August 2007
Dear G/T Parents and Students,
Welcome! We look forward to
another new year of G/T and are very excited about the many exciting activities
planned for the year!
Mr. Matt Spangler will serve
the district in a dual role as an intervention specialist/consultant
collaborating with teachers in grades 2 - 5 at Brantner and Willowville
Elementary Schools with strategies for differentiation of instruction as well as
providing pull-out service as a Resource Room teacher at Clough Pike to some of
our fourth and fifth graders each Monday. Mrs. Karen Jones will collaborate
with the teachers in grades 2 - 5 at Holly Hill, Merwin, and
Withamsville-Tobasco Elementary Schools. Mrs. Karen McDonough will do the same
at Amelia, Clough Pike, and Summerside Elementary Schools. Mrs. L. Swisher will
continue in her role as the G/T Resource Room teacher at Clough Pike (Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) serving the children in the district who have
qualified for the cognitive/specific academic pull-out program. She is also
serving as Coordinator of Gifted/Talented Services.
We are located in the same
classrooms as last year, Rooms 206 (Mrs. Swisher) and 207 (Mr. Spangler) of
Clough Pike Elementary. The rooms are at the end of the short hallway just past
the gymnasium/cafeteria.
Our resource room walk-through
will be held on Thursday, August 30, 2007, from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Please stop by
and visit us. We look forward to seeing everyone! For our new families, we
will have the New Parents' Meeting directly afterwards from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. in
the computer lab at Clough Pike.
We will travel to each of the
eight elementary schools on Wednesday, September 5, to visit with the students,
answer any questions they have, and distribute a Ziploc bag of important papers
to read and to complete.
We will begin the G/T Resource
Room program at Clough Pike the week of September 10, 2007. The 2007 - 08
schedule is as follows:
Monday Class (Mrs. Swisher):
Brantner, Clough Pike, Merwin, and Summerside (grade 3)
Monday Class (Mr. Spangler):
Amelia (grades 4 and 5), Brantner (grades 4 and 5), Clough Pike (grade 4), Holly
Hill (grade 4), Merwin (grade 4), and Summerside (grade 4)
Tuesday Class (Mrs. Swisher):
Merwin (grade 5), Summerside (grade 5), and Willowville (grades 4 and 5)
Wednesday Class (Mrs.
Swisher): Clough Pike (grade 5) and Withamsville-Tobasco (grades 4 and 5)
It is extremely important that
the emergency medical and Network/Internet Access Agreement Forms are signed by
a parent and returned the first week of G/T. Students are not allowed to use
the Internet until the form is received. We also need the new students to
complete the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Public Library Card application if your
child does not have one. Our students from last year should still have their
library cards. Please check to be sure the card is not lost. If so, a parent
will need to call the library, report it lost, and request another card. Due to
the nature of our research this year, we plan to visit the downtown library.
The following are the items each student needs
to bring to class: 
* grades 3, 4, and 5 - a two pocket folder (marked G/T
Home Folder) to be kept in the child’s backpack in order for work, notes, etc.
to travel back and forth between the G/T Resource Room and home
* grade 5 (twenty number two pencils and
one box of
tissue)
* grade 4 (one container of anti-bacterial wipes
and one box of tissue)
* grade 3 (one bottle of hand sanitizer
and one box of tissue)
The following donations would be greatly
appreciated:
* small items (no food, please) for the prize box (items
given away for the "daily drawing" such as pens, pencils, small toys, etc.)
The children are welcome to
bring water bottles (especially during the hot weather). Children may bring
healthy snacks to eat in the afternoon.
Communication is a vital part
of a successful school year. Please do not hesitate to contact us at school.
We encourage classroom visits and volunteering! Feel free to contact us at
943.6709 or by e-mail with questions and/or concerns.
spangler_m@westcler.org
swisher_l@westcler.org
Our research theme this year is
"Intent to Invent" with our research topics and activities geared toward a
variety of creative thinking tasks. Please begin a conversation with your child
about things that do not work as well for him/her as he/she would like.
We are planning a trip in
September to Woodland Lakes to participate in problem-solving tasks and a trip
in October to the National Inventors' Hall of Fame in Akron to kick off our
research theme for the year. Specific information about each of these two trips
will be in the Ziploc bag. Parent chaperones will be needed for the Akron
trip.
To stay informed throughout the
year, check out the G/T Resource Rooms' website at:
http://www.westcler.org/ce/swisherlois.
It is especially helpful for the new families to learn more of what
gifted/talented is all about. There are numerous links to informative websites.
We’ll be keeping you informed
throughout the school year with weekly updates via e-mail. Please be certain to
indicate an e-mail address on the appropriate page in the bag given to your
child at the home school if your e-mail address has changed. If you do not have
e-mail, we will give a copy of the G/T Update to your child the following week.
Please review
all items in the Ziploc bag given to
your child at his/her home school, complete the appropriate forms, and have your
child return them to G/T the first week of
class. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Mr. Matt
Spangler
Mrs. Lois Swisher
