Dear 4A Families,
Welcome to the new school year and to 4th grade! It is such a privilege to be a part of the Holy Rosary school community and teach the amazing 4th grade students! I am looking forward to getting to know each and every one of my new students and their families.
Expect to see a class newsletter each week. This letter will contain information about our weekly studies, upcoming events, permission slips, book orders and all you will need to know in order to keep up with the goings on in 4A. Please take time to read the newsletter each week, as it is an important form of school/home communication. Ms. Benson and I work hard to keep the 4th grade websites updated weekly with helpful links and resources. Beginning the week of September 13th, newsletters will be distributed online only. I will go over the features of the website on Parent’s Night, but please feel free to check it out before then! The site is up and running today.
I look forward to seeing you all during our Back to School Night this Thursday, September 2nd. At this time I will discuss our academic program as well as the ins and outs of life in 4th grade. Your child will come home with a blue folder on Thursday with a packet of information for families. Please have this folder with you during the Zoom meeting.
Attached to the newsletter you will find a student profile sheet and an iPad user agreement. Please return the iPad user form by this Friday the 3rd and the student profile no later than next Friday, September 10th. The profile is confidential and helps me to better know your child. I truly appreciate the time you spend on these profiles. Your insights and comments are invaluable.
This week we will be spending the majority of our time learning classroom and school expectations as well as practicing the procedures and routines that will help our school year run smoothly. These procedures will be based around three words: SAFE, RESPECTFUL & RESPONSIBLE. We will focus on social interactions and community building. The time we spend now will help to ensure our school year runs smoothly and efficiently and is a place where all students feel valued and respected. Our school theme this year is “Rooted in Christ”. We will be incorporating this theme into many of our classroom and school activities throughout the year.
The class schedule will be in the Parent’s Night packet, but there are a couple of things I wanted to share regarding our schedule:
- We will have weekly Wednesday Masses at 8:45 all year. Students should plan to always come in proper uniform on Wednesdays. Most weeks we will watch the Mass from the classroom, but we will have several assigned weeks to attend Mass in person as well. We will send home a schedule of in-person masses as soon as it becomes available.
- This Friday, September 3rd, the dismissal times are 11:55 and 12:05.
- PE in 4A is scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays this year. Students are expected to wear appropriate shoes for P.E. class on these days. On PE days students will wear their PE shoes to school. They will not be allowed to change shoes prior to or following PE time.
- Because we are not able to eat in the classroom with the entire class (6 foot distance with masks off), 4th grade students will not have snack time this year. Students should eat a good breakfast. Our lunch begins at 11:40.
Good communication is the key to a successful year. Filers will come home on Monday, but the tabs will not yet be labeled. We will label them in class on Tuesday. The first section will be labeled School/Home. Please check this section of the filer nightly and remove any papers found there. We will ask students to place all corrected work in this first tab. Work that is in the labeled subject sections should remain in the filer. The first section is also where you will place any correspondence that you need to return to school. Students will be filling out their assignment notebooks daily. This is an important habit to build. A good way to keep track of homework and prepare for tests is to develop a daily routine of checking your child’s filer together and assignment book together. If you have any questions please let me know.
msimpson@holyrosaryws.org
It is important that all students bring a full water bottle to school daily. There are no water fountains in the school, but there are water bottle fillers. Having access to drinking water is important for lunch, PE, and drinking water throughout the day.
I will be creating a 4A email group list so that I can send out important information throughout the school year. This list is important for quick and efficient communication between home and school.
Please send me an email with the email address(es) that you would like included on our 4A list with a subject of 4A email group. I would like to have all emails by the end of the week if possible. Thank you!
I am so excited to get to know you all!
I know that we will have an amazing year together.
Ms. Simpson
