Dear 4B Families,
We made it! The last week of school and the last newsletter of the year. I am always a little sad posting this letter as I say good-bye to everyone. It has been a wonderful year with such a creative, enthusiastic, and talented group of students. I have also appreciated the kind support of all of the 4B families, and I will truly miss this special class.
Some important messages:
- Cleaning Days Tuesday and Thursday! We will do the major desk clean out on Tuesday. Students are asked to bring in a sturdy bag or two to bring home most of the contents of their desks on Tuesday— as well as some rags for cleaning. Thank you!
Report cards will be sent home on Friday. You will find many important inserts which include directions for the summer reading program Mrs. Harris provides and the summer math challenge from Mrs. Heuer along with a Mathletics challenge. You will also be receiving information about math placements for 5th grade. I am asking students not to open their report cards until they get home or in their car. That way no important notes will be lost. I will be sealing the envelopes for this purpose.
Summer packets: I will be making a summer math packet for each student. This is not required, but I encourage all students to do some type of math review during the summer. The math packet is just an option. I will send the math packets home on Thursday. If you are interested in reading packets please let me know before Thursday.
- Be sure to check your child’s filer for recent tests, assignments, and grade sheets. Many were sent home last week and more will come home this week. This is a good time to clean out filers. If your filer is still in good shape it can be used next year instead of purchasing a new one.
- Please check your child’s filer for a Holy Rosary Band intent form. They would like these back before the end of the week. This is not a binding agreement, they just want to have an idea of the number of new fifth graders that are interested. Thank you.
- On Thursday the students will bring home their 4th grade portfolios. In the portfolios you will find many of the bigger/special projects of the year. This is a nice compilation of fourth grade work neatly stored.
- Those students that can bring in evidence of their summer work in math (worksheets, website online program results, or completed workbooks) should bring them in to me the first week of school for some fun little prizes/goodies to reward a job well done. It is so important to take time to continue to practice math facts as well as review the many math concepts we have learned this year. Summer work does not need to be laborious, just short, focused, regular sessions will make a real difference and reduce the summer slide.
I have to give one more plug for summer reading! It is the best way to keep skills strong and reduce the summer learning loss.
Tuesday: Remember to send in a study bag for your child to put the contents of their desks and lockers in. We love to have some rags for cleaning if you have any to spare. These generally are not returned. Along with cleaning and some final tasks, we will have a special visit from Dr. Murphy (Brady Murphy in 4A’s dad) who will be teaching the students a bit about DNA with some fun activities.
Friday is our final day, and the students are asked to dress nicely as we celebrate the final Mass of the school year. Report cards will be passed out after Mass. Dismissal is around 10:00.
That is about all for this last newsletter. Again, I want to thank you all for a wonderful year. I hope you all have a fun and relaxing summer. I am looking forward to going back to Illinois to visit my family and friends right after we get out for summer break, but I will be in the Seattle area all summer long. Please feel free to email me with any questions or just to say hi.