Dear Washington Families:
Thank you to all of our families who attended our Open House last week! The energy in the building was contagious and it was wonderful to have everyone visit once again. Our students have been working so hard and were very proud to showcase their work.
In the coming weeks, our staff will collaborate on the important process of creating class lists for the upcoming school year. This process is quite structured, takes various factors into account and involves many stages.
Because the placing of students in classrooms is so important, we use a very specific and detailed process for all children. We consider several criteria in making our decisions, with no one being more important than another. The following criteria are considered before placements are made:
• The total number of children in all grade level classes needs to be equal.
• Ability levels of students need to be balanced in each grade level class.
• Leadership skills and other affective characteristics need to be balanced.
• Students’ learning styles should be matched appropriately with teachers’ instructional styles.
• Some student combinations should be split for social or academic reasons.
We will also be coordinating co-teaching opportunities that may dictate how we group and cluster students in all grade levels.
If you would like to provide specific information about your child to assist in the homeroom placement selection, please submit a letter by Friday, March 22nd. Pertinent information may include the parents’ view of how the child learns best, the environment that best suits learning, peer social matches to possibly avoid, and any other pertinent details. Such information will be considered as part of our process, but final decisions about class assignments are determined by administration and teachers.
Due to the nature and complexity of this task, we are unable to accept requests for specific teachers. We ask that you please do not put our teachers in an awkward position by requesting a specific placement to them. At times, they are unable to honor a request and we do not want them to feel responsible for not being able to follow through with considerations.
Please note, any letters received after Friday, March 22nd may not be considered in the process. Our staff will spend a significant amount of time on placements, and we take the process very seriously.
Lastly, please note that once homeroom assignments are made and notifications are shared in August, we are unable to honor requests for changes. We encourage you to take the opportunity now to share your thoughts. If you have questions or feel you need to have a conversation with me that our letter method doesn't provide, please contact me as I'd rather have this conversation now than a complicated conversation in August.
Thanks for your support and partnership.
Warmly,
Angie Brito
