Room 28 Newsletter

September 26, 2014

Its amazing to me how quickly the time has flown since the beginning of the school year! Well be at the end
of this quarter before we know it!! Progress Reports will be sent home with every student on October 10th.
The first marking period ends on October 31st. Report cards will be sent home on November 11th. Parentteacher conferences will take place November 11th, 13th, 14th. I will send reminders home as to the conference
time you signed up for.
MAP/NWEA Testing Your children have completed our first round of MAP testing in Reading, Language,
Math, and Science. Students who were absent for or did not complete tests will be making those up next week.
MAP testing will be conducted twice more during the school year.
Book Reports Your childs first book report is due today, Monday, October 6th. The genre for the next book
report is a mystery story. The requirements remain the same: the length of the book must be at least 100 pages.
The due date for the mystery book report will be Monday, November 3, 2014. The children will be given an
instruction sheet which outlines the procedures for the Mystery Book Report.
Homework In general, your children have been very conscientious and responsible about completing and
turning in homework. We have been working very hard to establish routines regarding homework and
regarding responsibility. As you know, developing that sense of responsibility and organization will serve your
students well in their educations and certainly in life. Remember that each child was given a homework
notebook (agenda) on the first day of school. All assignments should be written into this notebook on a daily
basis. In the case of absence, students have as many days to make up work as they have been absent. It is the
responsibility of the student to check with me once he/she returns to school to see what needs to be made up.
Students should also check the classroom homework agenda, where they will find daily assignments listed.
Students who are absent are also responsible to turn in work that is made up from absence. I will not ask for it.
If a student has not been absent and does not have an assignment ready in class to turn in/check when it
is due, a missing assignment notice will be sent home for a parent signature. The student should return the
signed notice, along with the assignment, which will receive reduced credit. Assignments which are one day
late have a 10% score reduction, and assignments which are two days late have a 20% score reduction. After
two days, no credit will be given for late assignments.
I do not send e-mail messages regarding missing assignments. I am trying to instill responsibility in the
students to take home and return the missing assignment notice with a parent signature. If, after two days, no
signed notice is returned, I will contact parents.
I am working with the students on staying organized. I do not allow school papers to be discarded in
school, so all returned/graded papers should be taken home and left at home. Students can certainly develop
their own systems for organization, as long as theyre able to quickly find papers as they are called for in class.
Separate folders for each class helps students to keep papers organized and ready when theyre needed.
Beginning October 1, students will not be permitted to return to lockers/homerooms for forgotten papers or
materials.
Storyworks Magazine We are using this monthly classroom magazine as a valuable tool in our
Reading/Language Arts curriculum. If you have not had the chance to send in the $7.00 fee for your childs
yearlong subscription to Storyworks, please do so as soon as possible.

Halloween Our Halloween party will be held on, Friday, October 31st. Your children will have regular class
time during the morning. We will spend time in the afternoon exchanging treats and enjoying a Game Day.
Students may bring in hand-held electronic games, board games, card games, etc. I will send home a
permission slip that needs to be filled out and returned if your child would like to bring a hand-held electronic
game to school on October 31st. Students are also welcome to bring other types of games, but no permission
slip is required for those. Hand-held music devices are also welcome, but all music must, of course, be schoolappropriate.
The children are welcome to bring in Halloween treats to share with their classmates during our classroom
celebration. Well treat this day as a Junk Food Friday-type day, so the children may bring in snacks and sodas,
etc. (I can feel the sugar in the air already! Oy!!) Students will be permitted to wear costumes in the afternoon
for our class celebration. Please remember that costumes should be simple to put on/take off over regular
school clothes. No masks, or other accessories such as swords, etc., will be permitted. Costumes should avoid
anything which might be gruesome or frightening to younger children.
Lighthouse Trunk or Treat
Information about the first Annual Lighthouse Trunk or Treat was sent home with students on Monday. The
Lighthouse teachers and PTG are VERY excited about hosting this event. We hope you will consider hosting a
trunk and joining in all the spooktacular fun! Please note that this is a PRE-paid event. All response forms
and payment are due by October 1st. Bracelets and more detailed information about the evening will go
home with your youngest or only Lighthouse child on Monday, October 6th. Those attending MUST be wearing
the wristband to get into the event. NO sales will be made the day of. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming School-wide Events

September 29, 2014
Spirit Week Begins
September 30, 2014
School Picture Day
October 2, 2014
Lemur Leap Walk-2:00-3:00
October 10, 2014
Progress Reports sent home with all students
October 10, 2014
Trunk or Treat
October 31, 2014
End of first marking period
November 4, 2014
No Classes for Students Staff Professional Development
November 5, 2014
Picture Re-take Day
November 7, 2014
Half-Day Records Day Dismissal - 12:06 p.m.
November 11, 2014
Report Cards sent home with all students
November 11, 13, 14, 2014 Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 14, 2014
Half Day of School Dismissal at 12:06 p.m.
November 26-28, 2014
Thanksgiving Recess
December 1, 2014
Classes Resume
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please dont hesitate to contact me here at school.
Thank you,
Miss Barbara Lipinski
blipinski@abs.misd.net
(586) 725-6404