Dear New 4th Grader,

Welcome to Fourth Grade! I am Mrs. Milam, and I am happy to have you in my homeroom class for the 2019-2020 school year.

I hope you have had a wonderful summer and are ready to enjoy this next school year. I know I have enjoyed spending time with my six-year old daughter, Audrey, and my almost five-year old son, Graham. It is going to be hard to leave them, but I am really looking forward to starting this new school year.

I am excited to be returning to Marion as a fourth grade teacher. This will be my seventeenth year teaching, and I have been a 4th grade teacher at Marion for 12 years.  I am looking forward to sharing the wonderful world of reading and writing with you this year! One of my favorite hobbies is reading, and teaching young writers is my passion.  We are going to have a lot of fun exploring those two subjects together!

Fourth grade will be a little bit different than what you’ve experienced in the past. I will be your homeroom, reading and writing teacher.  You will have the opportunity to change classes for your other subjects. Mrs. Smith will be your math teacher, and Mrs. Villalobos, who is moving from 2nd to 4th grade, will be your social studies and science teacher.  You will enjoy the different teaching styles and personalities of all of your teachers.

Dismissal:  Our first job is to keep you safe, and in order to do that, we will continue the use of car tags.  Car tags will be provided for both carpool and walk-up areas. Your parents will receive your car tag at Meet the Teacher.  If you are a car rider, it is important that your parents hang the sign on the rear view mirror for staff members to see. If your parents pick you up as a walker by the gym, they will also need a tag.  They will need to hold the tag with your name on it so that it is visible to the teachers that walk you outside. Please tell your parents “thank you” for helping us out with this new procedure!

I look forward to seeing you at the annual Marion Back to School Parade on Friday, August 9th at 9:00 am and at “Meet the Teacher”on Monday, August 12th from 4:30-6:00 pm. Be sure to bring your supplies to “Meet the Teacher”.  Please leave your folders, spirals and composition books unlabeled. You may put your name on your pencils, markers, scissors, etc.

Mrs. V, Mrs. Smith and I are looking forward to seeing you there.  We are going to have a SUPER year, and I can’t wait to get started!  Enjoy the last few days of summer!

See you soon,

Mrs. Milam