Welcome Back to One-Day G.A.T.E., 2008
Dear Students and Parents,
Welcome back to a new school year. I am very excited to begin a challenging, fun year in One-Day G.A.T.E.
Daily Schedule and Buses: Gates open at 7:30 for breakfast. All other students dropped off at this time will wait with an Aide in the main hallway until 7:45. They will then be walked to the playground. The bell rings at 8:27, school begins at 8:30. If a student is tardy (after 8:30 a.m.), they must check in through the office. At 2:30 I will walk students to the bus lines at which time an aide or teacher will help them get on their buses. Our bus pick up area is on the west side of the campus along King Street. The first two weeks of school your child will wear a bus bracelet to ensure they are on the correct bus. In addition, I will personally place all students on their appropriate buses during these two weeks. Your child will never be left unattended. Students whose parents pick them up will be walked to the gate just east of the main office and will wait inside the gate with an aide or teacher. Parents, you will need to park and come to this gate for your child. Students will not be allowed to wait outside the gate, or along the street. There are bound to be a few bus glitches the first few weeks. If a bus fails to pick up your student in the morning or you have any other problems with transportation, please let me or Lynn Clements (GATE clerk) know as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience in this area!
Uniforms: All students are required to wear a uniform at Owens: khaki or blue pants, shorts, skorts, skirts, or jumpers, white, blue, or gold shirts, a Bessie Owens T-shirt (available soon), or your child’s home school T-shirt. Shoes appropriate for P.E. should also be worn.
Lunch: Many of my students opt to bring their lunches. However, if your student usually eats a hot lunch at his/her home school, and prefers to eat a hot lunch here at Owens, our cafeteria manager will access your student’s account and deduct that day’s lunch. If your child eats hot lunch only occasionally, you can also send money for him or her to purchase a hot lunch here. This must be done in the morning before 8:30 a.m. If your child receives free or reduced lunches, the same applies here. Also, PLEASE send bottled water (no juice or soda, please) with your student. Our classroom faucet is very warm!
Attendance and Grading: Attendance is extremely important to your child’s success and feelings of comfort and belonging. One-Day G.A.T.E. is not “optional”. Once a student has agreed to participate, G.A.T.E. becomes a part of their educational program for the year. If your child will be absent because of illness, please call the office at 631-5420. I understand that at times students have rehearsals or are participating in a special event and will need to stay at their home school. I would appreciate a call or note ahead of time if you know this is going to be the case. If your child misses three days due to unexcused absences, I will call to speak to you regarding your child’s continued participation in the program. Sometimes, school parties fall on our G.A.T.E. days. I know these are fun for the kids, but it is not considered an excused absence from G.A.T.E. We try our best to make sure we are “celebrating” on those days as well.
As far as grading, no letter grades are given, (with the exception of one or two special projects) but each child will receive a quarterly progress report. I also will have the students fill out a weekly evaluation form letting you know what we did that particular day. Ask your child for these so that you can stay informed.
Curriculum for Grades 4/5: The California State Standards and grade level curriculum are used as the guidelines for developing the enrichment lessons I teach. The purpose of One-Day is to give your child an opportunity to learn things that go above and beyond the regular classroom curriculum. Since Science is the biggest component of the program, emphasis is placed on allowing students to explore concepts by conducting experiments and using the Scientific Method to guide their learning. Active questioning is used to help students make sense of difficult concepts. Following is a list of the Science, and other curriculum that is taught. 1. Science – Ecosystems, Electricity and Magnets, Plants and Animals, Astronomy (5th), Earth – water, weather (5th), Chemistry (5th) 2. Language Arts – Report writing, poetry writing, other reading and writing skills. Within this area, students will also be researching and writing a Scholarly Investigation Project to be presented at the G.A.T.E. Fair in the spring. 3. Social Studies – Geography, Mapping, Current Events 4. Spanish 5. Computer Technology – Web Quests, PowerPoint, online research projects, keyboarding, and logic games 6. Fine Arts –Art History (artist and their styles), Multicultural Art, and Drama/Readers Theatre 7. P.E. - All One-Day students combine during this time to learn a variety of new games and exercises. If your child needs to be excused from P.E. because of illness, please send a note.
Study Trips: One out-of-town study trip is being scheduled for the year. We also hope to go to the Bakersfield Museum of Art twice this year. Other study trips may also be scheduled. I’ll keep you posted!
Words of Advice: Students who are new to the One-Day program may have a bit of a time adjusting to coming to a new school for a day. You may hear them say, “I miss my friends.” This is by far the biggest issue for the students. Please encourage them to be patient; they will indeed make wonderful friends here in the classroom and among the other GATE students here at Owens. One-Day is also a place where learning is very different from what they are used to. New concepts are challenging, there are no text books, learning is very active, and enthusiastic participation is essential. This may make your child a little nervous. I promise you, they will adjust and become better all-around students by participating in the program. Please call me if your child voices concerns about coming; I’d like the opportunity to reassure them. You may reach me at school, 631-5420 or at my home after 5:00 p.m., 832-6163. You can also email me at barriosa@bcsd.com. Lastly, please fill out and return the yellow emergency card, the Consent to Participate, and the internet and photo permission slips as soon as possible. Remember, you are welcome in our classroom at any time to see what, and how, your child is learning!
Most Sincerely,
Mrs. Ann Barrios
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