Our Class!

I’m Susan Lucas, I will be your child’s K/1st grade teacher. I graduated from UNM in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Since 1998 I have been an educator in both the public and private sectors. In 2012, I received my International Montessori Teaching Diploma from NAMC. This will be my third year with Alice King Community School, where I have designed and implemented a “hybrid” of traditional and Montessori philosophies. I will share this unique educational philosophy with you throughout the fall. I was born and raised in New Mexico. I am married, have two grown children, and four dogs. I enjoy traveling, gardening, and scrapbooking in my free time. 

Cari Cordova will be your child’s Educational Assistant. Ms. Cari has a background in small business management and exercise science. Ms. Cari came to Alice King first as a parent, then as an EA. This will be her 6th year at AKCS. Ms. Cari holds a second job, after school, as a leader and personal trainer at a local gym. Ms. Cari was also born and raised in New Mexico. She has three wonderful children and spends her free time traveling with them for their sporting events. 

We are looking forward to a wonderful year! 

Thank you for sharing your child with us, Ms. Susan and Ms. Cari

Frequently asked Questions for Ms. Susan & Ms. Cari’s class

1. Birthday Celebrations - Please No Items to Pass Out. Why? Our birthday celebrations consist of student’s pictures and honoring that child’s life. We enjoy making it about them and feel that providing whole class items places unneeded stress on some children and families. It can also cause quite a bit of distraction throughout the school day. 

*Families are encouraged to come in to participate during the celebration to share important life events. (I do not use a candle to represent the sun, I use a gold glitter ball instead) Here is what our birthday celebrations look like. #199 - Montessori Birthday Walk

** July birthdays will be celebrated in August and the beginning of September. June birthdays will be celebrated in May before school ends. 

2. Homework - Students will have reading homework every night. Please read with your child for at least 20 min./night. Homework will consist of a monthly calendar and sight word work.

3. Absences and class work - If you know your child will be absent for an extended period of time or If your child is sick for longer than 2 days, I will assign work for them through I-station, I-ready, or other programs using our Google classroom account. If your child needs their assigned Chromebook, please notify me as soon as possible to arrange for pick up. 

4. Children are required to wear closed toe/ closed backs the rest of the week. No crocs, high heels, flip flops, or open sandals are allowed.

5. Snacks - Snacks should be nutritious and small (about the size of a string cheese)- Fresh fruit or vegetables, cheese, whole grains, or meat are preferred. (I’m not sure about nut allergies at this time, I will let you know). Children should bring 2 small snacks/day.  

Please be aware that chips, cookies, candy, and sugary or fruit drinks should NOT be sent to school as they are not considered a “nutritious snack”. 

6. Water Bottles - Please send WATER (H2O) ONLY in your child’s water bottle. Cups, boxes, cartons, or bottles containing anything other than pure water will need to be consumed before/ after school or at lunch.

7. Communication is KEY to our teamwork in regards to your child. Please email or use our classtag app. (invite should arrive today) to reach out ANYTIME you have a concern, question, or upset!  We are on your team, and will do everything in our power to make sure your child is safe, engaged, and successful! 

8. Handle with Care notification - If your child has had a rough morning or something stressful is going on at home, please send us an instant message on Classtag as soon as possible so that we may give them some extra support and understanding. 

9. Parent /teacher conferences will be child led, please make sure they will be available to join us for the meetings.

10. Our classroom discipline policy is redirection, restorative justice and reset. 

• If a child is off task, talking when they should be listening or disturbing others, we will use verbal or hand cues to redirect the child to what they should be doing.

• Restorative justice occurs when there is a conflict with another person. We will mediate and help children discuss  their feelings and thoughts with each other in a respectful way to restore harmony between them. This may include a card, apology, hand shake, ice pack, etc… 

• Reset will happen if a child is having an emotion that they are dealing with. This could be sad, frustrated, angry, tired, or unknown. We have several safe spaces where children can go to breathe, look at a book, refocus, or just be in their feelings. (We will monitor the time spent in this area and help children work through their emotions so that they may return to calm as soon as possible).

• Extreme behavior - Please see the family handbook for information on how this is handled at AKCS.

11. Our classroom is made up of a combination of whole group, small group, and individual/ independent work. Every day I will hold several whole class lessons, these will cover English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Social/Emotional depending upon the day and what units we are presenting. Small group lessons in ELA and Math will occur each day. I will be presenting individual lessons to children as needed. For example, if a child is working above what we are doing as a whole or small group, I will individualize more challenging lessons for them. 

12. Montessori - Part of the Montessori philosophy is teaching a child to become independent. We will be supporting your child to take care of themselves (nose blowing, hand washing, and tying shoes), take care of the environment (sweeping, scrubbing, washing tables), and developing classroom grace and courtesy (walking inside, using an inside voice, being a good audience member). We will begin the year using hands - on materials for introduction and review throughout the classroom. We will be moving from concrete experiences to abstract (paper) over the school year. Finally, we will be working on focus and concentration which leads to higher executive function. Children will be taught how to (and then required to) choose an appropriate independent activity, do the activity from start to finish, and be able to explain what they are learning or learned from the work. We will be focusing on completing chosen work and building up the length of time they can focus over the next few weeks.

13. Newsletters - I will be sending out classroom newsletters through this website. 

14. I will primarily contact you through email. Ms. Cari will be on Classtag and will be posting pictures, reminders and general information.

15. If your child is still having bathroom accidents, please send extra clothes in their backpack each day. We will leave these clothes in the backpack so that you may trade them out for change of size and seasons. Please check their backpacks each day for soiled clothes.

16. One of our main goals this year is to work with your child on the correct way to form letters and numbers. I will send home letter formation homework so that we can be on the same page.

17. Portfolios - we will be keeping some of your child’s writing to create a portfolio, so that we will see the growth of their skills over time. You will receive this portfolio at the end of the year. However, your child will share their portfolio with you at Parent/Teacher conferences. 

We appreciate your assistance and support as we work through this very valuable time in your child’s life! We have high individual expectations of each child, and are prepared to help each child meet them with confidence and success! Please remember that each child is unique and develops in their own individual way, don’t feel that you need to rush your child through developmental steps. 

Thank you for your time, 

Ms. Susan & Ms. Cari