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A Message from the Principal
Dear Parents,
It is the fall of the year, and our students seem to be
growing beautifully. Progress reports went home on September
23rd, and I am sure you were pleased to receive a
mid-quarter update of your children’s performance. Please
know that the teachers are available to speak with you. The
procedure for scheduling conferences is to call the front
office desk at 693-7500. Teachers are notified when
conference times have been set. We believe firmly in the
home-school connection because it takes all of us to ensure
our children’s success. At this point students should be
reading books that are appropriate for their reading
level. We want to balance reading for fun with reading to
build vocabulary, comprehension, and stamina. Please
encourage daily reading and check your child’s agenda every
day.
We have some interesting activities scheduled for the month
of October. We will hold friendly academic grade level
competitions the week of October 13th. The Book Fair is
scheduled for the week of October 20th. Our Book of the
Month is Duck for President, which was chosen to
educate students about the election process. Our Family
Literacy Festival will be held the evening of November
6th, and it will have an election theme as well. I hope to
see as many of you there as possible. You will soon receive
more information about our upcoming events. Have
a wonderful day!
Lori Turner
Tiger
Tribune Highlights
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All
are invited to Academic and Community Excellence meetings.
The primary focus of these meetings is the utilization of
facilities throughout the district. Among the discussion
topics have been schools that should be closed, schools that
should be built, and boundary changes. Thomas Jefferson is
in the North Quadrant. The next meeting for our quadrant is
Monday, October 13th, from 6:00-8:00 at
Northwestern Middle School.
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Report
card changes for 2008-2009: Spelling and handwriting will
not be separate grades on the report card for students in
grades 2-5. These subjects may be addressed through
language arts. This has never been an issue in grades K-1,
who only give grades in communications and mathematics. An
asterisk will appear on the report card next to any grades
that are below standard (D or F). There will also be an
asterisk to indicate that a student in exceptional education
is on special standards.
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We
have adopted the Fast ForWord computer-based
program this year. Its aim is to help develop
reading and language skills, improve ability to follow
directions, build listening skills, and increase engagement
in classroom activities. Several classes have signed up for
30-minute daily sessions for a number of weeks. The
activities are differentiated so that higher achieving
students will have more challenging activities.
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We are
participating in the Jacksonville Fair Quilt project again
this year. Mrs. Bott, the art teacher, is helping her
students in grades 3-5 make a quilt to submit to the
competition. The theme of the contest is A Cloak for the
Dreamer, the title of the Superintendent’s Book of the
Month for September. Students are encouraged to go to the
fair and vote on Thomas Jefferson’s quilt. The dates of the
fair are October 29th-November 9th.
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We are
holding informal, friendly academic competitions October 13,
14, 20, 21. We started these last year in grades 2-5 to
promote students’ excitement about learning and to support
our focus on multiple intelligences. Student teams are
formed to compete in the areas of math, science, language
arts, and resource. The teams are given 10-15 seconds to
collaborate on their answers. All teams who answer a
question correctly when time is up receive 5 points. The
class with the most cumulative points wins. Last year we
referred to these as Dive into Learning Competitions.
This year they are Watch Us Grow Competitions,
following the school’s 2008-2009 theme.
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GO TIGERS!

Important
Dates
September 23rd-
Progress Reports
2.October
20th- Make-up
Weather DayOctober 22nd-
First quarter ends3.
October 24th-
Planning Day
November 14th-
Report Cards go home.
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