Welcome Letter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the Second Grade! I am very excited to have your child in my class, and look forward to this being an exciting and successful year!

DAILY FOLDER

Each night your student will be bringing home a folder with his or her papers or notes inside. One side of the folder will be labeled “stay home” and the other side will be labeled “return to school”. Please take time each evening to go through this folder. It is your child’s responsibility to get this folder back to me daily. This allows all papers to be sent home without others seeing them. If you need to inform me of something that pertains to your student you may include the note within or in the front of this folder.

I will be sending tests’ home to be signed and returned the next day. If a paper is lost that was to be signed and returned please just send a note with your child in the folder stating that you have seen the paper.

GRADES

The grading scale for second grade is as follows:

E = 98%-100%

S+= 90%-97%

S = 80%-89%

S- = 75%-79%

NI = 60%-74% (Needs Improvement)

U = 50%-0% (Unsatisfactory)

ABBREVIATIONS

I want to explain some abbreviations that you may see on your child’s papers. If you see “NN” on a paper, this means your child forgot to put his or her name on their paper.

“NCS” means not a complete sentence.

“CW” means copied wrong.

“SP” means a word has been misspelled.

“CP” means a word has not been capitalized.

“DT” means we did this page together as a class and answered everything orally. I do grade, but do not take grades on papers we have completed together. When we do this I usually put all the answers on the board as we go over the questions so the students can check for the correct spelling. We go over some things together as a review or to introduce a new concept.

CORRECTIONS

Spelling, math, and reading papers are to be corrected before they are taken home. Other papers are discussed during class so that if a student has any questions about why something is wrong, it can be cleared up before leaving school for the day. You will see the word “OK” circled at the top of the papers that have been corrected with help to clarify or re-teach misunderstood concepts.

SPELLING

Students should bring home a list of spelling words every Monday. All words on the list will be given on the test. Trial test will be given on Wednesday and final test will be given on Friday. If your student gets a 100% on the trial test on Wednesday they will not be required to take the final test on Friday. If we have a short week of school, test dates may vary.

BIRTHDAYS

Please inform me the day before if your child is going to be bringing birthday treats. Please keep in mind that the district is encouraging students to bring healthy snacks in place of sugary treats in accordance with the wellness policy set forth by the state. Please do not send treats that have a lot of icing on them do to the fact that we have carpet in our room and they tend to be very messy. Please consider sending a non-iced cookie or a healthy treat.

Please do not send birthday party invitations to school with your child unless you’re planning on inviting the whole class to the birthday party.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

It is expected that students will follow the basic classroom rules:

1. Listen and follow oral and written directions.

2. Work quietly without disturbing others.

3. Respect others and their property.

4. Complete assignments on time.

5. Turn in quality work.

In second grade we will be following the guidelines for the PBS (Positive Behavior Support) plan set forth by the district. If a student chooses to disobey the rules, he or she may receive a mark on their green card after AT LEAST two verbal warnings. This plan is very similar to the plan that the students were expected to follow in the first grade, so it should be familiar for students who are returning to Grandview. My goal is to help each child become a responsible, self-disciplined and successful student.

I am looking forward to a very successful and fun-filled year. If at anytime you have any questions or feel there is something that I should be aware of, please feel free to call or e-mail me. I am looking forward to working with your child and getting acquainted with you. This is going to be a “GREAT” year!

Thank you,

Amy Barnes

abarnes@eldoradoschools.org

Grandview School: 322-4830

Home: 320-0117