Team
A August, 2013
Dear Parents, Guardians and
Team A Members,
We hope you are having a
restful summer, and look forward to our quickly approaching school year! We are excited about building an
amazing new team together and in the spirit of building our community, a few
scheduled events to mark on your calendar. Also, you will find information
useful for the year’s start, including another copy of the supply list… just in
case.
On August 29th,
2013, from 6:00 – 7:30, please join us for an ice cream social at Bombardier
Park, in the music pavilion behind the town offices. We would love to get to know you and your family, and look
forward to this opportunity!
Our first field trip has
been planned for Northern Lights on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. Students will be participating in team
building activities as well as ropes challenges. The cost of the field trip will be approximately $25.00.
Students will be leaving at 8:15 am and returning at 2:00 pm. A bagged lunch is
needed for this trip. A permission
slip will be sent home in the first week of school and will need to be returned
by September 4th.
Future
Communication
We believe that home-school
partnership is vital in supporting your child's success. Your student’s
advisory teacher will serve as the primary contact for team-wide issues.
Celebrations and concerns expressed by the Advisory teacher are shared by all
teachers on the team. In situations specific to one class, that classroom
teacher will contact you directly. Of course, we encourage you to keep in
contact with us. Our contact information is included at the end of this
letter. The final page of this document requests your contact information to be
used as a quick reference in the classroom. This information should be returned to the advisory teacher.
Team
A also uses a blog that families can access from home. Announcements, larger assignments and
projects, and important team information can be found on the team blog at http://miltonhousea.blogspot.com/
Advisory
Every
morning students will start the day with a 25 minute Advisory period. This is a
school-wide practice for grades 6-8. Advisory programs can play a critical role
to meeting a student’s academic and personal needs. Advisories create a more
personalized learning environment where all students are well known by at least
one adult. Moreover, advisory provides a structure and a set of practices for
monitoring and supporting students’ academic progress. Advisory agendas
emphasize relationships with others as well as oneself, community (at many
levels), goal-setting, and other agenda items driven by student needs and
realities as opposed to subject matter or content. We encourage our students to
be active participants during this time together.
Enrichment
Enrichment, the last block of
the day, will not look as it did in the past. This year, students will remain with their own team and will
receive instruction to target specific areas of needed improvement or challenge. Students may be self-directed,
completing work required by teachers, whereas other times students may be
sharpening specific skills as a class or in small groups. We will start the year focusing on
introducing and reviewing specific skills needed for success in classes
throughout the year.
Schedule and Reading
Requirements
Below you will find our daily
schedule. Please notice that there
is a 20 minute silent reading block immediately after lunch. This requires students to come
prepared with a reading book on a daily basis. Students will also be expected to fill out weekly book logs
that will vary in length and type as the school year progresses.
Daily Schedule
7:30 - 7:55 Advisory
8:00 - 8:50 UA
8:50 - 9:50 Core
1
9:50 - 10:50 Core
2
10:50 - 11:20 Lunch
11:20 - 11:40 SSR
11:40 - 12:40 Core
3
12:40 - 1:40 Core
4
1:40 - 2:30
Enrichment
Supplies
Attached
you will find a supply list for the 2013-2014 school year. In addition, students will be expected
to record assignments in planners, which will be provided to students at the
beginning of the school year.
Cell
Phones/Ipods/Kindles and all other electronics
Please be aware that there is
extremely limited electronics use in our classrooms. We believe electronics do have their place, but at present,
use will be at teacher discretion.
There will be times where this will be an important tool, and times
where the device should not be out of a pocket. Inappropriate use or refusal to
put the phone/Ipod away as directed, will result in a call home and the loss of
the privilege for all. In
addition, we strongly feel that for the comfort and safety of all, there will
be no videotaping or photography without the permission of the teacher and the
person(s) being photographed/videotaped.
We anticipate that this year will be a successful one for your
student. As always, please do not
hesitate to contact us with your contributions or concerns.
Here’s
to a great school year ahead!
Sincerely,
Team
A Teachers
No comments:
Post a Comment