Barkley Bridge gives K-1 class school tour
Forty-three members of Barkley Bridge Elementary School’s 2014-2015 kindergarten class participated in Kindergarten Camp Thursday, meeting and spending some quality time with teachers, touring the school building and campus and mimicking what a normal school day will be like when classes resume next month.
As the students arrived between 8 and 8:30 a.m., they were greeted by kindergarten teachers Maureen Matson, Cindy Depreast, Pam Smith and Phyllis Bradford. PTO volunteers registered each child and presented them with color-coded nametags – red, yellow, green and blue.
The students were then divided equally among the four teachers and assembled together for Principal Susan Hayes’ opening greeting and words of advice and encouragement over the school’s intercom system.
The next three hours were planned so that each one of the students had the opportunity to spend time with each teacher in a classroom setting and
tour the entire school building as well as the outdoor classroom and playgrounds.
Other activities included a large group snack time, restroom and water fountain breaks and a run time. Basic motor skill activities such as building block assembly, coloring and drawing were included.
“The kindergarten camps we’ve had in the past have proved to be successful,” said Hayes. “They seem to ease the anxieties that some children have when they come to school for the first time. Having their own day in school when no other students are around, helps them become comfortable with their surroundings and jump-start the bonding process between the student and his or her teacher.”
Hayes said Barkley Bridge would have a kindergarten orientation August 3 involving students, parents and teachers.
The school will also have its first Pre-K class next school year.