A Note From Our Principal, Dr. Tamára McAllister
Welcome to a new school year! For those of you not familiar with me, my name is Tamára McAllister and I am the principal of Douglas Elementary. I am so very proud to be a Bulldog!
I had the opportunity to meet many of you during our Meet the Teacher ZOOM meetings. What a wonderful turnout! Our staff was excited to see the number of parents that logged in and we thank you for your show of support. We at Douglas know educating your child is a team effort and that we can’t do it without you! Let’s work together to make this a successful year for your child.
Parental Involvement: As we begin the new school year, it is important to make you aware of school goals and what you can do to help assist your child in being successful. Utilize our Parent Portal to monitor student grades and academic progress. Please work with your child to;
¨Read at least 20 minutes each night (make sure to include non-fiction text too!)
¨Practice and master grade level math facts
¨Complete Google Classroom Classwork
¨Be on time to ZOOM meetings and prevent absences
¨Take pride in our school and respect others
College and Career Readiness Standards: We will continue our focus on the state adopted College and Career Readiness standards. There will be an emphasis on reading non-fiction text and writing, writing, writing! Please know that your child will be expected to read and write at complex levels and may need extra support at home to accomplish our rigorous academic goals.
Staffing: I wanted to let you know of some new teachers who have recently joined our Bulldog team: Miss Katherine Kurtin; Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Jasmyne Laguna; 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Claire Peterson; 4th grade teacher, Ms. Veronica Rios; 4th grade teacher, Ms. Annette Luna-Arroyo; 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Susan Vines; 6th grade teacher, Mr. Adam Jones; Orchestra teacher, Mrs. Ashley Monceaux-Valenzuela; Physical Education teacher, and Mrs. Lydda Castro, ELD teacher. Additionally, Miss Brie Barber moved from 4th grade and will now be our Title One Reading Specialist.
PTO: It is our hope to continue our tradition of a strong Parent Teacher Organization! With this in mind, I personally invite you to join the Walter Douglas PTO. Our first meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 2 at 2:30 via ZOOM. Our meetings will last approximately one hour. Childcare and Spanish translations will be provided. A ZOOM link will be sent out. Hope to see you there!
PAWS: We will be continuing our positive behavior program this year. Students are expected to follow the P.A.W.S. model when they are in school, on the bus and in our community. P.A.W.S stands for: Promptly Prepare, Act Respectfully, Work Hard and Stay Safe.
“Like” us on Facebook! We have a Douglas Facebook page that is primarily utilized to update parents on important upcoming events and to highlight what awesome things our students are doing. Please take a moment to go to our school website and scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find a link to our Facebook page then “like” us to receive updates!
Finally, please know that I do have an open door policy. If you ever have a question or concerns, feel free to come by and see me. I look forward to working with you and your child this year.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tamára McAllister