Welcome to Mr. Desmond’s
th
5 Grade Classroom!
August 11, 2014
Room 31
Please sign in on one of the sheets by the door, and pick up your child’s
Emblem folder. (The folders have stickers on them with student names.)
Some brief words about Mr. Desmond:
• UCLA undergraduate degree (GO BRUINS!)
• Teaching credential from UC Irvine
• Twenty-one years of teaching experience, all in Saugus
• Formerly the upper grade math mentor for SUSD
• Teaching at Emblem for the third time
Maybe not brief words…
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Married to Tiffany, a teacher, who is currently downstairs
Three daughters
Tabitha – a sophomore at UC Santa Cruz
Gwynneth – 7th grader at Arroyo Seco Junior High
Trillian – 4th grader at Emblem Academy
Emblem Academy is as a S.T.E.M. school.
Science – Technology – Engineering - Mathematics
We’ve added the ideas of Ethics and Entrepreneurship, which makes our
focus:
Ethics
Science
Technology
Engineering
Entrepreneurship
Mathematics
ESTEEM
What does the ESTEEM focus mean?
We are responsible for the same standards that all other schools in
California are, which are the recently adopted Common Core standards.
We will be INTENTIONAL in integrating the concepts of ESTEEM with
those standards.
Ethics
Part of our discussions of ethics will revolve around the Pillars of
Character:
• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship
Grading
• Reading, writing, oral language, mathematics, science, and social studies are graded
using A,B, C, N, and U grades.
• Effort grades are also assigned using O,S, N, and U.
• Letter grades will be assigned using these percentages:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CN
93% - 100%
90% - 92%
87% - 89%
83% - 86%
80% - 82%
77% - 79%
73% - 76%
70% - 72%
69% and below
Schedule
8:00 – 8:25 Physical Education (M-Th)
8:30 – 10:35 Language Arts
10:25 – 10:45 Recess
10:45 – 12:25 Math
12:25 – 1:10 Lunch
1:10 – 2:45 Science/Social Studies/STEMinars (STEMinars will begin
after October break.)
2:49 Dismissal
NOTE – Wednesday dismissal is 1:39 PM.
Discipline
Positive
• Praise
• Stars on Star Card
• 50 stars can be turned in for a More Time Please pass
Negative
• Verbal warning
• Pull behavior card
• Phone call or email home
Some notes about the first few days:
• Drop off in the morning:
1. Drive up Espuella until you reach Diaz.
2. Turn left and follow the street to the end.
3. Turn left on Paraguay.
4. Paraguay will turn left onto Cabaletta.
5. Drop off will be on Cabaletta.
• First day of school pickup for 5th grade will be on the basketball court.
• Normal afternoon pick up for 5th grade students is through the back
gate closest to the Pre-School building, where Paraguay and Cabaletta
meet.
• Students who walk home will be going through the gates on
Cabaletta. They will no longer be leaving through the gates at the
front of the school.
Homework
• Homework will be assigned Monday-Thursday nights.
• One total hour of reading will be assigned for the weekends.
• Nightly homework should take an hour to an hour and ten minutes,
INCLUDING nightly reading.
• P.E. homework will be given starting after October break.
• If an assignment takes an excessively long time, stop your child after a
reasonable amount of time, and let me know. You can do this by
writing a note in your child’s planner or by email. Make sure the
assignment was being worked on diligently before you do this.
Communication
• Email is the best way to reach me. The address:
rdesmond@saugususd.org
• Emblem’s phone number: 294-5315 ext. 15131
• The class website is http://mrdesmond.weebly.com/
• Updates on grades will be available for parents to access online from
the website. Grades will be updated approximately once per week.
Classroom Supply List
We can always use:
• Facial tissues
• Composition books
• Expo white board markers
• 3 X 5 index cards
Opportunities to Help
Please send me an email if you would like to help in the classroom,
letting me know the days and times you are available. If you would
prefer to help from home, that would be great too.