News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events
May 5-9  Stanford Testing; Teacher Appreciation Week

Monday, May 5  Stanford Testing; Roberts Idol Host Auditions (5th gr only)
Tuesday, May 6  Stanford Testing
Wednesday, May 7  Stanford Testing; Roberts Idol Auditions - Performers (5th gr only)
Thursday, May 8   Stanford Testing; Fine Arts Night
Friday, May 9  Stanford Testing; Kinder Field Trip (Bowman, Waterman, Shum & May)

Monday, May 12  Rising 5th gr Parent Mtg; Aladdin Jr General Tickets Sales begins at 8:30 a.m.; Roberts Idol Auditions - Performers (5th gr only)
Tuesday, May 13  5th gr STAAR Math Re-Test; 3rd gr Field Trip; 2nd gr Field Trip; Zoe's Kitchen Art Show & Dinner
Wednesday, May 14  5th gr STAAR Reading Re-Test;
Thursday, May 15  Student Coalition Meeting; SDMC Meeting, 3:30 p.m.; Kinder Portfolio Picnic, 5:00; Kinder Performance and Promotion Ceremony, 6:00 p.m.
Friday, May 16  Roberts Idol Final Call Backs
Saturday, May 17  Arty Party School Carnival, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Monday, May 19-Thursday, May 22  Aladdin, Jr. Tech Week


Stanford Testing
Testing begins Monday and continues all week for grades 1-5.  It is important that children get a good night sleep and have a good breakfast each morning.  Time for make-ups is extremely limited.  Please make sure your child arrives at school on time each day, and remains at school throughout the day.  Children arriving after announcements will not be allowed to enter the classroom until testing is completed for the day.  We will not be able to offer make-ups for missed subtests.

Your Voice Survey
You will find information in this week's Tuesday folder about the District-wide Your Voice survey.  Please take the time to offer your feedback on the work we are doing at Roberts.  Participation rate is one way the District measures our effectiveness, so please make you voice heard!

You will receive one survey for each school you have a child enrolled in this current school year.  The one you receive in the Tuesday folder is only related to Roberts Elementary.  Each survey has a code that can be used to complete the survey online, or you may complete the paper survey provided.  The unique code is to ensure you complete the survey only once for Roberts Elementary.  Please do not return the paper survey to school.  To maintain the integrity of the survey, we cannot accept it.

Teacher Requests

As you may know, one of the District's core initiatives within the Strategic Direction is to ensure a highly effective teacher is in every classroom.  The Roberts Community is so incredibly lucky to have a campus full of highly effective teachers.  There is no teacher on our campus that struggles to offer sound instruction, and a well-developed structure of support exists for teachers new to our campus. 

With that in mind, please let me share with you my thoughts on the often pursued “teacher request”.  I strongly believe requesting teachers builds a culture of favored and disfavored teachers that is toxic to a school community.   Often these impressions of teacher effectiveness are anchored by false opinions and rumors.  We do not accept teacher requests.  I will continue to stand firm on that and request that you honor it as well.

So, how will we make class assignments?  The teachers and administration will work to build strong groups of children that make sense together.  We will consider personality, behavior, academics and social development.  After groups have been formed, I will assign those groups to teachers. 

If you would like to share special characteristics that should be considered, you are welcome to submit that in writing to me.  You may do that by email or by leaving a letter in the office for me to review between now and the last day of school.  

Please let me thank you in advance for working within the system.  Your trust in our faculty is greatly appreciated.