Dear West Mercer Families,

At this time of year, our teachers and staff are hopping! Everyone is busy supporting students as they grow and learn and ALSO preparing to communicate their progress through Progress Reports (Report Cards) and Conferences. In addition, the holidays provide for a very busy personal schedule for all staff…the combination of busy professional and personal life could send lesser souls running for the hills, but not our West Mercer staff! They are committed professionals that smile through it all!

Progress Reports (Report CardsProgress Reports will be available through Family Access at 5:00pm on Friday, December 4th.

IMPORTANT —School Schedule Changes Please be aware that our usual school schedule will be altered slightly to allow for our staff to communicate student progress to you.

Monday, November 30th (the first day back from Thanksgiving break) is a 12:00 dismissal (no lunch) to allow teachers to prepare Progress Reports

Monday, December 7th there will be NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS due to Conferences

Tuesday, December 8th there will be NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS due to Conferences

Wednesday, December 9th there will be NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS due to Conferences

I know that these schedule changes can be challenging for busy families. I also know the value of thoughtfully prepared Progress Reports and face-to-face conferences. There really is no way to replace these valuable communication processes. Partnering with you for the benefit of your child(ren) is important to us!

K-5 ReadingAs you know, we have been implementing our newly adopted reading program, Mondo Bookshop Common Core. We began implementation last year with our K-2 learners, and we are continuing implementation this year with our 3-5 learners. We are excited about the curriculum tools we now have at our disposal, and we wanted to take this opportunity to share some information about what your child is experiencing in his/her reading instruction.

Bookshop is research-based, common core aligned, and comprehensive. A comprehensive literacy approach entails addressing student learning in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and foundational skills. At K-5, our learners engage in:

phonological awareness, phonics, and word study appropriate to their grade-level and individual learning needs;

oral language development; vocabulary development; fluency practice and instruction with varying levels of text complexity; whole group and small group instruction to develop listening and reading

comprehension skills; engage in individual and partner practice to apply learned skills and strategies.

Learning to read and write is a complex, mutli-faceted endeavor. As professionals, our teachers continue to learn and develop our skills to best support your developing learners. To meet the varying needs of our students, we differentiate instruction within our classrooms, providing the instruction each student needs to move forward on their learning path. This differentiation may take the form of targeted phonics or word study lessons, oral language lessons, more frequent guided reading or shared reading lessons, or a combination of these. In addition, we continue to collaborate with colleagues through our Learning Support Program as appropriate.

Happy Thanksgiving! I recently have had a significant family medical emergency. This emergency has reminded me of all I have to be thankful for! My health, my family, my friends, my wonderful job, which allows me to work with an amazing staff, super supportive families and the best students on the planet!!

I hope that this thanksgiving season finds you with much to be thankful for as well.

Warmest Regards, Carol Best

PrincipalWest Mercer Elementary School