Week of April 8th

Thank you for coming out to meet all of the famous people who are in our class! The students did a wonderful job and were so very excited to share all that they have learned with you.

Tomorrow we go on our field trip to the Morean Arts Center of Clay. We will be visiting from 10:45 to 12:00. The students will get the opportunity to work with clay after the demonstrations. We will return for lunch at school. Students may still buy lunch tomorrow. The address is below. You are welcome to meet us there, I have only heard from one parent so far.

Morean Arts Center for Clay

420 22nd Street South, 

St. Petersburg, FL 33712

727.821.7162

Last week we worked hard on the Trade First Subtraction Method. I am proud of their hard work and love their confidence! This week we will start a new unit on Patterns and Rules.

Next week is Celebrate the Arts week. Patti Mirza will also be shadowing me next week. I trust you received my email regarding my May 1st "departure". I only received confirmation responses from a few of you. Here is the letter. Please pay attention to the highlighted section as I need the letters by April 19th. Before would be even better as I need to get them uploaded into their portfolios:

Dear Parents,

As you know, the end of the school year is quickly approaching. Along with the end of the year comes the end of my pregnancy! I wanted to send you all an email to make you aware of my plans for the remainder of the year. I am planning for my last day to be Wednesday, May 1st. The school has arranged for Patti Mirza to take over for me and finish the year with the children. Mrs. Mirza taught in Glenview, Illinois as a second grade teacher for 12 years prior to moving to Florida. She has worked as a substitute teacher for the Pinellas County Schools and at Shorecrest for the past six years. She will be shadowing me in the classroom April 15th - April 19th. This will allow her to get to know the children as well as our classroom procedures. I will also be in contact with her prior to my leaving. I will be writing the students' narratives and will work with Patti when completing the students' progress reports at the end of the year. I have full confidence that she will do an amazing job. Mrs. Bell will be with the students and is very familiar with them as learners and how things go in our classroom. The second grade team works very closely together and they are going to be a huge support to Mrs. Mirza as well. 

Before I leave I want to make sure that the students get to share their electronic portfolios with you. They have been working very hard on them. These portfolios will showcase work from our class, Technology, Spanish, Music, and Art! Please mark your calendars for our Portfolio Share on Monday, April 29th right after Town Hall Meeting. You will not want to miss this! As a special surprise for the students I would like for you to help me with something. If you could write your child a letter telling them how proud you are and/or summarizing the year, I would greatly appreciate it! I like to add these as a special surprise to the end of their portfolios. You can either send in a hard copy or email your letter to me. If I could get the letter by April 19th that would be great!

Words cannot express how much your children and your families have meant to me this year. I have been blessed tremendously by your love and support. I adore your children and will miss them dearly. We are so very excited about welcoming our new daughter into our family soon. You all know what a blessing children are. 

Please feel free to contact me or Dr. Bianco if you have any questions. Thank you again.

Have a wonderful week! Thank you for supporting Relay for Life. It was a wonderful event!