Pre-kindergarten is not a mandated program, but a unique opportunity to provide the best experiences for your four-year-old child. Every day is filled with an enriched curriculum of developmentally appropriate activities designed to prepare your child for elementary school.
Dress Code
All children must wear tennis shoes to school each day. It is best if both boys and girls wear shorts or pants to school for ease of activities. For the majority of the day we are sitting on the floor and playing interactively. On the playground, we climb ladders, slide, hang upside down, etc. If you do send your child in a dress or skirt, please put shorts on underneath.
Your child must have a complete change of clothes at school at all times. We will change out the clothing seasonally according to the weather. Please label all clothing with your child’s name.
Please also pay close attention to the school’s dress code identified in our school’s Parent Handbook. Hobgood has a uniform policy that can be found within their online handbook. That policy is slightly modified for PreK students and you will have been provided with additional information during registration.
Outdoor Play
We will go outside (in suitable weather) as long as the temperature is above 32 degrees. Please make sure your child is properly dressed for this activity. Children should wear tennis shoes and socks. For safety reasons, the footwear must not be flip flops, boots, Sunday shoes, or sandals.
Participation In School
If your child is not well enough to participate in a complete school day, please keep them at home as designated by the attendance policies. If they cannot participate in outdoor activities due to an injury or illness, your child should not attend school. We cannot keep students indoors when the class is outside. A doctor’s note will be required after 3 days or for repeated absences.
Folders/ Agendas
Your child should keep their school folder in their backpack at all times. This is one source of communication. We will send home notes, reports, and school information this way or in Class Dojo. It is very important that you check your child’s folder daily and respond to any necessary paperwork and return it to school promptly. Please make sure that your child has their folder each day for school.
Personal Belongings
Please label all your child’s belongings. Many students have the same book bags, jackets, hats, etc. and labeling will prevent students from being upset or confused when going outside or at the end of the day. Labeling will allow us to return your child’s belongings to their classroom when they are left in the school or outside.
In the event your child misplaces their hats, gloves, etc. the school will have an area containing lost and found items. If at any time your child is missing any of their belongings, you may come in and search through the items found.
Personal Care
We expect all children to be independent with toileting and all their needs in the bathroom. In case of a toileting accident, teachers will verbally assist your child, but they must be able to clean themselves and manage their clothing without assistance. We do not wipe children in the restroom following an accident or bowel movement.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
During our school year, teachers will have two conferences to meet individually with the parents/guardians of each child. Conferences are scheduled for the fall and spring. Parents/guardians may request additional conferences if the need arises.
Extended School Program (ESP)
IF your child will be attending our ESP program, you must first register them online and communicate with the ESP office. Please provide your child’s ESP schedule to the teacher in writing so that we are aware of your child’s afternoon plans and also notify us in writing if that schedule will change on any given day. That way we are always ‘on the same page’ with your child’s daily departure schedule. All ESP money or paperwork must be given directly to the ESP office. We cannot handle ESP money or paperwork through the classroom.
Parent Visits
Upon entering our school building to visit/volunteer, all parents/guardians are required to sign in at the desk in the lobby and receive a visitor’s tag. For security reasons, everyone entering the school must sign in and wear a visitor tag throughout their entire visit. Background checks may be required of parents or others volunteering in our classrooms. All visitors or anyone picking up a child will be required to present a driver’s license or official picture ID.
Articles/Items for students that are brought to the school may be left with the front office to be given to the teacher at the appropriate time.
Murfreesboro City Preschool/Mid-Cumberland Head Start Partnership
The Murfreesboro City Preschool program partners with Mid-Cumberland Head Start to provide support services and opportunities to children and families, including families of children with disabilities. We are a comprehensive program that provides services education, mental health, child health, parent trainings, parent involvement/volunteer opportunities, literacy enrichment, and individual family support services. The goal of the Head Start program is to ensure that families are supported in their efforts to be self-sufficient and actively involved in their children’s education and the community.
Additional Policies: Murfreesboro City School Board Policies may be accessed on the website: https://cityschools.net/administration/school-board/policies
Those policies cover, but are not limited to, behavior management, safe release of children, meal service, emergency plans for fire, earthquake, chemical spill, flood, tornado and other disasters, inclement weather, smoke, drug and weapon free environments. Handbooks for individual schools can be found on their web page.
Sick Children Belong at Home – Well Children Belong At School
Colds:
A child with a mild cold and no other symptoms is probably well enough to come to school. A NEW cold less than 24 hours old, or a heavy cold that included deep or croupy cough probably need bed rest at home. A sore throat with white spots or fever should be looked at by a doctor.
Fever, Diarrhea, and Vomiting:
A child with a fever, especially over 100 degrees, must stay at home until the fever is normal for 24 hours without fever reducer. Your child must also be free of vomiting and diarrhea for 24 hours without medication.
Lice:
Children must be treated for lice and be lice free before they can return to school. The home environment needs to be treated and all family members should be treated as well. After 5 days of absence due to lice, any further days missed will be considered unexcused absences.
Flu, Impetigo, Ringworm, impetigo, Pink Eye, Scabies, and Chicken Pox:
The diseases listed above are contagious. Children must stay home until they are no longer contagious or cleared by a doctor. Your teacher may need a doctors’ note or the medicine itself so we know it is being taken care of at home. In most cases, your teacher must have one of these items before your child may return to school.
Ringworm, impetigo, and pink eye must be treated for 24 hours prior to return and must be covered at all times.
Attendance
Your child’s potential for growth and development is maximized through consistent participation in a high-quality environment. Establishing consistent attendance routines in Pre-K and kindergarten will increase chances of success in all future school experiences and will decrease chances that your child will drop out of high school. Our goal is to establish healthy school habits as soon as school is introduced. Therefore, it is very important that your child attends pre-k on a regular basis. With this in mind, Murfreesboro City Schools, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education, has adopted a pre-K attendance policy to go into effect August 1, 2017.
Excused Absences:
We understand that children may miss some days of participation due to illness. Absences due to illness will be considered an excused absence.
The following are acceptable reasons for excused absences:
1. The child is hospitalized;
2. The child is incapacitated due to a serious injury;
3. The child contracts a communicable disease (virus or flu);
4. The child has other ongoing health-related ailments which temporarily prevent attendance (such as asthma);
5. There is a death in the family;
6. Limited medical/dental/therapy appointments (these should be made outside of school hours unless absolutely necessary); and
7. Other reasons as approved by the site-level administrator. Family travel will not be excused.
Required Procedures:
1. Please communicate with your child’s teacher when your child is absent.
2. A doctor’s excuse is required after three (3) consecutive days of absence.
3. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s attendance, or if you anticipate an ongoing attendance issue, please contact the Assistant Principal of your school.
4. If a child has four (4) or more consecutive absences—or four (4) or more absences within one (1) month—the site-level administrator will contact you to determine the child’s participation status. The site-level administrator will document attempts to contact you and the outcome of those attempts and/or communications.
5. If a child misses five (5) or more days in a three (3)-month period, the site-level administrator will contact the family to develop an attendance plan.
The attendance plan will be designed to help the family establish regular attendance or, if necessary, to plan for alternative services. The attendance plan will be developed by the family and appropriate school personnel, including, but not limited to: the child’s primary pre-k teacher; the site-level administrator; the IEP team (if applicable); and additional staff serving the school and family, which may include a counselor, social worker, family support personnel, teacher assistant or other school staff supporting the child and family.
The plan must:
i. Identify the reasons for the absences;
ii. Include a specific plan and date for establishing regular attendance or alternative services that meet the child’s educational goals; and
iii. Include documentation of services and student outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the attendance plan.
6. Every effort will be made to ensure your child has access to a quality school program. However, VPK seats are limited and are made available through a state grant. A child, who has more than five (5) unexcused days per month, or ten (10) unexcused days in a year, may be terminated from the program for failure to follow the attendance policy.
7. Because the seats are limited, your child’s spot may be filled as soon as he/she is withdrawn. Future eligibility for the terminated child to re-enter the program will depend upon vacancies after a 30-day waiting period and a parent conference with the school administrator to create a binding agreement between home and school.
You will be signing an official attendance agreement with the information above acknowledging your agreement with and knowledge of the policies outlined.
Arrival and Dismissal
Arrival and dismissal procedures vary from school to school and will be explained at your family visit with the classroom teacher. You are responsible for the safety of your child in the parking lots, sidewalks, or other areas of the classroom and your car. It is your responsibility to abide by the procedures including when and where you should park and the procedures for sign in and out at the beginning and end of the day.
Tardiness in the morning and late pick-up in the afternoon impact the educational program and cannot be allowed. If your child is excessively tardy, a correction plan will be drawn up and if the problem is not resolved, your child may be subject to withdrawal from the program. Late pick up in the afternoon will also result in corrective measures. After 3 late pick-ups, you may be required to register your child for our ESP afternoon care program.
Classroom Concerns
Questions or concerns about your child should be addressed with the classroom teacher first. If you need additional assistance, please contact the School’s Principal.