of the alphabet and make its sound
• After being read to, being able to talk about the story
• Sing songs and read books
• Draw a picture and tell someone about it
• Draw a picture and label it with their own writing
• Practice writing numbers 0-20  
• Practice counting to 100
• Practice tying shoelaces
• Play outside and talk about what they see

• Follow 2-step and 3-step directions
• Play a game and practice taking turns
• Practice opening and closing containers during meals
• Practice putting things away after playing with them
• Practice buttoning, tying, zipping, and fastening clothes, belts and shoes
• Practice typing and using a “mousepad” on laptop computer
• Encourage washing hands frequently
• Tell them they are going to be the best kindergartener!!!

• Teachers do not eat lunch with the students. There are Lunchroom Aides to help those in need.
• Please pack items that can easily be opened by your child.
• Don’t pack too many choices for your child. Our time in the cafeteria is limited, so keep it simple and stick to foods you know they like.  It is very tempting for students to eat all the snacks first.
• You can have your child practice opening and closing their lunchbox, thermoses, wrappers and Ziploc bags.
• You can have your child practice eating lunch in a “timely manner” and then clean up their garbage.
• Some parents pack their child’s lunch until they become familiar with the cafeteria menu and process before allowing them to get lunch from the cafeteria.

State Assessments:

The Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) is administered to assess the readiness and progress of each child (FAST Early Literacy/Reading and FAST Math)
You will be given more detailed information about the various assessments given at the beginning of the school year.

County Assessments:

• Benchmark Unit Assessments  
• Concepts About Print
• Letter Identification (Upper & Lower) & Beginning Sound Recognition
• Sight Word Recognition
• Oral Reading Records (Guided Reading Level)
• Math Unit Assessments
• Computer Based Reading and Math diagnostics