Day 1- PE- Please make sure students wear comfortable shoes and clothingDay 2- TechnologyDay 3- Media ***Day 4- SpanishDay 5-ArtDay 6- Music (

***Also on day 3 students will be with an instructional assistant from 10:30-11:15. The instructional assistant will read aloud to the students and will take them outside for recess. Their recess time will be from 10:45-11:15 on day 3. This 90 minute block of time has been built in for all grade levels so grade levels can come together for instructional planning time.

Welcome to Third Grade!!

Welcome to your child’s third grade class! I have high expectations for your child, both academically and behaviorally. I know your expectations are high as well.  Working together we can help your child become a responsible, respectful, high-achieving student.  I will keep you informed as to what is happening in the classroom through periodic notes or phone calls, and weekly emails with class and curricular updates through a classroom newsletter. If you need to reach me with any questions or comments pertaining to Irwin Academic Center and/or your child, you can reach me via email at rachel.harris@cms.k12.nc.us or by phone at 980-343-5480.  I will make every effort to return your call or email within twenty-four hours.   Attached you will find some important information about my classroom guidelines, procedures, and curriculum.  Hopefully this will answer many of the questions you may have regarding your child’s third grade education. Also, please take time to read over and study the new “Parent and Student Handbook” for Irwin Academic Center. Our administration team worked diligently on creating an extremely useful resource with an immense amount of vital information pertaining to our school and how you can be a valuable part of your child’s educational journey at Irwin. If you have any questions about Irwin’s Parent and Student handbook please email me and/or any of our fabulous administrators. I am looking forward to working with you to make this a successful and enjoyable year for your child.   

Sincerely,Rachel Harris

CONNECT CLASS SCHEDULE

This year Irwin will be using a six day rotation for our connect classes. This is a new schedule and we are all going to work together to make it a success! Students will record in their agendas each night what connect class/day they will be on for the following day. All of Third Grade Connect classes occur each day from 11:15-12:00.

Detailed Daily Schedule

A detailed daily schedule will be coming home in our classes first newsletter next week! Please be on the look out for that!

Important InformationMORNING PROCEDURE  

When the students arrive in the morning, they are asked to unpack, turn in homework folders (students are asked to keep all parent notes attached to their legal pad in their homework folder), and begin their morning work on their own.  They are expected to quietly complete their morning work and have all materials ready at their desk for the day.  All students are to be in the classroom and ready to start the day by 9:15am.  I ask that students come to school prepared with all of the supplies they need for the day.  In addition to these

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LUNCH/SNACK Family members are always welcome to visit at lunch.  Our lunch begins at 12:20 and ends at 12:50. We will be outside at recess after lunch from 12:50-1:20. Parents who wish to eat lunch with their child need to wait in the lobby until our class goes to lunch.  When a visitor comes to eat with a child, a student may only ask one friend to sit with them.  This rule is in place so others may have sufficient room to eat with their children as well.  The school asks that you do not send any carbonated drinks or glass containers to school with a child in order to maintain a safe environment.   Each day children are allowed to eat a small snack. Snacks should consist of juice or water and some type of cracker or fruit. No candy, peanut products, soda, etc. We do have a child in our room this year with a peanut allergy so our classroom will be a peanut free zone this year. We will decide as a class if we would like to have snack time in the morning or in the afternoon the first week of school. Please remind your child they are NEVER allowed to share food with any of their peers. This is a school rule because we have allergies and we do not want allergic reactions to happen because students are sharing lunch items and snacks.

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BIRTHDAYSI love to celebrate birthdays just as much as the students do, but they take up a lot of class time.  In an effort to reduce this, the third grade team has decided to implement monthly birthday celebrations. The first Friday of each month from 3:30-4:00 will be reserved for birthday celebrations. Any child who has a birthday that month will celebrate together. If a parent would like to send a snack in for the celebration and/or would like to join us, I simply ask for you to email me 24 hours ahead of time.  Also, I ask any utensils, plates, napkins, etc. we may need for clean up and/or eating be sent in along with the treats. 

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VOLUNTEERING We love parent volunteers at Irwin Academic Center. I do ask parents to please contact me at least 24 hours in advance if they would like to volunteer and/or tutor so we have something for you to do when you come to school. All parents have to sign-up on the CMS website to become a registered volunteer in the classroom. Please contact Keitha Callanan (in the front office) if you have any questions about how to sign up to be a registered volunteer. This is an important safety measure for our school. We want to know exactly who is coming in contact with our children and I am sure all parents can appreciate our caution when it pertains to student safety.   We also ask for parents to not disrupt instructional time during the day to have individual conferences about your child. This includes the morning when you are dropping off your child. If you need to set up a conference with me I ask that you email me with your question, comment, and/or concern and will get back to you within 24 hours. It is important for me to know what you would like to talk about during your scheduled conference time so I can be prepared with materials and resources to aid our discussion.Thank you for your understanding with this matter.

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WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONIf a child is absent, please send a written excuse with the child on the day he/she returns to school so it can be changed from an unexcused to an excused absence in the office. Parents can write their notes on your communication log (legal pad) in your child’s homework folder, email them to me and Keitha Callanan, and/or send a doctors note in your child’s homework folder. It is also VERY important to send a written note informing me of any transportation changes. We will not accept any transportation changes after 3:30 p.m. Please list any transportation changes on your child’s communication log in the morning instead of emailing me during the day. If we do not have a note in writing (not electronically), it is school policy to send the child home as usual.  Finally, please keep us informed of any address or phone number changes you may make during the school year.  This will help the school to get in touch with you quickly and easily for any reason.

Grading PolicyBelieve it or not, preparing for your child’s future

starts in elementary school!It is true, the journey to a successful future begins now!! Especially in today’s economy, it is important to set your child on the right path now! Every year, I get a lot of questions about grading in third grade because we begin letter grades. Hopefully this will clear up some of your questions and concerns. If not, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please do not wait until your child’s report card if you have any questions at all. Once a child’s grade has been placed on their report card, it is very hard to get it changed!

What do the letters mean?A- Your child is exceeds expectations and is performing above grade level.B- Your child meets expectations and is performing at grade level.C- Your child inconsistently meets expectations and performs at grade level.D- Your child rarely meets expectations and rarely performs at grade level.F- Your child is not performing at grade level.

How can You Help?•Be your child’s advocate. Check over all work that comes home in their Thursday folder and contact me if you have any concerns.•Review all work that is below standard with your child and remind them of the expectations.•Review material that is being taught. Help your child with things they do not understand.•Monitor your child’s homework. This counts towards their grade and can also help them in areas they are struggling.•Read with your child! Success in school begins with reading comprehension.

CMS Grading ScaleYour child will earn letter grades in 3rd grade. The grading scale is as follows: A- 93-100 B- 85-92 C- 77-84 D- 70-76 F- 0-69

Parent PortalCMS provides Parent Portal, a user-friendly Web application to help parents and families become more involved in education. Parents can check their child’s attendance reports and grades from any computer at any time. Parent Portal is a computer-access program that helps parents track their children’s progress in school. It is available to parents of all CMS students. Parents may obtain a login and password to Parent Portal when their student has been enrolled in a CMS school. Visit the school website for directions on how to do this.

Contact me with questions!! Rachel.harris@cms.k12.nc.us

How will my child earn his/her grade?Students will have a variety of assessments that we use to grade them. They will earn their grade by in class assignments, interactive notebooks, quizzes, tests, rubrics, and projects.

Late PolicyProjects will be accepted up to one week past the due date. Points will be deducted each day from the projects. All missing work must be turned in the following Monday. It will be given out in their Thursday folders. Please make sure to check their Thursday folders every Thursday.

Classroom Procedures and

ExpectationsThe first step to a successful education and classroom experience is creating an environment of respect. At all times I will respect your children and work with them in order to see them rise to their full potential. In return, I expect that each child will be responsible,

prepared and above all respectful to their peers, myself and their environment.

Essential AgreementsThe first day of school we will be setting up “shared agreements” within our classroom. These agreements will be based upon the school wide behavior expectations: “Owls Make Wise Choices!” (please see matrix on back! These shared agreements will be the expectations that we as a classroom community have for how we will treat one another throughout the year. This process will be facilitated by me as the teacher but the students will be the ones creating these agreements based on what they feel is important to having a safe, fun and caring classroom community. It is my expectation that students adhere to the shared agreements at all times in order to ensure a safe and orderly environment. Once we have created these agreements, I will send them home so you are also aware of them. Our shared agreements will also be posted on the class website.

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Rewards I believe students should have positive rewards throughout the day and there are many different types of positive reinforcements used in my class. Some examples are class praise from the teacher, student sticker books (students receive stickers if they are behaving correctly, on task, sharing, being a good citizen, etc. Every 20 stickers earns the student their choice of a trip to the treasure box, a treat from the candy jar, or a free homework pass), OWL feathers (this is a school-wide behavior plan where students earn a certain end of the quarter celebration based on how many feathers they have earned), class celebrations for filling the marble jar, happy note or e-mail home, or extra computer or play time.

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Discipline Plan and CommunicationI understand every student might have an “off” day and when this occurs we have a 3rd grade discipline plan in place. We have a number system from 0-5 (please see chart on the left). Each number represents a different consequence. Every day I will inform you what number your child was on during the school day by completing your child’s behavior calendar located in their take home folder. Please review the behavior calendar every day and read the codes to help understand why your child was on any number other than 0. It is your child’s responsibility to know and explain in detail to you why they were not on a zero when they get home. If you have any additional questions when you see their calendar, please contact me.

0 Great day!

1 First warning-Myself or another teacher had to redirect your child one time

2 Second warning- Myself or another teacher had to redirect your child a second time.

3 Think Sheet, Silent Recess (Your child will still be getting 30 minutes of physical activity, they just have to do it silently) and note home.

4 Parent contact- email, in school conference, or phone call

5 Office referral- student will meet with an administrator to reflect on their behavior and choices