Dear Parents,
Here we are! It’s May, and the school year will be coming to a close in just a little over a month. What a great year it’s been too! I have loved being with your daughters and watching their remarkable growth. Suddenly, they all seem ready to move along to the next grade! The ones who seemed so little in the fall are markedly taller and certainly more confident as they run and giggle around the Lower School. The older ones have gained in maturity and developed a much finer understanding of themselves. It is fascinating and very gratifying to see these changes. The faculty and I are all so proud of them! You must be too.
Uniform Fittings: On May 15th, the girls can be fitted for new uniforms. You are welcomed to come between 7:30 and 12:30 and get her out of class to be measured. However, uniforms can be ordered on-line. Go to www. RPCS.org ;click on Bookstore; and then click on Uniforms. Our LS regulations, pictures of regulation shoes, and information about ordering are on that site.
Library Books: All library books are due back in the LS library by May 20th. Mrs. Edwards needs to take an inventory of them before summer. Please check your house and car to make sure no LS books are misplaced.
Memorial Day Convocation: On May 23rd, the whole student body will gather to commemorate Memorial Day. At this convocation, the names of family members who have died during the past year are read aloud. If a member of your child’s family has died during the past year, please be sure that we have his or her name. Call Sue Welsh at 323-5500. ext. 3058 or e-mail welshs@rpcs.org with the name, his or her relationship to your daughter, and the date of death.
Foreign Language Festivals: On May 29th, the Lower School foreign language classes, Grades 3-5 will hold their annual festivals in the Sinex Theater. Both Spanish and French will be celebrated that day.
Class Picnics and Field Day: On the 5th of June, the Lower School classes will hold their year-end picnics. The Parent Reps of each grade, the teachers, and I are working now to plan this family event, and you will soon be hearing details of the day. Lunch will start at 12:00 and will be followed by Field Day at 1:00 on the St. Mary’s fields. It’s a great time, and parents are invited to stay to watch and cheer. It is the last day of school for children in Kindergarten, Pre-First, First, and Second Grades.
Closing Exercises: The last day of school for children in Grades 3-5 will be June 6. On that day, we have a relaxed arrival time, and girls may come as early as 7:30 and as late as 10:00. The Third and Fourth Graders should be neatly dressed in their uniforms while the Fifth Graders will look lovely in their white dresses.
New Look for the Lower School: For those of you who have a long history with our Lower School, you know that it has been traditional to have just two sections of each grade (except for Pre-1st) and that the homeroom teachers generally remained the same from year to year. We have also traditionally considered Kindergarten, Pre-1st and First Grades the major entry point for Lower School students. While these grades do still remain the primary entry point for many students, we are finding that, for a variety of reasons, more and more families are applying for entry into all the Lower School grades. It is difficult to turn away capable, friendly applicants would add much to their class and to the School. So we have made the decision to be more flexible in how many homerooms to have for different grade levels, depending on the number of students in a particular grade. This year there have been three homeroom sections for 1st and 2nd Grade. For 2008-2009, based on the number of students in 3rd, 4th and 5th, we are planning on having three sections for each of these upper elementary grades, but only two homerooms for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd. By doing this we will keep the homeroom and all instructional groups small, maintaining a very positive student-teacher ratio and providing an optimal teaching situation. We have reassigned classrooms and teachers to suit this purpose, and we are all delighted with the whole plan.
The homeroom teachers for each grade are as follows:
- Kindergarten: Kitty O’Connell and a lovely new teacher, Tynaya Smith. Ms Smith comes to us from Friends School where she has been teaching Kindergarten. We are very excited that she will be joining our faculty. Mrs. Hayden, as you may know, is taking a leave of absence for the 08-09 year.
- Pre-First: Laurie Crawford
- 1st Grade: Liz Meredith and Lindsay Robin
- 2nd Grade: Courtney Bourne and RuthAnne Gregory
- 3rd Grade: Hillary Shaffer, Peter Vermilye, and Kristin Jarrell. Ms Jarrell joins us from the Baltimore County School system, where she has been teaching Third Grade for several years.
- 4th Grade: Sarah Meech, Muffie Sandberg, and another new teacher who will be joining our faculty.
- 5th Grade: Mary Beth Dyer, Kim Milardo Daly, and Curt McKnight
As always, you can be assured that the School has the same goal as you do: the very best educational experience for your child. We feel that the changes for next year will add significantly to your daughter’s future years in the Lower School.
Homeroom Teachers for Next Year: Each year we have some parents who make requests for their child’s homeroom teacher or classmates. A few years ago the issue of requests came up at a Parent Coffee, and questions were asked about the part that parents play in determining which homeroom their daughter will be placed. I believe that all of you were glad to hear about the process of assigning the students to homerooms and the care that goes in to each decision. Therefore, I am reiterating that information so that everyone understands that process as we embark upon a new year.
The process of placing the children with a teacher for the next year is a long and carefully thought-out one, involving many steps and many people. The goal is to have the new homerooms to be a true mix of the previous year’s homerooms. The girls are mixed within the new classes as much as possible based on levels of ability, their own personal needs, personalities and learning styles, and other forms of diversity. Sometimes children may need to be separated, and an occasional child may need the support of a certain friend. We also want each grade, not each homeroom, to be a cohesive whole. Mixing the girls up each year helps them to get to know each other. We try to make each homeroom as well rounded as possible. The lists are made, reviewed and revised by the current teachers, resource teachers, Sally Harrison, and me. They are not finalized until August.
The change in homerooms, which happens to every class every year, is usually exciting for your daughter when the list arrives in August. However, sometimes there is a bit of disappointment when a certain friend is not in your daughter’s same homeroom. Please remind her that there are many opportunities for the two classes to meet; best friends are often reunited in instructional groups and at lunch and recess. As well, new friendships are quickly made. Please remember that if you are upbeat about the possibilities of change and the excitement of the new school year, the girls will be as well.
As always, I look forward to seeing you at all the school events. This is surely a wonderful time of year!
~ B.G.S.