Welcome

Welcome to third grade! We are very excited to have your child in our classrooms this year. Our goal as his or her teacher is to meet the learning and growing needs that enable all students to become successful learners. We feel that a strong partnership between school and home is essential in accomplishing this goal. Your child will experience new learning opportunities through our third grade curriculum.  We will work with your child to help him or her become an independent learner who is confident and enjoys learning.  We will focus on becoming fluent readers, good problem solvers, and sharp investigators.  We look forward to working with you and watching your child grow in the months ahead.

Student Responsibilities 

Third grade is a critical time for students to learn how to organize their time and materials.  This year we are using a colored binder system for math, science, social studies, Language arts and homework.  This should help in bringing the right binder to class.  Highland Park has also decided to continue using agendas.  In the agendas, we will have your child record activities for homework and other important information.  We hope that your child will grow in  his or her independent work habits by recording in the agendas daily about assignments.  We really want to use our agendas as an extra form of communication between school and home.  We will check the agendas daily for parent signatures and any new information. Thank you for your support.

Homework 

Unfortunately for some, homework is a fact of life for our third graders. We feel that homework is necessary for the following reasons:

1)    Encourages the children to practice skills not yet mastered

2)    It gives children opportunities to review skills that might otherwise forget.

3)    It enriches and broadens a child’s knowledge.

4)    It allows for tasks that are too time consuming to be finished during school hours.

Our current policy states that after 1 hour if your child is not done and you and/or child are feeling frustrated, parents can write a note on the homework.  No penalty will be assessed, and the work will not be sent home again.  While policy states a maximum of one hour will be assigned, it is not always possible to know how long each student will take to complete an assignment.  If you find that your child is taking a long time with his or her homework each night, please contact their teacher(s).  We can offer strategies that can help students improve their work habits and decrease the time it takes to complete their homework.

Needs Groups

     We are working this year to reach two goals - meeting the needs of individual students and building a supportive community of learners.  To achieve “the best of both worlds," students will stay with their homeroom teacher for the first two weeks developing communication and cooperative skills to help them work as a team.  Both Science and Social Studies will be taught all year in homerooms and students will return full-time to homerooms near the end of the school year.

    From September through May, students will be grouped for Language Arts and Math in order to best meet their needs.  Class size for each group will be limited to the state-mandated 22 - 1.  Assessments for grouping will include a reading comprehension test, placement exam from Envision Math, and sections of the Metropolitan Achievement Test.  Other assessment instruments will include student opportunities to demonstrate problem solving skills, use of vocabulary, and writing ability. 

      Don't be surprised if Language Arts or Math class groups look somewhat different from earlier grades.  We want to match each student with a teacher and a learning environment that best meets his or her social and academic needs and learning profile.

Structure of Third Grade

All students will start the morning in their homeroom class.  Students go to special areas from 8:45 - 9:30 or 9:30 - 10:15. After specials, students will switch classes for math and then language arts.  Students will go to library once a week in their language arts class. They will go to the computer Lab and Spanish once a week during their social studies/science class.

Agenda

Homework assignments are posted on the agenda board each day.  Students are expected to record all of their homework assignments in their agendas.  The agenda is to be signed by a parent or guardian each night and will be checked by the homeroom teacher every morning.  

Projects/Papers

Any projects and/or papers will be assigned in such a manner so that students and parents alike will know the date on which the work is due, the expectations of the work due (examples will be shown and discussed in class at length), and the grading procedures. Students are encouraged to ask questions to clarify any confusion relating to class work, homework, or special assignments.

Graded Papers

Graded papers will be returned weekly on Tuesday folder.

Absences

If your child is to be out of school for a few days, please let the homeroom teacher know ahead of time so a work packet may be prepared. Students are responsible for work/tests missed due to illness, appointments, travel, etc. If your child is ill, please make an effort to come and pick up missed work.  If you are unable to pick up an absence packet, then please contact the homeroom teacher if another student or sibling can take the work to you.  

Tardies

Your child will be considered tardy if he/she is not in his/her homeroom class by 7:45. 

Snack

Students will be allowed to bring a snack with them each day to be eaten at 10:15.  By AISD policy, students may only have snacks that are of nutritional value.  Drinks other than water and candy are not allowed. Snacks should be ready to eat. Students are not allowed to use teacher microwaves.

Dress Code

AISD's dress code policy

Phone Use

Students are only allowed to use classroom phones with teacher permission.  Students are not to use phones (whether it be cell phone or classroom phone) to call home for missing homework or to arrange play dates.  Although AISD allows students to carry cell phones, they are not to be used during the school day.  Ms. Workman has requested that students not take anything out of their backpacks while they are waiting to be picked up after school.  Students may not take out their cell phones to make any type of phone call.  If a parent needs to make a change in transportation, or after-school arrangements, please call the office and they will get the message to the student. We have been instructed by Ms. Workman to not receive phone calls, or check emails, during instructional time.  If a student has made plans to go home with a friend, the parents must contact the homeroom teacher the day before or send a written note that same morning.

Backpacks

Students with homeroom classes in the 3rd grade wing will hang backpacks and lunch boxes on hooks in the hallway by their classrooms. Backpacks should be zipped at all times.

After-School Pick-Up Procedures

2:40 - Bus riders will be picked up from classroom by Ms. Camarillo.  After-school childcare students will be picked up from classroom by Ms. Castro. Crenshaw's students will walk to the cafeteria.

2:45 - All other students will follow their homeroom teacher through the main building to their designated pick-up area, which is by the flag pole.  Students who have younger siblings must accompany us to the third grade pick-up area, notify us that they are leaving, and then join their sibling at their designated pick-up area.  Children not picked up by 3:00pm will be taken to the office where they will wait for their ride.  Please see the traffic procedures link for further information.

Rainy Day Procedures

Third grade classes are to go to the area by Kyle Etie’s office and actively monitor for the student’s ride.

Conferences 

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held in October.  The district conference day is on Monday, October 10th.  These conferences will be with your homeroom teacher.  Homeroom teachers will be sending home information in late September about setting up times for conferences.

Communication 

We will be communicating in many different ways this year:

Agenda:  If you have questions or concerns you may always write a brief note in the agenda.

Email:  This is the primary source of communication at Highland Park.  Just remember that email does occasionally malfunction, so if you do not hear back from us in a reasonable amount of time, leave us a voicemail.

Voicemail:  Please feel free to leave us a message at any time.  We will try our best to return your call as soon as possible.  Having 20 plus students in our classroom limits our time to talk during the school day.  Therefore, we may not return your call until the end of the day, or if we have a meeting or appointment after school, the next day.  If you need a message to get to us immediately, please contact the front office