Mrs. Haught's
2nd Grade Handbook
2025-2026
Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to 2nd grade at Norton Elementary School (NES)! I love being part of the NES Staff and especially excited to be your teacher this year!
Teaching is my passion. I believe that education is the key to success for young children. I have confidence and enthusiasm that all students can learn. I strive to use creative ways to actively engage all learners, including cooperative and active learning, as well as utilizing educational software. As a teacher, I hope to motivate my students to strive to reach their full potential. I will monitor student achievement and work with you to provide the best education for your student.
This handbook is designed to explain some of the important things for you to know about our classroom. Please be sure to read it over and contact me with any questions.
I am really looking forward to working with you this year!
Classroom Instruction:
Instruction will be based on the Ohio Department of Education’s Second Grade standards. Students will learn the tools to become good writers, readers, mathematicians, and researchers. Each student will be encouraged to be actively involved in the learning process and classroom activities.
Homework Policy
Students are expected to complete their homework every night. It will need to be monitored by parents so that it is done correctly and turned in on time. Homework in my classroom will typically be the same each night and should take between 15-30 minutes. If your student is taking more than 30 minutes on their homework please contact me.
Homework will not be assigned a letter grade, but students will be given credit for completed homework. When your child is absent, let me know if I can send missed work with a sibling or neighbor. Please send in a note or notify the office by noon.
Communication:
The best way to reach me is through the take home binder, notes, Dojo, and/or email. I try to check my email throughout the day. My email is bhaught@nortonschools.org. You can also leave a message for me at school 330-825-3828 ext. 2455 and I will return your call at the end of the day. Notes to the office should be written on a separate sheet of paper.
Discipline:
As a building, we are continuing to use the PAX program again this year.
Take Home Binder
This is one way of teaching the students organizational strategies. I feel that the students will benefit from having everything in one place. This binder will be a key component to parent-teacher communication. Please check the binder daily. The binder will be sent home nightly and needs to be returned each day.
1. Planner ~ This is where your student will log his/her nightly homework and other important information. It is the student’s responsibility to have their planners signed every night by a parent.
2. 1st folder ~ This is where you will find graded papers and any other information from school that does not need returned. Please review graded papers with your child.
3. 2nd folder ~ This is where you will find all homework to be completed and returned to school. This is also where you will find papers that need to be signed and returned to school. Please place any notes in this folder.
Students may bring in treats for the class to enjoy. Summer birthdays can be celebrated whenever convenient for you or a great idea is the student's ½ birthday. It is school policy that all treats are store bought and labeled with the ingredients. This is so we can check treats for those students with allergies.
How parents can help at home….
Reading
It is important that all children can read well and feel confident when they read. One of the most important things that a parent can do to help their child become a better reader is listening to him or her read aloud. It is beneficial for children to read from a quality children’s book for 10-15 minutes each evening. Ask questions about the characters, plot, or have your children retell the important events (without looking back in the book) to reinforce comprehension skills. Give guidance in figuring out difficult words by reminding students the letter sounds and phonics skills we have worked on in class.
Two years ago, the district adopted a new ELA curriculum called Open Court. I am eager to dive back into this program and see continued growth!
Math
We are in our 4th year with our math curriculum called Big Ideas. We saw amazing growth in our students in the first three years. Concepts taught in First Grade were the building blocks leading into what we will learn this year.
Spelling
Our spelling program consists of words and dictation sentences centered around a phonetic sound(s) each week. Research shows following a systematic approach helps children learn spelling patterns more easily. Students are encouraged to learn the phonetic pattern in order to spell a variety of words.
Writing
Have your child write down ideas in notes, letters, phone messages, list, etc….this will help them become better writers. We will keep a writing journal at school. In addition to the journal, your child will be doing writing pieces with various prompts throughout the year.
Science/Social Studies
A lot of our Science and Social Studies standards are incorporated into the weekly Open Court stories we read. We will also use Scholastic News this year. Please take the time to look through and reread this newspaper with your child when it comes home. The nonfiction stories and study aids (maps, charts, graphs, etc.) are very important in Achievement Testing.
Thank you for reading this! Please email or send me a message/note that you have read the handbook! Let me know if you have any questions!