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. This is my eleventh year
teaching here at CCA. My hometown is St. Louis, a little town that is the geographic center of Michigan.
A year ago, I was blessed with my boyfriend and his daughter coming into my life. This past summer, we
bought our first house together! We enjoy working in our yard and being outside. A few other things I
enjoy doing are reading, cooking, and spending time at Higgins Lake. 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. In 2014, I earned my Master’s Degree in Curriculum &
Instruction from Ferris State University.

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 too. 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 (reading, writing, and phonics), mathematics, science, and social studies. The three
specials that they will have the benefit of participating in are physical education, music, and art.

I encourage all parents and other family members 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 classroom helper sheet and
volunteer consent form and return them to me if interested, as there will be various volunteer
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. You can also find
helpful information on our classroom blog by visiting www.ksinicropi.blogspot.com. Please feel free to e-
mail me (sinicropie@ccabr.org) or contact me through Remind or by phone at school (231) 796-9041 Ext.
318) 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!

Ms. Sinicropi
 * Important Information *
Take Home Folder
I have labeled a colored, plastic folder for your child with their name to be their Take Home Folder. This
will go home and come back to school EVERY day, even if we have a field trip, half day, or it’s the last
day of school. I will have a basket on the long table for them to be placed in as your child comes in and
goes through their morning routine. This is what I will send papers, book orders, notes, etc. home in.
Please check this folder daily for important information and to remove the papers in it. Send back
correspondence in it also as necessary and make sure your child brings it to school every day. This is also
the folder for you to send me money, etc. in. I know students will be bringing me change for
S.T.R.I.P.E.S. treats or money for a field trip and 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!

Buzzer
The front doors to the building will be locked for security purposes around 8:15am. If you run
into an instance where you have to drop your child off after that time, please make sure you walk
them into the building and to the office. The door to the far left likes to stick so pull hard!

Drop Off and Pick Up

Students cannot come into the classrooms no earlier than 7:45am. 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 shortly before that time. 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
close to 7:45am but no later than 8:00am so they do not miss our very busy morning, get enough time to
eat breakfast, and are not marked tardy. Breakfast time will be over at 8:15am. Also, our morning
announcements might begin shortly after 8am so they shouldn’t miss those either!

Pick up is at 3:00pm and we will come out through the front doors and wait to the left of the main
entrance. The cone system will still be in place except there will not be specific cones you and your child
are sent to. You will just pull up to the first available cone and let one of the sixth grade helpers know
what child you need and who their teacher is.

If you have someone other than you pick up your child from school, please let me know AND call the
elementary office. We will not release any children to anyone who is not on your list or who you have not
contacted us about. Also make sure you let the office and myself know when there are changes to your
contact information.

Please DO NOT park in the circle drive at any time and leave your vehicle unattended. Also, please
DO NOT double-park on the street.

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
8:00am, so after that, it is 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. 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 get work together
with a few days notice.

Dress Code Important Points

CCA’s policy is that all students wear a uniform shirt each day to school, unless it is an allowed out-of-
uniform day, in which a note from the office will come home to notify you of. Uniform shirts can be a
polo shirt or sweatshirt. Please, no open-toed shoes. Our playground is full of little objects that can get
jammed into toenails or cut the toes. Please refer to the handbook for more information and appropriate
attire for pants/shorts/skirts, etc.

Gym Shoes
CCA requires that all students have a pair of white or light-soled shoes used for gym only. Please put your
child’s name on these. I have a bucket we keep our gym shoes in right in the classroom. If your child does
not know how to tie their shoes yet, I would encourage you to get them shoes that they can easily put on
themselves, for example, velcro. In the winter, I allow the kids to use these for indoor shoes so they do
not have to wear their wet boots in the classroom.

Snack
We will have a snack every morning to help us survive until lunch. Each child is to bring their own
snack each day. We encourage healthy eating at CCA, so send snacks that are low in sugar. Some
suggestions would be applesauce, pretzels, banana, any type of crackers, etc. PLEASE, no Little Debbie
snacks or things of that nature. If you would like to send a box of something for your child, they can keep
it in their cubby. 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. Snack donations are welcome! (Ex. bag of pretzels or animal crackers) I
have had to provide snack to half the class in past years and was buying it out of my own pocket every
week, so please, send your child with snack or send in donations from time to time for your child and
others that do not bring one each day.

Water Bottles
You may send a water bottle with your child each day. Please make sure their name is on it and it only
contains water. In the past, other contents have spilled and made a sticky mess. I will send them home
every day to be washed.

Birthdays
This is the time for those “unhealthy” snacks like cookies, cupcakes, and brownies!!! We will celebrate
summer birthdays as half-birthdays. I will send a note home when that time gets closer. Our birthday
celebrations will happen in the afternoon.

Show and Tell

Each child will be assigned a certain day of the week to share their item. They may choose ONE 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

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 an “All About Me” poster the Friday before. You will need to help them fill it out. Please
make sure to return the completed poster back to school on Monday so it can be up all that next week.
Keep in mind that if I don’t get back Monday, it pushes the next child’s week back to be V.I.P.
Box Tops
Please save Box Tops for our school. There will be a due date and you can send them in your child’s Take
Home folder. These things help us get money for our school to get things like playground equipment, etc.
Thank you! 
Supplies needed for our room:
___ 1 box washable, broad tip markers (10-color)
___ 1 box of crayons (24 count)
___ 1 2-pocket plastic folders without clasps
___ 4 washable glue sticks (big .77oz.)
___ 1 pack of #2 yellow pencils
___ 4 skinny, black dry-erase markers
___ 2 boxes of Kleenex
___ 1 container of Clorox wipes, 75 ct. (no Wet Ones please!)
___ 1 roll of paper towel
___ 1 pkg. of either snack or sandwich Ziploc bags
___ 1 pkg. of gallon Ziploc bags
___ 1 pkg. of small or large paper plates (plain white)

___ 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)

*Please DO NOT label the school supplies, especially the folders… we share everything in table caddies.
As new is needed, we get more out!

* Please, no backpacks on wheels or tiny backpacks. They need to be able to fit a standard folder.