Welcome to the 5th grade at New Hope Elementary. We have a busy and very exciting year ahead of us. This year our 5th grade students will be participating in Team Teaching. The students will be “switching classes” for Math with Mrs. Harper, Science with Mrs. Radford and ELA/Social Studies with Mrs. Amerson. The students will be keeping all of their class materials (paper, pencil pouches, assignments) in the big binder and carrying it from one class to another, so please be sure they have their supplies. They will also carry their backpacks, chromebooks and homework folders to and from classes.
We look forward to getting to know you and your child. We realize that teaching your child is a privilege, as well as a tremendous responsibility. We promise that we will do our best to ensure that each student has a motivating and safe learning experience in this classroom. As you can imagine, we can’t do this alone. We need your help! We need for each of you to encourage your child at home to complete all homework, assignments and help them study for quizzes and tests. With your help, we are confident we are going to have a great year!
Here is some important information to help prepare your child and yourself:
*Schoolwide PBIS: Our school is taking on a PBIS initiative this year, which stands for Positive Behavior Intervention and Support. Rules and procedures will be established and taught throughout the school to encourage positive behaviors and good choices for all students. Our slogan is we are “Armored for Success” and we will do this by making sure:
-We are Respectful
-We are Responsible
-We are Ready to Learn
*Classroom Behavior: In our classroom we will also continue to support and initiate our PBIS rules, but we also have some specific classroom rules that will be expected which we will discuss on the first day of school. If students have behavior issues, we will be in contact with you.
*Class Dojo: Each teacher will have their own individual Dojo Classroom-please make sure you are in them all. Classroom behavior and work habits will be tracked via Class Dojo. This program allows us to give points to students for making positive choices and take points away. Class Dojo also has a message feature. We will frequently use these features to communicate with all of our class parents or you individually. Additionally, you can use this feature to send us private messages. When sending content related messages, please send them to that teacher:
*Math→Mrs. Harper
*Science→Mrs. Radford
*ELA/Social Studies→Mrs. Amerson
For transportation or other messages, contact your students’ homeroom teacher. Many of you may already be linked to a Class Dojo account, if you do not have one we will send a paper home about linking up.
*Chromebooks: We are so excited that the WCS Technology Department is able to issue a Chromebook to each child this coming school year. A technology fee of $30 will be charged per student. We plan to distribute Chromebooks during the first week of school. This year we would like our students to keep their Chromebooks at school. This helps limit the amount of damages, forgotten Chromebooks and extra materials in backpacks. If a student would like to bring their Chromebook home to complete assignments, they will need to let the teacher know and discuss requirements and expectations.
*Classwork: Students will be completing classwork daily that reflects material being taught in all content areas. Classwork may be paper assignments, Google Classroom assignments, ReadWorks, or other assignments. Students are expected to complete assignments in a timely manner. Assignments are due within FIVE DAYS of being assigned. If for some reason your student is NOT able to complete their assignments within FIVE DAYS, please reach out to your teacher.
*Homework: Students will be assigned and expected to complete homework daily to reinforce skills or concepts taught in class. It will be reviewed daily and checked. Please expect nightly (Monday-Thursday) homework and homework folders nightly for assignments and flyers.
*Google Classroom: We will use Google Classroom where student activities and assignments will be posted. You can sign up to receive notifications and emails about assignments in Google Classroom. Please talk to your student about assignments and if they are being completed. If they are not, have them ask a teacher about bringing home their Chromebooks to work on unfinished assignments.
*Data Notebooks: Our students will be keeping up with their graded assignments in Data Notebooks. These will serve as a document to keep students, parents and teachers continuously aware of student performance. You can also keep track of your students’ grades via Infinite Campus.
*Absences/Tardiness: Please send a note to school when your child has been absent or tardy or if they are checking out early for an appointment. If afternoon transportation is changed please send a signed and dated note with your student, changes MUST be made BEFORE 11:00. A student is considered tardy if they are not in the classroom by 8:00 a.m. If the student arrives after that time they need to check in with the office. A student is also considered TARDY if they are checked out before 3:00 p.m. A student is considered ABSENT if they are checked out BEFORE 11:30 am.
*Infinite Campus: Infinite Campus/Parent Portal is your online access to your student’s classroom grades and attendance. If you do not already have access to Infinite Campus Parent Portal you may get the information you need in the front office. It is important that you have access to Parent Portal to track your student’s progress, attendance and grades.
*Grading Scale: Student’s grades will be based on percent correct. Along with percentages they will also get letter grades to reflect their work. They are as follows:
A: 100%-90%
B: 89%-80%
C: 79%-70%
D: 69%-60%
F: 59%-0%
*New Hope Website: The school website has many helpful links and documents including: Student Handbook, Individual Class Websites, PTO Information, Volunteer Tracker, School Calendar, Lots of other great information!
*5th Grade Website: Please take time to visit our 5th grade website via the New Hope website. This site has information about our class schedule, contact information and most importantly, curriculum objectives, descriptions, charts, videos and other helpful links.
If you have any questions or concerns at any time during the school year, please feel free to contact us! The fastest and easiest way to contact us is by email or through the Class Dojo message feature. You can also reach us at school by calling (252)399-7950 or sending a note with your student. We look forward to a fabulous year!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Jessica Amerson (Reading/Social Studies) jessica.amerson@wilsonschoolsnc.net
Mrs. Paige Harper (Math) paige.harper@wilsonschoolsnc.net
Mrs. Taylor Radford (Science) taylor.radford@wilsonschoolsnc.net