Welcome

From the desk of:
School Director, Kelly Herron

Thank you for the kind thoughts, prayers and well wishes over the past few weeks. My family and I certainly appreciate it! We are doing well.  I am not yet back in the office, but look forward to being back with you all by the end of the month. It was great seeing so many of you at Parent University last week.

We hope that each of you who attended that event walked away an understanding of your child’s current level of performance, our goals for them for this school year and some websites to help him/her meet those “Big Goals.” This Parent University was held in conjunction with College Go Week!

As crazy as it sounds, it’s never too early to start planning for your child’s success in school, college and in a career. Many of our children already know (or think they know) what they want to be when they grow up. Whatever your child wants to be, help him or her make the connection between doing well in school now, graduating from college and meeting their career goals.

Sounds great, right? Yes, but as a parent, I often find myself stumped and asking, “What should I be doing with my 5-year old on a daily basis to make sure he understands the importance of what he is doing at school?” I know if I ask the question, “What did you do in school today?” I am going to get an answer such as, “Nothing” Or “Ate lunch” or “Went to recess” I’m sure many of your children aren’t much different.

In our after-school chats I have found a few other questions to be much more effective in starting a good conversation about the school day: “Tell me about what’s in your folder.” “What book did you read or did someone read to you today?” “What’s something new you learned?” or simply, “Tell me about the best part of your day!” Setting aside time each day to have these conversations and go through your child’s folder and backpack will help him/her see how critical you think school is.

Another way to demonstrate the importance of success in school to our children is to attend Parent/Teacher Conferences. Our first quarter conferences will be held on Friday, October 26th. Please make a note that students do not have school on this day. Two weeks prior, you will receive a letter with the appointment time for your child’s conference. If for some reason you are unable to attend your assigned time, please reschedule with your child’s teacher. It is critical that we take the time to sit down and talk specifically about your child and the progress he or she is making. I certainly plan to be at school on this day and look forward to talking with many of you.

In the meantime, please continue “after-school chats” with your child,  nightly checks of the backpack and folder and daily reading to achieve Book It! goals.