2nd Grade Back-to-School — Mrs. Wheeler's Class

Notes from Back-to-School Night (September 2026) for Mrs. Wheeler's 2nd grade class — everything worth remembering from the handouts, condensed. A living page: more notes and photos may be added as the year goes on.

The Classroom

Mrs. Wheeler's Harry Potter-themed 2nd grade classroom — collage of eight photos

The room is fully Harry Potter-themed: a "PotterGram" photo board, a Wizard of the Week corner, house-elf job charts ("House Elves" — banner boss, attendance taker, librarian, line leader…), Educational Decrees as class rules, a Whomping Willow with a flying Ford Anglia, Patronus figurines on the teacher's table, and Dobby watching over the cubbies. Individual photos are in the appendix — student names, class photos, and safety documents are blacked out on the public copies.

The Basics

Teacher: Mrs. Wheeler — 35 years of teaching
Room: B05
School day: 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM. Kids should be ready to start at 8:15; there's always something to do on arrival
Contact: she's available early morning or after school; the school office number is on the handout. Teacher email and the Scholastic class code are on the original fliers and intentionally not reposted here
Blackbaud is the one-stop shop: school calendar, newsletters, classroom bulletin boards (presentation slides get posted there too)

Key Dates at a Glance

When	What
Monthly from October	Book report due (~15th of each month)
Oct (TBC)	Pumpkin project — plan to use a plastic/fake pumpkin, not a real one
Nov 10, 2026	Multicultural Family Potluck, Belmont Library — bring a family dish
Nov (TBC)	Turkey in Disguise project
Dec 14, 2026	Holiday Show
Dec (TBC)	Grinch Day — book & movie celebration
January 2027	Flat Stanley Project (3–4 weeks)
February 2027	100 Day Project (build a model from 100 identical objects)
March 18, 2027	Spring Sing rehearsal
March 20, 2027	Spring Sing event
April–May 2027	Animal Research Reports (written + presented in class)

Project notes

Wizard of the Week: picked by lottery. The chosen wizard gets fun home activities for the week and a poster to fill out — the job is bringing all the stuff back on time. Turn order is pure luck of the draw; when it's your wizard's week, keep an eye on the Take Home Folder so the materials don't get lost
Pumpkin project: details still coming — the plan is to use a plastic or fake pumpkin rather than a real one (less mess, keeps better), and to confirm whether it's mandatory before going all-in
Celebrating Our Traditions is the multicultural unit behind the Nov 10 potluck — it also includes a multicultural doll project and a mini-poster presentation
Turkey in Disguise: students disguise a turkey to save it from Thanksgiving dinner
Grinch Day: a themed celebration of the book and movie

Homework

Assigned Monday–Thursday, about 10–15 minutes of written work, plus math-facts practice during the week
Due the next morning or it's marked late; mistakes get corrected at home or the sheet comes home again the next night
Pace check — don't push too hard. An occasional rough night is fine: if homework just isn't happening, send Mrs. Wheeler a short email explaining rather than forcing it through tears. The priority is keeping school feeling good, not a perfect streak
Student Planner: kids write the week's assignments each Monday (starred once verified); parents initial nightly after checking
Homework room is available at school, but a parent/guardian should still check the work each night

Absence & Tardiness

Missed work waits in the Take Home Folder; same-day pickup is possible if you call the office first
Pre-vacation work can be pulled a maximum of one week ahead — request dates in advance

Grading & Testing

Marks are simple: + (very good), ✓ (satisfactory), – (needs improvement)
F.I.U. ("Finish It Up") notes mean unfinished classwork comes home — due the next day (Friday notes are due Monday)
This is the first year of formal unit tests — Science and Social Studies. A study guide is completed in class and sent home one week before each test — so a study guide arriving = test in seven days. The study sheets are the curriculum for the test: study them and good grades follow — treat every study guide that comes home as the week's homework.
Review the nightly folder; it's the best window into how things are going

Book Reports & Book Orders

One per month from October, due around the 15th; chapter books only (not picture books)
Process mirrors class work: rough draft → edit → neat final copy. Pace it out rather than cramming the night before
Scholastic orders occasionally come home; delivery takes 2–3 weeks and points earned fund classroom books

Home Supplies List

Pencils · erasers · scissors · ruler · crayons · children's dictionary · flash cards (addition, subtraction, multiplication) · glue. Homework is done in pencil so corrections are easy.

Curriculum

Core: reading & language arts, writing, math, science, social studies
Co-curricular: Spanish, computers, music, art, PE

Near-Term To-Do

Monday, Sept 14 — "All About My Child" sheet due. It went home in students' Take Home Folders — fill it out and return by Monday

The Weekly Schedule

School day runs 8:00 drop-off to 3:00 pick-up (also on the school website):

Every day: Math 8:30–9:15 → Reading 9:15–9:45 → morning recess + snack → lunch 11:30–12:00 + recess
Monday: Spelling → P.E. (11:00) — afternoon: Writing, Time For Kids, Computers, Spanish
Tuesday: Grammar → Music (11:00) — afternoon: Social Studies, D.E.A.R., Phonics, P.E. (2:15)
Wednesday: Spelling → Computers (10:45) — afternoon: Science, Spanish, Writing, F.I.U.
Thursday: Reading → Spanish (10:30) → Music (11:00) — afternoon: Science, Social Studies, Scholastic News, P.E.
Friday: SEL → Spelling (11:00) — afternoon: Cursive, F.I.U., Art (1:30–2:30)

(F.I.U. = Finish It Up work time; D.E.A.R. = Drop Everything And Read; SEL = social-emotional learning.)

Classroom Philosophy

Respect and responsibility: respect each other, teachers, the classroom, and the environment; own your actions (spill it, clean it up; hurt someone, take them to the office for ice and check on them). Daily problem-solving coaching rather than pure discipline. Behavior is managed with a clip up / clip down chart, same system as last year. The school's stated mission pairs an accelerated curriculum with a warm, challenging, safe environment.

Practicing Math at Home

Counting: 30–50 objects, then 50–100; backwards; skip-count by 2s/3s/5s/10s (stretch: 4s/6s/7s/9s); mental addition like 7+6, 10+13, 24+9
Place value: build numbers with base-ten pieces, name hundreds/tens/ones, push past 1,000, then two-digit add/subtract (72+19, 82−15)
Measurement, time, money, graphing: read clocks and add elapsed time; identify coins and count change (including tracking spending while shopping); measure household items in inches/cm/feet/meters; compare lengths; run a family survey and graph the results

Reading & Writing at Home

Keep reading aloud — it builds vocabulary, comprehension, story structure, and word recognition
Read-aloud tips: point out the title, author, and illustrator; read the dedication; predict from the cover and pictures; use expression; let the child interrupt with comments and questions
Writing ideas that grow from reading: imagine a few extra pages after the story ends; "write" the words for a wordless picture book; letter-write to a story character (and sneak a return letter); staple paper into a little nonfiction book about a favorite topic

Summary compiled from the Back-to-School Night handout packet. Teacher email, office phone, and the Scholastic class code are on the original fliers.

Appendix: Original Fliers

Photos of the full handout packet, kept here so the paper copies aren't needed. Sensitive bits (teacher email, office phone, Scholastic class code, student name strip) are blacked out — they're on the physical fliers.

1. Contact Information (email/phone redacted)

Contact Information page