Nelson's University of Super Gifted Geniuses and World Leaders
School Day When students arrive at school they will sit in the hallway outside of our classroom. Hallway monitors will be present to make sure the students are safe and following the school rules. I will open the classroom door at 8:15 AM and will begin instruction promptly; so please be on time. The tardy bell will ring at 8:25 AM. Our lunch is from 11:09am until 11:39am. We sit at table 5 and you are welcome to join your child for lunch if you’d like. Dismissal will begin at 2:25 PM with everyone except for the bus riders. Bus riders are dismissed at 2:29 PM.
Snack Your student needs to bring a snack to school each day. Please make sure that it is healthy and not messy. They are only allowed to drink water in the classroom. They may bring a water bottle to keep at their desk.
Specials We have a nine-day color rotation for specials. Our schedule is: Red-Media Center Orange-Art Yellow-Music Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Silver, Gold I always post the color schedule on the homepage of our classroom website so you will know what we are doing that week. You can also find the rotation schedule in the weekly email that I send to the email address that I have on file for you. Students may keep a pair of gym shoes and their cubby for PE days if you desire.
Communication I believe that communication is the key to success. I try very hard to stay in contact with parents throughout the school year. There are a variety of ways that I do this. My main way of communicating with parents is through our classroom website. I update this on a consistent basis. In addition, I send an email out nearly every week with important classroom information. Please make sure that I have your email and that you watch for the updates. Feel free to respond to these emails with any questions or concerns. My email is [email protected]. Please feel free to email me about anything. I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours. I use a texting program called Remind to deliver texts to parents about upcoming events such as class pictures, projects, field trips, and special events. This system hides everyone's phone numbers and does not allow for group replies (so you won't be stuck in a never-ending thread). It is basically a confidential and secure service. Please text @CNelson18 to 81010 to join.
Homework I do not assign nightly homework. However, if your student does not complete their work in class, they will be required to bring it home to finish and return the next day. If finishing in class work becomes a common reoccurrence for your student, I will contact you to discuss a solution. Students should be studying for upcoming quizzes and tests. The schedule will be on our class website as well as links to resources to help them study. Tests and quizzes cannot be retaken so they will need to be ready on or before the scheduled test date.
Tests, Quizzes, and Graded Work We will be taking the majority of our tests and quizzes online this year. This includes math, science, reading, social studies, etc. This is a great thing! It allows you to see automatic results. You and your student will know right away what grade was received. No more waiting for the teacher to grade papers and send them home. You can find the test grades in the WNIS gradebook through Class link. Usernames and passwords will be on your student’s folder. Classwork that is graded will be sent home in their “Take Home Folder” each day. Make sure that you check this with your student. Any normal classwork (not tests or quizzes) can be redone at home and returned to me for a better grade.
Grades WNIS uses an online gradebook, which is accessible anytime to parents. I update the gradebook on a regular basis. Please make sure that you're checking it and that you are well aware of your student’s grades. Since we take most of our tests online, you will not receive graded test papers often. The only way that you will know your child's grade for a test is if you are checking the gradebook. You can access the gradebook at: www.launchpad.classlink.com/santarosa The username is the student ID number and the password is the 4-digit SMART number given to them at school. You can find your child’s student ID number on their “Take Home Folder.” They use their ID number many times throughout the day, so they should know it by heart shortly after the school year starts.
Communities Every student and employee at WNIS belongs to one of our five communities: Erubesco-respect Veritas-truth Officium-responsibility Fidelis-loyalty Animus-courage We encourage these character traits in all our students. Each quarter, we have a competition amongst the communities to win the opportunity to participate in a service project within our community. The students can earn points for their communities by displaying the character traits. At the end of each quarter, the community with the most points wins! I love this program! It gives the students an opportunity to grow into caring and kind individuals who look for opportunities to help others and make this world a better place. They learn that even though they are kids, they can still make an impact and change the world. Please help me encourage your children to embrace their community and participate in any way that they can.