• Dear Parent,                          

    Hello!  Your son or daughter will be taking Honors Algebra from me. I've taught Honors Algebra for many years and most of my students find it both challenging and enjoyable.  It is a college-bound course that will need approximately 3-4 hours a week of outside time, although this can vary widely among students.

    All my assignments are posted on Google Classroom daily.  You may access your student’s grades daily on the district's Family Access site. These are kept up to date regularly. I encourage you to keep in touch with your son's or daughter's progress.  In general, my students do well but if you start to have a concern, please e-mail me at: cdelorey@bisd303.org  

     Although it is up to your son or daughter to do well in this course, there are a few things, as a parent, you can do to help:

     *Make sure there is a quiet place in your home where math homework can be completed. Our textbook is online. Send me a confidential note if you do not have internet access and need some assistance with this.

     *Protect their time! Pay attention to your child's outside commitments.  Some students become overly involved with sports, clubs, or jobs to the detriment of their studies and health.  Poor health leads to excessive absences and this is difficult in a subject like mathematics.  Regular attendance is crucial. Having enough down time to do nothing and even enough time to daydream will actually help them do the challenging, creative thinking I ask them to do in this Honors course. 

    * Protect their sleep! Research indicates that the average adolescent needs 8-10 hours of sleep each night to function optimally and yet many students come to school with 6 hours or less!   I've had many capable students be groggy through an entire class period due to insufficient sleep. Do what you can to help protect your child's time to sleep. 

    * Schedule vacations and appointments outside of school hours whenever possible. Don't overschedule activities during the school year. Keep life as simple as possible. Absences and late arrivals need to be kept to a minimum.  Nothing can replace the understanding gained during classtime discussions, lectures and group activities. 

    *After an absence, have your student check Google Classroom for the missed assignment. This needs to be made up within one class session unless otherwise arranged with me.

    *Purchase the required supplies: pencil with eraser, ruler, notebook paper, graph paper, and a graphing calculator. Send me a confidential email if you need financial assistance purchasing a calculator or any supplies. We do have some graphing calculators available for checkout through our school library.

    * A TI-84 Plus CE or TI-84 Plus C is highly recommended. A TI-84 Plus or TI-83 Plus is also acceptable.  I do not recommend higher TI models or other brand graphing calculators.  TI-NSPRIRE, TI-86 or TI-92  are not permitted in this course.  

     I enjoy teaching mathematics and look forward to helping your son or daughter throughout the year.  If you would like me to know anything special about how your son or daughter learns, just send me a note or e-mail me.

                                                                 Sincerely,

                                                    Catherine DeLorey 

     e-mail: cdelorey@bisd303.org