Gr. 3 Housekeeping

Healthy Snacks

It is important that your child comes to school with a healthy snack for morning break.  The best snacks are nutritious; this means that they are low in sugar, fat and salt.  Fresh fruit, vegetables and foods that contain whole grains and protein are also good choices.  Follow this link for ideas on healthy school snacks. 

Absences

Please inform your child’s teacher if he/she is or will be absent in the future. We will make a note in the system and count it as an excused absence. If your child is sick, please inform the teacher before 8 am so that the teacher is aware of the situation and can complete the attendance properly. Feel free to communicate by email or a note in the passport.

Uniforms

Students are expected to be in proper DAA attire throughout the school day. They should be in either their formal DAA dress or their DAA PE uniforms. (Some of you have already made the change to the new PE uniform during this transition year, so thank you.) Both outfits should be coupled with appropriate shoes, which are mostly black or mostly white shoes. If students would like to wear their own specific shoes for PE, that is acceptable; however, they must change into these shoes at the beginning of the PE class and then change back into their uniform shoes at the end of the PE class. 

 Sweaters worn at school should also follow the DAA dress code. (In the winter months, it is permissible for your child to wear his/her perferred own coat/jacket provided he/she change into the DAA jacket once inside the building.) You can find information about what uniform your child should be in (either formal or the informal PE uniform) by following our class schedule. 

Parent Communication

Student passports are used to communicate with parents on a regular basis and should be checked and signed every evening. Feel free to send an email with any questions or concerns you may have. This is the best way to communicate any emergencies or other urgent matters. Also, please keep in mind that time before class is often very limited and your child’s teacher may be unavailable to have a conversation about your child at that time.  A conference time can be arranged via email.   Other important information about your child’s class can be found here on our blog. 

Homework 

The Grade 3 expectations for homework are as follows: 20 minutes mandatory reading every day. Students may have math homework (in either the Home Links book or the Math Journal) or the occasional assignment related to Social Studies, Science or Writing. The time allotment for these subject areas is 10-15 minutes. Each child should have approximately 30 minutes or less of homework every night (except on weekends). The goal of homework is to provide extra practice to those children who require it and not extra work for those who already understand the skill/concept. For more information about DAA's Homework Policy, please click here. We encourage children to run, play, create, spend time with family and friends, as well as engage in after school activities, all of which which develop the whole child. 

                                                 Devices

We live in a digital age. As such, DAA is committed to continually assessing and evaluating student needs and ensuring that all students are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in the digital age.

One of the strategic priorities in DAA’s School Improvement Plan is to improve student learning through use of effective digital-age systems and teaching practices.

When the classroom teacher requests, beginning in September 2015, Elementary School students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 will be permitted to bring a personally-owned computing device—such as a tablet, iPad, or laptop—to school to support their learning; however, students are not required to bring such a device.

School leaders and teachers are excited about the potential of this voluntary personal device initiative to create new, innovative learning opportunities for students, while enhancing their abilities to communicate, collaborate, and create.

For more information, please read the full policy here, as well as the attached letter.