August 2, 2012 

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians:

            We would like to welcome you to the 2012/2013 school year!  We anticipate this being a year of HARD WORK since our school did not meet our AMO goal for mathematics!   Teachers are already planning so they will be well prepared for teaching our students during this transition phase into Common Core.  Common Core has extremely rigorous expectations and will require students, parents and the school to work together to meet those expectations.  This means students will have homework and/or projects to complete EVERY night.  With all this said, we are looking at the quality of work our children are producing, not just the completion of the task.

    In the past, Reading and Math have been our focus subjects; however, Science, Social Studies, and Technology will take on predominant roles as well.  Students will continue the interdisciplinary units that will incorporate all the subjects.   This year students will have three teachers each day.   They will spend 120 minutes in Reading/Language Arts and Social Studies, 60 minutes in Math, and 60 minutes in Science.  We hope you will get to know your child’s teachers through classroom visits, e-mail, and telephone calls.   Our goal this year is to have at least one face-to-face conference concerning your child and his/her progress.

    Significant emphasis will be placed on attendance this year. Students should be in school every day unless they are ill or have a valid excuse for missing.  The criteria for excused absences will be given to each of you at Back-To-School Night and in the student information packets on the first day of school.   Because our time allotments are so strict, students must be in their classrooms ready for instruction by 7:45 a.m.  We will begin dismissing students at 1:55 p.m.   Because instruction must go to the end of the day, we are asking parents to limit early departures so students are getting their full instructional time each day.

            In order to make a smooth transition for the new school year and establish positive working relationships, we are having Back-To-School Night on Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.  During this meeting, the goals and initiatives for the new year will be shared and you will have an opportunity to visit classrooms to interact with your child’s teachers.  This is an extremely important meeting, so we hope you will mark your calendar and plan to attend.

             For the safety of our children, we will NOT be opening our doors for students until 7:30 am UNLESS your child is part of the paid Before and After Care Program at Allenwood.  Our staff is not officially on duty until 7:30 am and children have been unsupervised, putting them in jeopardy of injury.  If students arrive before the 7:30 am time, they should line-up at the side entrance to the school and wait until the doors open.  We hope this will not be a hardship, but wanted to give you plenty of time to make arrangements for the new procedure.

    Monday, August 20, 2012 is the first day of school.  We welcome and encourage you to participate in this exciting event!   We hope you will first introduce yourself and your child to the bus driver at the designated stop, put your child on the bus to establish his/her stop and seat, and follow the bus to the school.  We will have light refreshments for parents and friends in the main lobby that morning.

    Enclosed with this letter is the name of your child’s homeroom teacher for the 2012-2013 school year, the uniform policy, supply list and First Day Information Card for Kindergarten and First Grade Students (please pin it to your child’s blouse or shirt).  We look forward to seeing you on August 16, 2012. 

                                                                     Sincerely,

                                                                     Kaye Stumb and the Allenwood Staff