This Week, from Dr. Cuthbert | February 19

Hello to Each and All,

After all the snow it has been really great to get back into the routine. This Thursday, prospective parents came to our informal open house. They commented that they were very impressed that the students (in every room) were so engaged and well-behaved. Our teachers came back after our week of no school—and then no students (on last Friday’s professional development day)—with a desire to catch up and move on to new things.  The students are working hard. It really has been a very productive and busy week at Stoddert East.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held on Monday, March 1, from noon to 7:00 p.m. There is no school for students that day. You’ll soon be hearing from the teachers how to sign up for your conference. During your conference, please ask any questions you have about your children’s progress. And don’t forget: in addition to conferences with your regular classroom teachers, you can get progress reports from our reading-resource, math-resource, ELL, and/or special-education teachers if your children are receiving any additional help or enrichment. It is important to ask about progress from all of those who are serving your children.

We recently started an Extra-Help Program in which some of our teachers and staff members are working with (tutoring) students that classroom teachers have identified as needing extra help in certain skill areas. This program is for third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students. The classroom teachers of these students identify (from DC BAS test results) the skills and interventions that the volunteer staff members work on. This tutoring happens whenever they can give free time – including lunchtime, after school, and during free periods. If you have a child participating in this program you should already have been notified about this service. Do ask your classroom teacher if you are not certain about this, or anything else. It is always our intention to have you involved as much as possible as we all do our best to help children grow.

The PTA Board members are working very hard on upcoming events including the Little Chili on March 12, a general PTA meeting on March 18, and the buy-a-brick campaign.  If you have not yet been involved with the PTA, please jump in and help out now. There are so many wonderful things going on and your involvement and support help maintain the excellence at Stoddert. The staff and I appreciate the efforts of each, so please step up and get involved in these marvelous activities.

Thanks to many of you who have given me excellent ideas around many issues. If you are not sure of something and need clarification, please call the school or email us. We are all on the same Stoddert team!

— Dr. Marjorie Cuthbert