September 14th Letter to Parents

September 14, 2011

Dear Parents,

Firstly, I am very excited to tell you that this coming year is my 20^th year at Herbert Spencer School! I cannot believe that I have been teaching that many years here. As the saying goes, “time flies when you’re having fun!” I am looking forward to this year because it will offer a wide range of topics and subject areas to explore. As I have always said, “I teach children NOT grades.”

In light of recent contract negotiations that teachers are currently under, there are some events that will be cancelled. For instance there will be NO Meet the Teacher Event or Terry Fox Run and probably NO Intake Interviews this year. That being said, I want to assure you that our “lines of communication” are wide open. I am viewing this year as an opportunity to try some “new” alternatives to the way we interact with one another-parent, teacher and student.

I want to meet all of you as soon as possible. I am going to host a parent/student informational meeting on Tuesday, September 20^th at 6:30 pm. I want to invite parents to bring their child to the school that evening and I will discuss, briefly, the “shape of the year”. What your role is, be it either student or parent, this year with things such as homework tasks/agenda, etc. I will also talk about my expectations are of your child. I will address concerns around “split” classes and share my philosophies on this topic. Lastly, for the intermediate parents, I will go through letter grades and what they mean.

I will also need some parents to help me out in a variety of ways this year.

I will require the following volunteers:

1.        a liaison parent/s in charge of helping getting information to other parents – developing a phone and email tree and help organize parents for a variety of events e.g. Field trips, special celebrations like Halloween!

2.        someone in charge of collecting money for field trips/book orders

3.        someone in charge of taking in recycling juice boxes and collecting money 

4.        someone to come in on “hot lunch” days to help hand out lunches

I have started to set up a BLOG for the class and this should also help with “knowing what is going on at school” and to keep you updated with information. I will give you the website when it is ready.

I fully expect that I will need to meet with some parents, one on one, and we will discuss that, as well.

My goal for your child this year is that they have the BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER!! Parents be assured that I do NOT hesitate to contact you if I feel there is an issue. I like to develop and maintain good relations with my parents and students. Keeping a positive, open line of communication is key.

I will be attending the meeting on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 @ 6:30 pm.

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                                                _____________________________  NAMES ATTENDING

 I will not be able to attend the meeting on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 @ 6:30 pm.