Homework Expectations: Starting in 1st Grade students will receive weekly homework. Students will be given math homework every Monday and will be due the following Monday. This homework is required and students trimester grades will reflect homework completion. Math homework is always a skill that was previously taught and is a review to practice. Students will have one week to complete this required homework but are welcome to turn it in early if they complete it before the due date. 

We encourage students and families to spend 15 minutes each night reading  to provide students with a foundation and love for reading by seeing and hearing someone reading to them each night. We believe it is important while children are learning to read to find enjoyment in books and reading to instill the foundation. 

Additionally, there is also weekly optional homework that is part of our Skills curriculum. Starting in Unit 3 students will be given a weekly spelling test every Friday. Spelling lists come home with students every Monday along with a practice packet to give students opportunities to practice their spelling words throughout the week. Spelling words are always on a previously learned skill/pattern so spelling words should be review to enforce the practice of reading and writing previous skills. 

Our curriculum also includes Take-Home homework pages. These pages come from student workbooks and are either stories students have already read in the decodable readers at school or are a way to practice grammar/literacy concepts students have been learning. These will also not be a brand new skill but a review to enforce concepts that are being taught.

Although spelling and workbook pages are not required it is highly recommended and encouraged for your student to be spending time each week to practice these skills. The only way for students to grow and improve is continuous practice. Even if it's just 5-10 minutes practice will always help student growth and improvement. 

Take Home Folders: Students are given blue take home folders these are a means of communication from school to home. Important information is sent home in these folders so it is important that families are checking these everynight to be up to date on school information. Please make sure folders are being emptied out and the appropriate items are put back in the return to school side of the folders and are placed back in students backpack for the next school day. Students need to return take home folders to school everyday.

Student Behavior Guidelines: We expect students to be using their C.A.R.E.S. (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy and Self-Control) daily while at school. When a student is showing behaviors that don't follow CARES, classroom rules or/and our respect agreement students will be given a total of 2 reminders to fix their behavior if it happens a 3rd time staff will give them a warning and this will be tracked. Calendars on student folders will give you an idea of how many warnings and how your child did at school for that day. Please check calendars everynight to be aware of your students' behavior at school and to have conversations at home around school behavior. 

Snacks and Water Bottles: We believe it is important for students to be able to have access to water when they needed. By bringing a water bottle to school each day limits the amount of time for students to not be in the classroom due to going to the water fountain. Our classroom is also located not very close to a water fountain so please send students with a reusable water bottle preferably with a flip or push top to prevent leaking or spilling.

We also will have a snack every afternoon. Please send your child with a healthy snack that is bagged separately from their lunch. Please refer to the school website for guidance on approved healthy snacks. Please do not send drinks of any kind. If a student brings drinks other than water they will be asked to bring it home unopened.

Birthdays: We love celebrating birthdays in our classroom! Birthdays are an exciting and important milestone in young children's' lives. If you would like to send a treat to share with the class to celebrate please contact and arrange this with me beforehand. If you are choosing to send treats for the class make sure there are enough for each student in the class and that these are store bought items only (no baked goods please). I will make sure all students are celebrated and feel special on their birthday however we are not hosting a birthday party. Our schoolwide birthday party invitations handing out rules are that if these are going to be handed out at school all students in our classroom must be invited otherwise they need to be handed out outside of school. I will not be handing out invitations to selected students per school policy. Additionally to celebrate students' birthdays who fall during summer break families have two options: Celebrate students' half birthday or contact me to work out a day during the last month of school to celebrate. 

Absences: If you know ahead of time that your child will be out of school please contact me ahead of time to give me time to prepare for school work your child will miss. For unexpected absences it is helpful to utilize the Knowledge Read Alouds page on my website to catch your child up on the stories they have missed while out of school.