Dear Parents of Maplewood Kindergartners,
This is an update from my email message yesterday: I have good news for all of you; our enrollment held at high enough levels to earn an additional half-time teacher from the district! As you may remember, the Portland District made a commitment to keeping class size in Kindergarten at 25 or less, and if we exceed that, we are directed to open another class. This means that we'll be shifting the half-day students out of their Full Day classrooms into that half-day class, giving everyone lower class sizes. I know that Ms. Patterson and Ms. Hawes became attached to ALL their students, and vice versa, but in the long run, everyone will benefit by the lower class size.
I am happy to announce that the teacher for Half-Day will be Mrs. Mag Savage. She taught Kindergarten here the last 6 months of the last school year, but we were not able to retain her due to the way that Kindergarten allocations are made. She is a fantastic addition to our Kindergarten team, and is anxious to get started. In fact, she was here in school within 10 minutes of the time that I received official approval Monday morning. Mrs. Savage has many years of experience in Kindergarten and in the primary grades, lives very close by, and has children in the Wilson Cluster Schools, and is really looking forward to working here this year!
SO WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS? :
1. Mrs. Savage is currently busy gathering and rearranging room 110, which was one of our kindergarten rooms last year. She'll be making sure she has the materials, furniture, and equipment needed to get off to a good start with the students.
2. I'll be talking with Ms. Patterson and Ms. Hawes about how to transition the children to this new class (how to talk to them about it, and how to make arrangements in the next couple of days to have the students visit their new teacher and their new classroom). AT THIS POINT, THE STAFF IS NOT TALKING WITH THE STUDENTS ABOUT THIS UNTIL WE HAVE A SPECIFIC PLAN SET. DETAILS WITH THE KIDS (AT SCHOOL) UNTIL WE KNOW MORE SPECIFICS ABOUT THE TIMING.
3. Mrs. Savage wants to get started with her class as soon as possible; at this point, it will probably be Thursday morning, so that the kids can have a day with her prior to their weekend. But the exact time will depend on how quickly the room can be arranged and materials ready. We’ll likely do a “meet and greet” activity on Wednesday to have the children identify their new class.
4. I'll send out more information to you as soon as we know more! - Thanks so much for your patience and faith in our school staff!
