Dear Parents and Students, 

Welcome to 4th grade at Hephzibah Elementary World IB School! I am excited about the opportunity to get to know you and your child. The past years have been hard ones, but this year is going to be amazing and I am looking forward to an enriching and dynamic school year.

My name is Marjorie Hadden and this will start my 9th year of teaching - 5th in elementary. I have taught 8th, 6th, 5th, and 4th grade. I have a Bachelors in Middle School Education and I am certified to teach elementary. I have had several training sessions in IB and in ArtsNow. I have been married 21 years and we have 6 children, 3 in-laws, and one grandson. All of the children have graduated except one, so I know firsthand what it is like to have kids in school! 

This year is going to be a little bit harder than last year, but a challenge we will get through together! We will be learning more about multiplication, division, fractions, and geometry. We will be learning about how to predict weather, force and motion, and sound and light. We will learn more about the Revolutionary War and how money works in our economies. We will learn about writing and how to better understand what we read. All of this will be done through the IB Units. 

It is very important for students to be here at school on a daily basis from the very beginning of school to the end. This year will be fast paced, more IB driven than years before, and students led. My expectations will be for your student to put forth their best effort. They must be Open-minded to others ideas and opinions, but they must also be risk takers to find theirs as well! We work on all 10 of the IB Attributes and we will work all year to develop them. 4th and 5th graders will have an exhibition at the end of the year. This is an all year process and it is required by all students. This is not something we work on alone!! This is a group project and will be presented to parents at the end of the year. More information will come home soon. 

Grades will be based on the standards that we are learning. We will have grades for projects and test - this 40% of the grade. Classwork, class assessments, quizzes, and group work will be 60% of the grade. More about grades, classwork and homework expectations, and grading policies will be added after the year gets started. 

Communication is very important to me. As a school we use ClassDojo for our main way of communication. It is very important that your Dojo app is up to date. I will use this for reminders, messages, and updates. I will also use this for homework assignments.The students will know what they are, but I will put it on Dojo so you will know as well. I check my dojo several times throughout the day, but I am also available by email: haddema@boe.richmond.k12.ga.us  

Here at Hephzibah we use picmykid app for our dismissal program. It is very important that you download this as well. If there are any changes made to your child’s transportation - you must change it here. We will not be able to change it for you. Please make sure that if you send me a message - I can’t change it in the system. We want to make sure everyone gets home safe!!

Thank You in advance for your support. 

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Hadden