Welcome Back
by Mark Staab
Dear Parents and Guardians,
It is once again my sincere pleasure to welcome everyone back to school after what I hope was a pleasant and relaxing summer. The entire school staff is anxious to begin work with you and your students and is looking forward to your help and guidance as we firmly believe that parent input and support can make all the difference in the world when it comes to student success. Throughout the year there will be numerous invitations from the school to get involved and lend your expertise but please don’t wait for these. I urge you to contact your student’s teachers early and often whether it’s to inform us of techniques you may use at home with your child or just to make contact. Involvement from home truly does matter so please help us help your child.
As you know, we adopted a new method of instruction and intervention last year called MTSS (Multi-tiered System of Supports) and we definitely saw some great results! Not only did we score very well on our state and local tests but we also saw, on less formal assessments, consistent growth in our younger students especially. Our goal is to get a clear idea of the specific strengths and weaknesses each child has and then provide lessons tailor-made to address the weaknesses and strengths. This resulted in more small- group instruction for reading and math and more exposures to content for our students. We still do have students who struggle and we are making some changes to our system already this year but we feel confident that we are moving in the right direction. This year we will build on our successes but continue to look for ways to refine the process.
Of course, academics are not our only concern. We are entirely committed to making your child’s time at school as safe and pleasant as possible. We will continue to take every opportunity to educate students about fire, tornado, and general safety but will also continue to teach and promote courteous and respectful behavior. If an issue of bullying occurs please help us address it by making a call to either the classroom teacher or to me. Often times, we are unaware of bullying issues until they reach a “crisis” stage. An early, clear intervention is always better in discipline issues so please do not ever hesitate to make us aware of issues or feel like you may be over-reacting.
Finally, please read this handbook carefully and make yourself fully aware of our policies and procedures as some have changed. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Though I split my time between two buildings, I am rarely too busy to take your call and will always return a message. Your input is invaluable to all of us and is always appreciated.
Thank you for all the support you give to our school,
Mark R. Staab, Principal
Fontana and Parker Elementary Schools
913-849-3141 (Fontana), 913-898-3160 (Parker)
