1. Grade 4

2. Meet your child’s teacher!
Mrs. Annette LaPresti
Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from California University of Pennsylvania
Graduate of Latrobe, and attended Baggaley as well!
7th Year teaching at Baggaley Elementary School
Contact Information: –
Phone – (724)
Available between 11:25 and 12:00 / 3:45 and 4:15

3. New to Baggaley . . . Mrs. Renee Gyory – Full Time Secretary
Mrs. Mary Koluder – Part Time Secretary
Miss Leah Stas – Autistic Primary Support
Starting in 4th grade, parents have access to Greater Latrobe’s Home Access Center (HAC)
Your user name and password will be provided by the district
Social Studies Series – Coming Soon!
PM Car Kid Procedure – 7:30 meeting in the café.
Student Teachers
Miss Ellenberger
Miss Scroggins

4. A year of transition . . .
Fourth grade is a year of great transition. Students, for the first time, have different teachers for different subject areas.
Now a part of the “intermediate” grades, and will face high expectations.
During the first quarter especially, many parents observe their child working harder on homework, spending more time preparing for tests, and encountering more challenging academic material. Please know that this is normal.
As teachers, we are doing our job to prepare your student for success, and this means holding each of them to a high standard for organization, responsibility, and effort.
Your support is important as students learn what is expected in the upper elementary grades, and how to be more independent learners and workers.

5. When children are absent from school, upon their return they must have a written statement providing: (a) the reason for absence, (b) the date(s) absent, and (c) parent’s signature. A written statement (excuse) concerning your child’s absence must be brought to school within 3 school days of returning or the absence will be marked unlawful.

6. Dismissal can be a busy time
Dismissal can be a busy time. If your child has alternate arrangements for dismissal such as riding a different bus than usual or being picked up by a parent, please send a detailed note with your child in the morning.
The procedure for PM car kids has changed this year. If your child is a car kid, please attend the meeting with Mrs. Stewart at 7:30 in the cafeteria.

7. In 4th grade, we have three simple rules:
-Respect others
-Take responsibility for your actions
-Take pride in all that you do
We believe that if students maintain these three guiding phrases, we will create a positive environment in which to learn.
Each 4th grader, along with his or her parents, signed a contract to show understanding of, and agreement with, our rules and their consequences.

8. In addition to our rules, we have created a positive behavior reward system. Each student in 4th grade has received a “Positive Paws” punch card.
Teachers can award a punch for exceptional displays of respect, pride, responsibility, kindness, and cooperation.
Full punch cards are placed into a drawing, and a winner is chosen. The winner receives a special prize.
In my classroom, I also have a ticket system. Students are able to earn tickets for positive behavior and work toward prizes of their choice.

9. A Excellent
B Above Average
C Average
D Below Average
F Failing or Below
O Outstanding
S Satisfactory
N Needs Improvement

10. Parents & Teachers are partners in a child’s education!
Home/School Connections:
Take home folder
Homework assignment book
Remind
Teacher websites (

11. 1)Select a school (Baggaley)
Teacher Websites
1)Select a school (Baggaley)
2)Click “Teachers”
3)Choose a teacher page
Includes teacher lesson plans and learning objectives
Displays teacher contact information
Links of interest

12. Your online resource for math, reading, science, and social studies
Think Central
Your online resource for math, reading, science, and social studies
Electronic versions of student textbooks and workbooks
Audio reader to read aloud to your child
Animated math models
Access to printable homework pages

13. Technology Updates
Back to School Forms
SchoolMint - Parents/Guardians will be receiving information and instructions on the first day of school along with an access code. (paper form)  
registered with GLSD, parent will receive this information through an .  
If a parent does not wish to complete the information online, we will provide them the opportunity to request printed forms.
District Mobile App / District Website
Makeover (appearance and function)
FCC Ruling - will not longer permitted to send broadcast e-Alerts
Anticipated within the next month

14. Fourth graders can expect homework to be assigned Monday – Thursday
Fourth graders can expect homework to be assigned Monday – Thursday. Homework should take, on average, 40 minutes to complete. Incomplete assignments will result in a “strike.” Students will be expected to complete the work during recess. Five strikes will result in a morning detention.

15. Teachers – Mrs. Frescura & Mrs. LaPresti
Language Arts is broken into two parts.
Large group - Main part of our time where we work together toward our goals for the day.
Small group - Shorter period of time where just a few students and a teacher work on specific skills that meet students’ individual needs
Students will utilize a binder for organization and weekly lesson packets in place of workbooks
Reading tests will be given bi-weekly

16. Spelling tests will be on Wednesdays
Spelling and Language are a combined report card grade
Homework will typically be assigned on a daily basis, and students will be required to keep record of this in their assignment books
Expectations (writing conventions in all subject areas)

17. This year we will be exploring reading through the use of our Harcourt Storytown reading series. We will work with different genres to learn the skills necessary to be good readers.
We will also grow as we work to improve our fluency. Practicing at home is a big help!

18. Writing will be a focus this year, and we’ll work to learn to write narratives, expository pieces, and persuasive pieces.
We will write different things daily which will give us practice in being good spellers and in perfecting our capitalization, punctuation, and grammar skills.
Mrs. LaPresti will challenge us to make our writing the best it can be!

19. Teachers- Mr. Reno & Mrs. Ulishney
Go Math! is our math series and is aligned to PA Core Standards --> Shift in instructional focus
Targeted Areas of Instruction:
Numbers & Operations
Measurement
Geometry
Algebraic Concepts
Data Analysis & Probability
Think Central
Expectations (math facts, homework, showing work on assignments/tests)

20. Units of study: scientific process, animal studies, space, electricity, weather, land & water –
We will be utilizing our new series, Science Fusion. Resources are available at
Very academic—Science is a letter grade this year, and we also take the Science PSSA.
Expectations:
Content—lots of nonfiction reading
Assessments—a lot of content
Homework—Will have homework some evenings
Projects—Following directions imperative
Test/Quiz corrections—1/2 credit back for corrected answers, MUST BE RETURNED THE NEXT DAY, students must choose to do them—no teacher prompting to do/hand in

21. We have a brand new Harcourt Social Studies series coming soon equipped with a ThinkCentral component! We will visit each region of the United States, so pack your bags!

22. CLEARANCE FORMS ARE DUE BY
While the fourth grade team does not utilize parent volunteers for our holiday parties, we do count on parents for a few of our field trips. We also welcome parents who can spare some time and would like to volunteer with us to help with tasks such as copying, filing, laminating, etc.
Baggaley’s volunteer policy requires ALL parent helpers to have clearances.
If you are interested in volunteering at ANY time throughout the school year, please stop in the lobby to fill out the clearance forms.
CLEARANCE FORMS ARE DUE BY
SEPTEMBER 30th .

23. Thank you for attending
Thank you for attending! If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Together we will make it a successful and productive year for your child!

24. Before you go, did you . . .
sign up for “Remind” cell notifications
Check bus information
Write your child a note
Meet Mrs. LaPresti 
Visit the bookfair