HURRAY VERONICA!!!

Hello Everyone!

Veronica's first 9 weeks of school ended very well! Since the last update we have had lots of firsts!

On October 19th Veronica brought home her first report card and school photos! The report card is graded as follows:

(4) Meets and applies expectations/standards independently
(3) Meets and applies expectations/standards with support
(2) Does not meet expectations/standards; shows growth with additional support

Veronica received a few 4's and 2's but mainly 3's. Her report card did specify that she was below grade level in reading and math but that was of no surprise. To be honest, her report card was better than i had expected. There was a place designated for teacher's comments and Mrs. Solomons was very encouraging for me:

"Veronica is a sweet and caring young lady and a pleasure to have in my class! She is a well-adjusted student and gets along well with her classmates. She has made allot of progress in the past nine weeks. You have done a great job of working with her at home and it shows. She is currently below where expected for this time of year in reading and math, but i expect she will continue to progress and catch up quickly. She loves to write/draw when we journal and does a great job every time. If you like, you may schedule a conference and we can discuss her progress in more detail. Thank you for all of your help in the classroom. Keep up the hard work, Veronica!"

In addition to her better than expected report card Veronica received an award on October 24th! That's right! Veronica received an award for Caring. She was originally set to receive an award for writing but was instead chosen for the Caring Character Award. Mrs. Solomon said that Veronica was the first person that came to mind when she had to pick a student. Veronica was unsure as to how and act and was reluctant to smile. In addition to that my camera didn't seem to want to take any decent pictures!

The awards ceremony had been held during school and early in the morning. I still wish they had held it after school so that more of her family could have made it. It also would have enabled me to bring her flowers and take her to dinner in celebration. Oh well, I'm just tickled pink she is doing so amazingly well!

On October 25th Veronica had her very first field trip. Oak Park Elementary is located right across the street from a local church that hosts an annual pumpkin patch. Her class got to walk over and buy pumpkins. She was so excited and must have asked me for days and days before hand that i give her the "moneys" because she HAD to buy a pumpkin.

This week at school is Red Ribbon Week for drug awareness. They have had allot of fun activities like bringing stuffed animals to school for "hugs not drugs" and hats and sunglasses because they are "too cool for drugs". Veronica is definitely having a blast with all the new experiences school has to offer.
Next week her class will be starting computer lab and I cant wait to hear what stories she has to tell us.

Well, this is all I have for now. Thank you everyone for your love and support. We miss you all!

Love,
Alanna and Veronica