Letter from the PTA

One of the reasons why I love being a parent volunteer is that I am able to get to know the teachers and learn more about the 'behind the scenes' of how things work. I am so excited about the teacher collaboration process, and the vision of what it can do for our children, and wanted to share with you what I have learned.

Every 'early out Monday' after school, the teachers from each grade meet together in teams to discuss positives and problems having to do with the curriculum and the children. They share their experience, talents, and strengths to enrich every classroom and help solve problems. School-wide professionals from reading recovery, resource, and speech pathology also attend these meetings to help spot warning signs of learning disabilities, and provide support for teaching concepts to children who may need a little extra help.

This collaboration ensures that each class in the grade is learning the same things at the same time, which allows teachers to coordinate homework and class assignments, working together to prepare worksheets and tests, and share the most effective ways to teach each concept. They are even able to rotate with another as different subjects are taught, utilizing each teacher's knowledge for the benefit of each child. Not only do they help children who may have fallen behind, but have also put in to place opportunities for children who are ahead. I was also interested to learn that each team of teachers has made goals to improve together.  If you are interested in learning more about what your grade's team is doing, ask your child's teacher.

Our children have the benefit of not only their individual teachers, but also the other 3 or 4 teachers in the same grade, as well as other faculty and staff in the school. I had the privilege of meeting with each team of teachers recently, and was impressed about their organized communication, and what a benefit early out Monday is for our children.

I have always been proud of the caliber of teachers that we have, and now have even more reason to be impressed. I would like to personally thank our teachers for the extra effort they put in to make each of our children successful.

From,
Trisa Greenfield, PTA President