From Mr. Milner

Dear Crater Parents-

We are off to a great start to a new year here at Crater.  The kids have not missed a beat, returning to their classrooms, working hard and taking school seriously.  Yesterday, we welcomed our new group of kindergarten students to our school and the kids (and parents) did a great job on their first day of school.

With our kindergarten students now starting, our school enrollment sits at 446 students- the second largest elementary school in Newberg.  Some of our classrooms are very full and we will need as many parent volunteers as we can get to support all of our students.  If you have the ability to volunteer, please let your child's teacher know, or contact the school office.  Volunteering requires a criminal background check and the forms are available on the district website, or in the school office.

I have been visiting each classroom this week and talking to students about the ways in which people show respect for people in authority; towards others; self respect, and respect for property.   What we are discussing applies not only to school, but at home, and in our community.   I want each of them to know what respectful behavior looks like and sounds like.

For academics, our focus this year will fall in two areas:

    Making a shift to Common Core Standards and increasing the rigor for our students in all academic area- Forty-six states will be shifting and focusing student learning on the same standards.  For more information, North Carolina PTA has put together some excellent information for parents (http://www.ncpta.org/parent/commoncorestandards.html).
    Improving our students abilities to be proficient spellers- We are focusing our instruction toward specific spelling rules at each grade level.  We will be positing each grade level's list of spelling rules on our website.

Our teachers will be talking to parents and sharing information about what your child will be learning at our fall "Open House" nights coming up in a few days.  To help with childcare (children of ages 5 and older) we have Rudy Tinoco, a local magician, here to entertain kids and keep them engaged while parents meet with their child's teacher.  Please mark your calendars for the following nights:

    Thursday, September 20th, for parents of students in grades Kindergarten-Second Grade- 6:00 PM
    Thursday, September 27th, for parents of students in grades Third - Fifth Grade- 6:00 PM

Finally, our first PTO meeting is set for Tuesday, September 11th at 6:00 PM.   The Crater PTO has been an amazing support for our school and I hope you can join us for this meeting, and find out ways that you get involved and make a difference at our school.

As always, if you have any questions about your child's school experience, please feel free to contact me at 503-554-4654.

I look forward to seeing parents in our back-to-school events this fall.  Thank you for your support of our school-

Kevin Milner, Principal