Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of
students and parents.
- HOW MUCH HOMEWORK SHOULD MY STUDENT DO?
- IF MY STUDENT IS ABSENT, WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE?
- WHAT ABOUT LATE WORK?
- HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
HOW MUCH HOMEWORK SHOULD MY STUDENT DO?
The GGS policy is no more than ninety minutes of homework each night for any
middle school student. Because they will have homework in more than one
area, students should spend about thirty minutes on a subject, and then have
the parent send a note explaining the situation to the teacher. I will
never penalize a student who brings a note from a parent explaining a
legitimate situation in which a student was unable to complete his or her
homework. In addition, students should not spend all their time on one
subject to the detriment of their other subjects, so if this is happening,
please let me know. Keep in mind, however, that ninety minutes means that
the student should be working steadily for this time period, not wandering
away and doing other things while still counting it as time working. In
addition, there may be nights when a student has no homework and another
night when he or she has a heavier than normal load. Generally, I've found
that my own daughter's middle school load was not light, but it was
reasonable.
IF MY STUDENT IS ABSENT, WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE?
If your child misses one day of school, he should check with each
teacher upon his return to school to get the work missed. If a student is
absent two consecutive days, the parent may call the school office and ask
for work to be sent to the front office. Parents may collect it and take it
home for students to begin catching up. Students are responsible for
getting notes and other information covered in class from the teacher or
another reliable student. In addition, I will be posting homework daily on
my webpage, so students should always be able to find what they are
missing. The official policy is that a student has as many days as he or
she was absent to make up the work. I am flexible about this, but I do
expect the work to be made up, and if it is not, it will eventually become a
zero.
WHAT ABOUT LATE WORK?
Late work frequently impacts a student's ability to participate effectively
in class, particularly in a language arts classroom where reading and
responding to literature is often the homework assignment. Therefore, I
strongly encourage all students to turn in all homework assignments on
time. Major assignments that are late will go down one letter grade per day
that it is late (so an A becomes a B, etc.) This does not mean that an
assignment that is a week late should not be done because an F is still
better than a zero. Smaller assignments will be half credit if they are
turned in a day late and will become a zero if they are more than a couple
of days late. If your child has three late assignments or one late major
assignment, I will contact you. In addition, if a student has chronic late
assignments, he or she will be assigned a detention with me or will be
required to spend part of his or her lunch/recess time with me to complete
the homework. I will always notify you if your student is having issues
with late homework.
HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
You may call me at school at 847-249-6253 or email me at lmcbride@d56.org.
In addition, my home phone number is 847-244-2989.
