Dearest Reed Families,
What a spook-tacular Halloween celebration last Friday! Our little goblins and ghouls put on quite the parade, and we hope you enjoyed our surprise Halloween Cha-Cha Slide! I’d like to give a huge shout out to Mr. Eric Kaiser for choreographing the smooth moves. And thank you to both Mr. Kaiser and Ms. Rekha Sanjeev for orchestrating the surprise. I’d also like to thank the many caregivers who volunteered Friday to help host classroom Halloween festivities, provide activities and snacks and run our Friday lunch and playground games on such a busy day. Thank you for bringing the joy!
Parent/Caregiver-Teacher Conferences Next Week:
Friday, November 7 is the end of Trimester 1. Due to the Veterans Day holiday, parent/teacher conferences will take place November 10, 12, 13 & 14. School dismissal time is 12:00pm all week. Buses will continue to operate. Please make a note of the earlier drop-off times: Click here and then pick your child's PM Route to find the time in the far right column labeled "Time (conference)". School lunch will be available "to-go" for students.
Trimester 1 Report Cards:
Your child's Trimester 1 report card will be emailed directly to you on the afternoon of Friday, November 7.
Kimochi Corner:
As a part of our weekly Community Time and SEL learning a few weeks ago, we talked about setting healthy boundaries and using our words to communicate what sort of attention we do and do not feel comfortable receiving from friends, family and peers. You may have heard your kiddo singing a few verses from The Boundaries Song. This is a great little ditty and video that we watched/sang together. Please find the link to the video below. We encourage you to use the same language at home with your children.
The Boundaries Song - "That's a Boundary."
Math Curriculum Home-to-School Connections:
As you know, Reed is excited to launch our first year using the Amplify Desmos Math curriculum. This innovative program is fully aligned with state standards - including the California Math Framework - and is designed to build students’ conceptual understanding, reasoning, and communication skills, not just memorization or procedural practice.
Parents often ask how they can best support their child’s learning at home. Here are a few simple ways to help:
Ask about the thinking, not just the homework:
Try questions like:
➜ “Show me one of the graphs you made today.”
➜ “What did you notice about how the numbers changed?”
Encourage perseverance:
Remind your child that it’s okay if a problem feels challenging - that’s how deep learning happens!
Explore Amplify’s Caregiver Resources:
These include unit previews, practice problems, and family-friendly explanations of key math ideas.
VAPA at Reed:
What is VAPA? This year RUSD has created a new position called the Visual and Performing Arts Teacher on Special Assignment, or VAPA TOSA. Abby O’Leary, a former Bel Aire and Del Mar teacher, has taken on this role.
She began the year at Reed with two goals in mind: help classrooms strengthen their sense of community through the arts and deliver art lessons while the art teacher, Madame Caldwell, was at Bel Aire.
Moving toward the end of the first trimester, Ms. O’Leary is now focusing on deepening literacy skills via the arts. Currently, she is working with fluency classes and all second grade classes, combining drama concepts with reading skills.
Parents are invited to join the work of Ms. O’Leary on the district VAPA Task Force. This group will determine the direction of our arts programming over the next several years. There will be three meetings during the school year, and the first meeting is on Wednesday November 12, 3:30-5:00. Please click the link above to join in this important and exciting work.
Warmly,
Aubrey O’Connor & Staff
