Placing Students For Next Year
Mary-Anne Jasinski, Elementary Principal

At TIS a great deal of time and thought is invested into the process of grouping students for the following school year. At this time, I would like to take the opportunity to explain our process to you.

First, the teachers from each grade team meet to review all of the students in their current grade. The children are very carefully grouped in mixed and balanced groups, bearing in mind many factors including (but not exclusive to) gender, individual student strengths and needs, levels of English proficiency, learning styles, and those who historically work well together. Additionally, teachers check to ensure that all students have at least one close friend in their group. Next the Admin team, Inclusive Ed team, ELL team and Division Coordinators review the groups, place the students who are new to the school, and assign a teacher to each group.

During the summer, some children move away and others come to TIS. Class lists are sometimes modified by administration to maintain balanced groups. On the first day of school, the class lists for JK – Grade 6 are posted in the front foyer. It is at this time that everyone finds out who is in their class and who their homeroom teacher is. For new PK children, a letter is sent home in August with details of the classroom teacher and the staggered entry process.

Throughout this process, we carefully consider the placement of each child within each group. With so many factors involved in creating class lists, we ask for your cooperation and understanding that each child is placed in a specific class for several reasons. As such, we do not take requests for specific teachers or requests to put specific children together. We do take into consideration any other factors that parents feel are important for their child’s success.