Parent Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new school year! I hope you and your child have gotten off to a great start. Fifth grade can be quite a transition from previous grades as the academic and independence responsibilities increase greatly. This is a place where you can check in from time to time to find out what's going on in our room. I like to update it about once a month just to keep you "in the know."

We have gotten off to a good start. I have been very pleased with how focused and determined the students are toward their work. They take fifth grade very seriously and clearly want to do well and learn all they can to be prepared for middle school. I place a large focus on preparing for middle school throughout the year. Everything we do in fifth grade sets them up for success in the coming years. For example, students are required to keep up with their work, out-of-class responsibilities like Safety Patrol, and seek out additional help they feel they need. We try to teach them to be advocates for themselves, as they are expected to be next year. I do have a large focus on organization in my class. Everything has a place and it should be there at all times. If they can stay organized, they've won half the battle.

We are starting to get into all those fun things that fifth graders wait their whole elementary lives to do. We just had our Student Council elections. I would like to congratulate all the students who worked so hard on posters and speeches. It takes a lot of courage to speak in front of the entire fourth and fifth grade student body, but they were great! Additional kudos go out to Blair Hankins, Daniel Johnson, Titus Spears, and Nathan Willis for being elected to represent our class on the council. I know these young men will work very hard this semester.

We have also started the DARE program, as I'm sure you've heard about at home. Officer Randy visits once each week and presents an hour-long lesson about the effects of drugs and alcohol and how students can resist peer pressure in positive ways. The students enjoy his visits each week and seem to have learned a great deal from him.

On a final note, the end of the six weeks is drawing to a close. Grades will close Friday, October 3rd with report cards being released the following week. I encourage you to visit with your child about his or her grades. If your child is not satisfied with their grade, please chat about what he/she can do to improve their grades. I always have this discussion with the class before I hand out their report cards, but many times it means much more coming from parents.

Thanks so much for taking time to check our website. As always, should you ever have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact me.

Until next time,

Mrs. Anthes