Dear Parents,

What a great first trimester we had!  It was lovely meeting with all of you at parent conferences.  Thank you so much for attending and being on time. You have wonderful, talented, intelligent children.

            As we move forward in this second trimester, there will be a significant change occurring.  Earlier this year I got engaged, and will be getting married later this month.  My fiancé currently lives in Georgia, and so I will be taking a leave of absence for the rest of the school year. I will miss these wonderful sixth graders and the support you provided as parents. 

            I will be leaving our sixth graders in very capable hands.  We are very fortunate to have Mrs. Laura Piña fill in during my leave. Mrs. Piña is not new to the Hueneme School District, she has been teaching in our school district for 9 years.  She has taught kinder through sixth grade. Incidentally, she completed her student teaching with Mrs. Hamm, our former sixth grade teacher. She also has experience as a reading intervention teacher. Most recently she has been teaching sixth grade at Blackstock Junior High.  As you can see, she comes to us with phenomenal qualifications!

            I would like to thank you for such a great start this school year. I am going to miss each of your children very dearly.  They are bright, respectful, and I very much look forward to hearing of their future successes. I will make sure to touch bases with them throughout the rest of the school year. Mrs. Piña will be starting with them in January.

Respectfully,

 Miss Isela Escamilla

Estimados Padres,

            ¡Qué buen comienzo tuvimos para este año escolar! Fue un verdadero placer  citarme con ustedes durante las conferencias. Gracias por asistir y llegar a tiempo.  Tienen hijos(as) maravillosos, talentosos, e inteligentes.

            Al seguir adelante con el segundo trimestre, habrá un cambio importante.  Este año me comprometí, y me casaré en unas semanas.  Mi prometido vive en Georgia, y me mudaré allá. Extrañaré a nuestros estudiantes de sexto y el apoyo que usted ha proveído como padre/madre.

            Dejaré a nuestros estudiantes en muy buenas manos.  Somos muy afortunados de que la Sra. Laura Piña tomará mi lugar durante mi ausencia. La Sra. Piña no es nueva al distrito, lleva 9 años como maestra en nuestro distrito. Ha enseñado de kínder a sexto. Interesantemente, completó su credencial como maestra aprendiz con la Maestra Hamm, nuestra maestra de sexto anterior. También tiene experiencia como maestra de lectura especializada.  Más recientemente ha estado trabajando como maestra de sexto grado en la Escuela Blackstock Junior High.  Como pueden ver, viene con cualificaciones fenomenales!

            Nuevamente me gustaría agradecerles por tan buen comienzo este año escolar.  Extrañaré mucho a cada uno de sus hijos(as).  Son tan brillantes y respetuosos y anticipo con gusto escuchar de todos sus logros.  Aseguraré mantener comunicación con la clase durante el resto del año.  La Sra. Piña comenzará con ellos en enero.

Respetuosamente,

 Señorita Isela Escamilla

• First day of school is Tuesday, August 21.  School starts promptly at 8:00!  On the first day, I do not expect for you to line up outside, you can come into the classroom as soon as I open the doors (at about 7:55)
• Wednesdays continue to be our early-out day, dismissal is at 12:12 p.m.
• School supply list is posted on my Welcome page.  If you happen to come across a spectacular deal (for example $0.10 notebooks), and you find it in your heart to purchase extra, we would greatly appreciate it!  Perhaps not all students visited the web for this information.
• I will continue to remain in room 2, our 6th grade curriculum is all set!
• Please make sure you attend school on the first day, not doing so will result in your being dropped from the class.
• Keep an eye on your mail, STAR results are mailed sometime in August.  Use that information as feedback, and to set academic learning goals for 6th grade. (reminder, the minimum goal is 350 - Proficient)

Last Friday, June 1st, we worked on a very important fourth grade standard: Reading with fluency and expression.  Students formed groups of 2-5 and practiced plays that taught idioms. They created minimal props when necessary and presented the skits to each other and to Mrs. García's class that afternoon on the cafeteria stage.  All of the groups did a phenomenal  job of reading with fluency and expression! I was very pleased and impressed.  Bravo fourth graders!

La semana pasado nuestros estudiantes de cuarto grado tomaron los examenes estatales de lectura en ingles y matemáticas.  Fue evidente que los niños le echaron muchas ganas y estuvieron enfocados.  Los examenes no son nada fácil y ademas de eso, son bastantes largos. Los resultados serán mandados a casa en agosto.  Ahí también se les dará el puntuaje que recibió su hijo(a) en el examen de escritura que tomaron en marzo. En lectura y matemáticas, la puntuación miníma para ser considerado "Competente" (Proficient) es de 350 (en cada área).