rd 3 Welcome to the Grade Back to

rd 3 Welcome to the Grade Back to School Night! Introducing Our 3 rd Grade Team Kelli Cornell/Alyssa Wells Courtney Cullen/Haley Barrios Lauren Jaques Rani Martin Aarika Murphy Melissa Davis

Our Philosophy We believe that all students should be granted the right to a positive, engaging, stimulating learning experience. We believe that students learn best in a structured, cooperative learning environment. We believe that students can reach their highest potential with the collaborative efforts of students, parents, teachers, and support staff. We believe that our role is not only to educate, but to inform, nurture, respect, and build the characters of every child we teach.

Attendance We cannot stress enough the importance of your child being at school on time every day. School begins promptly at 8: 45. When students are tardy or picked up early, they are missing important instruction. We truly strive to “Make Every Minute Count” at LCM! If your child is well, we want him/her at school!! It makes teaching very challenging when your child misses school. It is especially difficult when one skill builds upon another skill (such as math and writing. ) Also, with these tough economic times in education, our school actually LOSES money when your child is absent. Please make doctor/dentist appointments after school and schedule trips and special events for non-school days. Independent Contract: Please request from the front office at least two weeks in advance.

Cafeteria Accounts Each child can get a lunch card from the cafeteria. You can prepay and it works similar to a debit card when your child swipes the magnetic strip. • Whether or not your child plans to buy lunch on a regular basis, it would be a good idea to load your child’s account with money for those days when he/she might forget to bring a lunch. • If you see a yellow envelope come home, that indicates your child’s account is in need of money. • Checks should be made payable to “La Costa Meadows Cafeteria” and can be made in any dollar amount. • You may also add money to your child’s cafeteria account online. Please see the La Costa Meadows website for more information. For more information please visit our school website under Child Nutrition Services!

Cafeteria Accounts We are using a service this year called my school bucks! You can use this service to: Pay for your student’s school meals online Create low balance alerts Track and Review purchase history Automatic and recurring payments Enrollment is easy! 1. GO to myschoolbucks. com and click “Register for an Account” 2. 3. Create an account for you and your children Prepay with your credit, debit, or electronic check For more information please visit our school website under Child Nutrition Services!

Secure Campus La Costa Meadows Elementary School will join all of the other San Marcos Unified Schools in becoming a secured campus. Beginning Tuesday, September 6 th, the campus will be closed to unauthorized adults before and after school. Drop off procedures will remain the same, but adults will not be allowed through the main gate or the kindergarten gate. We will have supervision at these gates, as well as on campus. If you have a scheduled meeting with a teacher before or after school, please check in with the office and follow our regular visitor procedures. As per our existing procedures, all volunteers must sign in at the front office and wear a visitor/volunteer's badge. At LCM we are very fortunate to have many parent volunteers and we want to continue to encourage this type of school and community involvement. Please be prepared there is a new check-in procedure. You will need your license! On all flag salute days, we will allow parents to enter the school. We welcome you to join us for all flag celebrations. 8: 00 am - Cafeteria open for students only, for early breakfast 8: 15 am - Gate is open for students only, parent volunteers must sign in at the office to have access on campus. Parents must have an appointment to meet with a teacher. 3: 10 pm - Gates unlocked for student dismissal - staff member will monitor gates.

Our Classroom Economy Every day the students show up to “work” they will earn money. They will have a job that will pay weekly. They may also earn money for good behavior. At the end of the week they will pay rent for their desks. They can be fined for poor behavior, messy desks, or lost supplies. They will be able to buy different coupons with their money.

Classroom Management Do the right thing…Live The Dolphin Way! Do Your Best Work, Be Responsible Help Others Succeed, Be Respectful Respect Your School, Be Safe Rewards Praise Note/Call Home Dolphin Behavior raffle tickets Consequences 1 st Offense = Verbal warning 2 nd Offense = Visual warning 3 rd Offense = Classroom economy fine 4 th Offense = Responsibility Room/Parent Signature 5 th Offense= Principal **Severity Clause - Straight to Principal**

Accelerated Reader In class: During Language Arts rotations During silent reading After any independent work is completed Library: Before and after school Monday-Thursday; students only! No Friday library before or after school. Unfortunately our classrooms are not open before or after school to take any tests. Theme, points, and levels are posted in all of our classrooms, and outside of the library.

Nightly Homework: § § Homework Reading- read 15 pages nightly Math/Language Arts-There will also be one or two nightly assignments due the following day. Monthly Homework: § Paragraph of the Week (One week a month) Studies indicate that third graders should be spending approximately thirty minutes a night on homework assignments. If your child is struggling to finish homework within this time, please just write your teacher a note. If you want to challenge your child please have them complete their assignment and you can also visit our classroom websites for more online enrichment opportunities. Our goal is to help children become independent, proactive students. Students will be responsible for writing their assignments in a Homework Planner. **If assignments are not returned the following day the student will be given a Homework “Oops-a-daisy” , they must bring it back signed the next day. The 2 nd missed assignment in one week will get an “Oops-a-daisy” and sent to Responsibly Room.

Software/Online Programs The following programs may be accessed at home and will help your child excel in third grade (all optional): o Tenmarks – Common Core-aligned math program. Rigorous problem solving with embedded videos and hints. o Lexia – Individualized reading program at your child’s reading level. Develops all areas of reading including decoding, vocabulary acquisition, and comprehension. o Dreambox – Adaptive math program that matches your child’s ability level. Highly engaging! o Benchmark- You have access to classroom small reader books online.

3 rd Grade Curriculum Language Arts- The district has adopted a new curriculum this year known as Benchmark. It is Common Core Standards based. Math- Common Core Standards based; done in small and whole group. Writing- Common Core Standards based, including Informative, Opinion, and Narrative Writing. We will also be doing creative writing and journals! Science/S. S. - Embedded in the new Benchmark curriculum. Music- All students will attend music weekly. Art- *NEW* Part-time art teacher! Science Garden- Students will continue to visit the garden throughout the year. THANK YOU PTO!

Weekly Schedule At the start of each week, the Weekly News will be e-mailed home. Please be sure to check the Weekly News as it has important announcements and reminders. P. E. is twice a week. Library is once a week. Science Garden and Art are scheduled as 6 week sessions. Music is every week!

Classroom Supplies A suggested supply list was sent home last Spring. Another copy was provided in your folders tonight. We thank you in advance for your donations! It helps our classes run smoothly when all students have the supplies they need! We are tremendously grateful for your support.

Conclusion Thank you for attending!