Welcome to the 2018-19 School Year

Dear Parents and Students:

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year at Ray Elementary!  I hope everyone had an excellent and relaxing summer. The middle school team is looking forward to a school year filled with a love for learning and growth. We welcome regular and consistent communication and partnership in the education of your child. Parental support will be necessary in order for all students to reach their potential and strive to succeed beyond it.  

We are looking forward to a very successful and exciting year! We have high academic and social expectations for your child and will provide supports to help your child achieve those expectations.  It is our goal to provide all students with an challenging and fun experience in our classrooms.

Below you will find some needed information about some of the classroom policies.

Expectations:

Only your child’s best behavior and work are expected and accepted at all times.

All students must:

1)  Be on their honor.  Students must do their own work on homework, class assignments, tests

    and projects.

2)  Respect themselves, classmates, and teachers.

3)  Do their best.  Always give 100% and be positive.

4)  Be in attendance and be on time.

5)  Students shall not engage in activities that could cause harm to themselves or others.

6)  Students shall not talk to or about themselves, another student, or a teacher in a disrespectful or inappropriate manner.

7)  Students are to have all homework completed on the day it is due (see Ray Parent and Student Handbook for full homework late policy).

8)  Students must be prepared each day by having proper materials.

9)  Students must follow the dress code in the Ray Parent and Student Handbook.

10) The policies in the CPS Student Code of Conduct book must also be followed.

Current grades are posted regularly for to communicate progress to student and parent on Parent Portal (https://parent.cps.k12.il.us ). Our classroom blogs include links to  homework assignments, assignment due dates, and a variety of other helpful information.

Communication:

1. email: lalbrecht@cps.edu
2. blog (updated weekly): http://304albrecht.blogspot.com/
3. Parent Portal (updated weekly): https://parent.cps.k12.il.us
4. Class Dojo: https://www.classdojo.com/ (Class Codes will be sent home the first week of school. This is a great way to send text messages between home and school, monitor student behavior, and get updates about what is going on in the classroom.)

Sincerely,

Mr. Albrecht

RAY MATHEMATICS FAQ 2020-21

RAY MATHEMATICS FAQ 2020-21

1. Can a student make-up or redo assignments? YES! Students may redo any assignment for a better score. They also may do and turn in assignments late (for a lower score).

Two requirements:

• Students must send Mr. Albrecht an email (lalbrecht@cps.edu) to tell him that the redid or made-up the assignment, the name of the assignment, and when it was due. Mr. Albrecht does not go back to check without an email.
• The end of each quarter is a hard cutoff for making up work. CPS will not allow me to change a grade once the quarter ends. I will remind students and families of end-of-quarter dates a few weeks before the end of each quarter.

2. How do I check my student’s grades? What's the scale?

All parents have access to CPS Parent Portal via the ASPEN login page. You need a PIN# from the office to access Parent Portal the first time-- after that it is just a standard log-in. Parent Portal can be set up to give text and email alerts about grades and attendance. We also recommend getting your students CPS email login and password. You can access Student Portal via the same ASPEN login and get the same information. The grading scale is below:

3. How can I find out how my child is doing socially?

Families should feel free to contact Mr. Albrecht via email at lalbrecht@cps.edu for quick check-ins or to schedule longer conferences.

4. What can I do to make sure my student is successful in math class?

Actively and routinely checking in on Parent Portal, Google Classroom, and teacher blogs will give you a clear picture of how well your child is doing at Ray. We recommend scheduling a time(s) for yourself each week to check. Our blog will also have weekly updates about what we are studying and the announcements pertaining to 7th and 8th graders at Ray.  If you want further information or support: email Mr. Albrecht lalbrecht@cps.edu for tutoring and enrichment ideas and opportunities.

5. What is the scope of 7th and 8th grade mathematics at Ray?

Check out Open-Up’s Math Curriculum at https://openupresources.org/math-curriculum/

6. Do we have a math wish list?

Yes! We will need donations of hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, paper towel, and face tissue when we return to in-person schooling. We will also need donations of lots of dry-erase markers and post-its. And while we a wishing, we recommend donations of MacBooks and iPads to Ray for use by teachers and students.