Welcome 3rd Grade scholars and families! We're so glad you're here!
We are thrilled that your child is part of our GHNO 3rd grade community for the 2022-2023 school year! We look forward to partnering with you for a fun and productive year! The blog is updated on Mondays with our latest newsletter, grade level information, and reminders.
Together for our children,
3A teachers:
Lead: Miss Hannah Berg
3B teachers:
Lead (& 3rd grade team lead!): Miss Lindsey Revel AT: Ms. Stephanie Stephen
3C teachers:
Lead: Miss Meredith Frey
AT: Mrs. Christina Cazares
3D teachers:
Lead: Mr. Jeremy Fasenmyer
AT: Mr. Bejamin Fogler
Book: We will start reading Little House on the Prairie
Mornings: Getting to School
The first day of school is Monday, 8/13/2023.
Drop-off will start every day at 7:15am (parents can enter the parking lot starting at 7:10am. Before this, you can wait in the church parking lot if you are early! Mr. Brogan and Mr. Maiorano have sent out some helpful traffic how-tos to explain this process.)
The bell rings at 7:50am--this is when we start our pledges, announcements, and class greetings! Each day, students are expected to be prepared for class to start when the 7:50am tardy bell rings. If you student arrives to our classroom after the bell has rung, they will be counted tardy in powerschool.
A little tip: :) Third grade students usually feel best and most calm when they have time to ease into their day with ample time to unpack, get their supplies ready, say good morning to their teacher, and ask any questions. Students who have time to do these things without feeling rushed or panicked start the day feeling more at ease, and this positive start to the day can help them feel better throughout the entire school day. Because we know it is helpful to students, we recommend arriving with enough time for your student to walk to our classroom several minutes before the bell. Remember that third graders are not always quick walkers, especially on the first weeks back to school. :)
*Of course, we know that life happens and your student may be late occasionally--although it helps students to arrive with enough time to settle in calmly, the day is certainly not lost if they come in late or at the last second. We will always work with your student to help them settle and feel at ease in the classroom! But if they arrive late, they will need start the first class before unpacking, and unpack when our class goes to specials.
What can your student expect to do on the first day? What do they need to bring?
In class on the first day, we will go over classroom procedures and layout, school-wide procedures, go for a tour of the school, and we will do activities to get to know each other better as a class. We practice things we will do all year long! How will we turn in our papers? How will we greet our teacher and classmates? How will we get to our specials class, lunch, and recess? How will we participate in class and ask questions? How is third grade different from second grade? We carefully review all this and more on the first day so your student can be a prepared, confident member of our class community.
Students will need to bring: any supplies they could not bring to Meet the Teacher, their backpacks, lunch (if not getting school lunch), water bottle, and snack. Water bottles are super important since there are only a few times per day we can send students to the fountains. It is also helpful for students to bring bottles so they can have water to drink during PE, lunch, and recess! Especially with the heat, we want your student to stay healthy and hydrated!
TIP: Be sure your student's NAME is on their water bottle (section number is also helpful). Sometimes students leave a water bottle behind around the school, and this helps the lonely bottle find its way back to its owner! :)
When it gets colder and your student needs to bring a sweater, this tip is helpful for those, too! :)
Traffic
Ahhhh, summer. Sleeping in, not waiting in car-line, swimming, eating watermelon, not waiting in car-line, fireworks, not waiting in car line, no helping with homework... did we mention not waiting in car line?
Yes, many of us (including your teachers :) ) have gotten use to the lesser amount of traffic in the mornings and afternoons of summer. Be prepared for the traffic to be back in full force! Remember that many other schools are starting as well, and traffic could be exponentially worse on Monday morning and afternoon. There will be many new families as well as students who may not be familiar with procedures. Both drop-off and pick-up almost always take longer than normal for the first few days. Take heart! It does get better as we get into the 2nd and 3rd week.
Note: There have been some updates to procedures for pick-up wave times. Please see the headmaster's traffic email and the traffic guidelines documents to be sure you are up to date on pick up expectations. If you need an adjustment to your pick-up time, send an email to Mr. Maiorano!
Please be patient with other families, GHNO teachers and staff, and the policemen directing traffic, and remember we are all in this together! Cellphones: We know it is a long and potentially boring wait. Please do not be on a cell phone while in either of the lots. Stay alert and do not move your vehicle if children are in front, beside, or within arm's-length of it.
TIP: Some parents record their students' poems and play this in the car during drop off or when waiting to leave the lot after pick up. This is a way of exposing your child to the poem or helping them practice the poem that makes use of the dead time in the car. Then you can check off that piece of homework, too! Audiobooks are another great hands-free/eyes-free option. Miss Berg in particular loves audiobooks and would be happy to provide recommendations for grownups or kids if you are interested. :)