Midyear Message 2015-16
Greetings Blue Ridge Students and Families,
It is hard to believe that we recently attended the 100th day of school. It seems it was just the other day that we began the school year. The time does fly, but we have much more learning to do.
I am so excited that we have had the opportunity to engage more students in small group instruction this year. Data shows that children benefit from smaller teacher to student ratios, and we've worked very hard to make this happen at Blue Ridge. We have students of all grades reaping the rewards of small group instruction in reading and math. I'm teaching a small group myself, and it has been so much fun to put on my teacher hat again. We're so fortunate to have Room 7 literally buzzing with small groups learning, 4th graders getting one to one support with math instruction, 3rd graders working on math skills in small groups, and kindergarteners taking part in rotations where they learn reading, phonics, and writing skills - just to name a few of the great small groups we have running!
We're lucky that we've been the recipients of some additional technology recently. We added a 4th Chrome cart filled with 30 Chrome books this month. Students use these devices to practice reading, writing, math, and science. In addition, students are using this technology to take tests and assessments. We've been able to allow students to take these tests and assessments in their familiar classroom settings and without disrupting schedules, it really is a win-win!
We have several opportunities for you to visit us at school in the next month. Please consider joining us for, Breakfast with a Buddy on the morning of March 18th, and for Family Science Night with Whitman College Science Outreach on the evening of March 31st. We'd also love it if you could set aside time to attend our monthly Parent Workshop on March 21st. We hope to see you at all of these events.
As you can see, we have some truly exciting things going on at Blue Ridge. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions!
Warmly,
Kim Doepker, Principal