WELCOME TO FIFTH GRADE!

Dear Families,

We hope you all had a great summer! We are looking forward to working with your child this year and helping him/her to achieve his/her full potential.  We think you are in for a memorable year full of learning, creativity, and fun!  Through the remainder of this letter, we will share some of our beliefs and classroom policies.

Parent/Teacher Relationship: We believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school success.  Throughout the year, we will communicate with you through DoJo, email, telephone calls, newsletters, and parent-teacher conferences.  We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns at any time. You can message us on DoJo or email: katie_fluke@pender.k12.nc.us , allison_bender@pender.k12.nc.us, or april_kinlaw@pender.k12.nc.us  send a note or call us at school (270-0694).  We check messages several times a day. 

Class Dojo: Class Dojo will be an important part of your child’s daily life here at North Topsail. Please check this daily as this will be our main source of communication. 

Take Home Folder: Please check your child’s take home folder for the weekly newsletter, homework, school, and school communications. 

Health and Safety: Please speak to your child about the importance of health and safety.              

Please visit www.pendercountyschools.net for the most up-to-date COVID protocols.

If needed, please contact the school nurse (holland_martin@pender.k12.nc.us).

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Grading Policies

Classroom Assignments: Students will receive a weekly checklist to glue in their student agenda each week. All assignments are due on Friday. 

Grades: Grades will be posted for: classwork, projects, homework and tests in PowerSchool. Please check Power School regularly to keep up on your child’s progress. We will also send home progress reports every 4 ½ weeks and report cards every 9 weeks. If you do not have the parent Power School number please contact Mrs. Garhammer in the front office (crystal_garhammer@pender.k12.nc.us). 

• All assignments are due on Friday. 

• For each day that a child is absent, they will have an additional day to turn in their work. 

• For each day that an assignment is late, ten points will be deducted from the grade on the assignment. After 6 days, the student can no longer turn in the assignment. It will be marked as a 40% in PowerSchool and tagged as missing. 

• Once an assignment is submitted, they cannot redo the assignment. 

School Attendance: Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. We begin our core instruction immediately following announcements.  It is very difficult for children to catch up when they miss important lessons and experiences in the classroom. Please view school as a priority, and see to it that your child attends every day that they are assigned except in cases of illness or emergency. 

Transportation: Any changes in transportation must be given with plenty of notice for your child’s homeroom teacher. In case of an emergency, please call the school (910.270.0694).

Money: We ask that all money sent to school be placed in a Ziploc bag or sealed envelope with the following information:

• Your child’s first and last name, homeroom teacher, and amount of money.  

• The purpose for the money (lunch, book orders, parties, etc.). Please include lunch account # if the money is for the lunchroom. 

• This information helps keep track of the money if it is left on the bus or dropped in the hallway and reduces the likelihood of errors.

Discipline: Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child’s success, confidence, and well-being.  Every child should feel that the classroom environment is safe and secure; free from all threats of physical or emotional harm.  In addition, it is important that each child learn to develop self-discipline and good work habits, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to think independently.  For these reasons, the discipline plan we have chosen has several components. 

• First, the children will learn the purpose of classroom rules and develop the idea that our classroom is a community with the common purpose of learning, growing, and becoming friends.  Through class discussion and rule-making, we will compose a list of classroom rules that protect each student’s right to safety and respect, as well as, explaining the responsibilities that each child has in maintaining class order.  Our school follows the SWIM matrix which means being Safe, Well-Prepared, In Control, and Making Respectful Choices. All students at North Topsail Elementary School are expected to follow the rules in the classroom and throughout the school.

• The second facet of the discipline plan includes logical consequences that will occur when class rules are broken.  Examples of logical consequences include time-out away from class, loss of free time, cleaning or repairing damaged property, or written and/or verbal apologies for aggressive behavior, name-calling or ridicule towards other children.  The idea is for the consequence to be related to the misbehavior and act as a solution or restitution for the problem.  If classroom rules are severely or persistently broken, parents will be contacted by note (to be signed and returned) or by telephone.  A visit to the principal’s office is a rarely used last resort.

In closing, we would just like to say that we are looking forward to a great year working with your child!  We would also like to suggest that you save this letter for future reference.  Thank you in advance for your concern and support throughout the year!!

Sincerely, 

NTES Fifth Grade Team