Some of these policies will be different in 20-21 due to safety measures that are being put into place. Changes will be announced closer to school.
Morning Drop Off:
Third grade brings lots of responsibilities and maturity. You will be amazed how your child changes throughout the year. One of the ways in which we encourage parents and students alike is morning drop off. As we have every year, we ask that after the first two weeks of school, that students are dropped off in typical fashion at the front or back door. We understand parents’ desire to walk students to the classroom, but it is an important step for students to make this choice themselves. The time before students arrive to the classroom (prior to 7:20) is time that teachers use to prepare for the day. School announcements begin our day within minutes of students coming upstairs from the gym and there is simply not the time to give parents the attention for a meeting at that moment. Please know that we want to be able to communicate with you frequently, so we ask that you email us or leave a message in the front office and we will contact at the earliest time. Sending a note with your child about a concern is also a great way to keep in touch with us.
Social Media:
Social media has become a way of life in our current society and it has many benefits. However, as teachers, any social media services that we use are for our personal lives and therefore, we do not accept parent or student “friend” requests. Any “friends” that we may have that are school related are typically people we already had as friends or as contacts prior to having their child in our classroom. We ask that you respect this decision that we each have made regarding our social media. In the same respect, we do not hand out our personal cell phone numbers to parents. Please use email to contact us after school hours. Please do follow the Mary Hughes Facebook account for school announcements (there are several "Mary Hughes" pages on FB... only one is the official page. Please make sure you locate the one that has the most recent posts!
Expectations:
So what’s third grade like? What can I expect? How is it different from younger grades?
Your child has been placed in a homeroom classroom, but we do rotate through all the teachers. We also split students into different groups to travel around, so if your good friend is not in your homeroom class, don’t worry! Our groups are named Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, after the early missions of NASA. Each group represents a vital part of the space program. Apollo may have reached the moon, but it would not have been possible without the foundational steps that Mercury and Gemini accomplished. These groups change throughout the year, so you may start in Apollo, but move to Mercury. Maybe you start in Gemini and move to Apollo… we keep these groups very flexible and adjust as needed. We have students of all abilities in each group, but adjust based upon the specific needs of our classes at the time.
•Students are expected to read silently or aloud each night for 20 minutes.
•Homework is limited and not sent home daily. Therefore when it is sent home it is considered very important and students are expected to complete the work by the due date.
•Projects are also assigned in some classes. Advanced notice is given to allow students plenty of time to complete these projects.
•Students are expected to begin learning their multiplication tables. Review each night in order to master these facts.
•Respect for yourself and others. We want all of our students to love coming to school. Treating other people the way you want to be treated is a good way to make that happen!
•Traditional letter grades are given in third grade. Grades can be monitored online through Powerschool and are updated weekly.
•Weekly folders are sent home typically every Wednesday. This will include information from the main office as well as graded papers.
•Students are not permitted to bring toys of any kind to school. If a student is going to a different parent’s house or a friend’s house we completely understand, we just ask that all toys stay in the book bag for the school day. This includes devices of any type. All devices should be turned off while at school.
•Hats, sunglasses, purses etc. are not permitted in the classrooms or on the playground unless it is a special dress up day school wide.
Third grade brings lots of responsibilities and maturity. You will be amazed how your child changes throughout the year. One of the ways in which we encourage parents and students alike is morning drop off. As we have every year, we ask that after the first two weeks of school, that students are dropped off in typical fashion at the front or back door. We understand parents’ desire to walk students to the classroom, but it is an important step for students to make this choice themselves. The time before students arrive to the classroom (prior to 7:20) is time that teachers use to prepare for the day. School announcements begin our day within minutes of students coming upstairs from the gym and there is simply not the time to give parents the attention for a meeting at that moment. Please know that we want to be able to communicate with you frequently, so we ask that you email us or leave a message in the front office and we will contact at the earliest time. Sending a note with your child about a concern is also a great way to keep in touch with us.
Social Media:
Social media has become a way of life in our current society and it has many benefits. However, as teachers, any social media services that we use are for our personal lives and therefore, we do not accept parent or student “friend” requests. Any “friends” that we may have that are school related are typically people we already had as friends or as contacts prior to having their child in our classroom. We ask that you respect this decision that we each have made regarding our social media. In the same respect, we do not hand out our personal cell phone numbers to parents. Please use email to contact us after school hours. Please do follow the Mary Hughes Facebook account for school announcements (there are several "Mary Hughes" pages on FB... only one is the official page. Please make sure you locate the one that has the most recent posts!
Expectations:
So what’s third grade like? What can I expect? How is it different from younger grades?
Your child has been placed in a homeroom classroom, but we do rotate through all the teachers. We also split students into different groups to travel around, so if your good friend is not in your homeroom class, don’t worry! Our groups are named Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, after the early missions of NASA. Each group represents a vital part of the space program. Apollo may have reached the moon, but it would not have been possible without the foundational steps that Mercury and Gemini accomplished. These groups change throughout the year, so you may start in Apollo, but move to Mercury. Maybe you start in Gemini and move to Apollo… we keep these groups very flexible and adjust as needed. We have students of all abilities in each group, but adjust based upon the specific needs of our classes at the time.
•Students are expected to read silently or aloud each night for 20 minutes.
•Homework is limited and not sent home daily. Therefore when it is sent home it is considered very important and students are expected to complete the work by the due date.
•Projects are also assigned in some classes. Advanced notice is given to allow students plenty of time to complete these projects.
•Students are expected to begin learning their multiplication tables. Review each night in order to master these facts.
•Respect for yourself and others. We want all of our students to love coming to school. Treating other people the way you want to be treated is a good way to make that happen!
•Traditional letter grades are given in third grade. Grades can be monitored online through Powerschool and are updated weekly.
•Weekly folders are sent home typically every Wednesday. This will include information from the main office as well as graded papers.
•Students are not permitted to bring toys of any kind to school. If a student is going to a different parent’s house or a friend’s house we completely understand, we just ask that all toys stay in the book bag for the school day. This includes devices of any type. All devices should be turned off while at school.
•Hats, sunglasses, purses etc. are not permitted in the classrooms or on the playground unless it is a special dress up day school wide.