September 4, 2009

September 4, 2009

Dear Families,

It’s been a great first week of school! We have already settled into a good routine and have practiced a lot of things so far. The focus this week has been on laying the foundation for a strong classroom community where everyone interacts with each other thoughtfully and takes on the many learning tasks they will face in a purposeful way.

Our morning meeting gives the kids a chance to begin the day by greeting each other, practicing our speaking and listening skills, working together successfully, and trusting each other to take all the risks you need to take around here to really learn.

We’re also working on our Hope and Dreams for the year and our class rules and routines: what does each of us really want to accomplish this year and what rules should we have as a community so that we can all best reach our goals? We thought about how a tomato plant or a pea plant grows best when it has stakes or fencing to lean on and grow against. Likewise, we humans often grow best when we have routines and expectations and rules that we can rely on. We will be investing time over these first few weeks on these rules and expectations so they are understood and automatic. Then we will really flourish!

We read Weslandia again this year because it does such a good job of depicting the challenges and the rewards in daring to be different.


Stowe Pinnacle Hike: Mrs. Schoolcraft’s class and my class are planning, tentatively, to do a Mountain Climb on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. As of today, we are planning to climb Stowe Pinnacle. For anyone who has been on one of our start-of-the-year hikes, there’s no doubt about what it does for leadership building among these 3rd and 4th graders – not to mention the team building it affords between Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class, and finally, the good spirit it brings with parents, kids, and teachers beginning the year taking on this challenge together. We’re in need of chaperones. Please think about signing up when you receive your child’s permission slip next week. We’d love to have you join us.

Can you volunteer for our Four Winds program for Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class this year? It was very successful last year. It’s a blast for the kids, and it’s run completely by volunteers who, by the way, get loads of support from an outstanding naturalist curriculum. The commitment for volunteers is to attend 1 training per month for all volunteers and then come into the classroom one time per month for about 2 hours to present the content and do the activities with the kids and the teachers. My understanding is that if you are unable to make the trainings, it is videotaped and is available for volunteers to borrow to prepare for that month’s lesson. If you are interested, please let Ms. Schoolcraft or me know ASAP.


Would you like to volunteer for to work in the classroom or to work at home gathering supplies or preparing projects? Please let me know. I love to have parents in the classroom.


Communication: I welcome your thoughts and questions about your child and about this class. Email and telephone have proven to be the most effective means of parent-teacher communication. Contact me at bolgerd@wsdvt.org and 878-2762 x 5775. I look forward to connecting with you and your child in the coming weeks and months and together, building a rich, successful 3rd/4th grade year.

As I do my beginning-of-the-year assessments in reading, spelling, and math, I’m reminded of how much these kids grew last year – and have grown over the summer. Thank you for the privilege of working with your child.

Mr. Bolger