Hello Parents and Guardians! I would like to welcome you to this school year. I am hopeful that we will have a productive year, full of academic challenges and growth.

As a matter of record, I will be available to speak with you throughout the school year. You may contact me through your child's guidance counselor, or you may leave me a voice message via the telephone system. In addition to those avenues of communication, you may find this web page quite helpful, for you may send me e-mail. I will reply as promptly as possible, regardless of the method of communication that you choose. I invite you to contact me should a question or concern arise. Afterall, we both have same objective: to see your child succeed in this course and leave ready to enter the next grade ready to tackle a new set of challenges.

I urge you to explore this web page. For example, course work/homework/reminders are posted weekly on each course's page. Students may easily access and/or print out a copy of the week's agenda. In addition to class reminders, this page will ensure that no student is ill-prepared. Furthermore, the "References" button and "Research Paper" button will direct you to a number of links that will be helpful in everything from course reading to writing essays and the research paper. Do look about!

You will see that the course requires that each student be attentive to various types of assignments, each weighing greatly in the marking period grade. In order to pass the year, each student must accumulate at least 240 grade points and fulfill course requirements. Students are responsible for tracking their grade points. To assist them, I will be posting grade updates every Monday in the classroom. The online Starbase system should be checked frequently for updated grades. Usually, this is done once a week, at minimum.

I also urge you to review the summer reading assignment for your child's course. A link to this page is found on my welcome page to my students. This assessment grade will account for 25% of the first marking period grade. The literary research paper, also worth 25%, will develop from summer reading. It is imperative that your child be fully prepared for these assignments.

I look forward to seeing you during parent-teacher conferences. Do not hesitate to contact me should a question or concern arise. Be sure to check this webpage for updates and important reminders. I would ask that you e-mail me upon your first visit to this site so that I may keep a record of parent e-mail addresses. This will allow me to contact you individually as well as send mass mailings regarding important course news.

Fondly,
Mrs. Haines