Greetings,

I hope your children had a chance to tell you about the assembly we attended on Friday: a musical performance by Shoreline Middle School's band. It was so impressive and a great reminder of the value of music in our schools.

This week will begin in a new way at Rio del Mar. We will be having a flag ceremony every Monday morning, outside on the intermediate playground. I will bring our class down today, and when Mrs. Dorney and Mr. Coffin feels the students are ready, we will have the kids independently gather and line up for classes down there. During the flag ceremony we will be discussing character traits. This month's trait is pride. We will talk about taking pride in our school and our own behavior, and taking actions of which we can be proud.

The bookend to this first flag ceremony will be the Halloween parade on Friday. The class will meet at Rm. 24 and then head down to the other playground at the usual time-- I believe it's 8:15. Each class "parades" around the basketball courts so that the rest of the school can see their costumes. Parents and younger siblings are welcome. Our class will be having its party at 9:40, after the first recess.

Have a great week. While the kids usually start escalating in their excitement as we head toward Halloween, let's remind them that we still expect their usual strong efforts. The third graders will still have their spelling test on Friday, and the second graders retaking the "Envelope Test" will do it then as well.

See you soon,
Carroll