From The Principal
Dear Harvey Families,
It is with great excitement that the staff and I welcome all of our families to school for the 2017-18 school year! We have been busy preparing for a year that will be full of engaging learning opportunities for our students. We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new families and new staff members that are now a part of our Harvey community.
As we begin this school year, we want to focus on our mission statement, which is “The mission of Jack Harvey Elementary School is to guide, support, and encourage all students so they can reach their academic and social potential.” Our entire staff is committed to this mission, and we believe in the importance of working with our families as partners in our students’ education. We are dedicated to open communication with our Harvey families, and we encourage all parents and guardians to become involved in your children’s learning.
At Harvey, we hold the highest expectations for our students’ academic achievement and for their conduct in school. The UCS Parent and Student Handbook outlines the procedures and policies of Utica Community Schools to ensure a positive learning environment. The handbook is an important communication piece that provides a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the school staff, students and parents in promoting a safe and nurturing school setting. An electronic version for the handbook is available for viewing at http://www.uticak12.org/handbook. Please be sure to read the handbook with your children. We ask that you complete, sign and return the signature page of the new form Parent Acknowledgement–Electronic Communications that you will receive in your child’s opening packet.
Our Curriculum Night/Open House is scheduled for Tuesday, September 26, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. We encourage all families to attend this exciting back to school event. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher, as they will be providing you with important information that you need to know so you will be able to support your child’s learning throughout this school year. All of our staff members are looking forward to seeing you.
Our School Improvement Plan drives our goal for teaching and learning. Our teachers will utilize the “Gold Standard” for guided reading lessons and implement Close and Critical Reading strategies in all classrooms K-6. We have a team of teachers who were trained in “Classroom Instruction That Works” who will be providing professional development to the rest of the staff, focusing on making sure our students understanding the objectives of all lessons; ensuring that students receive feedback from teachers and peers; and implementing the use of non-linguistic representations in their lessons. We will continue the blended learning/personalized instruction model in grades K-2, and we will be teaching the new Michigan Academic Science Standards with our Discovery Science Techbook, enhanced by the Mystery Science program in grades K-6. Our Instructional Support Model (ISM) class will focus on science this year, where the children will be involved in science lessons that enhance their classroom units.
It is my honor and privilege to be the principal of Jack Harvey Elementary. With our staff, our families, and our community working in partnership, we will make the 2017-18 school year a great success.
Here’s to a great start!
Mrs. Laurie Pritchard
Principal
Mrs. Pritchard