GENERAL INFORMATION
FOR GRADE FOUR/FIVE PARENTS
1. An important reminder to all grade Four/Five families to check all
lunches and snacks carefully to ensure that they are peanut/nut free. Please
carefully check labels for any hidden ingredients. If a product says "may
contain nuts or nut products," please do not send this product with your
child to school. Thank you so much for your support in helping us to keep
our school nut safe.
2. All students must have a pair of indoor shoes at school each day.
Students may bring their shoes home with them at night or set them on their
chairs before leaving. We will have regular fire drills at Our Lady of
Lourdes, and they are often a surprise to both teachers and students.
Students will not be permitted to put their outdoor shoes on in these
situations. Please remind your child to bring their shoes to school each day
or arrange to leave a pair here.
3. Kleenex or Paper Towel - We are in need of both facial tissues and
paper towels in our room. It is amazing how quickly 28 people can go through
a box of Kleenex and how often a juice box spills at lunch. If you are
willing to donate either of these products to our classroom, it would be
greatly appreciated.
4. Student Planners- Although homework and upcoming assignments will be
posted on the website, students are expected to independently complete their
planners each day before dismissal. Parents, you are asked to please check
the planner each night to ensure that your child has completed the assigned
work and to initial the planner when his/her work is complete. Students have
been asked to give their best effort for up to 40 minutes each night on
their homework. I will do my best to monitor student workload when we
complete our planners each day. After working hard for 40 minutes, if your
child has not completed their work, please have them stop working and come
and speak with me about their workload or problems they may be experiencing
with an assignment.
5. Reading - With a goal to improve individual student reading skills,
each student will be asked to read at home for 20 minutes three nights a
week. The nights that the students choose to read may be changed for
individual students based on the home or family schedule, but the class will
be assigned to read on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and on one day or night during
the weekend. This reading assignment will be part of the regular homework
assignment. Students are, of course, encouraged to read daily at home,
especially on nights when they have little or no other homework assigned.
Students are encouraged to read one of the books they signed out of the
library, or may read any appropriate book or magazine that they have at
home. I have asked students not to take home the classroom novel that they
are currently reading, to ensure that it is at school for our D.E.A.R. Time,
or silent reading periods. Arrangements will certainly be made for students
who would like to borrow a book from the classroom library for home reading
purposes. Parents are encouraged to ask their child about his/her reading
each night, or, if possible, have them read aloud to someone in the family.
6. Attached, is a copy of our class schedule. It outlines days for
library, physical education, music, and all other subject areas. Students
will be given a copy of this schedule to be placed in their planners.
Students are encouraged to use their schedule to help organize themselves and
their belongings as they prepare for each school day. Students are also
reminded that our schedule must be flexible to allow for changes created by
assemblies, special class or school functions, masses, tests and assessments,
and special class events.
7. Physical Education - Students will be required to have appropriate
gym clothing for physical education periods. Appropriate clothing consists
of gym shorts (not below the knee), a t-shirt (no tank tops), and running
shoes. Students are encouraged to place physical education clothing in a
cloth bag, labeled with their name, and to leave the bag at school. Clothing
will be sent home with students to be cleaned on a regular basis. For
September, we will be focusing on Cross Country training outside, so students
may want to wear track pants and a sweatshirt if the weather gets cooler.
