New Vision Charter School’s
5th Grade
Handbook
New Vision Charter School’s
5th Grade
Handbook
Attendance
Attendance is critical to your child’s academic growth. It is vital that they are on time and present as much as possible. There is so much that we have to cover in so little time and we get very selfish with your sweet child’s time ;).
If your child has an excused absence, they will have 2 days for every 1 missed day of work to make up the missing assignments.
If you plan to take a big vacation in the middle of the school year, you will need to clear that with the front office and the administration team. Please be sure to turn in all assignments upon return.
Birthdays
Each and every one of our students love being honored on their special day! Unfortunately, due to school policy, we cannot allow any cupcakes, brownies, or any other sweet treat to be brought to celebrate a student’s birthday. Some families choose to send in a small prize like bookmarks, pencils, etc. for each child instead, or even a book for the classroom library. (Each class has 28 students.)
Scholastic Book Orders
You can expect to see Scholastic Book Order forms occasionally in the Thursday folder. You can order online from our book clubs by entering the class code listed below! When you order online, it automatically provides points to your teacher to purchase more books for the classroom library.
Go to: https://clubs.scholastic.com/
Olander’s Code: YZHMY
Carman’s Code: P6FKR
Garcia’s Code: YZFC6
Neville’s Code: HDK2T
Class Parties
We typically have three class parties in 5th grade: Halloween, Winter Break, and Valentine’s Day. We will be in touch with you as the time approaches for donations and volunteer help.
Classroom Expectations
Here at New Vision, our philosophy is to grow student's minds along with their character. We encourage positive behavior by rewarding students for showing character traits in their daily interactions with other students and adults.
How can my student earn points?
Teachers are on the lookout for students going above and beyond in the following areas:
Trustworthiness
Responsibility
Respect
Caring
Fairness
Citizenship
Effort
We look to see which students are striving to be the best they can be and to help others do the same. When those traits are seen, students can earn points on the house points system. With those points they can go shopping in each teacher’s classroom store to buy something cool as a reward for their stellar behavior, or they can purchase a book at the book vending machine!
What are the consequences?
Although we are a positive-based behavior system, everyone needs a redirection now and then. In 5th Grade we use Fix-it-Tickets. It allows time for students to stop and reflect on their behavior and gives them a chance to redirect themselves. We do ask that students take these forms home to be signed by parents. If you see one come home, please sign and return. These are kept for teacher records. If the student continues the behavior, he/she may be held in for a silent recess during our afternoon recess.
Bigger infractions are treated situationally. Depending on the severity of infraction, the information will be logged into your child's Infinite Campus account, your teacher will be in contact with you, and administration may have to get involved if the incident is severe enough.
Communications
We will be communicating frequently throughout the year, but be on the lookout for our weekly newsletter on ParentSquare. This will include which specials your student will have, spelling words for the week ahead, what we’ll be studying in class that week, as well as important upcoming events.
Communication is very important to us. Please reach out to your teacher with any questions, concerns, or needs throughout the year. The best way to reach your teacher is through ParentSquare. We will do our very best to reply within 24 business hours. Be advised that our office hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4 pm.
In the event that ParentSquare is not working, here are our email addresses:
Olander’s Email: lolander@newvisioncharterschool.org
Carman’s Email: scarman@newvisioncharterschool.org
Garcia’s Email: mgarcia@newvisioncharterschool.org
Neville’s Email: kneville@newvisioncharterschool.org
Corrections & Redo Work
We believe that students need to be given every opportunity to learn from their mistakes. We expect for our students to do their absolute best on everything that is assigned. However, we all have a bad day every now and then!
Students who score 64% or lower on an assessment will have the opportunity to bring the score up to 65%. Your student can take the test home, make corrections, and bring it back to school to be regraded. For example, if your child corrects all problems that they got incorrect, they will still only receive up to 65% in the grade book. Corrections need to be returned by the due date indicated on the test.
This opportunity is only extended to tests. This opportunity is not available for quizzes, projects, or homework. Essays may be rewritten at home per teacher approval. Please see the test correction policy above for essay regrading guidelines.
Field Trip Policies
We will be taking some field trips this year. Prior to all field trips you will receive a permission slip in ParentSquare.
If you are interested in chaperoning you must be cleared through our school’s RAPTOR system prior to the morning of the trip. This must be done at the front office.
5th graders will be going to the YMCA of the Rockies in May!! It is a very exciting trip that the kiddos adore. Information about this trip will come to you via ParentSquare throughout the year. So, stay tuned for more information.
Grading Scale
Homework Policy
Students are expected to read at home every night. Encourage students to read for fun, without watching the clock. Studies have shown that just 20 minutes of reading a day can have a huge impact on students’ vocabularies and stamina. However, we do not want you to limit your children by putting them in the “20 minute” box.
Fifth graders will also receive nightly math homework Monday through Thursday nights.
There will be weekly spelling tests on the last day of the week as well.
There will be three book reports, one per quarter. They will need to work on these at home once they are assigned.
Missing/Late Work
We will mark missing assignments in the gradebook, which you will see online in the Parent Portal. The ‘M’ simply means that we do not have that assignment. An ‘M’ does calculate in the gradebook as a zero, so it will make the average grade lower than expected. As soon as your child turns it in, their grade will be updated.
We accept late math homework up to five days after the due date, with one point deducted for each day late. However, big projects have a firm deadline and must be turned in on the due date. Of course, if your student is absent, they will get extra time to complete assignments without penalty. For instance, if they are absent two days, they will have four days to complete their work. It is your child’s responsibility to gather and complete any work missed while absent.
Planners
Students are expected to fill in their planner each day after specials. The planner will state what we did in class and what the homework is for each day or week. We will also have students note important and upcoming dates or events!
Rules
We use the Whole Brain Teaching rules in our classrooms. There are 5 simple rules we ask our students to follow:
Rule 1: Follow directions quickly.
Rule 2: Raise your hand for permission to speak.
Rule 3: Make smart choices.
Rule 4: Respect others, respect yourself, respect your school.
Rule 5: Keep your dear teacher happy!
(When students follow the other rules, they follow rule 5!) ;)
Schedule
Time
Activity/Subject
7:50-8:05
Beginning-of-Day Routine
8:05-8:45
Specials #1
8:45-9:25
Specials #2
9:25-9:40
Planners/Snack
9:40-10:30
Reading
10:30-11:15
Writing
11:15-12:25
WIN Time (M-Th)
Character Ed/SEL & Independent Reading (F)
12:25-1:05
Lunch & Recess
1:05-2:15
Math
2:15-2:30
Afternoon Recess
2:30-3:05
Science or Social Studies
3:05-3:13
End-of-Day Routine
3:15-4:00
Driveline Pick-up
Snacks
Students will be able to eat a snack during class each day at 9:25 am. Snacks need to be something “healthy”. No cookies or candy will be allowed. They will be able to enjoy a quick bite and clean up their trash while still participating in any class activity that we are doing.
Students will have an opportunity to eat a second snack if they would like to in the afternoon. Both snacks are optional and not required.
Technology
We believe that technology in the classroom is an important aspect to your child’s education. We use Chromebooks in our classroom. Each student is assigned a computer to use throughout the year.
The students are responsible for their computer and are responsible for the health of their computer. Families will be financially responsible for any damage done to the device.
Thursday Folders
You have a job every single Thursday night! We want your partnership! All graded papers and campus/grade-level/community/class information will be sent home in what we call a Thursday Folder! This is very important for you to be aware of and for you to look through every single week. Please be sure that your student returns their empty Thursday Folders the next day to our classrooms.
Here at New Vision, our philosophy is to grow student's minds along with their character. We encourage positive behavior by rewarding students for showing character traits in their daily interactions with other students and adults.
How can my student earn points?
Teachers are on the lookout for students going above and beyond in the following areas:
Trustworthiness
Responsibility
Respect
Caring
Fairness
Citizenship
Effort
We look to see which students are striving to be the best they can be and to help others do the same. When those traits are seen, students can earn points. With those points they can go shopping in the school store to buy something cool as a reward for their stellar behavior!
What are the consequences?
Although we are a positive based behavior system, everyone needs a redirection now and then. In 5th Grade we use Fix-it-Tickets. It allows time for students to stop and reflect on his/her behavior and gives him/her a chance to redirect his/herself. We do ask that students take these forms home to be signed by parents. If you see one come home, please sign and return. These are kept for teacher records.
Bigger infractions are treated situationally. Depending on the severity of infraction, the information will be logged into your child's infinite campus account, your teacher will be in contact with you, and administration may have to get involved if the incident is severe enough.