I have been excited to get into your students’ classrooms this month to talk about our character trait of the month: RESPECT! In the younger grade level classes, we talked about how I can help them as their School Counselor (using Mr. Potato Head) and then learned about respect using the idea of sportsmanship when we play games (to follow the GameChangers theme!). If you have 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students, ask them if they have used their brain’s respect “filter” lately! Remind them our filters get stronger with practice.
If I have not visited your child’s class yet, I will be visiting it this week. I will teach a lesson in every class once a month.
In other news…
For current 5th graders interested in applying for the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) program for 6th grade, those applications will be available from me starting Wednesday, 9/28. The I.B. application process has several steps, so don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you or your child have any questions. There will be an I.B. information session & open house at Fairfield Middle School on Thursday, 10/13. Two identical sessions will be held that evening: one from 5:00-6:00 pm and the second from 6:00-7:00 pm. Please plan to attend one of those sessions if you’re interested in exploring the I.B. possibility. The student portions of I.B. applications will be due back to me by Monday, 11/14 and the I.B. writing prompt will be here at school that Wednesday, 11/16.
If you would like to refer a student for the Gifted Identification process, the time frame in which you can do that this school year is Monday 10/10/16 – Friday 10/28/16 for students in grades 3, 4, or 5 (for students in grades K, 1, or 2, the referral window is Monday 1/2/17 – Friday 1/20/17). To refer a student, you must notify me in writing that you would like a student screened for Gifted (an email is fine, or send a note in to school) during this window. It is HCPS policy that referrals cannot be considered outside of these time frames. Please let me know if you have any questions – I am here to help!