Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to another school year! I am excited for the upcoming year and look forward to teaching your child. This year our class has 30 grade five students. We have 14 girls and 16 boys in the class. All of the children are settling in quite nicely and are proving to be focussed, hard working students. We are going to have a fabulous year!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Lorree Brown. I will be teaching your child this year, along with my job share partner who is still to be determined. The school is following proper District hiring practice and the process should be done soon. When the process is complete, I will send another letter with more information. This year, I will be teaching on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. My partner will be teaching Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday. Although my partner and I are team teaching this year, we will communicate daily and if you have questions, please know either one of us will be happy to help you. My email address is lbrown@sd63.ca.

Routines/Schedules:

Line- up: Due to the congestion in the hallways, all Brentwood teachers are meeting and dismissing their students outside. Our meeting area for the students to line up will be across from the Grade 4/5 swings against the building under the eaves. We please ask you to meet your child at that meeting spot.

Gym: Please make sure your child has labelled running shoes as we will be playing active games/activities during the following times: Monday, Tuesday and Friday 10:15-10:45, Thursday 9:45-10:15

French: Our teacher will be Mme. Cooke-Dallin . Our French time is : Tues – Fri 10:50 – 11:15

Computers: Mondays and Fridays

Library: This year our book exchange is Thursday afternoon. We ask the children to return their books back Wednesdays .

Homework:

Home Reading: Reading every night is an important part of developing strong readers. I will be implementing an at home reading program this year. More information will follow in a separate hand-out in the coming week.

Spelling: The spelling program will consist of 20 list words introduced at the beginning of each week. It is expected that students will study the words and complete the provided activity sheet by the end of the week. Every Friday, students will be tested on the weekly spelling words.

Unfinished Class Work: Work not completed in class will be assigned for the following day. If your child is having difficulty with an assignment, please write a note in the agenda and we will review with them.

Mail Slots: Outside the classroom door are our mail slots for each child. School Newsletters and notes will be put in these slots and we will remind the children to collect items before leaving the school.

Agendas: All students in Grade 5 have received agenda books. These books will help the students to be organized and responsible for their work. Each day, the children will record homework and special news items in their agendas. I ask that they be signed each evening by a parent and returned every morning. I hope the agenda program will help to prepare the students for increased duties of the intermediate grades and develop responsibility and organization. In addition, the agendas are a great tool for communication between home and school. If there are any concerns or information I should be aware of, please feel free to write a note in the agenda. Please send $5.00 to school for the agenda. If sending a cheque, please make it payable to SD#63. If there are any concerns regarding this fee, please see me directly.

School Supplies: Please label your child's school supplies with exception to duotangs and keytabs...these will be labelled at school. Each child will have their own supplies and be responsible for them. I will keep their extra supplies in a Ziplock bag with their names on it until they need them. At the end of the year, if supplies are not all used, they will be sent home to be reused for the following year.

Homework Folders:

Included in the supply list this year was a homework envelope/folder. This item was requested to help transport homework, news items and agendas to and from school. If you have not yet purchased one, please do so as soon as possible. Although the folders can take the form of a simple twin pocket folder, the best homework folders are light-
weight, slim, plastic pouches with zippers or other closures around the edges. These letter sized, closeable pouches are ideal as they hold more, don't get bent in the backpack, are waterproof and keep things from falling out. I hope students will be able to find a suitable homework folder in the next few days. Many thanks for your help in supplying this important item.

Prizes: During the week, students have the opportunity to receive "gotcha" tickets. Students earn these for having their agenda signed, being organized, helping another student, using their manners, handing in their Home Reading, etc. Each Friday, three names will be drawn and those students earn a small prize from the prize box. Typically, prizes are pencils, erasers, bookmarks, etc. It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide 3 small prizes for our prize box ($1.00 max. per item). If this request creates any hardship, please do not feel obligated to contribute.

Attached Survey

Please fill out the attached survey and return as soon as possible. In addition, please include your email address on the survey. I am currently in the process of collecting Division 11 email addresses in order to send weekly communication.

I look forward to meting all of you in the coming weeks.

Lorree Brown