Principal Fried to Chávez Parents and Staff

March 1, 2002

Dear Chávez Families and Staff:

It's good to have the 5th grade Safety Patrol back on the job in the morning here at Chávez. Many thanks to Ms. Birkenmeier for getting it reorganized. They are very helpful, especially with the younger students and working together we're solving what has been an ongoing problem. Because the bus lane is rather narrow it prevents our outgoing buses from lining up in the same place everyday. They line up instead in the order in which they come in, which often varies. There was a real problem last week in the rain when some classes went in one direction because that's where their bus generally lines up only to have turn around and head to the other end of the driveway. Now each morning the safety patrols check on which bus goes where and they then direct classes to the right bus.

Here's what else is in the works:

Each of the grade level teachers, the specials teachers, and special education teachers have been afforded a ½ day of released time to meet in their respective teams to plan together for the remainder of the year. Either then or at other times I try to meet with them.
We are trying to hire certified subs in PE, Art & Music to cover these specials classes where currently the class is being taught by a Chávez teacher who is not certified in that particular area. While we will not be able to do it in every instance there will be improvements. More news next week as we see if the right subs are available.
Our new Bilingual Resource Specialist will be starting next week and that will certainly enhance our English Language Learning program.
We will be doing picture retakes on March 15. A flyer will be sent home next week. We are committed to putting out a memory book for our school.
We have sent over desks to Orchard Ridge for those of our 3rd grade students who have been using tables.
A couple of our teachers, Cathy McGaw and Theresa Hinton put in many hours culling through our displaced bookroom to gather books that our teachers have requested for their literacy program. They will be shipped to the host schools next week.
You are invited to eat breakfast here with your child next Thursday, March 7. Look for the coupon in this month's menu and have your child hand it in to the Chávez office sometime before Thursday.

Remember if you need to get a hold of me: office-442-2006, cell-220-2947, home-274-5695.

Sincerely,
Howard Fried
Principal

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