Dear Parents,

Welcome to 4^th grade! My name is Mrs. Clavijo, and I am beginning my 13^th year at West Lake Elementary. I taught 3^rd grade for several years before making the switch to 4^th grade in 2001. I truly love our school and the teachers, children, and families that make up our community. As a teacher, I am committed to being a learner myself, constantly reflecting on my teaching and finding ways to improve upon my practice to better serve your children. Beyond my role as teacher, I am also a wife and mother of 6 year old twins who will be starting 1^st grade during the 2008-2009 school year.

I am thrilled to be starting a new school year with your children. We have a busy year ahead of us, with many new academic challenges. I know that first on many of your minds is the NC Writing Test. Don’t worry. We have many things in place to help your children progress in writing, including the inclusion of writing team time, to go along with the math team time we started last year to target specific areas of need. This will not only give your children more skill specific instruction in writing and math, but it will allow them the opportunity to gain exposure to the other awesome teachers on our grade level: Ms. Holloman, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Sawyer, Mrs. Brady, and Mrs. Miller. We will also work to help you as parents learn more about the NC writing expectations. I will discuss the 4^th grade academic curriculum in more detail at the Open House.

Fourth grade is a year of increased student responsibility behaviorally as well. Students will be held accountable for forgotten homework, even if parents bring it to school, students will have to write down and keep track of homework, tests, and projects in their own agendas, students will take their own notes and have to study from them for tests etc. This may seem a challenge at the start of the year, but by working together and holding the children accountable, we will achieve growth in terms of behavior and study skills. It is important that students have the supplies listed on the supply list as soon as possible. I will help them to label and organize their folders, in order to get ready for the year. Let me know if you can not afford any of the supplies due to financial hardship. Students will have behavior calendars to be signed nightly, at least for the start of the year. This will help us communicate regularly about behavior and study skill progress. Ask parents who have been through 4^th grade before, you will be amazed at how far your children will come, but it may take time to get there.

Again, I look forward to working with you and your children this year! I can’t wait to see what wonderful learners your children already are, and what amazing learners they will continue to become throughout their 4^th grade year. Let’s get started . . . .

Sincerely,

Mrs. Clavijo