We have come to the end of our first full week!  The class worked hard this week on place value, goal setting, mapping skills, reading skills (metacognition – thinking about your thinking).  They met with their Grade One buddies as we had some important devotions on creating a classroom of trust and not putting a wrinkle in other people’s hearts (importance of kind word).  It was a busy week!  I have some important information to pass on…

Spelling: On Monday students will get their first spelling list.  We usually test on Fridays but due to our Pro D Day this week, students will have their spelling test on Thursday.  Students can practice their spelling words on Spelling City (found on the right hand of this blog) and if they get 10/10  this earns them a bonus mark on Friday’s quiz.  A note from home (in planners or email) with this information is needed.  =)

Spelling Words:  important, known, support, taught, caught, usual, a lot, double, flight, human

Bible Memory Verse:  Students have brought home their September BMV sheet.  They will be tested on Wednesday and have the option to write it out or say it orally.  Their first verse is Psalms 100:2 –  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  You will also find the verses under the Bible Memory tab at the top of the blog.

Parent Night on Monday:  Please join us in the gym on Monday evening at 6:30 for our parent night.  The first portion of the evening will be spent meeting your children’s teachers  and the 2nd portion will be gaining important information for this coming school year.  We hope to see you there!

Planners:  With the beginning of a brand new year, comes new procedures and routines for our students. One of the new procedures we wanted to make you aware of is with our planners. As a department, we want our students to be more aware of the ways they can be successful, both in school and in life. One way to do that is by giving students the tools they need to be organized. Each year our students get beautiful new planners.  We feel that not only are these planners a useful tool of communication between parents and teachers but are also an important way for students to organize their school activities and assignments.

To better utilize our planners and use them more effectively, the intermediate department would like to make the following changes:

• Students will be adding items into planners on an almost daily basis (with some rare exceptions for those times when there are no items to share).
• Planners should be checked daily and signed by parents. Teachers will also check planners daily.

We hope that these changes will help relieve any confusion as to how planners are being used as well as help our students be more successful in building important organizational skills.

Blessings

The Intermediate Department

Changes with Awards

Dear Parents,

We wanted to inform you of some changes being made to the Intermediate Department this year. Highroad Academy always endeavors to celebrate student achievement. However, we have increasingly felt that awards have become more and more detrimental to the growth of our students. Schools should be about learning and creativity in a safe and caring environment. In fact, our core values for Highroad Academy include:

– Strengthening the unique value and character of each individual.

– Inspiring passionate, creative, and responsible learners.

These values are all about empowering all students, not just the ones that are academically strong at the core subjects. We feel that handing out school academic awards at a year-end assembly promotes the opposite. The year-end awards promotes individuals as opposed to the efforts of all students working together.

For that reason, the Intermediate Department will no longer be giving out trophies for year-end academics or Term citizenship awards at a year-end assembly. Instead, students who receive A honours certificates for achieving marks above 86% in the four core subjects will receive a certificate in their report cards at the end of the year. We feel that this change will not only keep us aligned to the Primary and High School departments, but also help us to convey to our students that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is important to our school.

Upcoming Dates:

Monday, Sept. 16th – Parent Welcome Night at 6:30

Friday, Sept. 20th – Pro D Day

Friday, Sept. 27th –  Lindeman Lake Field Trip & Knight’s Day

I will post some photos next week as I seem to be having some technical difficulties!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!