The JagWire

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Good afternoon and happy Friday! Welcome to the end of the first month of school. We have covered a lot of ground in this amount of time and there is a very positive feeling in the school overall. The teachers had a very productive afternoon on Wednesday where we were trained on how to provide medications when on field trips, reviewed expectations for our TAG students and discussed ways to engage all learners during lessons. I know that having an early release is an inconvenience but please know that we are using the time wisely.

Parent-Teacher Communication

Since it is the end of the first month of school and we have had Back to School Night, I feel it is time to address parent-teacher communication. I have had several parents reach out and request schedule changes for their children, but unfortunately, there are several reasons why we cannot change schedules at this time. Students and teachers are getting to know one another and we need to continue that process. Our classes are also pretty well balanced so moving a child out of one class and into another would increase the workload for another teacher.

Another important point that I would like to stress is that we have to help our students learn to manage adversity as well as teach them to be self-advocates. No matter what, over the course of their lifetime they are going to work with employers who may be challenging. We have all experienced this at one time or another. Helping students understand that this is going to happen and how to work through it is one of the most beneficial learning experiences we can provide them as the adults in their lives.

So here is the process if you have questions or concerns about what is happening in the classroom.

1. Your first point of contact is the classroom teacher. Reach out to them to set up an in person or virtual meeting to discuss your concerns. The teacher will work with you to develop a plan of action.

2. After the initial meeting with the teacher, and after you have given the plan of action time to be effective (4-6 weeks), your next point of contact would be the grade level counselor. They will work with you, your child and the teacher to look at the plan and make adjustments.

3. After the adjusted plan has had time to be implemented (4-6 weeks) and you still feel that things are not working well for your child, you may then contact the grade level administrator. (8th grade - Mr. Ferraro, 7th grade - Ms. Ayala, 6th grade - Mr. Ferraro/Ms. Ayala).

Markham Elementary Move-Out Plan

This information that was sent to the Markham community late last week:

https://secure.smore.com/n/ydwje-markham-reconstruction-update-9-20

I have started the process of working on the our transition plan. My goal is to get details next week that I can share specifically with the Jackson community.

Bum Knee

Finally, I wanted to provide you all with a heads up that I will be out on medical leave for the month of November. I used to be a runner and one of my knees has finally given out on me. I have made sure that we have highly qualified principal substitutes to fill in for me while I am gone. And with the staff that we have assembled, I am confident that things will run smoothly while I am out.

That is it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

John Ferraro

Nicole Ayala

Assistant Principal