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Pine Hill Placement
March, 2024
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Placement Letter
Dear Pine Hill School families,
Beginning next month, we will begin the process of grouping students for placement into classrooms for the next school year. This is a major undertaking, which we address thoroughly and thoughtfully. While we can appreciate that many parents/caregivers want to involve themselves in the teacher selection process, we are firm in asking you to please refrain from doing so. We do welcome you to share any compelling information you feel we need to be aware of with regard to your child’s placement for next year. Please read on…
The ultimate goal for the classroom placement process is to create well-balanced heterogeneously grouped classrooms of students. The placement team considers students’ strengths and needs with regard to academic proficiency across all content areas, social competency, emotional maturity, leadership qualities, family support, learning style needs, behavioral dynamics, peer relationships, and any services received. Your child's present teacher and other support staff members have a wealth of information about the conditions under which your child learns best. They will share this information with us as part of the placement process.
Balancing classroom groupings assures that all students get the teacher’s attention and energy they deserve and that our school system’s educational philosophies and “best practices” models for teaching and learning are actualized to maximize learning outcomes for all students. As you can appreciate, it is an artful challenge, not a perfect science. We do not look solely to match children with specific teachers since that would not help us achieve our goal, and would make the process susceptible to staffing variables, which are vulnerable to change. In addition, teacher assignments change from year-to-year to accommodate the enrollment/number of class sections per grade and in order to assist with the growth of our instructional teams.
Parent/caregivers requests for specific teachers will NOT be granted. If there is compelling information that the school should consider when placing your child, please submit the optional input form by April 22nd, otherwise, please trust us to make decisions that have every child's best interest in mind. We realize that on occasion, there may be extenuating circumstances when a teacher preference needs to be considered. For example, if a prior relationship with a prospective teacher would make things awkward (they are a neighbor or relative), you are certainly welcome to share that information with us. We want everyone positioned to have the best year possible while being appreciative and respectful of the wide range of diversity in a public school experience. Know that any letters received will be shared at the placement team meetings.
Parents/caregivers will be notified of their child's placement during the third week in August. As in past years, all class placement decisions will be final.
Thank you for working with us to support the teaching and learning of all of our Pine Hill School students. Again, your input is needed by April 22nd as we will be holding our placement team meetings shortly thereafter.
Sincerely,
Barbara Brown, Principal
Allison Gullingsrud, Assistant Principal
Rising 6th Graders - Middle School Transition
If you are the parent/caregiver of a 5th grade student, you are wondering about transition to Dover Sherborn Middle School. The middle school will be in touch to share specific information. Below is a list of manu of the ways we support 5th to 6th grade student transition:
- DSMS holds a parent/caregiver information session... they will send an invitation for you to attend (the event is scheduled for April 9th in the evening)
- DSMS administration will visit each of our 5th grade classrooms in April
- DSMS will send you a course selection form (following the information session) so you and your child can choose a World Language (Spanish, French or Latin) and Band (optional) or Chorus (optional)
- 8th grade student leaders will visit our 5th graders in May to provide an overview of sixth grade
- Our 5th grade students (and Chickering students) will take a field trip to visit DSMS for a structured tour on May 30th
- DSMS Counselors and Principals meet with our teachers and counseling staff to share information about students' learning styles and educational performance.
- IEP Transition meetings are held with special education teams for students who have educational disabilities
- The middle school hosts visit days for students and families in August (before the start of school)
- 6th grade students will receive their team assignment and class schedule in late August