Welcome to Our Class of 2011-12
THE THIRD QUARTER 1/3-3/8
2/1 TALENT SHOW rescheduled for Friday 2/3
1/30 PLEASE SIGN the pack of graded papers that went home TODAY.
1/23 CJH Talent Show Friday 1/27 $3 per person admission, pizza, drinks, chips, & candy available.
1/5 Saints shirts or black and gold top with regular pants may be worn tomorrow. Monday purple and gold for LSU may be worn.
1/4REPORT CARDS go home Friday 1/6.
1/3Happy 2012-Remember we are always preparing for LEAP with every assignment. Renew or increase your efforts to do your best work on time. Remember the old sayings"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" or "A stitch in time saves nine"
THE SECOND QUARTER 10/10-12/16
12/14 Go to www.HomeworkLA.org for live help Sunday-Thursday 2-10 PM
12/9 Christmas Social plan went home today, a green 1/2 sheet. This is a student only event. In addition to the pizza, they will share in viewing a G rated movie.
11/29 Field trip reminder 12/2. If you do not attend, an alternate assignment will be available.
11/28 Graded paper sent home. Please sign and return.
11/18 
I want to take this time to give thanks to all of you for your generous contributions to the "Thanksgiving Food Baskets" I am happy to tell you that your children will enjoy a donut and juice treat on their return after their week off for the largest contribution to the food drive.
For Parents and students, I have added 2 documents to the Photos/Documents tab you might like to discuss to encourage students to focus on academics as we move into the holiday season and beyond into LEAP testing. Remember, you prepare for LEAP everyday. As our class motto says, "Success is spelled WORK"
11/15-11/17from 5-7PM "A Fun Night at the Book Fair"
11/9 Monday 11/14 - 11/17 is our annual food drive. A notice with all information is being delivered by your student. For every 2 items donate we will get a feather for our turkey. WINNING class gets a donut/juice party.
11/8Book Fair information went home today
10/31 Veteran's Day Program coming 11/11 at 9:00 for the elementary and 10:00 for the junior high. A flyer on 11/9 has all information.
10/24 Donate a $1 to wear jeans on Friday 10/28 as fund raiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation research. Tuesday-Red Ribbon Week-wear slippers.
10/21Monday, you may wear a red shirt with uniform pants/skirt for "Red Ribbon Week"
10/12 My second block class completed another BIONIC card, congratulations! Bring a drink pouch on Friday for an afternoon treat.
10/10 Bring $1 attend the United Way fund raiser vollyball game Wednesday 1:30
THE FIRST QUARTER 8/8-10/6
10/6 Madison received the September Character counts medal for "Helpful"
Character Counts at Clearwood in:
October-friendly
November-honest
December-mature
January-curious
February-brave
March-creative
April-ambitious
10/3 Block 1 completed another bionic card They earned 20 minutes of extra recess and a treat coming Thursday
9/29 
From 3-9PM at Chuck-e-Cheese is a fund raiser for our school. Students have been given a sticker for 10 free tokens. Also no school on Friday, Fair Day.
9/12 Fundraiser orders an money will not be taken 0/16 or after 9/20, but you can still place orders online after that.
9/9 SPIRIT WEEK SEPT 12-16:
Monday-favorite sports team jersey and/or hat with jeans
Tuesday-pajama day
Wednesday-twin day
Thursday-blue and white day
Friday-crazy hair/mix&match day
*all outfits must meet dress code
*Jeans may only be worn on Monday
9/8 Interim Grades went home today. Please sign and return tomorrow.
9/7 Game Night Friday, 9/23 6:30-8:30 $5 includes food and a drink, extra $ for candy. Parents must sign your child in and out. Contact PTSA Lisa Underwood if you can volunteer to help.
9/6 Students were given their username and password for www.classchatter.com today. They can access this blog from school or home. We toured the site, and they were introduced to their first "Assignment Blog" #1 on math place values. Please as and take part in this assignment.
9/3 Please resubscribe to Newsflash. The list of subscribers was deleted.
9/2 Thursday 9/8 you may wear black and gold top with uniform pants by donating $1 to our fund raiser for the children's museum.
Students received letter to access math, social studies, and science text online.Students received letter to access math, social studies, and science text online.
8/30 Great News! Block 1 completed an entire BIONIC board. Wednesday bring a small "fuzzie" Thursday bring a pouch, small sport drink; or water bottle. Friday bring another drink. Block 2 completed a BIONIC row and may also bring a drink on Wednesday as described.
8/29 Reminders:
*Attend OPEN HOUSE. Go to your child's homeroom first. After 15 minutes you may stop in to see any other teachers your child has.You will receive an information packet and booklet in homeroom to complete and return on Wednesday for your child to receive a participation credit. If you are unable to attend your child will bring the packet home on Wednesday and it can be returned on Thursday for a credit.
*Monday is Labor Day-NO SCHOOL
8/26 OPEN HOUSE Tuesday 6:45-7:15, 15 minutes with each block
8/24 Spirit shirts can be worn Friday.
8/8 Our class had a successful beginning to a great LEAP year!
WELCOME TO FOURTH GRADE!! It is with pleasure that we welcome you and your child to our classes. Mrs. Federico will be teaching reading, language, and spelling, and Mrs. Blair will be teaching mathematics, and science. Both teachers will be teaching their own homerooms social studies. We are looking forward to a rewarding and successful year of learning, cooperation, and hard work from everyone. This is also the LEAP year, and successful preparation is built into each day throughout the year.
In order to guarantee your child, and all the students in our classrooms, the excellent learning climate they deserve, the following rules of conduct need to be followed. We believe all students can behave appropriately. We will not tolerate any student stopping another student from learning and/or us from teaching.
1. Follow directions the 1st time they are given.
2. Always be prepared with materials and assignments, and be ready to learn.
3. Be respectful of yourself, your peers, the teacher, and your surroundings.
4. Keep a safe environment.
5. Have a good, positive attitude!
Classroom procedures to assist in the development of engaged learners: (as described as the Elementary Discipline Plan in the Clearwood Junior High handbook)
1. Classroom procedures and rules are made clear and restated as needed.
2. A class behavior log is kept to track inappropriate behavior. Three verbal warnings are given and the student's behavior is logged into The Book for each warning to allow time for the student to self-correct.
3. Upon the third warning, a Red Card is issued, resulting in the loss of recess, as well as a Teacher/Parent Notification of the occurrence to be signed and returned the next day. A Red Card is served and returned to the issuing teacher on the same day. A 2nd Red Card is issued if a student does not immediately serve the initial Red Card (not based upon rainy day recess, absences, or Red Cards issued by other teachers). Failure to report to serve a Red Card from there results in moving to the next consequence.
4. If the behavior persists, the student will complete a home assignment of the Behavior Reflection issued on the day of the infractions and to be returned signed and completed the next day.
5. Failure to return the Behavior Reflection will result in the assignment of I Can Succeed behavior lines. These are to be completed at home and signed by a parent. Habitual behaviors may result in a student completing these lines with an assigned teacher during recess.
6. Behaviors that persist will result in the issuance of an after-school detention with the teacher. These detentions are held once per week from 3:40-4:10 PM.
7. If the student fails to return the signed detention notice, fails to serve the after-school detention, or if severe behavior continues, a disciplinary referral will be written and turned in to Mr. Bennett.
8. Major infractions, as designated in the St. Tammany Parish handbook and CJH handbook, immediately result in an office referral.
** NOTE: Teacher/Parent Notifications will be used at any time to communicate with parents not just for notification of a Red Card or detention.
As an active participant in the Positive Behavior Support policy, Clearwood Junior High has created a uniform reward system for acceptable, desirable, and positive behaviors. Individual positive behaviors can be recognized in the form of Caught Ya coupons. These may be issued by any member of the Clearwood staff to students. Each Monday, there will be a raffle from those coupons collected from the week prior. Clearwood also promotes positive behavior on the school-wide level through the BIONIC boards. Classes have their own BIONIC boards to promote teamwork and positive behavior on the whole-class level. As each class fills their board, they earn a square on the school's BIONIC board. Once the school's BIONIC board is completed, the ENTIRE school will be rewarded. No student will be left out or lose these privileges.
Students will need a pocket folder as their take home folder. It is important that parents and guardians keep up with the contents of this folder as this will be the major means of communication between parent and teacher. Graded papers, paper announcements, book orders, interims, etc. will be placed inside these folders. We highly suggest that you manage the folders as such: label the pocket of the left side keep (things that stay at home) and the right side of the folder return (homework, notes, etc. to be brought back to school).
It is important that you review your child's work in order to closely monitor his/her progress. Graded papers will be bundled together and sent home about every 2 weeks. Papers must be brought back to class with a parent signature. Once checked, as this is a participation grade, the graded papers are sent home for you to keep. Grades are also available to view at STI Home. Contact the front office for your password.
Homework is an extension of the classroom. Homework will be assigned, and the assignments must be copied daily into an assignment notebook or planner. Clearwood Junior High's Beta Club sells school planners for $5 each. Time is allowed each day to copy this information. It is the student's responsibility to keep track of his/her assignments. Major projects and tests are given at least a week's notification. Occasionally, a homework assignment will be given that counts as a full grade and carries the same weight as a test; this will be communicated ahead of time and usually in conjunction with project assignments. Please check the assignment notebook or planner each day and sign or initial. Please reinforce the importance of completing this work. We encourage you to help your child in his/her work, but please remember that the ultimate gain from the assignment is the knowledge the child has acquired from doing it himself/herself.
**NOTE: Students do not need to have the school planners, though it is recommended. An organized booklet will suffice. All assignments must be written as they are from the teacher's board. In Mrs. Federico's class, students earn a participation grade for correctly copying all assignments from the assignment board into their planner.
Assignments are often given advanced notice and therefore, ample time is given to get the assignments completed successfully. A letter grade will be deducted for each day past the due date that work is turned in. The assignment will then be evaluated/graded for the accuracy and completeness of its content. For instance, if a student turns in an assignment on Friday that was originally due on Thursday, he/she automatically starts out at a B for that assignment, but it is then also graded for its work. Therefore, the grade could be lower than a B when all factors are calculated.
Students are responsible for getting the work they missed while they were out for an excused absence. Each teacher has an area in their classroom designated for make-up work. Assignments and notes will accumulate in the folder and be ready for the student to get upon their return to class. The work will only remain in the folder for 3 days after the child gets back to school. After that, if none of the work has been picked up, the grades earned will be incomplete/zeroes. If a student does pick up his/her assignments, a week is given to have them completed and turned in. Again, it is the student's responsibility to remember to get the work and turn it in.
Contact information for Joelle Federico and Patty Blair:
email: joelle.federico@stpsb.org and patty.blair@stpsb.org
website: www.teacherweb.com and search for each of our pages
Schedule a phone or school conference by contacting Debbie Vitrano in the office @ 641-8200 Please provide the topic/topics to be discussed so that we are able to effectively address them at our conference.
I will discussed this plan with your child, but would appreciate it if you would review it with him/her. Thank you for your support.