The ABC’s of Transitional - 2013
A...Adults Available in Transitional
There are 2 dedicated teachers here to work with your family and child
this year.
Ms. Finn has been teaching for 14 years in North Clackamas School
District. She has two sons, Toby and Ian. She is thrilled to be a part of
Sojourner School and looks forward to getting to know each of the
families.
Mrs. Wear has been teaching for 16 years and all but two of those years,
she has been at Sojourner. She is a busy mom of 4, 3 of which attend
Sojourner. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, eating, and spending
time with family and friends.
B...Backpacks
Our transitional student’s backpacks are stored in the middle area of our
quad, along with the intermediate student’s backpacks. The space is
limited so we ask the students to zip up all their belongings in their
backpack. This helps minimize the loss of personal belongings. While the
weather is nice, it is not difficult to keep everything zipped up. During the
winter months, it is a bit more challenging but we still require students to
keep their belongings in their backpack. As the coats get thicker, please
help your child practice zipping their coats up into their backpacks.
C...Celebrating Special Occasions
We are asked if treats can be brought in to celebrate a child’s birthday.
For a variety of reasons, our school has decided to not have treats
brought in. It takes time, not all can participate, and is hard on children
with dietary restrictions. In lieu of a birthday treat, if you would like to have
your child’s birthday recognized in class, please donate a book on behalf
of your child’s birthday. We will add it to our classroom library to be
enjoyed by all for years to come.
D...Daily Routine
We have a dynamic daily routine here at school. Students are actively
moving from class to class all throughout the day. To really understand
the daily routine, it is something you need to experience first hand. We
encourage you to visit at different times to understand your child’s whole
school experience.
E...Expectations
Our expectations are simple. We expect students to come to school
prepared to learn and participate in a full day. We expect students to be
involved, enjoy learning, feel safe, take risks, and most of all learn to love
learning! Our expectations for the families are simple as well. We expect
you to support our school philosophy, your child, and be actively involved
in the Sojourner life.
F...Folders
Each student has been given a “take home folder” this year. The folder is
used to send papers home but also for you to send notes/paperwork back
to school. The folder needs to be taken home and brought back to school
daily. Each morning, your child will empty out any from home into the
“turn in” box. At the end of the day, they will bring their folders home.
Please keep in mind that these folders are for school-home
correspondence, not to be used to send out personal party invites, cards,
etc. Please use other methods (email, USPS, phone) to communicate
with other families.
G...Groups
Students will be divided into 4 groups this year – group A, B, C, and D.
These groups will change 3 times this school year. The groups are
created to balance out boys, girls, 2nd, and 3rd graders. In these ABCD
groups, they will travel to all their classes, with the exception of math.
Math is the only time when students will be separated out by grade level.
Depending on the schedule, your child may be just with their group or
combined with another group. We make an effort to vary our group
combinations so that the children will be able to be with different friends all
throughout the day.
H...Homework
Homework will be sent as needed. This year you will be seeing
homework for spelling, reading, and math periodically. Our projects are
our most involved homework. The project journals are a little different in
Transitional than in Primary. The project timeline runs for 9 weeks. After
the 9 weeks, we host a Project Walk to give the students an opportunity to
share their learning with the rest of the school. Then during the following
week, students will present their projects in front of an audience as well as
be filmed.
I...Integrated Studies
In integrated studies we will be exploring different topics under the big
umbrella of social studies and science. The specific topics will be
revealed soon!
J...Journey
The notion that childhood is a journey is implicit in our school name. Our
students are the young travelers who journey the way with us through this
educational adventure. We are happy and proud to accompany the
Transitional children along this path.
K...Kindness
Children at this age are learning to work together and slowly moving out of
the “me, me, me” stage. At times it is easy for children to forget how to
treat others. Kindness is something we talk about daily. Kind words, kind
acts, treating others the way they would want to be treated. We spend a
lot of time together at school and work on “community building”. Please
help us reinforce these character traits by talking about kindness and
consideration at home with your child.
L...Lost and Found
We have 60 students. That is a lot of coats, backpacks, lunch boxes,
water bottles, etc. to keep track of. Please write your child’s name inside
their coats, backpacks, and lunch boxes. Also, many students bring
reusable containers for snack. Many of them get left in the classroom.
We will be throwing away all containers on Friday.
The ABC’s of Transitional - 2013
M...Multiple Intelligence
MI Theory, developed by Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University,
suggests that intelligence is centered in many parts of the brain. These
areas are interconnected, rely upon one another and can work
independently if needed. All students at Sojourner School participate in
dynamic programs that engage the intelligence areas in meaningful ways.
N…Nutrition
As a school, we ask that students bring a fresh fruit or veggie for health
reasons and to keep it simple since we do not have a set “snack time”.
Students are required to work and eat at the same time. Every minute is
precious to us at school. We want a snack policy that is very clear, cut
and dry, black and white. We do not want to have to make a judgment
call as to which granola bars are allowed, which fruit leather is ok, and
which dried fruits are healthy and allowed. Another thing to remind
students is that food from home is not to be shared, during snack or lunch
under any circumstance. We are also working on proper table manners.
We are working on talking quietly, sitting properly, appropriate topic of
conversation, and eating neatly and politely. We expect them to eat here
at school, as they would at your dinner table or at a restaurant.
O...Off On Vacation?
At times during the school year, families choose to go on vacations. We
are confident that a lot of thought was put into when you chose to go on
vacation. If and when you do go on your vacation(s), we will never send
your child with work and we will also not ask your child to make up work
that they missed while they were gone. So much of the work we do on
school revolves around classroom discussions, partner work, etc. It is
difficult to make those sessions up. If your vacation/absence exceeds 10
school days, we are required to drop them from our enrollment. Please
keep this in mind as you plan your vacations.
P...Philosophy
Our philosophy of education emphasizes learning as an interactive
process. Teachers work hard to prepare the environment for children to
learn through exploration and interaction with adults and the other
children. We believe that each child is unique and has much to contribute
to our community. Learning is a lifelong journey and takes place at
different times for each student. We feel it is important to assess where
each individual is and encourage and measure growth from that point.
Learning is not a competition and it is not about comparing. Each
progression made by a child is something to celebrate. We plan on
celebrating a lot this year!
Q...Questions
If you ever have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you are
emailing us with a concern about your child, please make sure you
contact both of us. We are equally their teacher and it is important for
both of us to be aware of what is happening with your child.
Ms. Finn’s email address is: finnl@nclack.k12.or.us
Mrs. Wear’s email address is:wearm@nclack.k12.or.us
Please keep in mind that our only planning time in is the AM to get ready
for the day, so please schedule appointments if we need to meet in
person.
R...Respect & Responsibilities
Students and teachers work as a community in our classroom and we
each have responsibilities. We are all learners and teachers and are
responsible not only for our own behavior and learning but we are
responsible for the learning of all the students. We talk to students about
how each person is a role model and teaching others new things through
their actions, words, and behavior. Respect plays a key role in all of our
actions. When sending your child to school, please remind and prepare
them to come be the best learner and teacher possible.
S...Safety
Your child’s safety is our priority. If you know your child is going to be
absent, please let the office know. The end of the school day is always
hectic and many children worry about how they will get home. If there are
any changes to how your child will be going home, please send a note to
school with your child in their folder. They will need to take their notes to
the office after checking in at opening. We understand that there may be
last minute changes but phone calls at the end of the day are confusing
and unreliable. There is peace of mind for all of us if we know well in
advance how your child will be going home.
T...Transitions
Our transitional class is a busy group. We are constantly on the move –
whether it be between the 2 transitional classrooms or to Orff, Spanish,
Flow, PE, Mr. W, PODS, and soon-to-be violin. In our dynamic program,
smooth and quick transitions are critical to fitting it all in. Please talk to
your child about making good choices and helping to make these
transitions smooth.
U...Understanding
Children express their understanding in many different ways. We will
provide varied activities for that expression of understanding through art,
music, reading, writing, movement, inter and intrapersonal experiences.
We encourage you to allow your child this varied expression at home as
well.
V...Volunteers
We are eager to have volunteers in our classroom. There are always
things to be done in the classroom and at times, there are take-home
projects as well. To help us be better prepared for you, it is always helpful
if you could sign up in advance with our volunteer coordinator, Kelli
Winant. Kelli Winant has graciously accepted the job of organizing our
volunteer calendar. Please contact her directly at fotytyme@yahoo.com
/503 806 1147. We look forward to seeing many of you in the classroom
this year.
W...Website
Our school website is up and running and being updated constantly. For
any information about our school, please check our website first.
http://www.nclack.k12.or.us/sojs
X,Y and Z...”Z” End!