School to Community Connection
February 12, 2003

Issue 39

Kindergarten Registration planned for February 24-28

It's the time of year to begin making preparations for your child to enter school in the fall. The first step is to register your child for kindergarten.  This year Fitch Mountain and Healdsburg Elementary Schools are moving up the date of kindergarten registration.  For budgeting purposes we need to know the number of students to expect so that we can make the necessary staffing decisions to maintain our quality program.

We will kick-off our week of registration with Kindergarten Information Night on Monday, February 24, 2003 from 6-7:30 PM in the Healdsburg Elementary School Gym.  This is a great opportunity to meet the kindergarten teachers and learn what will be expected of children and parents as they begin their elementary school experience.

This evening is an opportunity to speak with our talented and experienced kindergarten staff.  A slide show about the kindergarten experience will be presented.  There will be ample time for parents to ask the teachers questions. The program will be offered in English and Spanish.

Placement options in the Healdsburg Unified School District for kindergartners are the English Core programs at Healdsburg Elementary and Fitch Mountain or the Spanish Immersion Core program at Fitch Mountain Elementary.  Parents are not expected to choose during registration.  However, it is important to register your child now.  For parents interested in the Spanish Immersion Core, a detailed explanation of this program will be presented on Thursday, March 6 from 6:30-7:30 PM at Fitch Mountain Elementary School in the PMD Room

Parents can register their child at either Healdsburg Elementary or Fitch Mountain, February 25-28 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM or February 26th from 4:00-8:00 PM.  In order to register your child, you must have proof of birth (original birth certificate, baptismal record or passport) and immunization record.  For more information, call Fitch Mountain Elementary School at 431-3435 or Healdsburg Elementary School at 431-3440.  We look forward to seeing you on February 24th.

Childcare will be provided/Cuida de niños ser proveido Este programa estaré bilingue.

New Language Arts Teaching Strategy at HJH

Since Healdsburg Junior High School has mostly heterogeneous classes in English, it is a challenge to teach to the needs of the varying abilities of so many students. The seventh grade language arts teachers have come up with a new plan for a program which will specifically address the California Standards, as well as teach reading strategies to students at varying levels of proficiency. They will use the language arts series currently in use at HJH. This series has activities for the different levels to use for students with different skill needs.

During first semester finals, all students were given a placement test. They will soon be placed in levels according to their test results. During the fifth and sixth grading periods teachers will conduct “reading strategies” classes three days per week. Each teacher will work with a  group and do intensive work on the level at which her group is placed. The other two days a week, students will work with their regular core teachers on other English language activities in the curriculum.

Evaluation of the students’ improvement will occur at the end of the year to determine the effectiveness of the program. It is the hope of the seventh grade teachers that in focusing on students’ particular skill needs, all students will improve in their writing and reading skills.