August/September 2014

Welcome to First Grade at Bethany Christian School!  I am so glad that God has placed your child in my class for the upcoming school year!  For those of you who were able to make it out to our Open House, it was a pleasure to meet you.  If you were unable to attend, I look forward to meeting you sometime soon. 

My name is Jackie McClure, and I am a 2001 graduate of Pensacola Christian College, in Florida.  This will be my tenth year teaching first grade at BCS, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to teach your child.  I am blessed to already know many of these happy faces from my time volunteering in Kindergarten last year.   

There will be no school on Friday, August 29, and Monday, September 1.

Our initial time together in first grade will be spent getting to know each other, and helping your child become familiar with the new environment, as well as the routines and rules that he/she will be expected to follow throughout the year.   

I will be sending a form to those who volunteered as homeroom parents, as soon as I can get all of the necessary contact information together.  If you did not get to sign up at Open House, but are interested in serving as a Homeroom Parent or Helper, please let me know so that I can include your contact information on the list.  Thanks!

I would like each child to keep one silent reading book in his/her desk at all times.  This book may be brought from home, or it may be one of the school library books.  Please send a silent reading book to school for your child as soon as possible.  Thank you.

           

Each day, your child will be participating in a special class.  Our schedule for the year is as follows:

Monday – Computer

Tuesday – Music

Wednesday – Art

Thursday – Gym (Please dress your child appropriately, in comfortable clothing and sneakers.  No jeans, please.)

Friday - Library (Please be sure to return all borrowed books.)

I will let you know if the schedule changes at all during the course of the year.

Every Wednesday, your child will be attending a Chapel service in the church sanctuary.  It is our goal to not only teach your child more about God and His love and plan for them, but also to train him/her to behave in a reverent and respectful manner while in a church building.  Children are expected to bring their Bibles to Chapel, and to be attentive throughout the service.  Each year, there is a theme verse for all of the students at Bethany.  This year, our theme verse is Proverbs 16:24-"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."  All Bethany students will be expected to commit this verse to memory.  I will test the students on the theme verse on Friday, September 26.

In addition to weekly Chapel services, our class will have a daily Bible lesson in the classroom.  As a part of Bible class, children will be given Bible memory work throughout the year.  Our first Bible verse for the year is I John 3:1 – “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”  I would like to quiz the students on this verse on Friday, September 12. 

Our annual banquet will be held on Friday, September 19 at 6:30 pm at the Hartefeld Country Club in Avondale, PA.  Please be sure to send in your RSVP for the Banquet as soon as possible.  I hope to see you there!

If you do not have access to the internet, please let me know before the second week of school, if you have not done so.  In the future, parent letters will be posted on the internet, on the Bethany Christian School website (www.bethanychristian.org).  Please check our blog often for more class information (http://jmcclurebcs.blogspot.com).  Those families without internet access will receive a copy of each month’s parent letter in their child’s white folder on the first Tuesday of the month.

Once again, welcome to our first grade class!  If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, you may contact me by calling the school office, at (610) 998-0877, and I will return your call at my earliest possible convenience.  You may also send a note with your child, and I will contact you in the way that best suits your schedule.

If you prefer to email, my email address is jmcclurebcs@gmail.com.

 My home telephone number is (610) 467-0622. 

I am very much looking forward to getting to know your child this year, as they grow and learn in a Christ-centered environment.