FIRST THINGS FIRST

I’m looking forward to meeting each and every one of you!!

Parents we are going to start our year off with reading the book First Day Jitters and follow it up with making our very own JITTER JUICE! In order for your child to participate in this activity I have to have you fill out this following form BEFORE THE FIRST DAY of school!

THANK YOU!!

In order for students to walk/bicycle to and from Quest, this FORM will need to be filled out electronically by their parents. This applies to students who walk off school grounds to another pick up location. Even if you have filled this out in the past, it needs to be done every year. 

Thank you,

I can’t wait to welcome all my new friends to our classroom library!! Until school starts I hope that you are enjoying the books in your home or making trips to the public libraries so that you have a book in your hand every day!!

Right now it does not matter if you are reading to your child or he/she is reading to you; what matters is that the children are engaged with books every day at home. 

When a student reads 20 minutes every day, by the end of the school year they will have been exposed to 1,800,000 words and be in the 90th percentile benchmark for reading. If they only read 5 minutes they will be exposed to 282,000 words and be in the 50th percentile. Reading only 1 minute a day, exposes to only 8,000 words and will place them on the 10th percentile severely lower than benchmark. 

Breakfast and lunch for students will be FREE for the 2021-2022 school year.

Breakfast is provided prior to the start of class (7:45-8:20am). Students eating breakfast should go directly to the lunchroom when they arrive at the school. Parents are welcome to accompany their child to the lunchroom for breakfast. Breakfast will be available for the students on the first day of class.

For lunch, students will choose either a hot or cold entree. They will also have access to our full salad bar with a variety of fruits and vegetables. The breakfast and lunch menu can be found at the following link. Quest Academy’s Menu

Our lunchroom staff will be available during Back to School night to answer questions and to allow the students to see the lunchroom. If your child has any allergies, this is a great time to talk with the staff. Note: All allergies need to be documented in Aspire.

You may contact Madeline Chestnut (mchestnut@questac.org) if you have any questions.

To access the complete Quest Academy dress code page: Dress Code

Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind, more detailed information will be found at the above link:

• TOPS
• Shirts must have a collar and be either solid white, navy or red. Appropriate collared styles are blouse, polo, oxford, turtleneck, or dress shirt.
• Shirts cannot have a logo other than a Quest Academy logo.
• All shirts must be long enough to remain tucked in.
• Sweaters or sweater vests (hooded or unhooded) may be worn in solid navy, white or red.

• BOTTOMS
• Girls may wear skirts, jumpers, skorts, shorts, capris or pants that are either solid navy or tan. Solid color red and navy polo dresses and navy/red plaid #36 dresses are allowed.
• Boys may wear pants or shorts in either solid navy or tan.
• Skirts, shorts or skorts are to be no shorter than 2 inches above the kneecap.
• No denim, nylon, sweat, leather, stretch, or vinyl material may be worn.

• ACCESSORIES (SHOES AND SOCKS)
• All students must wear closed toe and closed heel shoes. Shoes cannot have lights or wheels.
• Socks or footed tights must be worn at all times.  Socks are to be solid red, white, or navy.  
• If wearing a belt it needs to be solid black or brown. 

• QUEST APPAREL
• Quest Academy jackets, hoodies, and pullovers can be worn at any time. However, heads may never be covered in the building.
• Students are allowed to wear a designated “School Spirit Shirt” on select days. (Fridays)

• DRESS AND GROOMING
• Shirts must be buttoned and tucked in, shoes must be tied or fastened, clothing must be worn right-side-out, appropriate underwear must be worn, but not visible, etc. Clothing shall not be excessively worn or have holes.
• Hair must be kept neat and have a combed appearance and appropriate for school. No extreme hair color or styles, only “natural” hair colors are permitted (for example, fuchsia or “hot pink” hair is not “natural”).
• Outer wear that is worn for warmth to and from school and at outside recess is not considered a uniform item.

I would love to start getting to know my First Grade Friends! Please take just a moment to fill out this GETTING ACQUAINTED FORM. Make sure to have your child answer the last question!!

Writing is a key skill for all children to develop and master. For the soon-to-be first graders, they have learned a complete mastery of their alphabet. They have also learned how to write many new words.

NOW, IT IS TIME for them to refine the skills of forming sentences. A fun and engaging way for them to do this is through writing. Encourage them to express their thoughts via the written word.

Here is an idea to get started. Gather some fun writing supplies: different types of paper, markers, crayons, pencils. Have your child think of an answer to the prompt: Summer weather makes me feel …. . If they just give you a one word answer ask them again and say this time I’d like you to tell me with a sentence. Then show them the fun supplies you gathered and let them choose how they would like to WRITE out the sentence they just told you. You may want to write it out on another paper for them to copy, maybe they will want to try to write the words on their own by sounding them out or maybe if they feel overwhelmed by this task you can write it with a yellow marker and they can trace over what you wrote. No matter how they do it …. THEY WILL BE WRITING!! Encourage them also to illustrate their writing as well.

I would love to hear what my new First Grade Friends are feeling about the weather! If they would like to share it with me, snap a picture of their paper and send it to me at jwallace@questac.org

I am looking forward to this new year!! In preparation for the upcoming 2021 – 2022 school year, please subscribe to the class blog by clicking on the RED SUBSCRIBE BUTTON (found on the right sidebar)- make sure to complete the subscription process by clicking on the link in the email that you will receive. Subscribing will notify you when the blog is updated.

In addition to subscribing to the blog, Here is some other important information you may want to look over. Clicking on the names of the two documents will be a quick way to access the Class Supplies/Donations list and Classroom Disclosure form.

BACK TO SCHOOL – AUGUST 16th

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL – AUGUST 18th