Hello Parents and Guardians!

My name is Miss Garcia, and I will be your student’s English Language Arts teacher for

this year! I would like to start off by saying how excited I am to work with your students. I have

not been teaching for very long but am incredibly passionate about what I do and sharing what I

love about English with my students. I received my Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2018

and worked in the field for about 2 years afterward. In that time, I realized that my passion for

teaching was more important to me and began my journey into the classroom.

In my classroom, I have a series of procedures that I hope my students can follow every

day. I believe that routine is very important to helping students understand class expectations and

make them comfortable in knowing that there aren’t many surprises. I do have a procedure for

entering the classroom where students must walk in with 6 feet between themselves and other

students, sanitize their hands by the door, and take a seat in their assigned desks. This procedure

is important for maintaining COVID-19 precautions in the class. Another expectation is that

students will give me their attention upon hearing a series of claps from me that they should

repeat to show me they are giving me their attention.

My final and most important procedure is dismissal. I expect that I am able to hold my

students’ attention for my scheduled class time. The school bells ring twice before students fill

the halls: once as a warning that class is almost over, and again to dismiss them from their

classrooms. It is my expectation that students will use the warning bell to silently pack their

belongings and wait patiently in their seats before the second bell. They must leave my class

maintaining social distancing and sanitize on their way out so that they respect their next

classroom precautions.
 I’m sure that you find these procedures as important as I do and I hope that by sharing

them with you, you will be aware of important aspects of my class. That being said, I grade all

assignments based on rubrics that will be provided to students and the effort they put into their

work. It is important that students are able to demonstrate their efforts by showing thought in

their short answers and reasonable attempts of their work. I grade on a 50-100 grading scale

where failure is a challenge to accomplish and students have more of a chance to demonstrate

true learning and let their grades reflect their efforts.

Work should be turned in through our Schoology submission posts by the assigned date

at 11:59 pm. I understand that life sometimes gets in the way—even for students—and that they

may not always meet the deadlines. In these cases, students should contact me immediately. If

they are unhappy with the grades they receive on assignments or their averages, they should also

schedule a conference with me to determine reattempts on work or supplementary assignments

they can complete to improve their grades. I do not allow retakes or extra work without a

conference or some form of communication beforehand to determine the most appropriate course

of action in the best interest of the student.

In regard to conferences with me, I am fairly easy to get a hold of. Students may reach

me by email or Google Hangouts at any time. Parents and guardians, you are able to use those

methods as well or you may contact me by call or text through my Google Voice phone number I

have provided at the end of this letter. I will be most available to answer questions and concerns

between 7 am and 7 pm Mondays through Fridays. I will make myself available on Saturdays

from 10 am to 3 pm for electronic communication to accommodate varied schedules.

Communication outside of those hours will be limited to emails and will be answered as soon as

I am able to, though I may not respond to them until my next available timeframe.
 Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about my

class or your student at any time this year. It is my firm belief that our students will not be able to

succeed without a solid support system and we can be that for them by working together as

teacher and parent to create the best possible circumstances for them to succeed. Thank you for

taking the time to understand your student’s class and expectations. Please enjoy the rest of your

day and I am excited to work with you and your student this year!

Contact Options:

Email (applies to Hangouts as well)

Google Voice Number (for parents only)

Sincerely,

Miss Garcia

7th & 8th Grade ELA Teacher