Week of 8/28 - 9/1

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat

This week we in Spalding will add thirty-one new words to our Spalding notebooks!  Please help your scholar with Spalding homework each night.  Spalding words should always be dictated for your student to write and never simply copied.  Spalding work must always be written in cursive.  Please encourage your scholar to practice forming beautiful letters and words. We will have a spelling and phonogram test on Friday, September 1.

In math we will begin a new unit on mental math strategies. 

Grammar this week will be learning about proper nouns and also introduce pronouns.  In writing we will continue to formulate summaries focusing on plot, character, setting, and main events.

We will continue learning "The Tide Rises the Tide Falls" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow this week. Our focus will be on reciting with proper pacing and intonation. Recitation will be on Friday.

We will continue reading Trumpet of the Swan this week.  The scholars have been pulled into the story and always enjoy hearing the story read in class!

This week we will begin our first science unit! This unit is an overview of the branches of science.

This weekend is our first R&R weekend. There will be no homework sent home on Friday! Enjoy the extra time relaxing with your family!

A Look Ahead:
September 4: No School
September 8: Picture Day
September 15: Flag Pole dedication.  More details to come
September 21: Spalding night at ACTE

Reminders:
Our classroom is quite chilly oftentimes.  Please send an appropriate sweater to school with your scholar. 

Per the Family Handbook sweaters or fleece must be:
a. Color: Navy Blue with school logo
b. Style: Cardigan sweater, pullover, or fleece
c. Vendor: DENNIS or ANTON’S

Week of 8/21 - 8/25

Water Lilies Bridge by Claude Monet

Welcome to our third week of school!  We continue to grow as a classroom and build a community of learners where our school's virtues and standards of learning are raised high!

This week we will begin memorizing The Tie Rises the Tide Falls  by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  I am excited to begin the memorization of these beautiful words as a class.  If your scholar does not have The Harp and Laurel Wreath at school, please send it in this week.  Recitation of this poem will be on Friday, September 1.

This week we in Spalding will continue adding foundational "Rule Pages" to our Spalding notebooks.  Please help your scholar with Spalding homework each night.  Spalding words should always be dictated for your student to write and never simply copied.  Spalding work must always be written in cursive.  Please encourage your scholar to practice forming beautiful letters and words. We will have a spelling and phonogram test on Friday, August 18.

In math we will finish our unit on rounding.  There will be a quiz on Wednesday and math test on Thursday. 

Grammar this week will continue to focus on nouns.  In writing we will continue to formulate summaries focusing on plot, character, setting, and main events.

We very much enjoyed reading The Trumpet of the Swan last week in literature and will continue reading this week.  We will have a quiz over Chapters 1-8 on Friday.

On Monday we will enjoy a science lesson on Solar Eclipses prior to viewing the NASA live stream of the solar eclipse in class.

History this week will finish our study of World Geography.  There will be a test on Friday.

This Week:
August 24:  6:00 - 7:00 grades 3-5 Curriculum night

A Look Ahead:
September 4: No School
September 8: Picture Day

Week of 8/14 - 8/18

Dancers by Edgar Degas

We made it through the first week of school! It has been a pleasure getting to know each of the scholars and establishing our classroom community! We were able to start diving into the content of Spalding, writing, and math towards the end of the week.  Starting Monday we will also add history, grammar, and literature!

Please make sure that your scholars have their Math Workbook 3A, Blue Spalding notebook, and The Trumpet of the Swan at school if they have not already been sent. These books will be used every day in the classroom!

This week we in Spalding will be adding foundational "Rule Pages" to our Spalding notebooks.  We will have a spelling and phonogram test on Friday, August 18.

In math we will be learning about place value, rounding, and estimating.  We will have a math test on Tuesday, August 22.

Grammar this week will focus on nouns.  In writing we will continue to formulate summaries focusing on plot, character, setting, and main events.

This week we look forward to delving into history also and will be learning about world geography.

Please note Friday, August 18th is a half day. Dismissal will be at noon and no lunch will be served at school.

A look ahead:
August 24: Grades 3-5 Curriculum night

Welcome to Third Grade

Irises by Vincent Van Gogh

Hello and welcome to the new 2017-2018 school year!

I am Mrs. Johnson.  I have lived all over the world but have long considered Arizona home.  A year ago, my family was blessed to be able to move back to the valley and I now live in the Surprise area with my husband Paul and our four children, Benjamin, Levi, Noelle, and Lucas. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education from Greenville College.  Before having children, I taught in several public and private schools and was then blessed to stay home for several years. Over the past five years I have come to love classical education and its focus on the Trivium (as our school is so aptly named!), learning in the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages.   I have a passion for literature and history and love to delve into a good book and be absorbed in mind and body.  I am so excited to be back in the classroom this year teaching 3nd grade! We have an amazing curriculum here at Great Hearts and will truly feed both the mind and body of our scholars!

Our wonderful teachers assistant this year is Mrs. Scott.  This is her third year with Archway Trivium East and we are thrilled to have her in our classroom.

A note from Mrs. Scott:

It is a pleasure to (re)introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Scott. My family and I moved from Virginia three years ago to help found Archway Trivium East. I have worked in first grade for the last two years and am so thrilled to be with you all again in third grade. Mr. Scott and I have four superb children, who are the reason we came so far to find such a brilliant school as Great Hearts. Once here, amongst such Truth, Goodness, and Beauty we truly found our home. I am so blessed to work alongside such inspiring administration, teachers, TA’s and scholars that my heart is filled and my soul is buoyed by the virtue surrounding it. Being a teacher has led me to discover for myself what it means to have a sense of wonder and a desire for depth of knowledge. We have such a beautiful and rich curriculum designed to promote arete. There is so much to be shared. My personal study has been focused on literature.  I spent the summer in rapture reading our school’s core reading list and am eager to share my love of literature with you this year.  We have such remarkable books we get to cover in third grade and I cannot wait to delve into them with the scholars. 

​The scholars at Archway Trivium East experience a very rich curriculum.  Our expectations are high, but the instruction and guidance given in class will prepare your scholar for this challenge.  The time your child spends in this classroom will help mold your child's future into seeking the truth, goodness, and beauty of their learning experience.

Mrs. Scott and I are looking forward to meeting, and enriching the minds of our scholars!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at rjohnson@archwaytriviumeast.org.

​Mrs. Johnson

Archway Trivium East Uniform Requirements

Uniform and Dress Code 

ACTE has a primary objective of developing a "community of learners," dedicated to the highest standards of academics and deportment. As such, a distinctive uniform is a unifying factor within our school community. It is also a visible signature of our school to the larger community, an indicator of our unity and of our pride of purpose. This is one of the most important functions of a uniform: it identifies its wearer as part of a distinctive group with a distinctive purpose. It is a reminder to its wearer of that purpose and of one’s responsibility to that group. 

The uniform is the basis of a dress code with a "professional," business‐like standard. Our students should dress their best, look their best, and do their best. All clothing must be clean, neat, reasonably pressed, and in properly fitting condition. If a child is deemed to be wearing inappropriate attire, the parent will be notified and a change of clothing may be required for attendance that day. If in doubt about the appropriateness of an article of clothing, check with the school office before purchasing. Good judgment exercised at home will be a learning activity for the child that will help to avoid embarrassment or wasted time at school. Decisions about the appropriateness of apparel may be referred to the Headmaster, whose judgment will be final. The Headmaster may make specific exceptions to the dress code, as demanded by particular religious customs. 

If a student insists on rebelling by trying to beat the dress code, it will quickly become obvious to the faculty and Headmaster. Our desire is not to squash students' individuality, but to secure their commitment to a community of learners whose purpose, while at school, is not faddish coolness, or outlandishness, but scholarship and character development. We ask not only for the student's commitment to this concept, but for the parent's as well. The uniform and dress code of ACTE support and reinforce our academic goals. The uniform assists us in staying focused on the true individuality offered by healthy dialogue and the development of the life of the mind for each student. 

Other than the dress code requirements for school, there are special requirements for periodic, special events throughout the year, such as the “semi‐formal” dress code for concert participation and the all‐school awards ceremony. Please see Semi-Formal Event Dress Code for an exact definition of how the Academy defines “semi‐formal” attire. 

Students must stay in uniform whenever they are on campus (including the parking lot) during a school day. This means arriving on campus fully in uniform and leaving campus fully in uniform (correct shoes, shirts tucked in, etc.). Students may only change out of uniform after school with teacher/coach permission to participate in an approved curricular or extracurricular activity that requires an immediate change in dress. 

Student Uniforms (Required): 
1. Polo Shirt ‐Short or Long sleeve with school logo  a. Color: White or Light Blue  b. Fit: Shirt must always remain tucked in  c. Vendor: DENNIS or ANTON’S 

2. Pants ‐Girls and Boys  a. Color: Navy Blue  b. Style: Flat front dress pants, no pleats, no jeans or cargo pants, with belt loops and a solid, dark belt  c. Fit: Pants should reach the shoe but not drag on the ground. No excessively baggy or tight‐fitting pants will be permitted. Pants should be worn at the waist with no undergarments visible. The slacks should have belt loops and a solid, dark belt should be used.  Vendor: Any as long as pants are indistinguishable from the DENNIS or ANTON’S pants  

3. Jumper and/or Skort ‐K‐2 Girls  a. Color: Navy Blue b. Length: The skirt hem may be no higher than just above the knee, both in front and in back. Skirt hem should be within two inches of the ground when properly adjusted at the waist and kneeling on a level surface, and may be longer if desired. Skirts must be worn at the waist.  c. Dark spandex tight‐fitting shorts must be worn under the jumper or skirt  d. Vendor: Any as long as the jumper or skirt is indistinguishable from the DENNIS or ANTON’S jumper or skirt 

4. Skort and/or Skirt ‐3‐5 Grade Girls  a. Color: Navy Blue  b. Length: The skirt hem may be no higher than just above the knee, both in front and in back. Skirt hem should be within two inches of the ground when properly adjusted at the waist and kneeling on a level surface, and may be longer if desired. Skirts must be worn at the waist.  c. Dark spandex tight‐fitting shorts must be worn under the skirt  d. Vendor: Any as long as skort or skirt is indistinguishable from the DENNIS or ANTON’S skort/skirt 

5. Shoes  a. Color: Solid white or solid black athletic shoes may be worn; solid black flats  (If black shoes are purchased with a colored logo, please cover over it with a black permanent marker or black shoe polish.) b. Style: Athletic “tennis” shoes (no high tops); solid black flats (no open toes/backs; no boots)  

6. Socks  a. Color: solid white, or navy (without logos showing) b. Length: Boys- covering ankle, below shin; Girls- Ankle or knee-high  c. Girls may also wear white or navy blue tights (not leggings) 

Student Uniforms (Optional):  
1. Shorts ‐Girls and Boys  a. Color: Navy Blue  b. Style: Flat or pleated front walking shorts. Shorts should fall mid‐thigh and not be longer than the knee, with belt loops and a solid dark belt  c. Fit: No excessively‐baggy or tight‐fitting shorts will be permitted. Shorts should be worn at the waist with no undergarments visible. The shorts should have belt loops and a solid, dark belt should be used  d. Vendor: Any as long as the shorts are indistinguishable from the DENNIS or ANTON’S shorts 

2. Sweater or Fleece a. Color: Navy Blue with school logo  b. Style: Cardigan sweater, pullover, or fleece  c. Vendor: DENNIS or ANTON’S  

3. Outerwear Jackets may be worn to school for warmth but must be free of logos and messages. Jackets may only be worn before and after school and during recess. 

Hair, Jewelry and Makeup  Girls: Hair should be neatly combed or styled. Neat small bows, barrettes, headbands, and "scrunchies" are permissible so long as they coordinate with the uniform. Hair should not be arranged or colored so as to draw undue attention to the student. Hair must be natural looking and conservative in its color (no bleaching or unnatural streaking/highlighting, no deep/bright reds or oranges, no artificial jet‐black coloring, and no unnatural colors). 
Boys: Hair should be neatly combed or styled. Hair must be well‐off the top of the shirt collar. Hair should not fall below the eyebrows or past the mid‐point of the ear. Hair cannot be tucked behind the ears. No shaved heads, Mohawks, rat’s tails, pony tails, or braids. Hair must be natural looking and conservative in its color (no bleaching or unnatural streaking/highlighting, no deep/bright reds or oranges, no artificial jet‐black coloring, and no unnatural colors). 

Jewelry: Girls may wear small studded earrings. No loops or dangling earrings are permitted. Boys may not wear earrings. No other body piercings are permitted. Boys and girls are permitted to wear one watch. Bracelets, rings, and necklaces are not permitted unless for religious reasons. 
Makeup: Students may not wear makeup of any kind. Nail polish may be worn by girls, one color for all nails – red, pink, or appropriate flesh tone – and must be free of patterns or decorations. 
Backpacks  Students may bring backpacks and lunchboxes to and from school. These items must be stored on the designated shelving units in the classroom during the school day. Due to small storage spaces, rolling backpacks are not permitted without a doctor’s note. Backpacks and lunchboxes should be free of icons of pop culture (peace signs, cartoon characters, team logos, tie-dyed patterns etc.) as well as messages that are offensive or inappropriate to the academy environment. 
ACTE officials may search and seize property when there is reason to believe that some material or matter is present that is detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of students. 

Additional Guidelines  Hats and sunglasses may only be worn outside and must be removed when the student enters the building. Student’s skin should be free of any painted or ink drawings of any kind. Students should not draw on themselves or on others. Students may not wear perfume, cologne, or any scented lotions or hand-sanitizers.