Dear Parents,
I would like to welcome you all to room 14 and the 2nd and 3rd grades here at Dilworth Elementary. I look forward to working with your children this year. I hope to provide them with the social and academic skills that they will need in order to be responsible and productive citizens. I have put together a packet for you of several items. Attached you’ll find our daily schedule, a parent volunteer sheet, and a sheet that I ask you to fill out this evening for my information this school year.
Classroom Management
Working together, the class has come up with a set of agreements to ensure that our days run smoothly. Students have all agreed to the following:
- Always be kind
- Always be respectful
- Always be safe
- Always raise a quiet hand
- Always follow directions
- Always cooperate with others
Students are aware of the consequences if they decide not to follow any of the agreements. Warnings are given as a chance to correct their behavior. Students who persist will miss part of recess so that the two of us may sit down and discuss the problem and possible solutions. If the problem still does not improve, then he/she will sit down with me again during recess and fill out an Action Plan, which will need to be signed and returned the following day.
Homework
It is important that there be a block of time set aside each night for your child to complete homework, 15-20 minutes for 2nd grade and 20-30 minutes for 3rd grade. Homework is meant to be a review and done independently. Parents are expected to help as needed and sign the homework log each night after reviewing completed homework. I expect all homework to be returned the following day unless otherwise noted. Please ask your child about their homework log and help him/her to develop organizational skills this year.
Students who do not bring their completed homework to school will still be responsible for completing the assignment, either during the day or that evening. If a student is consistently not turning in assignments, I will be making a phone call home so that we can discuss the issue.
Homework will generally be assigned Monday through Thursday and not given on weekends or holidays. Students may sometimes need to work on long- term projects on weekends (the use of time management on the students part will determine this). Be sure to watch your child’s homework log, and newsletters for due dates of special reports and/or projects as well as for test dates.
Please look at the school calendar before planning your trips or vacations. Missing valuable school time can be difficult to make up for many students and puts them behind when they get back. A homework packet cannot replace lost time and instruction.
Every Friday, the Friday Folder will be sent home with completed work samples as well as notes and information from the school. Please look through these with your child, sign, and send the folder back to school every Monday.
Spelling
Spelling practice will be completed inside the classroom this year. Each child will be working on an individual list and set of activities throughout the week. I will be pre-testing students at the beginning of the week on a large set of words. The first 10-15 words that they spell incorrectly will become their spelling words for the week. After completing their spelling activities they will once again be tested on their words at the end of the week (usually Friday).
Communication
Communication is the key to making this year a productive one for your child. Since my job is to educate your child, we will be in close contact throughout the year. Conferences are scheduled in October to set individual goals for achievement. This year they will take place October 6-14. We will be talking about where your child currently is and where we want them to be by the end of the school year. Progress reports will be sent home only for those who are not meeting grade level standards. Report cards come home 3 times a year on December 2, March 23, and the last day of school in June. If you have social or academic concerns about the school day please send a note with your child, call me at school at 253-2850 ext. 214, or email at barkve_jessica@cusdk8.org. Also please be sure to check out our classroom website when you have the chance. The address for our site is http://dilworthroom14.blogspot.com/ I try to update it as often as possible with my classroom newsletters, important dates, spirit days, etc. Please let me know any way that I can assist your family with your child’s learning this year.
Book Clubs
I will be sending home book orders approximately once a month with your child. You are under no obligation o buy anything. I will send home forms from Scholastic Lucky and any other special editions that look good. These clubs offer a variety of books and many different reading levels. They are a great way to add to your child’s library and the prices are usually very good! The more books ordered by you, the more bonus points that the class gets, and the more books that I can get to add to our classroom library.
Birthdays
Birthdays are a very special time in a child’s life. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday with the entire class, please let me know a week in advance. In order to promote healthy choices for children and because of food allergies that many students have, I ask that you not send in cookies, cupcakes, or other sweet treats. A box of juice and/or a goody bag (pencils, stickers, etc) work well. You could also donate a book to the classroom or the Dilworth Library instead. Students with birthdays in the summer are also invited to celebrate during the school year. If your child is going to have a birthday party, please make sure that unless EVERYONE in the class is invited, invitations are not to be passed out at school. You will need to arrange for invitations to be given outside of school. This will prevent hurt feelings because someone was left out.
Field Trips
We have planned a number of wonderful and exciting field trips for the year that will tie into both the 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum. You will get permission slips before all field trips. If you are interested in chaperoning any of our trips just volunteer on the permission slip. Remember that even chaperones on field trips must have a current PPD (TB) test on file with the office. I will try to inform you of all the dates as early as possible so that you can make arrangements ahead of time. We make a field trip T-shirt four each of our students to wear on the field trips. This way it is easy for us to spot our students. We are asking for a $10 donation to cover the cost of the shirts. Checks should be made out to Jessica Barkve. If you wish to use last years shirt that is fine, just please send in your child’s shirt so that I have it for all our field trips. I will have the shirts by our first trip.
I look forward to a wonderful year of working together with you and your child.
Thank you,
Jessica Barkve
