Classroom Messenger
Mrs. Mercer
Third Grade
Lovettsville Elementary School
September 4, 2015
bmercer@lcps.org
Welcome to Third
Grade!
Dear Parents,
Welcome! I hope you and your
family have had an enjoyable summer
and are ready to
begin the
challenges of a
new school
year. As we
begin the 20152016 school
year, I am
looking forward to a productive,
exciting year of learning for your child.
I have prepared this newsletter to
introduce myself and to provide you
with some information to get our year
started.
I am pleased to have the
opportunity to work with you this year
as we help your child experience all the
joys of learning. Your participation and
encouragement will be major
contributions to your child’s success
this year.
If you have questions or
concerns throughout the year, please do
not hesitate to contact me. Unless it is
an emergency, I would appreciate a
note, e-mail or phone call requesting a
meeting time so that I will be able to
give you and your child my undivided
attention. The telephone number at
Lovettsville Elementary is 540-7512470.
I have found that e-mail is often
an efficient means of communication
with parents who have general
questions or
information to
Back to
share with me.
School
I am usually
able to check
Night
e-mail several
Thursday,
times during
the day;
September
however, if the
information is
10
of a time
6:30 p.m.
sensitive nature, please call the school
office or send a written note to school
with your child. In addition, if the
information is of a confidential nature,
it would be best to discuss it at a
conference or in a telephone
conversation instead of using e-mail.
Additional information about
conferences and e-mailing can be
found under the Parent Communication
section of this newsletter.
Introducing
Mrs. Mercer
This school year marks the
beginning of my 38th year as a teacher.
I am a fifth generation native
Washingtonian. I grew up in
Montgomery County, Maryland. I
earned my bachelor’s degree in
elementary and early childhood
education from what is now Shepherd
University. I completed a master’s
degree program in learning disabilities
at West Virginia University. I have
taught both regular and special
education classes. I began my teaching
career in Berkeley County, West
Virginia. I then taught in Jefferson
County, West Virginia, and Sarasota
County, Florida, before moving to
Loudoun County in 1991. My husband
and I live in Round Hill.
Home/School
Communication
For Students and Parents:
Newsletter
In order to keep you informed
about our classroom, I will send home
a newsletter every other week that will
announce upcoming projects, report on
classroom activities in each subject
area, inform you about school events,
and provide information related to each
of our classes. Most newsletters will be
briefer than this one, but there is a lot
of information to share at the beginning
of the school year. Newsletters will be
sent home every other Monday. If you
do not receive a newsletter, please let
me know and I will send another copy
home. You can also find a copy of all
classroom newsletters on our class
webpage.
Student Planners
Each student has been given a
student planner. The students will use
these on a regular basis to record
homework assignments and due dates.
In addition to the calendar pages, your
child’s planner includes other
important features and information.
Please take time to look over this
important learning tool with your child.
Each student will be required to
keep the planner at his/her desk
throughout the school day so the
planners can be an integral part of our
organizational system.
This planner is also an excellent
means of parent/teacher
communication. If you have a short
note to write or question to ask me, you
may write it in your child’s planner.
Please remind your child to show me
his/her planner if you have included a
note to me, as I often do not look at
planners until the end of the day on the
days when we need to write down
assignments.
Parent Communication:
Back to School Night
Lovettsville Elementary will
hold its Back to School
Night for third, fourth, and
fifth grades on Thursday,
September 10, at 6:30
p.m. I look forward to
seeing you there!
Web Page
Parent Conferences
There is a class web page on the
Loudoun County Public Schools web
site for Lovettsville Elementary:
At Back to School Night, I will
provide sign-up sheets for parentteacher conference times. It is my goal
to meet with each parent for a
conference by Thanksgiving. You may
choose to sign up for a time during the
first grading period (conferences
usually begin in mid-October), at the
end of the first grading period
(beginning of November), or after the
first report card has been sent home. If
you need to meet with me prior to midOctober, please let me know.
http://www.lcps.org/lovettsville
When you reach the Lovettsville
Elementary site, click on Teams, then
Third Grade, then click on Mrs.
Mercer.
E-mail
Welcome to Third Grade!
Loudoun County Public Schools
has provided instructional staff
members with a professional e-mail
address to support their responsibilities
as employees with LCPS. This e-mail
is to be used for clarification of
assignments, due date questions, field
trip questions, requests for a phone call
or conference, and any other
information about class assignments.
Please note that discussions about a
student, discipline issues, and
confidential student information are
best dealt with in a parent/teacher
conference. My email address is:
bmercer@lcps.org
Homework
Homework assignments provide
opportunities for students to review
previously learned skills, practice skills
they are currently studying, and apply
skills they have already learned.
Regularly scheduled homework
assignments also require students to
develop organizational skills and a
sense of responsibility with regard to
their work.
Students will be assigned
homework according to the following
schedule:
Daily
Students were assigned a math
activity for homework on Tuesday and
assigned an activity called “Brown-Bag
It!” on Wednesday. This activity is a
beginning of the year, sharing activity.
Using the structure of the “Brown-Bag
It!” activity, each student will tell the
class a little bit about themselves.
Some students presented their bags to
the class today, and others will be
presenting their bags next Tuesday.
Students may be given a brief
assignment to do in the evening,
Monday through Thursday, beginning
the week of September 8. These
assignments may include math
practice, word study (spelling)
reinforcement activities, reading
activities and assignments in social
studies or science. More information
will be sent home as we begin each of
these kinds of assignments. Some
homework assignments will be due the
following day. Other assignments, such
as Word Study, will be sent home on
Monday and will be due on Friday.
On occasion, a student may be
assigned classroom work that was not
finished during the school day, as
necessary.
We will use the students’
planners to write down daily
homework assignments. I will be
checking and initialing each student’s
planner for the month of September in
order to make sure that the planners are
being completed correctly. After that,
we will continue to supervise students’
assignment writing and will initial
certain students’ planners, as necessary,
to monitor them for completion and
accuracy.
Thursday Folders
Just as we did last year, each
student has been given an orange folder
titled “Teachers…Parents
Communicator”. The majority of
schoolwide and grade level information
that needs to be sent home will be
included in this folder on Thursdays.
We will also use this folder as our
homework folder, so students will
bring the orange folder home and
return it to school on a daily basis.
It is important
that students bring
their Student Planner
and Orange Folder to
school every day.
Classroom
Discipline Plan
Please look for the classroom
Discipline Plan attached to this
newsletter. This plan outlines the rules,
rewards, and consequences that will be
used in our classroom this year.
This year we are trying the
ClassDojo computer program. This
program will help us to manage and
document our classroom discipline
plan. Each parent will be able to log
into the program and see how his/her
child is doing in class behaviorally.
Look for additional information about
the ClassDojo program at Back to
School Night.
Snack Time
We will have a mid-morning
snack each day. Students may bring a
snack from home. Snacks are not
provided here at school. If your child
plans to bring a snack, we encourage
you to send in nutritious snacks, such
as fruits, yogurt, whole grain crackers
or vegetables. If students bring in items
such as yogurt that require a spoon or
fork to eat, they will need to bring a
plastic spoon or fork from home. If a
student forgets to bring the necessary
utensil, he/she will need to walk to the
cafeteria to get one, which is at the
opposite end of the school building.
Since students will be eating their
snacks at their desks while they are
working, it is best if the snack is one
that cannot easily spill. For snack time,
we would like each student’s beverage
to be water. Students, however, are
welcome to bring in drinks such as
juice boxes for lunch time.
Breakfast Program
Our breakfast program will
continue this year. Students may
purchase breakfast in the cafeteria each
morning. This is a takeand-go program. Students
who would like to buy
breakfast are to report to
the cafeteria as soon as
they arrive at school. After purchasing
breakfast, which is provided in a bag,
students are to go to their classrooms
and eat breakfast at their desks. The
expectation is that students eating
breakfast will finish their meal by the
time morning announcements are over.
Volunteers
I will have volunteer sign-up
sheets available at Back to School
Night. These sheets will list some of
the specific volunteer needs for our
class. If you are interested in
volunteering, please see the sign-up
sheets at Back to School Night or let
me know about your interest via note,
e-mail or phone call. All volunteers
are required to complete an
information form prior to
volunteering in the school, if you did
not complete one last year.
Among the positions I need to
fill are that of Room Parents. Room
Parents coordinate classroom parties
and other special activities. In addition,
Room Parents may be called on by
PTO to coordinate parent volunteers
for our class when we participate in
special events such as Field Day. If you
are interested in being a Room Parent,
please let me know. Thanks!
Information for
Room Parents
After our Room Parents are in
place, a list of parents’ names, phone
numbers and e-mail addresses will be
compiled, so that parents may be
contacted with regard to classroom
activities, classroom volunteer needs,
and parties throughout the school year.
Please complete and return the
permission form at the end of this
newsletter if you give permission for
your name, e-mail address, and
telephone number to be included on
this list. This information will be used
only for contacting parents with regard
to our third grade class. Your
information will not be included on the
list without your permission.
Classroom Schedule
Mrs. Mercer
Monday:
8:00-8:30—Math
8:30-10:45—Reading/Language Arts
10:45-11:00—Recess
11:00-11:30—Lunch
11:35-11:40—Restrooms
11:45-12:30—Science/Social Studies
12:30-1:00—Music
1:00-1:30—P.E.
1:30-2:15--Math
2:15—Prepare for dismissal
2:30/2:35—Dismissal
Tuesday:
8:00-8:30—Math
8:30-10:45—Reading/Language Arts
10:45-11:00—Recess
11:00-11:30—Lunch
11:35-11:40—Restrooms
11:45-12:00—Sharing Time
12:00-12:30—P.E.
12:30-1:15—Science/Social Studies
Guidance (every other week,
12:30-1:00)
1:15-2:15—Math
2:15—Prepare for dismissal
2:30/2:35—Dismissal
Wednesday:
8:00-8:30—Math
8:30-10:45—Reading/Language Arts
Search (every other week10:00-10:45)
10:45-11:00—Recess
11:00-11:30—Lunch
11:35-11:40—Restrooms
11:45-12:30—Computer Lab
12:30-1:00—Music
1:00-2:15—Math
2:15—Prepare for dismissal
2:30/2:35—Dismissal
Thursday:
8:00-8:30—Math
8:30-10:45—Reading/Language Arts
10:45-11:00—Recess
11:00-11:30—Lunch
11:35-11:40—Restrooms
11:45-12:30—Math
12:30-1:00—P.E.
1:00-1:50—Art
1:50-2:15—Class meeting
2:15—Prepare for dismissal
2:30/2:35—Dismissal
Friday:
8:00-8:30—Math
8:30-10:45—Reading/Language Arts
10:45-11:00—Recess
11:00-11:30—Lunch
11:35-11:40--Restrooms
11:45-12:30—Science/Social Studies
12:30-1:30—Library
1:30-2:15—Math
2:15—Prepare for dismissal
2:30/2:35—Dismissal
At a Glance:
P.E.—Mon., Tues., Thurs.
Music—Mon., Wed.
Art—Thurs.
Library—Fri.
Every other week:
Guidance—Tues.
Search—Wed.
“Send Home”
Schedule
Mondays through Fridays: Students
will bring home homework
assignments and finished work in their
orange folders. They will also bring
home planners each day.
Mondays (every other week)—
Classroom newsletter will be sent
home. After Word Study (spelling)
groups begin, the newsletter will go
home on the weeks that we begin a new
list of words. The words and how they
are sorted for each Word Study group
will be listed in the newsletter. We will
work on a Word Study list for two
weeks, so every other week we will be
begin working with new words.
Thursdays: All handouts from the
office will be sent home on Thursdays,
including school newsletters, so be
sure to check the “Teachers….Parents
Communicator” folder every
Thursday.
“Help me get to know
your child…”
Attached to this newsletter, you
will find a form that you may choose to
complete. Your responses will allow
me to get to know more about your
child. Completion of this form is
optional.
Items to Return to
School
1. Room Parent Information
Permission Form—Please complete
this form if you would like your
contact information shared with our
room parents.
2. “Help me get to know your
child...” form—Completion of this
form is optional.