HOPEVALLEY

SCHOOL TO HOME

October 16, 2009

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Richard Finlaw Denise Moretti-Foggo Principal Lead Teacher

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NEW NEWSLETTER FORMAT. At our PTO meeting we discussed school – home communications. We decided that this office would send out a short weekly news letter. So, here we go. Any suggestions from our families out there are always appreciated.

CALENDAR UPDATES.

October 19 – Kindergarten field trip to fire station

October 19 – PTO Meeting, 7:00 PM, School Library

October 23 – Grade 4 Fair Housing Presentations, 9:00am, room 4F

October 23 – PTO Halloween Parade and Party –parade begins 6:30 at the fire station

October 30 – Grade 4 Hopkinton Historical Tour hosted by the Hopkinton Historical Association

NECAP (NEW ENGLAND COMMON ASSESSMENT PROGRAM. The grade 3 and 4 assessments ended this Friday. We have only make-ups to complete now. The make-ups are for children who were absent during a testing day or days. Make-ups are scheduled for next week.

2008-2009 SURVEY. Remember that? It is important that we let sit the results and not respond to your many comments. These were extremely helpful in pinpointing concerns. Our goal is to address these concerns with corrections here at school explain why things are the way they are. I’d like to begin with the homework. The district set’s guidelines for homework at the elementary level.

Grade / Times per week / Length
K / Teacher discretion / Up to 10 minutes
1 - 2 / 4 times per week - teacher discretion / 10 to 20 minutes
3 - 4 / 4 times per week – teacher discretion / 30 to 40 minutes

While most respondents found the time length to be adequate, there were concerns regarding (1)the rigor of the homework assigned and (2)the fact that in some instances they had not seen homework coming home. We are addressing both issues particularly in light of our math initiative in the district. Although we may not assign homework each night, we do suggest that home engage with your child reinforcing skills and learning mentioned in teacher newsletters..

HANDBOOK. The school Handbookhad been revised and updated. It will be on the school’s web page shortly. It is designed so that you can click on a topic and that will link you to that topic. Hard copies are available for homes that do not have computer access. We think we have included everything we you need to know without overburdening you with details. Please, we encourage you to contact us if you need further clarification or if we have missed something.

FACULTY CHANGES.Mary Ann Mello, grade 2 last year is our resource teacher this year;

Denise Moretti-Foggo, last years resource teacher is grade 4 this year; Lindsay Bliven transferred from Charlestown to grade 3 in HopeValley; James Pucci is part-time PE; Patricia Koukas is extended Day Kindergarten; Wendy Rockwell is your school clerk.