A LITTLE ABOUT ME:

I was born and raised in the San Diego area. I graduated with distinction from CSUSM with my undergraduate degree in 2002 and then went on to earn my teaching credential in 2003. In 2011, I received my Master’s Degree in teaching with an emphasis in reading instruction. I am both GATE and GLAD certificated. I have been teaching since 2003.

ATTENDANCE:

Third grade is such an exciting year! It is a year filled with exciting new learning, projects, and amazing growth. It is therefore crucial that your child is here promptly at 8:45 every day. Tardies and unexcused absences decrease the quality of your child’s education and work ethic.

HOMEWORK:            

There will be regular nightly homework assigned Monday through Thursday evenings. I try to limit this to 20 minutes of reading, and an assignment from one or two subject areas. At times, there are projects, papers, and activities going on in addition to this basic framework. Homework is kept track of in the student’s homework planner (provided by the school), beginning the very first evening. Because homework is primarily assigned to reinforce and review concepts already introduced in class, students should be able to work on it fairly independently. As part of a team, each member (parent, teacher, and child) has his/her own responsibilities when it comes to homework. 

LUNCH:

Please be sure that your child leaves home each morning with a healthy snack to keep his/her energy up. Cheese and crackers, peanut butter and apples, and granola bars are better choices than chips or soft drinks. Similarly, there is a district-wide policy regarding foods containing sugar (even birthday treats) that will be coming home to you. Basically, there are no food items allowed for birthday celebrations.

PE:

Our PE days this year will be ___________________.Children should wear comfortable athletic shoes and socks. Students are also welcome to bring  water bottles to stay hydrated. Please label these with their first and last name in Sharpie to identify.

DISCIPLINE:

I have a progressive discipline program that provides both positive and negative consequences for a student’s behavior. Students who choose to follow classroom rules are rewarded with special classroom privileges, table points, and group incentives. Those who choose to break those rules have progressive consequences such as behavior sheets, 10 minutes in another classroom, and parent phone calls. I will go into detail about these steps when I see you Thursday evening. I feel very strongly about disciplining children in a manner that preserves mutual respect and allows them to maintain their dignity.

VOLUNTEERS:

Volunteers are needed for many of our classroom functions. If you are interested in regular participation of one of these duties, please contact me. Activities include correcting papers (at home or in class), Xeroxing and stapling, sorting student work into folders, working in the classroom as a room parent, prepping projects, art docent, taking photographs, etc.

Sincerely,  

Mrs. Sanchez