Overview:

We are a three teacher team that participate in a looping model at the intermediate level.  This means that we are a team of teachers and students throughout both fifth and sixth grade.  From our experience with this model, we have found that this not only offers a unique and valuable opportunity to help our students grow as learners, but also as a classroom community.  We believe the relationships that are built over a two year period are directly related to the growth and achievement of our students.

Team Information Packet:

 Digital copies are included below.  Paper copies were sent home with your child on the first day of school.

Student Agenda:

All students will be given a student agenda book on the first day of school, which they will carry with them throughout the school day and take home each night.  This agenda is a very helpful tool for the students, their families, as well as the teachers and other faculty members at school.  At the intermediate level there is an increased focus on developing student responsibility and accountability, and proper use of the agenda helps to reinforce these skills.  Guidelines and expectations for the student agenda were laid out in the team handbook at the beginning of the school year and copies of that are included here on our site.

Behavior/Discipline:

As with academic learning, our team has high expectations for behavior.  Striving to meet classroom and school-wide expectations and demonstrating individual responsibility are necessary in order to create a positive learning environment for every student.  One of the many benefits of looping with students throughout two years is that students are able to form strong relationships within our team, which we have seen greatly reduces incidents of negative behaviors at both an individual and team level.  All Holt Crossing students follow the school-wide discipline and behavior incentive plans, which are described in detail in your child’s agenda book.  Through our high expectations for behavior, we hope to emphasize the importance of students behaving responsibly and appropriately as well as minimize the amount of discipline measures which need to be taken.  

Google Accounts:

All students have access to their district Google account.  This includes Gmail, Google Classrooms, and a Drive for file storage along with many other useful apps and extensions.  This account will follow them throughout their time in South-Western, and enables them to easily share work between home, school, and multiple devices.  Each student has their login information on a label in the front cover of their agenda book and should be familiar with and have used their accounts if they attended SWCSD last school year.  

• Remember that if you are wanting to access Google Classroom, or any other of your Google Suite apps (Gmail, docs, drive, etc.) from a device other than your district assigned Chromebook, you only have to sign in to Google as you do here at school and then all of your data will be available under your login.

  • Go to Google.com and lick the blue sign in button.

  • Log in using your same username and password, including the @swcsd.us at the end of the username since you are outside of district wifi.

    • regularusername@swcsd.us

    • regular password

SchoolStatus Connect:

Communication with families is so important, and we are always looking for ways to stay connected.  Per directives from SWCSD, ClassDojo will no longer be used/supported within the district for communication with families.  SWCSD has transitioned to one family and school/teacher(s) communication and engagement platform, which will be used district-wide.  This new platform is called SchoolStatus Connect.

We recommend that you download the app for this platform asap, which is available on both the App Store and Google Play.  Once you have the app, you will be prompted to connect to the district, and then should be easily connected to your child (or children) within the district.  What is very nice is that your account has already been created by the school (it is linked though the information provided to the district through Infinite Campus, so please continue to make sure that your information is accurate and up to date).  You should begin receiving communications via email and text message automatically.  Follow the instructions to access your account and update your preferences.

The gist of this system will seem very similar to ClassDojo in most ways.  A few highlights and key features include:  You Are in Control - Messages come to you the way you want them. Set your preferred language and channel (text, email, or app notification) to tailor your experience.  Central Feed - See all district, school, and classroom updates relevant to your student in a single view, from a single source.

We have included a parent information sheet to help get you started.  We will begin posting and sharing on SchoolStatus Connect prior to school starting, so please reach out with any questions or concerns.  Our goal throughout this year is to reach 100% engagement/participation and to maintain regular activity/logins from families throughout the year.

Information will be sent home the first day of school with students to get signed up for SchoolStatus Connect.  You can also get your account set up easily by following the directions posted above.  

Additional Resources/Information for Parents:

***  For additional information about school-wide policies, cafeteria menu, busing, dresscode, etc., please refer to the student handbook inside the student agenda and/or the Holt Crossing website.