Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am very excited to have your child as one of my fabulous 4th grade students this school year! I am so happy to join the Kimberly family and am looking forward to the opportunity to work with you, the students and the other teachers on campus. This year will be packed full of learning experiences and fun adventures that no one will want to miss out on.

I believe that teacher-parent communication and involvement is extremely important and I encourage you to contact me with any and all questions or concerns. I will be available by e-mail or school phone, but will use Remind as my main communication tool. Please join the Remind app by downloading it from your App Store, and using the class code @Heal4. You can also look for this information on this teacher web page. https://sites.google.com/view/mr-heal4

In order to promote academic success and a good classroom-learning environment, this year all students will be expected to abide by our main classroom rule: “doing our best while respecting others.” In addition, I use an growth mindset philosophy to encourage students to learn from their mistakes, to have fun while learning, and avoid the trappings of perfection. Other school rules and policies can be found on the school website.

I have very high expectations for the academic school year, and I am devoted to helping all students succeed. I believe that all students are unique and capable of learning. I will send home graded student work that should be signed and returned the next day. I want you to always be aware of your child’s progress, so there are no surprises. As I started late in the school year, we will be having our own special back-to-school night one evening soon. Stay tuned for the date.

I would also like to extend a huge thank you to Mrs. Ruhl for helping with my transition, and for helping all the students in the classroom start the year in a positive and engaging manner. I encourage all parents/guardians to get involved this year. There are a variety of opportunities to help and I hope that you will take advantage of them. Once again, I am thrilled to be working with your child this year and I cannot wait to see all of the amazing achievements this year brings!

Sincerely,

Michael Heal

michael_heal@redlands.k12.ca.us

909 3075540 ext. 55415

About Mr. Heal

For the past 10 years I taught at Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Riverside. I live in Redlands and was introduced to Kimberly Elementary when my daughter started in Mrs. Sousa's 1st grade class. She is now in 4th Grade with Ms. Schreiber, and my youngest daughter is in Mrs. Haskins' 2nd Grade class. Their wonderful experiences at this school helped encourage me to seek a teaching opportunity with the Redlands District and I'm so happy to be at Kimberly. The 2018-2019 school year will be my 14th year teaching. Over the years I have taught 4th Grade, 5th Grade and 6th Grade, and I have taught reading intervention to all grades, and Special Education in a mild-moderate SDC setting. I always enjoy seeing students learn new things and increase their awareness of their world. My goal is to help students become better global citizens. I aim to teach with a growth mindset philosophy. Please see the link to more resources on this topic.

I bring a global view to my teaching. I was born in South Africa and moved to Canada when I was 23. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Studies, a Masters of Arts degree in Political Studies, a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a special education Credential. I began teaching in Canada in the 2005/2006 school year, and moved the Redlands area in 2008 when my wife was offered a teaching position at California State University San Bernardino, where she is now the chair of the History Department and Professor of African history.

I am a Google Certified Educator, and enjoy incorporating technology into academic work to augment, modify and redefine how students can learn and demonstrate understanding in the digital age. I plan to incorporate a lot of art into our work. I'm an avid recreational cyclist and love traveling.