This letter from Kindergarten teacher Erica Sinicropi welcomes families to the new school year. It provides important classroom policies and procedures including drop-off/pick-up times, required school supplies, snack guidelines, and volunteer opportunities. The teacher emphasizes establishing a happy and safe learning environment where students and families can be involved and communicate regularly about each child's progress.

1. Welcome to
Kindergarten!!
Dear Families,
Welcome to Crossroads Charter Academy! I hope everyone had a great summer! My name is Erica
Sinicropi and I am very excited to be working with you and your child. I hope to get to know each of you
as the year goes on, but first, I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself. I am fairly new to the
Crossroads Charter Academy team. This is my second year of teaching. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in
Elementary Education in 2007 from Central Michigan University. My major is in child development and
my minors are mathematics and reading. My hometown is St. Louis, a little town that is the geographic
center of Michigan. It is just a little over an hour from here. I feel very fortunate to still be close to my
family and friends because I really enjoy spending time with them. A few of the others things I enjoy
doing are reading, cooking, and spending time at Higgins Lake.
I will be working extremely hard to establish our classroom as a happy, challenging, comfortable, safe
learning environment where we all do our personal best. However, you and your child will be working
equally hard to make this year a successful and rewarding experience. I encourage you to take the time to
sit down with your child and discuss what they are learning and reinforce that learning at home.
I believe that each child brings their own unique talents, experiences, and personality to share in our
classroom. I look forward to learning with your child and sharing curriculum with them that is enriching
and sparks their interests. They will be provided with instruction in the core-subject areas of
English/language arts, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. The three specials that they will
have the benefit of are physical education, music, and art. A few other enriching additions to our
curriculum are character education, habits of the mind, and handwriting without tears. Also, we will be
starting a new program to help students improve their fine motors skills called Movement Matters this
year! One of my goals is to help create a love of learning.
I encourage all parents/guardians to come join us and be involved in many of the exciting things we will
do this year. Research states that the more directly parents are involved in their child’s education the more
successful the child will be in school. Please fill out the volunteer questionnaire and return it to me as
soon as possible as there will be various opportunities throughout the year. No experience is necessary to
volunteer! Volunteering in and out of the classroom is a win-win opportunity. You are able to see how
your child interacts with others and you get to participate in our daily learning experiences. I really enjoy
having the opportunity to see parents on a regular basis.
Since we are all working toward the same goal, it is important for us to communicate often. I will send a
weekly newsletter home every Monday informing you of our activities for the week. Please feel free to e-
mail me (sinicropie@ccabr.org) or contact me by phone at school (231-796-6589) if you have any
questions or concerns. Writing notes is also a good way to share information.
Together we can make this a great experience for your child! Thank you in advance for your support!

2. * Important Information *
Here and There Folder
I have labeled a “Here and There Folder” for your child. This will go home and come back to school
EACH day. I will have a basket on the blue table for them to be placed in each morning as your child
comes in and gets started with their day. This is what I will send papers, book orders, notes, etc. home in.
Please check this folder daily for important information and remove the papers in it. Send back
correspondence as necessary and make sure your child brings it back to school every day. This is also the
folder for you to send me notes, money, etc. in. I know students will be bringing me change for Friday
treats or money for a field trip. It is hard for me to keep track of it all when they are handing me money
that’s not labeled. Please send any change (or money) in a labeled baggie or envelope with your child’s
name and the purpose for the money. That would be greatly appreciated! I will do my best to recycle and
get the envelopes/baggies back to you to reuse if you choose.
Drop Off and Pick Up
This is an area that I must be very picky about for your child’s safety. Students can be dropped off no
earlier than 7:45 am. I know we are on the first floor and it’s easy to walk in and get your child started
early for the day, but teachers do not have to be at school until 7:30am. We appreciate the time to get
ready for the day which sometimes entails running to the copier or other business we may have to take
care of around the school. That can be hard to do when we have students in our room that have to be
supervised. Please try to have your child at school by 8am so they do not miss our very busy morning and
get enough time to eat breakfast. PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE CIRCLE DRIVE AT ANY TIME
AND LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE. Also, please do not double park on the street - you may receive a
wonderful souvenir from the police that you will have to pay for! This is a HUGE safety issue. Pick up
is at 3:05pm and we file out through Mrs. Zocco’s classroom, which is next to the main entrance. I have
included a sheet so that you can tell me who may be picking up your child. If this changes, please let me
know AND call the elementary office. I want you to know, up front, that I will not release any child to
anyone who is not on your list or who you have not contacted us about. Also, I will not let your child
leave until I physically see who is picking them up so PLEASE make contact with me in some way to let
me know you are there to pick them up. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Rest Time
Our rest time will occur after lunch. I will read the children a story when we are all back in the classroom.
We do not have blankets, pillows, etc. In the past, this has not worked out well at all, so we have
eliminated it. Occasionally, I will play some soothing music and let them rest their eyes for a few. I will
give extra down time where needed if I observe that they are getting burned out.
Uniforms
CCA’s policy is that all students wear a uniform shirt each day to school. This can be a polo shirt or
sweatshirt. Please label sweatshirts because in the winter kids get warm, especially in gym, and it would
help if we knew who they belonged to!!! It is also asked that the shirts be tucked in. However, throughout
the day, re-tucking shirts could be all I do! So, do not be surprised if your child comes home untucked!!!
 Please refer to the handbook for appropriate attire for pants/shorts/skirts. Also, please, no open-toed
shoes. Our playground is full of little stones and sticks that can get jammed into toenails or cut the toes,
not to mention lots of other little feet that tend to step on others by accident!
Gym Shoes
CCA requires that all students have a pair of (inexpensive ) shoes used for gym only. They must have a
white or light colored sole. Please put your child’s name on these as well. I have a basket we keep our
gym shoes in, so they are never forgotten! If your child does not know how to tie their shoes yet I would
encourage you to send them with shoes that they can easily put on themselves. I do not mind tying shoes
but children get a little anxious when all their friends are lined up and they are still waiting for me to get

3. to them to tie their shoes. In the winter, I allow the kids to use these for indoor shoes as well so they do
not have to bring other shoes if they don’t want to.
Extra Clothing
In the event that your child has an accident (like going down the wet slide after a nice rain!), we ask that
you please bring in a change of clothes to keep in their locker. This includes a change of socks,
underwear, shirt and pants appropriate for the current season. This way we do not have to call you away
from your busy schedule and your child won’t miss any great kindergarten fun! Please put these items in
a big Ziploc bag with your child’s name on it. If at any time I have to send soiled clothes home, please
send replacements back as soon as possible. Keep in mind that your child grows and might not fit into
what was sent at the beginning of the year at the end of the year.
Snack
We will have a snack every afternoon to help our minds and bodies survive! Each child is to bring their
own snack each day. I also would like to clarify snack…a food low in sugar and relatively “healthy.”
Some suggestions would be applesauce, yogurt, pretzels, fruits, veggies, cheese, any type of crackers, etc.
If you would like to send a box of something with your child, I will put their name on it and it will stay in
our snack cupboard. When it runs low, I will send home a snack alert note. I will have some snacks on
hand in case one is forgotten at home. Also, you may send a labeled water bottle with your child. I will
try to remember to send them home each week to be washed.
Birthdays
This is the time for those “unhealthy” snacks like cookies, cakes and brownies!!! We will celebrate
summer birthdays towards the end of the school year. Our birthday celebrations will happen at snack
time.
Show and Tell
I will set up a show and tell schedule as soon as I can. Each child will be assigned a certain day of the
week to share their item. They may choose a small item to share. Try and encourage them to bring
something that fits in their backpack but does not take up all of the space in it. However, I will allow
larger items to be brought in and shared if they are super special!  I will find a spot for it to hide until its
reveal.
V.I.P. of the Week Bag
We will have a V.I.P (Very Important Person) every week. If your child is our V.I.P. of the week, they
will bring home the V.I.P. bag the Friday before the week they are it. In the bag will be an All About Me
poster that you will need to help them fill out. It is ok to write the words for them.  Also, there will be
our V.I.P. binder in there. Please help your child complete the next blank page to add to it. Once everyone
has had a chance to be a V.I.P., the binder is going to go in our classroom library for everyone to read and
look at. Please return the bag and its completed contents back to school on Monday.
Lost a Tooth Bag
We are also going to have a Lost a Tooth Bag. When your child looses a tooth, we record it on our lost
tooth graph and send the bag home with them. In the bag will be a binder. Please help your child fill out
the next blank page to add to it and return everything to school the next day.
Book Orders
I will be sending home book orders every month. I remember these as a kid and loved them! Ok… I still
do! These books are discounted considerably, so if you are looking at expanding your child’s library, this
is an excellent way to do it. However, please do not feel obligated to buy anything. I know as well as
anyone that times are tough. I will put the date the order and money need to be in on the order form. Also,
you may make out just one check to Scholastic Book Clubs for all of the orders I send home. I will
try and stay on top of making sure the order forms are activated so you can also place an order online.

4. Lunch and Other Money
Again, please send all money in labeled, sealed envelopes or baggies. Any money can go in the “Here and
There Folder” since I check them in the morning as the kids come in. Putting these things in the folder
seems to work much better than the child handing me loose money or having to search for it in their
backpack.
Box Tops & Soup Labels
Please save Box Tops and Campbell’s soup labels for our school. There will be a due date and you can
send them in your child’s “Here and There Folder.” These things help us get money for our school to get
things like playground equipment, etc. In the past, we have also saved ink cartridges and old cell phones,
so you can send those in if you are just going to throw them away. Thank you! 
Coming Late, Leaving Early, and Sickness
If your child is late, or you know they are going to be late, please notify the elementary office and make
sure that your child’s lunch choice is taken care of. We have to have our lunch count and attendance in by
8:20am, so after that, it is a homemade PBJ if no other arrangements have been made. When coming late,
you need to stop in the office and sign your child in. Same thing when they are leaving early - you need to
stop in the office to sign them out. Please do not just walk to our room or the playground and take your
child. This is for safety reasons. Another big safety issue is to make sure you sign in when you are in the
building to visit. This way we know who is in the building and for what purpose. We love visitors, but ask
that you sign in at the office. If your child is sick, please keep them at home!!! You would be surprised at
how many kids come to school saying they threw up at home and continued that process here. You know
your child and whether or not they are truly sick. There have been known cases of “I need to go home, I
am SO sick” only to find out there is a new video game or plasma t.v. at home! However, it is no fun
when they come to school in the morning sick and have to spend their morning and/or afternoon in the
office sick and uncomfortable. When you have to keep your child out of school, please notify the office
so that the absence can be recorded and excused. I will put all missed work in their mailbox. If you know
your child will be gone for a few days, I can also get work together with a few days notice.
Supplies needed for our room:
___ 2 packs of washable, broad tip markers (8-color)
___ 2 2-pocket folder w/o clasps
___ 2 washable glue sticks
___ 1 spiral notebook, 70 pg., 1 subject, wide rule
___ 1 box of Kleenex, 200 count
___ Anti-bacterial wipes, 40 count
___ Any one of the following: plastic or paper cups, Ziploc bags (freezer or snack size), paper towel, or
napkins. I may ask for extra items throughout the year if we run out! 
___ Healthy snack every day (Remember, you can send a box of something.)
___ CCA uniform shirts/sweatshirts, labeled
___ Change of clothes (shirt, pants, socks and underwear) in a labeled Ziploc bag
___ 1 pair of inexpensive, white or light soled gym shoes (to be kept at school, velcro please if child
cannot tie on own)
*There is no need to label the school supplies… we share everything in table caddies. So, as new
is needed, we get more out!
*Due to lack of storage space, we are asking that the following items are not brought in - backpacks with
wheels (they do not fit in our lockers), pencil boxes, and blankets/pillows.