August 5, 2014

Dear Parents of Fourth Grade Students,

Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! We hope your summer holidays were relaxing and rejuvenating as we prepare for a positive and exciting year for your child. Below is some information to help you understand our grade four routines. We will be sharing more information with you during Back to School Night on the 21st of August.

Schedule and Supervision

The playground is supervised from 8:00 in the morning. If your child arrives before this time, please stay with him or her until a duty teacher is on the playground. When the duty teacher rings the bell at 8:25, students line up with their teachers in the covered area of the elementary playground. Look for your teacher’s sign. Teachers bring students into their classrooms by 8:30, so all students should arrive by this time. If your child comes late to school, he or she should pick up a yellow pass from the elementary reception before going to class.  

The school day for elementary students is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. At the end of the day, teachers bring the students downstairs. The playground is supervised from 3:30 until the bell rings at 3:45. After this time it is the responsibility of parents to supervise their own children if they choose to remain on the school grounds.

Please note that specials classes are now based on color groupings, and more information will be provided about that soon. Be mindful of your son/daughter’s color group.

Color Group	Monday Specials	Tuesday Specials	Wednesday Specials	Thursday Specials	Friday Specials
Red	Music, French	Art, Indian Studies	Art, French	Library, French, PE	PE, Music
Orange	French, Art	Indian Studies, French	Music, PE	Library, PE, Art	Music, French
Yellow	Ar, Music	Spanish, PE	Spanish, PE	Library, Indian Studies, Music	Spanish, Art
Green	PE, Indian Studies	French, Art	French, Music	Library, Music, Art	French, PE
Blue	Indian Studies, Spanish	PE, Music	Art, Spanish	Library, Spanish, Music	Art, PE
Violet	Spanish, PE	Music, Spanish	Indian Studies, PE	Library, Art, PE	Music, Spanish

Things to Bring

AISC provides all the basic stationery supplies for students such as pencils, erasers, and notebooks.  The classrooms are well-stocked with art supplies such as markers, colored pencils, and scissors. Therefore, it is not necessary for students to bring their own classroom or art supplies.

We encourage students to bring hats to wear on the playground. It can get cool in the classroom with the A/C on, so you may want to send a light sweater or sweatshirt to school. You can leave a hat and a sweatshirt in the classroom for your child. WATER BOTTLES are imperative since there are no cups at the water dispensers. Please write your child’s name on all items you send to school. Closed-toed shoes/sneakers are required for PE class.

Snack /Lunch

As just stated, it is crucial that you send a reusable water bottle to school with your child each day. Each classroom has a Kinley water dispenser inside so students can refill their bottles if needed during the day. Each day the students should bring a healthy snack to eat during their morning break.  

Students had the option to pre-order lunch for the first few weeks of school.  If you did not pre-order, please send your child with a healthy packed lunch every day.  

Grade Level Policies

Homework: Fourth grade students will begin receiving homework assignments in the second week of school.  The students will receive about 40 minutes of homework per night. As part of the homework requirement, students are expected to read for a minimum of 20 minutes in English every night. We also encourage reading in the home language.

Friday Folders: We will send various classroom and school-wide information inside of the Friday Folders.  Please read and remove all papers and remind your son/daughter to return the folder on the following Monday.

Birthdays: We are happy to celebrate birthdays in the classroom.  You are welcome to bring a cake, and all of the materials needed for serving. We request that you do not pass out goodie bags or gifts to students during these celebrations. Please contact your homeroom teacher at least a week in advance of your child’s birthday to schedule a time. If you are holding a private party, please distribute invitations outside of school.

School-Wide Policies

Please review the information in your parent/student handbook as it may answer many questions you have about school. We encourage you to read and discuss some sections with your child(ren). Please sign and return the back page.   

Important Dates

You are invited to attend the elementary Welcome Back Assembly on Friday, August 8th from 8:45-9:30. We look forward to meeting you and providing you with more information about our fourth grade program at Back to School Night on August 21st.

We are thrilled to begin another exciting year at AISC.

Warm regards,

Grade 4 Team

4A Ms. MacDonald, 4B Ms. T, 4C Ms. Nanda, 4D Mrs. Pam, 4E Ms. Chris

EAL Specialists Ms. Deanna and Ms. Morris

Associate Teacher Ms. Lauren