Dear Room 12 Parents,

Welcome to a new school year!

Each year, the success of our year and the range of activities we can do depend on help from parents like you! Without parental help, I cannot offer the range of programs you have come to expect at our school.

What can you do to help?

Please, volunteer to help in our classroom! When you spend just two hours a week helping me, you give your child a tremendous gift. First, your presence allows me to spend one-on-one and small-group time with the students. Second, your presence in the classroom signals to your child the importance you place on his or her education in a way mere words cannot match. Finally, your presence in our classroom connects your home and our school into community. It is very important that students see their education as part of their life. This helps them understand the importance of concentration, study, homework, achievement, and good behavior.

By helping us in the classroom, you reap great benefits too! Your help allows me to give each child in the class a better, broader, and more personalized learning experience. Put simply, if you volunteer, your child will have more fun and achieve more in school. Also, by spending time in our classroom, you will see the world I create for them, the habits they learn, and the expectations I hold for them. Your presence allows me to learn from you and you from me, such that each child has more success at school and at home. Finally, by spending time with us, you see your child as you might not otherwise. You see your child with his or her friends and better understand those friends. You will see your child in his or her school environment and gain the knowledge to make better decisions about many things, including choosing good friendships.

When you do join us in the classroom, there are a few rules I would ask you to follow. First, please come to work. It is very important that your child see you showing the same discipline that is expected of him or her (plus, we need every second you can give us)! Second, your child is expected to concentrate and only talk in turn. I would ask the same from you. It is an easy temptation to chat with the other adults in the classroom. Please wait until after school. Finally, participating in our classroom is a privilege. Please do not discuss events in the classroom with other parents. That is my responsibility alone.

As always, you can go to our class website (www.sbe_room12.org) and track your child’s education. There you will find all forms, schedules, calendars, assignments, grades, and selected work product. You can also find photographs and videos of the class learning and having fun! You can reach me through the website’s “Email Mr. Foster” link. You can also email me at: teacher@sbe_room12.org. My phone numbers are 888.555.1212 (work) or 888.555.1313 (home). I welcome your input and strongly encourage you to ask or tell me anything that is on your mind!

Thank you for your consideration and thank you for trusting me with your wonderful child!

I look forward to seeing you in our classroom soon!

Craig Foster