December 12, 2007
Dear Parents/Guardians and Chavez Scholars:
Happy holidays to all! I wish you, your family and your loved ones much peace and joy during the holidays. I feel very grateful to know and work with your child. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to meet many of you and support you as you guide your child into adulthood. Thank you. Please join us for our family holiday celebration dinner on December 19, 2007.
Winter Holiday Family Celebration, Wednesday, December 19, 2007 from 6:00-8pm
Please join us for a holiday celebration before the winter break. A catered dinner will be served. We will have some light entertainment and fun activities for all, including small children
Progress Reports:
Please find enclosed your child’s second quarter progress report. Your child has about four more weeks to improve on his/her performance in each class. Review carefully the grade and the comments with your child. If your child received a C or lower, comments should explain why your child did not do well and the steps your child must make to improve. A teacher should be able to provide parents and scholars, at their request, a print out of how each grade was calculated. Please feel free to contact any teachers. If you have any difficulty contacting a teacher please contact Mr. Martinez, Mr. Spears or me.
Attendance and Hard Work
Poor attendance and missing or incomplete assignments are the primary reason why students perform poorly. We need parental support in helping us to overcome these problems. Please remember that if your child has been absent for 25 days for any reason other than long-term medical issues, he/she may be retained.
Depending on the grade-level, your child should be spending anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours a night studying. If your child does not have specific assignments to do, he/she should review material or read a book during this time. For your child to learn, there is no alternative to hard work. We offer a number of support programs to help your child complete their work at school:
After School Help: Each teacher has after school help hours. You child should stay at least once a week with a teacher in a class in which they are having difficulty.
Tutoring Study Halls: Monday-Thursday after school, three tutoring organizations are at school premises to help students with their homework. Please contact Mr. Gunthrope with any questions.
Saturday Academy. We have piloted a program where selected 9th grade students attend Saturdays to work on math. We hope to expand this program in the future.
College Prep Monday. During short days on Mondays, all seniors stay for a college prep program from 2-3:30pm.
DC CAS Prep Mondays. Every other Monday selected 10th grade students will be required to stay to work on math and prepare for the DC CAS Test in April.
Mandatory Study Hall. We are creating plans particularly at the 9th and or 10th grade to have mandatory study hall for students who are failing. We will advise parents and selected students when this program is in place.
Parent/Faculty-Administration communication:
The second quarter ends January 24, 2008. Teachers do not have their own phone extensions. To contact a teacher by phone, please leave a message with Ms. Harris or the front desk (202-547-3424, extension 10) and they will relay the message. You may also contact the teacher by email by using first name dot last name at chavezschools.org. Example:joe.smith@chavezschools.org) See the list of faculty names enclosed in Scholar/Parent Handbook or on our web site at www.chavezschools.org to find a teacher’s name.
We believe that communication between parents/guardians and faculty is very important. If you need to meet with a teacher or administrator, please call and make an appointment. Teachers’ and administrators’ schedules are very busy and if you visit without an appointment, it is likely they will not be able to meet with you. If you call to make an appointment, we will try to arrange a time that is convenient for everyone.
If you have any problem contacting a teacher please contact Mr. Spears, the Vice Principal of Scholar Affairs, or Mr. Martinez, Vice Principal of Academics, or with me.
We believe we have a very special group of scholars this year and anticipate an excellent year. Thank you for choosing Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School for Public Policy.
Again, much peace and joy to you and your family during the holidays.
Sincerely,
Garrett Phelan, Principal