Hello, Great Falls Parents!
It is just about time for Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences! Here is some important information for you to have:
WHAT: The general purpose of conferences is to connect in a one-on-one setting with your child’s teacher, as well as obtain an update on academic progress and “skills for life.” These progress checks include student sharing of their work products, goal setting, and the presentation of other assessments and work by the student or teacher. As your child will be present, it is understood that issues which are private and confidential require a different forum for communication. It is expected that issues that are of a serious concern would have been discussed prior to and outside of these conferences. IEP meetings, even in close proximity to conference dates, do not take the place of student-led conferences. The way in which we conduct conferences allows your child the unique opportunity to share with loved ones critical aspects of their learning and a chance to bolster their confidence with their presentation skills.
WHEN: Conferences are held the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, October 23rd and the full day of Friday, October 25th. The available dates and times during this window of time vary depending on the teacher. You will be able to register for your child’s conference beginning on Wednesday, October 9th.
HOW: The PTCfast online program is used for scheduling conferences unless teachers know that there is a family who does not have Internet access at home. Teachers will be sending out notices and passwords for parents to use to set up conferences. The procedure is user-friendly and quite efficient, especially when a family has more than one child in our school. This program allows you a maximum choice in dates and times, choosing the one that works best for your schedule. When you pick a day and time, you will receive a confirmation and a reminder prior to the conference. If you need to change the date and/or time, you simply return to the site and do so, unless it is beyond the cutoff time selected by the classroom teacher.
Step 1: You will receive a letter or email from your child’s teacher containing a link to the class’ conference website. Enter the link into your browser.
Step 2: Enter the class code your child’s teacher has sent to you into the box on that screen-- you can copy and paste it if that's easier!
Step 3: You will see the list of available time slots your child’s teacher has available. If someone else has already selected a time slot, you won’t be able to check the box and the time slot will be red. Check the time you would like for your conference. Reminder emails will be sent out closer to the conference.
Please make sure to contact us if you run into any difficulty with this process. We don’t anticipate that you will, but we are, of course, happy to help. Great Falls takes pride in having a very high participation rate in Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences. We very much look forward to seeing you around school when you come in for your child’s conference!
Sincerely,
Becky Fortier
Great Falls Principal
