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====We are very much looking forward to your children coming to Thomas. The incoming 5th grade class will be the largest number of students in a single grade level in over ten years. The increase in numbers will necessitate our changing the 6th grade teaming structure and, in doing so, allow us to challenge the structures of teaching and learning in our building. ====

====I would like to inform you that we are in the process of developing a third 6th grade team to be primarily under the leadership of Mrs. Amy Ziegenfuss and Mr. Matt Aho, two of our current 6th grade teachers. The Thomas administration and members of the District 25 Department of Student Learning have begun meeting with these two teachers to explore the exciting potential of designing teaching and learning experiences that integrate class content, the teaching and learning process, and the purposeful uses of technology. We expect that this new team will be able to restructure the ten period day, and enable more expanded interdisciplinary units and student directed learning. The instruction on this team will reflect the same learning standards as the rest of our District’s 6th graders. In fact, 6th grade starts with much time devoted to helping the children become acclimated to the larger setting and all that the middle school has to offer. This will be true for our new team as well. However, as the year progresses we will plan for greater student investigation and richer, deeper, discussions than those sometimes limited by the 40 minute period. ====

====Families may choose to be part of the team. It is our plan to establish this teaming scenario in each of the grade levels as your child’s class progresses (similarly large class sizes follow in the years to come). We anticipate that we will have more interest than available seats on this team and are planning to assign students on a first-come, first-served basis. ====

====We have decided that students joining this academic team will be limited to taking Chinese or Spanish. One of our objectives will be to incorporate the cultures and histories covered in these language studies into classroom discussions and projects whenever possible. Students may alter their previous world language selection in order to participate on the Sigma team. We will also ask that students joining this team be prepared to meet the rigors of the Honors Math - Holt 2 - curriculum. We will be differentiating within the Honors Math program to assist those who require some extra help and pushing beyond for those with higher capabilities. ====

====Students who are assigned to the Sigma team will spend the majority of their school day with the Sigma team. We are purposefully working to structure the day so that Sigma students haveaccess to friends and classmates on the other teams similar to those types of social opportunities currently presented to the students. ====

====We have developed a wiki for the new Sigma 6th Grade team in keeping with the mindset of using common technologies for multiple purposes. The wiki can be found at http://sigmateam.wikispaces.com/. This wiki will provide the forum to sign up for inclusion on the Sigma team, and also as a common page for parents and staff to question and discuss aspects of the new team. Sign-up for the Sigma team starts immediately via the wiki, and the deadline for signing-up is Tuesday, April 12th. We anticipate the team to fill quickly. ====

====The number of students to be included on the new Sigma team is predicted to be slightly smaller than the numbers of students that will be assigned to Alpha and Beta. Selection of students for the Sigma team will be first decided by date and time of signing on (use the wiki) to indicate your interest. You will want to sign-up prior to the April 12 deadline. We will be structuring a planning/discussion session during our 5th Grade Orientation Night specific to students and parents who have signed up for the Sigma team. More information regarding a Sigma team meeting will be sent to those that have signed-up. ====

====Please let me know if you have any questions regarding next year’s sixth grade team structure. I am very pleased to be able to offer a choice to families as we welcome the increase in student enrollment at Thomas. ====

 Principal
Do you have questions about Sigma? Please click the discussion tab at the top of the page. Submit your questions under the questions post.

=== **[|Please click here if you are interested in your child being in the lottery to be on the Sigma Team.] ** ===