Tuesday, January 19, 2016

 Dear Friends and Families and Los Ranchos Elementary,


FullSizeRender.jpgVisiting any class at Los Ranchos during math is an invigorating experience. Students are fully engaged. They are leaning in, sharing their thinking, arguing over the math strategy that makes the most sense and persevering through complex problems.


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The changes in our math curriculum over the last couple years have offered new challenges, especially for parents. The math our students do is not the math we did as children.  I am including two videos to support your new understandings of the math standards.The first video, Making Sense Series is a great video demonstrating the progression of multiplication and the standard traditional algorithm.

6th grade math.jpgThe second video is by a math professor at Stanford University, Jo Boaler. She shares four key messages to support your children in math. She couples her math work with Carol Dweck’s work  on the Growth Mindset (another professor from Stanford). I hope you enjoy this short video How To Learn Math. Her website, www.youcubed.org,  is a treasure trove of math ideas.

We hope you can join us to flex your mathematical thinking at our third annual Family Math Night. It will be on Thursday, February 4th from 6:30 - 7:30. It is a fun evening the whole family can enjoy.

Sincerely,
Marlie Schmidt
Parking Lot reminder:  Please remember that our Bus Zone is strictly for Busses.. Parents are not to drop off or pick up in that zone.  We also have Staff Parking which is strictly for staff members.  Please be aware of these rules when you pick up and drop off. 

After school, all students who get picked up after  will go to the pick-up zone where there is supervision. Students who are not picked up by 3:05 will then proceed to the flagpole. Students can also wait in the office for parents who are running late.
Cold and Flu season are upon us. Please remember to call our attendance line if your student will be out for any reason. The number is 596-4079.



We have started our Choir Class on Wednesday mornings from 7:50am-8:20am. We have been lucky enough to add 4th graders to our group of 5th and 6th grade participants. This class is taught by our High School Choir teacher Colleen Chester. If your 4th, 5th or 6th grader is interested, contact the office and we will get your student a permission slip and get them started!