Placement Letter to Parents - Natick Public Schools

Lilja Elementary School
LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL
RE: STUDENT PLACEMENT PROCESS
March 20, 2012
Dear Lilja School families,
Beginning next month, the staff and I will begin the process of grouping students for placement
into classrooms for the next school year. This is a major undertaking, which we address
thoroughly and thoughtfully. While I can appreciate that many parents want to involve
themselves into the class placement decisions, I stand firm in our Natick practice that specific
requests for classroom teachers will not be granted. Please read on…
The ultimate goal for the classroom placement process is to create well-balanced
heterogeneously grouped classrooms of students. The placement team considers all students’
strengths and needs with regard to academic proficiency across all content area, social
competency, emotional maturity, leadership qualities, family support, learning style needs,
behavioral dynamics, peer relationships and any services received. Your child's present teacher
and other support staff members have a wealth of information about the conditions under which
your child learns best. They will share this information with me as part of the placement
process.
Balancing classroom groupings assures that all students get the teacher attention and energy they
deserve and that our school system’s educational philosophies and best practices models for
teaching and learning are actualized to maximize learning outcomes for all students. As you can
appreciate, it is an artful challenge, not a perfect science. We do not look solely to match
children with specific teachers since that would not help us achieve our goal, and would make
the process susceptible to staffing variables, which are vulnerable to change.
Parent requests for specific teachers will NOT be granted. If there is compelling information that
the school should consider when placing your child, please submit it to me in writing (not the
classroom teachers as it is unfair to put them in a conflicting predicament) by April 30 th ,
otherwise, please trust us to make decisions that have every child's best interests in mind. I
realize that on occasion, there may be extenuating circumstances when a teacher preference
needs to be considered. For example, if a prior relationship with a prospective teacher would
make things awkward (s/he is a neighbor or relative), you are certainly welcomed to share that
information with me. We want everyone positioned to have the best year possible while being
appreciative and respectful of the wide range of diversity in a public school experience. Know
that any letters I receive will be shared at the placement team meetings.
As we plan for next school year, there will be some changes in teacher assignments. Additions or
reductions in grade level configurations are being made at some grades to adjust for shifting
enrollment trends.
Our grade level configurations will include:
Kindergarten – 4 classrooms
First grade – 3 classrooms

Grade 1-2 multiage configuration – 2 classrooms (** mixed grade classrooms - see
below)
Second grade – 3 classrooms (* including one teacher who will loop from grade 2 to 3
with her class at the end of next school year – see below)
Third grade – 3 classrooms
Grade 4 – 4 classrooms
Lilja School is adding two additional classrooms to reduce class size at kindergarten and first
grade levels (our current kindergarten and next year’s kindergarten numbers warrant four
classrooms to maintain class size under 25) and thus we will have a total of 19 general education
classrooms. In addition, we will continue to integrate students from our ACCESS Program,
which provides specialized programming. We are reducing the present two ACCESS classrooms
to one classroom at Lilja for next year. None of our current students will be displaced (except
those graduating to the middle school level). An additional ACCESS classroom will be added at
Ben Hem to accommodate for the needs of next year’s kindergarten level students who need
specialized programming.
• (*) Looping is an educational practice in which a single graded class of children stays
with a teacher for two years or grade levels. The children and the teacher remain together
as the class is promoted. For students, the benefits of looping include reduced
apprehension at starting a new school year, increased continuity, and more in-depth
relationships with teacher and with peers. For teachers, the benefits of looping consist of
becoming familiar with broader developmental stages of children, and working with
students and parents for longer periods of time. The long-term relationships established
through looping have been shown to support student learning.
• (**) In 1997, Lilja initiated multi-age classrooms in addition to single grade classrooms.
In our present model, there are (2) classrooms that are comprised half of first graders and
half of second graders. Students in these classrooms cycle up with the same teacher from
first to second grade, remaining with the same teacher for a two-year period. During this
two-year cycle, students in the multi-age classrooms receive instruction in the same
curriculum topics and areas of study that occur in single grade classrooms. Our multiage
classrooms afford broader age-range and developmental diversity. Students receive all
content area learning in an aged mixed model, with the exception of math where students
are grouped by grade level for sequential instruction.
If for any reason, you think your child wouldn’t do well with the same teacher for two
consecutive years, please alert me to opt them out of the mix for a multiage and/or looping
classroom configurations.
Our students will have an opportunity to meet their next year's teacher and classmates on "Sneak
Preview Day" at the end of the school year. Parents will be notified of their child's placement on
the final report card.
Thank you for working with us to support the learning of all our Lilja School students.
Sincerely,
Barbara Brown, Ed.D.
Principal