Welcome Letter

Dear 5th Grade Parents/Guardians:

Welcome to a new school year! I love teaching 5th grade and I’m truly excited to work with you and your child. Fifth grade is an exciting year and students are in the process of understanding they aren’t a little kid anymore and not quite a big kid either. I enjoy helping kids grow and learn. My hope is that students will be a good student and a good person. I don’t get angry often, but any type of bullying will not be tolerated in my classroom. I strive to keep our classroom a safe learning environment where all kids can be successful and proud of their accomplishments. My goal is to have every student be able to say they had a great day at school when asked by a parent. Please contact me immediately if your child is experiencing bullying or any type of problem. 

This year, my grade partner Jessica Zervas and I are going to team-teach.  Mrs. Zervas will be teaching math and science to her class as well as mine. I will be teaching reading/language arts and social studies to both our classes. The students will be switching rooms at least once throughout the day. 

In an effort to keep home/school communication going, I am asking for a few minutes of your time each day to quickly check over papers which come home in a “take home” folder. This folder  should come home each and every day whether the student has homework or not. You can expect to see tests, assignments, teacher and/or school correspondence in the take home folder. 

A Spelling pretest is given Friday. Students getting a perfect paper do not have to take the final test the following Thursday.  The spelling activities are assigned on Friday and are corrected on Thursday.  A six week list was included in the welcome packet for you to keep as a study guide.  (I have also included a vocabulary list for the first six weeks, as we have weekly quizzes on these as well.) A list of both spelling and vocabulary words for the year can also be found on Canvas.

In the afternoon, students may have a snack.  My aim is for a nutritional snack.  Candy will not be permitted.  In order to help maintain the cleanliness of our room, water is the only beverage allowed during the day.  Your help with this is greatly appreciated!

Fifth grade is a fun and exciting time.  Your child will continue to gain independence and confidence as he/she learns and grows this year.  I’m glad to be part of it!  We can work together to help support and nurture your child as he/she moves on toward adolescence.

I enjoyed seeing many of you at the Open House last Thursday.  Thank you for stopping by.  I look forward to having a rewarding year in our 5th grade classroom!

Sincerely,

Wendy Smith

P.S. When more immediate communication is necessary, you may email me at [email protected] or you may call 879-3361 Ext 361 (Please leave a message if I am teaching and unable to talk with you.)