Ellsworth Hill Elementary

Mrs. Catalano-Jones’s Important Procedures
Welcome to Mrs. Catalano-Jones' Class! This handbook will explain many of the routines and procedures for our classroom. Please refer to this handbook as needed during the school year.

Communication
Communication between students, parents, and teachers is an essential part of the learning process. Please do not hesitate to call Mrs. C-J or send a note/ email. Each week, Mrs. C-J will email a newsletter on Sunday/Monday and students will bring home a class letter about their week on most Fridays. Please check these for important information on projects and events. Important notes and papers will be sent home in your child’s yellow home/school folder (Mrs. C-J will provide the yellow folder). Please check your child’s home/school folder every day. This information can also be found on Mrs. C-J’s website.
*Ellsworth Hill…330-653-1236 ext. 1403

Birthdays
We will celebrate birthdays at school. If your child would like to bring a treat to school, they may share a non-edible treat on the date marked in their planner. Treats may be pencils, stickers, a small toy, a game for our class indoor recess cabinet, a new book for our class library, etc. . We will celebrate sometime during that day. Summer birthdays will be celebrated in April/May.

Recess
In addition to lunch recess (11:40am-12:05pm), we will have a second recess in the afternoon (weather permitting…temperature above 20 degrees) from 2:40-3:00 (except Mondays). Please be sure that your child comes to school with the appropriate clothing to go outside. Be sure to wear gym shoes on Wednesday and Friday!

Dismissal Changes
If you need to change your child’s dismissal routine, even for one day, please be sure to send a note to school with your child. We may not alter from their designated routine unless we have a note from a parent. (Please do not email changes in routine to Mrs. C-J during the day. She often cannot check her email until after dismissal). If you have a change in dismissal during the day, please notify the office at 330 653-1236. They will make sure Mrs. C-J knows the dismissal change before the end of the day.

Name and Email/ Phone List
I will be sending home a class list with student names, phone numbers, email addresses and street addresses. If you do not wish to have your child’s information included, please contact Mrs. C-J by August 22, 2023.

Homework
Homework will be assigned to reinforce and enrich skills that we are working on in school. There will also be some optional projects throughout the year. Every effort will be made to allow students several days to complete larger homework assignments. To keep track of homework assignments, students will use a school planner and a yellow home/school folder. ( Mrs. C-J will provide each student with 1 planner and one yellow Home/School folder). Students are responsible for taking both items home each day and returning them to school on the next school day. Homework assignments will also be posted on Mrs.C-J's website  . You can also go to the website by going to Hudson City Schools, Ellsworth Hill, Staff, Second Grade Directory, Catalano-Jones. (If there is ever an issue with homework completion, please return the homework, whether completed or not, with a note/email. Homework in second grade should take approximately twenty minutes a day.)

Sharing
This year your child will have a chance to be the Star of the Week. This is a special week of sharing for your child. During the first week of school, each child will bring home a Star of the Week packet (with instructions) to be completed at home and returned to school. Mrs. C-J will save the drawings until it is your child’s turn to be Star of the Week. The week before they are scheduled to be Star of the Week, Mrs. C-J will send home a bag with instructions for the remaining items needed for their special week. On the first day of their scheduled week, they should return the items that they wish to share in the star of the week bag. Items must fit in the bag! Students may bring a picture of an item that will not fit in the bag (skateboard, large stuffed animal, cat, dog, fish tank…).

Snack & Water Bottles
We will have a snack time each afternoon. Students are responsible for bringing their own snack (one snack each day). Please be sure the snack is nutritious, non-sticky, non-messy, non-time consuming and that they are from our district  Safe Snack List  (link). We will continue working while we eat our snacks. (Please remember…no nuts due to allergies. Please refer to the approved food list on the Ellsworth Hill  website). Please do not send items that need refrigeration, spoons or forks! Snacks should not be liquid. Students should bring a filled water bottle with a secure lid/top each day. 

Curriculum

Please use the link below for information regarding the second grade curriculum.

2023-2024 Second Grade Curriculum

Supplies
 Ellsworth Hill Second Grade Supply List. 

Discipline
Mrs. Catalano-Jones’s classroom is a Love and Logic Classroom:
*Mrs. C-J will treat you with respect, so you will know how to treat others with respect.
*Feel free to do anything that does not harm you, or cause a problem for anyone else.
*If you cause a problem, Mrs. C-J will ask you to solve it.
* If you cannot solve the problem, or choose not to, Mrs. C-J will do something.
*What Mrs. C-J will do, will depend on the special person and the special situation.
*If you feel something is unfair, whisper to Mrs. C-J, “I’m not sure that’s fair,” and we will talk.