FIFTH GRADE ENTRANCE:

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1 Welcome! Consider this to be your Fifth Grade Handbook. We feel that we have covered almost everything here, however always feel free to contact us with questions! Mrs. Wong & The Fifth Grade Team SCHOOL HOURS: 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 8:30 AM -12:30 PM on Tuesday. Students are allowed into the building at 8:20 AM and they are expected to be in their classrooms by 8:30 AM. FIFTH GRADE ENTRANCE: To avoid congestion in the lobby, we ask that all 5th graders enter the building through the modular doors by the playground between 8:20 AM and 8:30 AM. A fifth grade team member will greet fifth graders each morning at this entry location. Students arriving late are asked to enter through the main entrance. If your fifth grader brings a younger sibling into the building, they can continue to use the main entrance as they normally would. ATTENDANCE/TARDINESS: As we are working together to prepare your child for middle school, it is crucial they are present every day of school. We are aware that emergencies or illnesses do occur. Please use the call system if your child will not be in school. Attendance will be taken at 8:30 AM. Children arriving after this time are considered tardy/late. If your son or daughter arrives after this time, please have them check in at the office before s/he comes to the classroom. ABSCENCES FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME: (Excerpt taken from Newton s Students Rights and Responsibilities Handbook) Lengthy absences for extended trips are strongly discouraged by the Newton Public Schools, as teachers cannot provide the advance assignments or study aides a child would need over long periods of time to maintain the pace of learning in his or her classroom. DISMISSAL: Students will be dismissed at 3:00 PM. There are a few different options for this procedure: On-foot parent pick up and walk/bike home: o If you plan to pick up your child on foot, please meet us at the 5 th grade meeting area at the front of the school (to the far left if you are looking at the building). o If you give your child permission to walk/bike/scooter home independently, they must say goodbye to one of us and safely walk home. Please review a safe route to and from school with your child. Blue Zone pick up: o Your child needs to know that they are to be picked up in the Blue Zone prior to coming to school that day. Please drive as far up in the Blue Zone as possible and wait for your child to meet you. If cars move ahead, please also move ahead. To help with the flow of traffic and ensure a quick pick up for all students, please stay in your car at all times. This is also not the time to chat with your child s teacher. If you need to, please park (following all parking signs and regulations on Cypress Street and Bow Road) and meet the teacher at the 5 th grade meeting area for a brief conversation. Bus: o Students who are signed up for the bus will be dismissed from the classroom and are expected to walk independently to the bus at the front of the school. Please contact Debbie Megrian at the front office to sign up for the bus.

2 Bowen After School Care Program (BASCP) o Students who are signed up for BASCP will be dismissed from the classroom and are expected to walk independently to their assigned aftercare classroom. Please contact Ellen Carter at EllenCarter@bascp.org with any questions. Any changes made to Bowen aftercare plans need to be made through BASCP coordinators and not through your child s homeroom teacher. If your child has a change of pick up plans, you MUST send us a note. If we do not receive a note, we cannot accommodate any changes given to us verbally by your child. This is to ensure the safety of your child. Please do not classroom teachers about changes in your child s dismissal, as we cannot promise that we will check our during the school day. Please fill out the dismissal information on the back of the orange "Student Information Card" that was sent home on the first day of school. This will help us to know how your child will be dismissed daily. Return this by Tuesday, September 12th. If changes are made, either permanently or just for the day, please let us know in writing. SCHOOL SUPPLIES: You each received a list of supplies that your child might like to bring into school. In our classroom, we share the majority of our supplies, but sometimes students like a special type of pencil or eraser. We suggest that students try to store these in their pencil cases for safekeeping. We also recommend sending your child to school with a backpack each day to carry his/her belongings. Please clearly label all belongings (clothing, hats, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc.) with your child's name and room number (5W or Mod A), so they do not end up in the lost and found. PARENT HELP: There are many ways in which parents can help during the school year. When we are studying a topic, we would love for you to send in any ideas, books, or objects that are related to the theme. For some projects we may ask students to send in a particular item. If this presents a problem, please let us know. Also, if you are an expert in a topic that you think 5 th graders would find interesting, we d love for you to join our classroom as a guest speaker! We will also need your help for all kinds of projects: as Room Parents, as volunteers during rehearsals for the 5 th grade musical, and as chaperones for our field trips. An will be sent out when we are in need of parent volunteers. Parents who wish to volunteer in the classroom will need to have a CORI completed. This includes field trip chaperones, guest readers, and classroom volunteers. If you think that you would like to work with the children in any capacity, please make sure you have completed an updated CORI form. You can do so by bringing your photo ID to Ms. Debbie Megrian, in the office and filling out a form. HOMEWORK: In general, your child will receive nightly homework. Nightly homework usually consists of math and reading. For math, a one or two-sided worksheet or minutes on their IXL math account will be assigned. For reading, we ask that students engage in 30 minutes of reading time, which can be done independently or with a family member. From time to time, your child will have homework assignments for other subjects and even long-term projects. The goal in the classroom in regards to homework is that it is used to reinforce and practice the skills they are learning in the classroom. We are looking for your child to put in genuine effort into their work, not necessarily getting all of the answers correct. If you notice that your child is struggling on a homework assignment, you can encourage them to use internet resources (Kahn Academy is a great option) or send us an to give us a heads up about any concerns. We are happy to check in with your child the next morning or during enrichment times to go over any questions or

3 problems. We do not want homework to be a stressful time for students (or parents) but rather ensure a positive experience. We suggest that students have a consistent routine each night for homework. Please help your child to select a place to complete their homework that is free of distractions (TV, ipads, siblings...) as well as a consistent time of day. We understand that baseball practice, dance lessons and language classes can switch up routines, however, please enforce the importance of homework by setting aside a time and place. Your child will have an assignment notebook and homework folder that will travel to and from school each day. We spend 10 minutes during the school day to fill out nightly assignments as well as longterm projects. Please go over this daily with your child to monitor assignments. If your child forgets their assignment notebook or homework folder, please encourage them to call a classmate who can help! Mrs. Wong cannot guarantee that she will check her to provide homework help after school hours. Please know that extra time is always given if homework is forgotten or your child has a busy night; just have your child tell Mrs. Wong during morning arrival time. COMMUNICATION: The 5 th grade team would like you to know that communication between school and home is extremely important to us. Through open and honest conversations, we can work together to provide the best care and education for your child. There will be multiple methods of communications throughout the year. 1. Homework Folders: The Homework Folder is a very important part of our home-school communication system. In here, there will be notes to YOU from teachers and other staff members, fliers for important Newton/Bowen community events as well as your child s nightly homework. This is also a place for you to provide any written communication to teachers and staff such as changes in dismissal plans, permission slips or any questions and concerns. Your child is responsible for bringing their Homework Folder to and from school each day. As a 5 th grader, your child is expected to be independent and responsible for his/her own folders. If you notice that the Homework Folder was left behind at 9:00 AM, please do not drop it off at school. 2. The Fifth Grade Website and specifically, Mrs. Wong s section of the website Visiting this site regularly will keep you in the know. In general, the 5 th Grade Website will provide you with a calendar of upcoming events, important announcements and a place to review information on current and upcoming units for the whole 5 th grade. There are also informative and fun web sites for our students to go to that will reinforce skills we are teaching, as well as to prepare them for the upcoming state-wide assessments. On our classroom website, you can view announcements, newsletters, our classroom wish list, and information on Scholastic book orders all specific to our classroom. 3. /Telephone will only be used for non-urgent communication. This is usually the easiest way for parents to communicate with us about general questions or concerns. If there are any changes or events that you feel may affect your child (new job, new baby, parent away, scary experiences, etc.), please let us know. The more we know about your child, the better we will be able to understand and support him/her. We try to check our often, but please understand that our ability to do so is dependent upon our schedule for the day. We will do our best to respond to your s within hours of receiving it during regular school days and not on weekends.

4 Anything that is urgent or time-sensitive should be sent through your child's homework folder or by calling the front office. As we are not always able to check our during the school day, any changes in dismissal plans must be in writing or by contacting the front office. If we (or you) feel as though is not an appropriate way to discuss concerns about your child, you may leave a message with the front office requesting a teacher to call you back. We will do so in a timely manner. CONFERENCES: We will be meeting twice during the school year to share information about your child. The conference sign up will be done through a website (SignUpGenius). We will send an with directions when conference time is upon us! We are happy to meet with you outside of conference times as well. Just send us a note or . BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: Bowen School will celebrate birthdays with the following: Class will sing Happy Birthday to the birthday student Your child's name and birthday will be displayed in the foyer Principal Guzzi always has a birthday pencil waiting for each child in the office Your child will receive a birthday message and pencil from us If your child has a special talent (magic trick, plays an instrument, tells a good joke, etc.), s/he may wish to perform for the class. If your child is having a birthday party and inviting students from the Bowen School, we request that you mail your invitations to parties rather than pass them out in school. We want to avoid the possibility of hurt feelings. SNACK/LUNCH/RECESS: Nutritious and healthy food options are an important part of your child s development and help with focus and optimal learning. Please consider this when packing snack or lunch for your child. Some excellent options are fruit, soy butters, crackers with low-fat cheese, yogurt, popcorn, veggies and hummus, etc. Please try to avoid packing only sweets for a snack, as this is not the best brain food. Of course, a small sweet treat for dessert is fine, but no candy please! If your child has an allergy, please indicate this on the Student Information Card. Although we are not a nut-free school, we will do our best to ensure that children with allergies are kept away from foods they may be allergic to. Snack/Recess is typically sometime between 9:30 and 11 AM. Sometimes, if appropriate, students may eat snack while they are working to ensure more outside playtime. Lunch/Recess is from 11:55 AM 12:35 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Students will eat from 11:55 AM 12:15 PM, and then head outside (weather permitting) from 12:15 PM 12:35 PM for recess/free play. o If your child prefers to bring their lunch, please try to pack food in reusable containers to reduce the amount of waste our classroom produces and be considerate of the environment. o Students may purchase lunch through their Sodexo My School Bucks account. Please refer to the NPS Sodexo website for how to add money to their account. Website:

5 SCHOLASTIC READING CLUB: Each month, students will receive a Scholastic Reading Club flyer for students to order and purchase books. This is completely optional. All orders must be submitted online, please do NOT send your child to school with the book order slip and cash/check. You can find more information our classroom website under "Scholastic Book Orders. TOYS/E-READERS: Please know that toys are not allowed in our classroom and should be kept at home or in backpacks. Electronic readers (Kindles/iPads) are an exception in 5 th grade and are allowed during school hours. The book must be downloaded at home and the device must be used only for reading teacher/parent-approved books. CELL PHONES: If your child must bring a cell phone to school, it must be turned off during the school day and kept in his/her backpack in his/her cubby. If there is an emergency, please call Ms. Megrian in the office ( ). If a teacher finds a student in possession of a cell phone on school grounds during school hours, the office will hold the cell phone and return it to the student at the end of the school day. SPECIALIST SCHEDULE: Monday: Music Tuesday: none (Band practice if your child plays an instrument) Wednesday: Art and Chorus Thursday: Physical Education* and Library (and String practice if your child plays a string instrument) Friday: Physical Education* *Please have your child wear (or bring) sneakers on Thursday and Friday for Physical Education. We look forward to speaking with you all at our upcoming Parent's Back-to-School Night on Wednesday, September 13 th, where we will get the opportunity to inform you more about our classroom policies, procedures, and expectations. Here's to a happy and productive school year! Sincerely, Mrs. Wong alison_wong@newton.k12.ma.us

6 Fifth Grade Handbook (5W) Parents/Guardians: please sign and have your child turn in this page only by 9/18/17 I/We [printed name(s)] have read/reviewed the Fifth Grade Handbook with my/our child. Signature: Date: I/We have questions (if any) about