The ABC's of Our Classroom

Absences

If your child is absent, they must bring a written excuse with them upon their return to school.

Bear Club

I will have a Bear Club starting in November for those students who may need help refining their math and reading skills. It will be held each Thursday until 5PM in our classroom. There is no cost involved. The only requirement is that transportation be arranged for each child by the parent.

Birthdays

If you want to bring a snack into the class on your child's birthday, please feel free to do so. This is not mandatory. However, I do request that you give me at least a two day notice if you wish to bring a cake and take pictures in the event there is a conflict with scheduled school or curriculum activities.

Class Rules

Stafford County and Anne E. Moncure school rules are in your student booklet and are expected to be followed.

Our class rules are:

• Respect the rights and property of yourself, adults, and other students.
• Solve problems peacefully.
• Dedicate yourself to learning.

Prior to giving the student a discipline referral slip, the following steps will take place:

First violation	Verbal warning
Second violation	Teacher-Student conference
Third violation	Ten minutes taken away from recess
Fourth violation	Discipline slip sent home to be signed by parent. Teacher will phone parents regarding slip.

Each student has a "Did I Follow Class Rules" log inside their daily folder. Each time a student violates a class or school rule, they will mark their folder on that date. This will help to determine the behavior grade for each grading period. I will maintain a record of negative student behavior.

Conferences

Conferences are scheduled after the first and third report period. You may schedule a conference at any time during the school year if you have any concerns. I may also request to see you after the third week interim report if I feel that your child is having difficulty in a subject area.

Correspondence

Feel free to call me at home or make an appointment to meet with me before or after school. Also, if you or your child have a question about homework, please do not hesitate to phone me at home. I have had many calls from parents and students in the evening and on weekends. If I am not home, just leave a message. Many parents have also found it just as convenient to send me e-mail at hbogucki@staffnet.com which I check before leaving for school and several times in the evening.

Grades

The grading scale, as required by the Stafford County Public Schools is as follows:

A+	=	98 - 100
A	=	94 - 97
B+	=	90 - 93
B	=	86 - 89
C+	=	82 - 85
C	=	78 - 81
D+	=	74 - 77
D	=	70 - 73
F	=	69 and below

Grades will be determined by daily classwork, quizzes, tests, projects and student effort.

Homework and Quizzes

Written homework will usually be assigned on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of each week. In most cases, time has been allotted in the classroom to begin the assignment. Every Wednesday, students will bring home a reading assignment to read with you. There will also be several projects and/or writing assignments throughout the year that require more time to complete. For these, I will provide at least a two week written notice of the assignment before it is due.

Each student is assigned a homework assignment book which will be brought home each day. I will sign it each day and ask that you sign it at home each evening, acknowledging that you are aware of your child's homework assignment.

We have a Homework Online Page that is available from our classroom home page. This page is usually fully posted by 6PM the day preceding the beginning of the school week. Changes made to any scheduled homework during the day in class are posted that evening.

Homework Online does not exempt the student from taking appropriate notes in class and is only offered as a convenience for parents in keeping them aware of school work and projects. Whenever possible, projects and other significant assignments are also posted as a backup to handouts provided in class.

Interims

There will be interim reports to keep you advised of your child's progress. These are provided approximately five weeks after the beginning of each grading period to let you know what your child's grade average is at that point in time. Each student in my class will receive them.

Reading

In addition to our daily subjects, we will have at least a fifteen to twenty minute period each day when we will have DROP EVERYTHING AND READ TIME. I encourage each student to bring with them a trade book from home. However, we do have a class library where each student can select a book. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading.

Snacks

We will have snack each day in the classroom at approximately 2:30 PM. It is not mandatory for students to bring snacks. However, I do encourage you to send a nutritional snack and drink if your child does bring one. Students should not bring soda or candy as a snack.

Spelling Quizzes

The words will be sent home with your child on Friday of each week. Please check your child's folder for the weekly words. Because our spelling is integrated into the reading text, there is no separate spelling book. I will make sure that you receive one printed copy of the words each Friday. Another copy of the words will stay in each student's daily folder. We will have a pre-test on Wednesday and the quiz on Friday. If a student receives an "A" on Wednesday, they will not take the quiz on Friday. Instead, they will be given a Spelling Challenge. Our weekly spelling words are also available on-line from our class room home page. Challenge words will be sent home on Wednesdays and will not be posted on our class home page.

Supplies

Please look over our School Supply List provided with our information packet. Trapper Keepers Are Highly Discouraged since they take up quite a bit of valuable space in your child's desk!

Testing

The writing component of the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test will be administered in March and the remaining tests late May or early June.

Weekly Preview

Each week (usually Fridays) your child will receive a weekly preview that is to be given to you. This will let you know what we will be doing for that week in our classroom. The Weekly Preview is also available from our classroom home page.

Weekly Progress Reports

Each week you will receive a weekly progress report. This report will let you know if your child had a good week or is having difficulty in any subject.