Dear Parents,

My name is Michael Blais. Most of you already know me because you have other children I had the privilege of teaching. For those of you who do not know me, I look forward to making your acquaintance. My door is always open to parents. I strongly encourage you to get involved at our school.

As a Christian teacher, my primary goal in teaching English is that students will be better able to know Christ both through the subject-matter and through a Christ honoring environment at school. As we study English, my primary objectives include strengthening your child’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. My desire is that your child takes away from this class a love for the English language and increased competence in all four areas of skill. I encourage you to examine the California curriculum standards page I prefer to use for setting my objectives. You can access this information at http://www.cde.ca.gov. Please note that the standards are only a benchmark, which help guide the curriculum content and provide teacher accountability. The curriculum I will be teaching is by no means limited to these standards. If you would like, I am more than willing to send you a copy of the California middle school English standards.

An additional significant objective is the use of biblical integration in every lesson I teach. This is one of the primary elements that make a Christian school uniquely Christian in its educational practices. Integration involves teaching your child pertinent biblical principles directly related to the subject-matter and applicable to one’s everyday life. If you would like to see a sample lesson plan that illustrates how this is done, I am willing give you one.

The main textbooks we will be using are entitled Elements of Literature and Elements of Writing, which are both published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. This is not the only source of subject-matter. It will be heavily supplemented with other material—particularly in the area of literature content.

Students are generally given at least a week’s notice before tests and a study sheet, which informs both the student and the parent about what will be on the test. Quizzes may be given at any time. Your child will be given one major project per quarter. Additionally, they will be given a number of books to read during the year and will be tested on the contents to ensure comprehension and confirmation that they thoroughly have read them. Homework is generally given three or four nights out of the week.

Additionally, student grades are determined based on homework, quizzes, reading, projects and tests. The work that can be graded the most objectively will receive greater weight in the assessment process. On side two of this letter, I have provided what I call an assessment percentage scale I generally use for calculating students’ quarter grades. You may request an e-mail update on your child performance. You will receive a detailed report within three school days.

• 40%    Tests
• 15%    Quizzes
• 20%    Projects
• 10%    Reading Assignments
• 15%    Homework

Extra credit policy

Starting the second semester, students will not be given the opportunity to do extra credit assignments. Students are expected to be diligent during the school year, so they will not have to try and boost their grades during the last one or two weeks of the quarter. The policy is being put into effect for the benefit of the student so that they will learn responsibility and diligence. This is a key aspect of their education along with academic knowledge.

Homework and class assignment notification

If a student missing three homework assignments, his or her parents will be notified after the third missing assignment and subsequently every three missing assignments after that. The students are given two days to hand in their work. Each day a homework assignment is missing the grade will be reduced 10%. On the third day, students will be given 0% if the assignment has not been turned in. There is no negation on this policy.
Quarter projects

Each quarter students are given a major project, which is worth 20% of the quarter grade. This project is due one week before the end of the quarter. If the student fails to hand in this assignment on the given due day, he or she will be given 0% for the whole project. There is no negotiation on this policy.

The Blais family