David Prather
386-405-1535 (cell)
386-677-5644 ext 257 (work)
386-677-0644 (home)
Hello
I am writing this letter in hopes to keep communication open between my children’s teachers and myself. I will always do my best to make myself available to come in for anything relating to my two children.
Parents:
Stacy Erickson. Resides in Holly Hill, couple blocks from
school. She is employed at RaceTrac gas station on
US1 near I-95 from
David Prather. Resides in
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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Week 1 |
8 - 2 |
9 - 8 |
8 - 8 |
8 - 2 |
9 - 8 |
Week
of Sept 6th |
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Week 2 |
8 - 8 |
8 - 2 |
9 - 2 |
9 - 8 |
8 - 2 |
Week of
August 30th |
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(This schedule was based on a previous visitation schedule where children were with their mother and father equal amount of time. Early days were overnight visitation days for father. Currently minimum visitation of every other weekend is in effect.)
Some issues
encountered during the previous school year.
Early dismissals: Mother picks up children early from school. When questioned, she said she is “lonely”. This happened most often when she was unemployed or when she had a weekday off from work. At Pine Trail she was called into to speak to the principal and the incidents have stopped.
Inappropriate clothing: Children arrive to school in inappropriate clothing. Mirrissa wore a shirt that was see through is an example of such an incident. Mother was called in to the office where she proceeded to yell at the teacher demanding explanation of why Mirrissa was kept out of class and was not learning anything. When confronted with the inappropriate clothing, mother proclaimed “What am I supposed to do about it, she just puts it on in the morning!” The assistant principal was called in and requested mother to “be a more responsible parent”. If there are clothing requirements, please make sure to make the children aware of this so they can dress themselves appropriately in the morning.
General hygiene: Children arrive un-bathed, hair uncombed, teeth un-brushed, and in wrinkled dirty clothing. Mother does not like to do laundry and may often send children to school in the same clothes worn the previous day. Previously children have problems with other children telling them they smell bad. With the children growing older, this will probably become less of a problem. Father has appropriate clothing at his residence and will be available to bring any items over if needed. Also father can provide tooth brushes, combs, and deodorant for the children to keep and use at school. Please advice if this is a good idea.
Glasses: Mirrissa has very poor eyesight and requires glasses during all her waking hours. Her glasses are often dirty or broken. Many of her coordination problems including poor penmanship and being clumsy may be due to her poor eyesight. Please seat her close to the front and keep an eye out on her glasses. Please remember that the father is willing and able to provide repair or new and glasses if needed.
Zachary has moderately poor eyesight. The doctor has recommended that he should wear his glasses when he is reading or watching TV. Other times at his discretion. Please make sure he is wearing them during class.
Late arrivals: Mother
may take the children with her to work at
Homework: Most homework may not be completed or if completed will often be lost by children. Mother will often sign off on work that is incomplete or has not been completed at all. Zachary’s reading log required him to log how many minutes per day he spent reading aloud to his mother. Mother signed off on logs 45 minutes of reading per day consistently for many weeks even though he was living at his father’s house for half of that time. Please make sure to have parental signature on each piece of work completed each day to keep better track of what is happening.
Parental follow through: Mother may fail to read notices taken home with the children. On more than a couple of occasions, children have waited at the bus stop on teacher duty days. Children have missed out on field days because they were not dressed appropriately or did not arrive at the prescribed location or time. Please make sure children know of these schedules so they can remind the mother. Please provide me with a copy of all notices and reports regarding the children as it is currently very difficult for me to receive them through their mother. I can come pick them up from the front office each week or you can mail them to me.
Money: Father will be happy to pay for all and any costs relating to the children including school lunches, field trips, optional book orders, photo albums etc. There is no reason why both children need to miss out on any school activities due to lack of money. Please give me a call or send a note if anything needs to be paid for the children.
Extra curricular activities: Mirrissa has indicated interest in baton and cheerleading and Zachary told me he wanted to play football. I would very much like the children to be involved in some type of sport and other activities. I think both children have a lot of energy and need more exercise. Currently mother is very busy with her work and does not have time to take the children. If there are any activities available on site at the school that the children want to participate, I will be very happy to pay for and provide transportation for these activities. Please make recommendations to the mother and provide me with a copy.
Notes on Mirrissa: Mirrissa is very immature and needy for her age. She is constantly clingy to any adult and requires adult supervision to complete the simplest tasks. Her previous teacher hoped she will grow out of this and had an aide assigned to her full time so she will not disrupt rest of the class. She will be very attentive and eager to please with an adult giving her 100% attention. She also had difficulty with maintaining friendships due to her bossiness. She has difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality and may say bizarre things. She likes to go to the nurse’s office if she is having difficulties in the classroom.
Academically, Mirrissa is doing very poorly in math. This seems to be a combination of being unable to focus and pay attention in class as well as difficulty in understanding cause and effect relationships in general. Last year the father hired a tutor for her and scheduled tutoring sessions to continue twice or three times a week through out the summer. However, mother felt strongly that tutoring will put too much pressure on Mirrissa and cancelled the sessions. Please advise on any type of assistance that is recommended for Mirrissa to help her catch up to her grade level. It would be helpful if a recommendation could be made in writing so father can get a court order if needed.
Last year Mirrissa has often indicated she did not want to go to school because she was “stupider” and other kids made fun of her in class. Her attitude towards school seems to have consistently deteriorated. I am very concerned about this and would like the teacher’s help in figuring out how I can to help her succeed in school both academically and emotionally.
Notes on Zachary: Zachary was held back in first grade and he worries about being older than his classmates. At Pine Trail, he showed good progress in his class and seemed to gain more confidence. He liked school and the teachers reported that he is always polite and eager to please. He got in trouble couple of times for bringing YuGiOh cards and other valuables to school. In general he lacks endurance and gets frustrated and quits at the first bump in the road. He readily takes to homework as long as he understands the task well. If he is unfamiliar, he reverts to “I need help, can’t do it, its too hard, don’t want to do it” before even giving it a thought. He seems to find math easier than reading. I am hoping that perhaps with additional encouragement in math (or something else), he can gain more confidence. He is a picky eater and often finds there is only one thing he can eat in the cafeteria.
Mother has observed various incidents of violence in Zach and is seriously concerned about his anger and aggression towards other children. She has also reported that he was engaging in cruel behavior for example, systematically poking a bug with a tack. Although I have not personally observed any of these behaviors, I would appreciate it if the teachers could keep an eye out. His mother and I have scheduled therapy session for Zachary based on this concern.