Dear Six to Six/Thurgood Marshall Families,
It was great to see many of you at the two back to school nights. Our school has much to celebrate regarding our students’ academic achievement. Our staff and our students work hard and are focused on learning and this helps us reach our mission. Our school strives to produce life long learners and people who will make a difference in their communities and we’ve proven that when families, teachers, and children all work toward this goal, all will achieve.. As CMT reports were recently sent home, I know that many of you have been trying to understand how well your child is doing compared to the expectations of our school, state and federal government. Chris LaBelle will be explaining this information on Tuesday night at the PTA meeting so feel free to come and get a better understanding of our school and your child’s performance.
As a school community we are striving to meet each child’s needs so that they can show academic growth. As we analyze student performance through assessments in reading, math and science, as well as CMTs we determine the best way to provide students with support in reading, writing, and mathematics and also teach them about social skills needed to become good people. As my children grow, I realize how difficult it is to provide them with the support that they need with homework and school requirements so that they can become productive, educated adults. Even when we don’t understand the content that is taught, we can provide our children with stability and consistency with a stable place and schedule to do their work and a positive attitude about completing their work to the best of their ability.
I have also realized that it is my responsibility to help them navigate through the many social challenges that will come their way. It is extremely important that you provide them with adult contact and guidance so that they can balance their social and academic demands wisely. We use behavioral systems within our school such as Responsive Classroom and the Middle School B-Map system which help students to learn how to monitor their personal behaviors. As parents we can also reinforce behavioral expectations of cooperation, assertion, respect, empathy and self control. At 6 to 6 and TMMS we have the luxury of being able to get to know our children’s friends and their parents too. This is extremely important, so making the extra effort to get to know your children’s friends and their families will be something that will pay off in the long run. I have made this a goal of mine this year and I hope you will too.
As a parent of 2 school age children, I realize what a “juggling act” it is to find time to balance work and family. Between support with homework, which seems to get more time consuming each year, extra curricular activities and household chores such as laundry and putting food on the table, when is there time to simply catch up on each other’s days? Together, let’s work on ways to support our children academically while we connect as families. One good way to do this is by reading with your young child each night and finding time to talk to them, whether they are young or older about their thoughts, fears and concerns. I challenge you to find time to connect with your children this year so they know that you care about their academic performance as well as them as wonderful individuals.
You have an opportunity to learn more about your child’s CMT performance by attending this month’s PTA meeting. Chris Labelle, our principal, will explain our school’s performance so I hope to see you on Tuesday night at 6:00.
Robyn Proto
Asst. Principal for Elementary Education