Report Cards & Comments
Neil Mufson, Head of School
At the end of this week we will post report cards and comments for the first half of the school year. These reports include a summary of the skills and topics your child’s class has covered to date, a personal narrative, and a curriculum-based “checklist” assessing your child’s progress to date. The teachers have put hours of thoughtful effort into producing these assessments, reflecting their close work with, affection for, and attention to, your child. The reports are meant to further your working relationship with our teachers, to describe Primary Day’s program, and to share how your child is performing on a daily basis. If you would like to ask questions or discuss any of the matters the reports cover, please email your child’s teacher to set a mutually convenient time. I, of course, am also available to discuss any topic about your child’s progress that you would like to raise.
This year’s “checklists” use the following descriptors: NAD (Notably Advanced); AGL (At Grade Level); PGL (Progressing Toward Grade Level); and PAC (Possible Area of Concern). It is important to remember that these categories do not translate into traditional A, B, C, D, F grades of yore. They are simply summary descriptors relative to PDS (not national) grade level expectations. As you know, PDS expectations are considerably above general national, or even local, standards.
We all clearly want our children to succeed at their highest level, yet all our students have areas for growth, just like children and adults everywhere. Because Primary Day students are still very young and are very much in the process of forming the foundation of a lifetime of learning, most of our students will be described by a variety of descriptors. This is especially true since the descriptors will describe everything from social behavior and emerging work habits to academic and skill work.
Primary Day students are at the beginning of their educational journeys. They are already far ahead of just about any peer group. Still, they are very much “students in progress.” The teachers and I stand dedicated to nurturing their growth so that they can create and open any door of future opportunity.
The upcoming reports are just one way we communicate with you. Please remember that you are always welcome to check in with your child’s teacher or me if you have a concern or question. Also, please never let a concern “fester.” We’d always rather hear any concern in a timely way so that we can best address it.