Dear Parents:

Welcome to the Colonial School District!

Kindergarten is a very exciting time in your child’s life, but we do recognize that entering school for the first time does create some anxiety for both the parent and child. The Colonial School District prides itself on providing an environment of collaboration, inspiration and innovation for all students. Be assured that your child’s teacher and building principal have worked together to create an educational setting which will ensure your child’s intellectual, social and personal development.

We treasure your child and look forward to providing many positive learning experiences.

Should you have a question or concern, never hesitate to contact the teacher, the building principal or me.

Sincerely, Michael L. Christian, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Parents:

For four or five years, home has been the center of your child’s life. Throughout these years he or she has been growing, developing, learning, acquiring habits and forming attitudes. Now, the home and school will be working together to further your child’s growth.

Our kindergarten provides a program which we feel is best suited to developing the needs of the young child – mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. Here, your child will be learning to live, work and play with other children of his or her own age.

The close relationship between a young child and his or her parents makes it necessary for the parents and the child’s teacher to work together. By working together, both the home and school can give each child the encouragement, the understanding and the challenge that he or she needs.

Please read this handbook carefully and refer to it as often as necessary so that it may help us work together throughout the year.

Sincerely,
The Kindergarten Teachers
Colonial School District

By Colonial School District Board of Education policy, children entering kindergarten must be five (5) years of age by September 15 of the new school year.

Montgomery Early Learning Centers (MELC), in conjunction with the Colonial School District, offers state-licensed before-and-after-school quality childcare for the 2018-2019 school year. To register, contact MELC by phone at 610-828-1785 or on the Web at www.melc.org. Parents must fill out registration forms. A fee scale is provided. All information should be obtained from MELC.

Montgomery Early Learning Centers childcare programs offer a semi-structured curriculum with appropriate activities to meet the developmental needs of the children.

To register children, please call the Colonial School District Central Registration Office at 610-834-1670, ext. 2150 to make an appointment. You will need to provide written proof of residency (see registration packet for requirements) in the Colonial School District. Pennsylvania State Law requires:

• A birth certificate
• Parents’ photo ID (i.e., driver’s license)
• Record of all immunizations

In case of any situation that requires emergency closing of school, announcements will be made via a variety of media, including our automated phone message system (ConnectEd), local radio and TV stations, Colonial Instructional Television (CITV) Comcast Cable and Verizon FiOS Channel 28, the District’s website, the District Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, the District’s email news list and the District Offi ce phone message. Please explain to your child where he or she should go if you are not at home on an occasion when school needs to close early.

If your child is a bus rider, you will receive his or her bus schedule before the start of school. Parents or guardians, designated adults or siblings are required to meet kindergartners at the bus stop after school. Bus drivers will not release students without family supervision. If your child will need transportation to a location other than your home on a consistent basis, please obtain a Transportation Request Form from any elementary school building. Send the completed form to:

Colonial School District Transportation Department
230 Flourtown Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462

If your child is a walker, the school will not release him or her from the building unless met by a parent, guardian or designated adult or sibling.

Start Time: 9:05 Dismissal Time: 3:35
 

The additional instruction time in a full-day kindergarten setting allows children and teachers time to explore topics in depth, reduces the ratio of transition time to class time, provides for greater continuity of day-to-day activities, and provides an environment that favors a more developmentally appropriate approach to the curriculum.

Parents are urged to check the District Calendar (mailed each August) for holidays and early dismissal dates.

The Food Services Department offers a variety of nutritious hot and cold breakfast and hot and cold lunch options daily. All food is prepared fresh on site by a team of professionals led by a certifi ed food safety handler, and menus are analyzed for nutritional content by a registered dietitian. A meal includes a protein, grain, fruit, vegetable and an eight ounce serving of milk. In addition to the meals, snacks and other drinks are available at a la carte prices.

The cafeteria uses a point-of-sale system which enables parents or guardians to pre-deposit money on accounts to be used for meals. Each time your child makes a purchase, the money is automatically deducted from their account balance, so you don’t need to send lunch money every day. You will be alerted when account balances are low.

The Food Service Department participates in the National School Lunch Program. Free or reduced price meals are offered to qualifying families. Application forms are available in the Food Services Office or online by clicking here to fill out an application.

These examinations are required by State law and may be done by your own private physician or dentist, or they may be done by the school’s physician or dentist. Necessary forms for examination by your private physician will be provided by the school nurse during registration. Examinations by your own physician and dentist are valid if done within one year prior to entry into school.

Immunizations Required for kindergarten

A child will not be admitted to school without the following:

• Copy of Immunization Card
• 4 Doses of DTap Vaccine (1 Dose after 4th birthday)
• 3 Doses of Polio Vaccine
• 2 Doses of MMR Vaccine after 12 Months of Age
• 3 Doses of Hepatitis B properly spaced
• Varicella (Chickenpox) – 2 doses or history of disease

Contact the school nurse for assistance.

Accident insurance is available to children if parents so desire. Information concerning this insurance will be sent home with your child shortly after school starts. Our school nurse will complete the necessary insurance forms should your child be injured in school.

Language Arts

Instruction in kindergarten is focused on developing foundational skills that prepare students for later learning in the language arts. Language and literacy development encompasses reading, writing, speaking and listening. In this foundational year, kindergarten teachers embed language and literacy into the daily activities of the classroom. In whole groups, small groups and individual settings, students develop literacy skills by:

• Listening to a variety of stories, poems, and informational books
• Participating in shared reading experiences
• Developing and strengthening their knowledge of letter shapes, names, sounds and words
• Hearing sounds in words to write sentences to communicate experiences and information they have learned
• Telling and writing stories
• Recognizing rhyming words, and seeing and hearing likenesses and differences between words
• Dramatizing stories
• Interacting with text independently and with others

Getting Ready to Read

Readiness depends on a child’s maturity. All students are not ready to read at the same time due to individual rates of development. Some indicators of a child’s readiness to read are:

Understanding of book handling:

• Knows front and back of book
• Knows that print carries a message
• Knows where to begin to read on a single page of print

Knowledge of concepts about Print:

• Knows the difference between a letter and a word
• Knows most upper case and lower case letters
• Has a beginning sight vocabulary of a few words

Mathematics

Children use numbers to count and compare quantities and explore concepts related to:

• Number Recognition and Sequencing
• Number Relationships
• Addition and Subtraction
• Sorting and Classifying
• Geometric Shapes
• Non-Standard Measurement

Children participate in engaging, hands-on activities. Through real-world contexts, they are encouraged to think creatively, develop and communicate their own problem-solving strategies, and work cooperatively with their classmates.

Science

Children are curious about the world around them and are interested in living things. Kindergarten experiences satisfy these interests through experimentation, watching things grow, caring for animals, taking science walks, observing changes in season and weather and learning about the five senses.

Social Studies

The foundation for social studies, economics, history and the workings of government begin with children’s personal experiences and their initial understanding of themselves in relation to their families, homes and schools. As their perceptions grow, they further expand this scope to understand how systems work together. Students will be able to use what they learned to help them become productive citizens in the 21st century

Technology

Kindergarten students are immersed in a technology-rich learning environment. Instruction is focused on learning basic computer vocabulary, operations and skills.

Kindergarten provides many opportunities for children to grow and fulfill their learning potential. Children feel comfortable taking risks in a safe and supportive learning environment. Emphasis is placed on:

• Communicating thoughts and feelings
• Forming relationships
• Sharing, listening and cooperating
• Accepting suggestions
• Responsibility and leadership
• Respect, kindness and tolerance
• Independence
• Self-esteem and positive outlook

Children are able to express themselves creatively through the arts. This is achieved through:

• Listening to music
• Singing and dancing
• Playing instruments
• Painting
• Drawing
• Creating with clay and wood

Kindergarten students participate in special weekly classes in art, music, physical education and library. There are many opportunities for students to learn to appreciate the work of others, as well as to enjoy their own efforts and accomplishments.

In addition to experiencing weekly classes, all children in grades kindergarten through five participate in Developmental Guidance Instruction with their elementary counselors. Colonial School District has a sound guidance curriculum that is centered upon educating the whole child. The elementary guidance counselors are available to share information regarding the guidance lessons and to answer any questions that you may have.

The Pupil Services Department is key to providing programs and services to the Colonial school community. Almost every student, parent and teacher is in one way or another impacted upon by the various resources within the Pupil Services Department. These include:

• Special Education
• Gifted Education
• Counseling
• Health Services
• Speech and Language
• Psychology
• Occupational and Physical Therapy
• Home and School Visitor
• Social Worker
• Registration.

Our goal is to provide the appropriate supports in order for our students to maximize their learning potential and subsequently achieve at their highest level.

Our school nurse will provide emergency first aid in case of an accident. If necessary, parents will be notified by the school nurse. If your child gets sick in school, a school official will call you for transportation home. For cases like this, please keep the school notified of your latest work, home and cell phone numbers. List the telephone number of someone who could be contacted in case of an emergency

The Colonial School District (CSD) places a premium on student safety. In 2008, CSD commissioned a security audit by a leading national school safety expert. The audit revealed that CSD was among the nation’s leading districts in school safety and security. The District continually assesses its safety and security measures to ensure they are current and to maintain a place as a national leader in school safety and security.

• Talk about kindergarten as a friendly, happy place.
   
• Label all clothing, including boots, mittens and hats, by writing your child’s name in indelible ink.
   
• Dress your child in simple, washable clothing so that the child can comfortably participate in all activities.
   
• Have your child know his or her name, address and telephone number.
   
• Dress your child according to the weather conditions.
   
• Attempt to teach your child:
  • To take off and put on his/her own coat.
  • To go to the lavatory without help.
  • To fasten shoelaces, zippers and buttons.
  • To put on and take off his or her own boots.
     
• Encourage good health safety.
  • Teach your child to cover his or her mouth when coughing or sneezing.
  • Teach your child to sit down when riding the school bus.
  • Teach your child to obey the bus driver.
  • Teach your child to obey all traffic and safety rules.
    ​​​​​​​
• Provide a bookbag or backpack large enough to hold an 8.5-inch by 11-inch folder.

We encourage and welcome parents to visit our schools. However, we require that you call the school office and make an appointment. Open communication is valued and parents are welcome to call and e-mail their child’s teacher. We also value parent volunteers and urge you to be an active member of our Parent Teacher Organizations.

In addition, parents are encouraged to follow Colonial School District on social media for information and updates. 

Click here to like and follow us on Facebook

Click here to follow us on Twitter

Click here to follow us on Instagram

Click here to sign up for the District Email News List

Since we feel that there should be a close cooperation between the home and the school, we have arranged for parent-teacher conferences during the school year. Progress reports will also be sent home throughout the year. A strong partnership between parents and teachers helps to ensure students have a positive and productive learning experience.

Special Education Programs for Eligible or Protected Handicapped Students

• Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder
• Blindness/Visual Impairment
• Deafness/Blindness
• Deafness/Hearing Impaired
• Developmental Delay
• Emotional Disturbance
• Intellectual Disability
• Multiple Disabilities
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Other Health Impairments
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech or Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury

Every effort is made to serve students at their home schools using an inclusive approach toward instructional delivery. For those children whose educational needs cannot be met in a District program, placements are made in Montgomery County Intermediate Unit classes or alternative/approved private schools.

Eligibility for Special Education Services

Gifted Services

Services for Protected Handicapped Students

Confidentiality: All information gathered about your child is subject to the confidentiality provisions contained in federal and state law.

The Colonial School District recognizes the need to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information in the education records of children. The School District Records Policy approved by Colonial School Directors meets the requirement of the State Board of Education and the Family Education and Privacy Act of 1974 and subsequent revisions.

• All student records are kept in locked files in the school where the student attends. No disclosure, except in specific instances, or personally identifiable information from students records to outside sources will be made without prior written consent of the parent/guardian or eligible student. An eligible student is a student who has reached 18 years of age.

• Parents/Guardians and/or eligible students have the right to inspect or review the student’s records by appointment after a written request is received.

• Parents/Guardians and/or eligible students have the right to request that a record be amended if they believe that information contained in the record is inaccurate or misleading or violates privacy.

• Parents/Guardians and/or eligible students have a right to a student records hearing to challenge the content of educational records.

• Parents/Guardians and/or eligible students have a right to file a written complaint with the Family Education Rights and Privacy division (FERPA), United States Department of Education, Switzer Building, 330 C Street, S. W. Washington, DC 20201, regarding possible violations of the rights accorded them under these provisions.

• The Colonial School District maintains copies of its student records policy as approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in each school building (principal’s or guidance office) and at the administrative office. This plan is available for inspection. Please contact the Director of Pupil Services, Mrs. Karen Berk, at (610) 834-1670, ext. 2109 with questions regarding school records.

The Colonial School District
230 Flourtown Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA 1946
Phone: 610-834-1670
Fax: 610-834-7535
Conshohocken Borough - Plymouth Township - Whitemarsh Township

Dr. Michael Christian, Superintendent of Schools
Mrs. Karen Berk, Director of Pupil Services and Special Education
Mr. Andrew Boegly, Director of Technology
Mrs. Rosemarie Gregitits, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Dr. Leticia Rodríguez, Director of Human Resources
Mr. David Szablowski, Business Administrator
Mr. Joseph Lally, Director of Facilities

Conshohocken Elementary
301 Harry Street
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Denise Marks, Principal
hone: 610-828-0362
Fax: 610-828-4582

Plymouth Elementary
542 Plymouth Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Rosemarie Gregitis, Principal
Phone: 610-825-8190
Fax: 610-825-7853

Ridge Park Elementary
200 Karrs Lane
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Eileen Carr, Principal
Phone: 610-825-1083
Fax: 610-825-7983

Whitemarsh Elementary
4120 Joshua Road
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444
Donna Drizin, Principal
Phone: 610-828-9092
Fax: 610-828-1516

Central Registration
230 Flourtown Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Lenore Ciccolone, Registrar
Phone: 610-834-1670, ext. 2150
Fax: 610-941-0958

Mission

The mission of the Colonial School District is to be an innovative educational leader in preparing students to become life-long learners who are successful, contributing members of society. This quest for excellence will be achieved by promoting collaboration among all stakeholders in a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member is engaged, inspired, challenged and driven by integrity and a desire to create a better future.

Vision

The vision of the Colonial School District is to ensure that all of our students are prepared to compete and succeed in today's global economy through the provision of: a safe, caring and supportive learning environment; high quality curricular and instructional programs focused on rigor, differentiated professional development and professional growth opportunities; an atmosphere of innovation, inspiration, pride and responsibility; and learning experiences rich in content and technological literacies.

Shared Values

Members of the Colonial School District’s community share an unwavering commitment to building a respectful, caring and equitable environment through a continuous improvement model. We believe that:

• collaboration and a commitment to excellence among all stakeholders will facilitate innovation and inspire student learning
• every student has the potential to learn
• diversity enriches the educational experience.