Parents and Students:
Eighth grade is a fast-paced year filled with class activities, academic responsibilities and standardized testing. We are looking forward to an exciting year and want to take this opportunity to share guidelines to ensure success. Communication, organization, curriculum, grading policy, and standardized tests are the areas of focus.
I. Communication:
A. E-mail - Teachers will respond to messages as soon as possible.
B. Planners - Parents are encouraged to write a note in the parent section of the planner. Students have the responsibility to bring the message to the teacher’s attention. Teachers will respond in the planner or by phone or email.
C. Conferences - Sometimes a conference becomes necessary. Teachers will schedule a conference if it is deemed necessary; however parents may request a conference with the team of teachers by contacting Ms. Barton at 746-8604. She will set the conference for a time that is compatible to all. To ensure that class activities are not interrupted and for security purposes, it is necessary for parents to make arrangements before visiting classrooms. We encourage contact via email or conferences.
II. Organization -
A. Planners - Planners should be used as an organizational tool and calendar for assignments. Every Monday students will be given time at the beginning of each core class to copy assignments from the board into their planner. Parents should ask to see this information. Students will receive points if assignments for the five core classes for each day are written in the planner. This grade will be given in language arts class only.
C. Edison website - Use this as a tool to locate assignments, due dates, absent work, teacher contacts, and IRC (library) website for additional help. Go to edison.sharpschool.com.
III. Curriculum -
Each teacher will base curriculum on the national and state standards and will follow the TPS pacing calendars.
IV. Grading Policies -
A. Students will receive an official school progress report the fifth week of each quarter and a quarterly report card. Parents should expect the student to provide this information at the appropriate time.
8TH GRADE TEAM LETTER
2010 - 2011
B. Absent work will follow TPS policy which states “students will be allowed one day make-up time for each day’s absence”. Assignments are due on time and complete. Long-term projects will be assigned weeks in advance and will not be accepted late for full credit.
C. Tests must be made up within one week. Since class time is valuable and we cannot stop class for make-up work, arrangements must be made to take missed tests before or after school. Teachers are often in meetings and/or conferences during this time; therefore, it is imperative that arrangements be made in advance.
D. Cheating - All students involved in a cheating incident or any form of plagiarism will receive “0" for that assignment/test/project. This work cannot be made up.
V. Standardized Tests: The Explore Test, Oklahoma State Writing Test, Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test and Algebra 1 End of Instruction tests are unique to the eighth grade. In preparation, parents should encourage students to get a good night’s sleep and eat breakfast before the test.
VI. Paper Heading -To ensure proper credit, students should use the following heading:
Last name, First
Date
Subject/Hour
TITLE OF ASSIGNMENT AND/OR PAGE NUMBER
Again, we are looking forward to a year of academic growth and learning. We appreciate parental support and involvement as well as student responsibility and participation. By working together, 2010-2011 will be a successful year for students, parents, and teachers.