MRES Policy on Class Rosters

Dear Parents & Guardians:

Well, it is hard to believe, but it is that time of the year when the staff and I begin planning for student placements and teaching assignments for the next school year. I realize that next year’s classes are probably on your minds as well, so I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you our policy and process regarding building classes for the coming year.

Our philosophy at MRES and that of the Poway Unified School District is to build classes where all children can be successful academically, socially, and emotionally. We consider a variety of factors when creating classes and strive to create the best fit and match for each student. In short, we seek as much as possible to balance classes academically, socially, and by gender.

To develop class rosters, teachers will meet in grade level teams and create lists based on their collective knowledge of students' needs and sort students by a variety of criteria. The goal of this system is to have a blending of students whose needs, learning styles, and personalities complement one another and where they can each flourish.

I have learned that by using this process to create classes we are doing everything we can to ensure fairness and equity for all of our students and our teachers. As I am certain you can imagine, this is a complicated and time-consuming process, and is based upon our best assessment of each child while using our best professional judgment. With this in mind, it compromises the integrity of our process to accept parent requests for children to have (or not to have) a particular teacher. With the aforementioned factors in mind, and in fairness to all teachers and families, letters of request for a specific teacher will not be accepted.

We do, however, deeply value and encourage your input in this process. We realize that you, as parents, know your children and their learning styles, strengths, and areas of need better than anyone. For these reasons, I am committed to working with you to provide the best educational setting for your child and invite your input as to what you believe would be the best learning style and room environment for your child. Please know that this is not an invitation for you to "choose" or “not to choose” a teacher for your child for next year, but rather a chance to help inform our thinking. So, if for some reason you have a specific concern, perhaps you do or don’t want twins or cousins together or if you feel that your child has special needs that you believe we may not be aware of and should be taken into consideration or you would prefer your child in a multi-age classroom, then please share that information with us using a Parent Input Form (see link below). Parent Input forms are available in the office and will be posted on our website. They need to be turned in to the office no later than 1:30 PM on Monday, May 18th so that teachers can use them as part of the process of constructing classes. They will not be accepted after this date.

Finally, it is important to remember that staffing and student projections for next year have not been finalized. As always, your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated as we strive to make the best possible placement for every student. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation!

Sincerely,


Dr. Rich Newman
Principal