Dear Baker Families,

Welcome to the 2024- 2025 school year! I am excited to continue to serve the Baker community this year. I am tremendously proud of the growth that our students demonstrated both academically and socially last school year! Our Baker Tigers are strong and resilient and we remain a fully accredited Title I school! Thank you for your support with helping your child meet his/ her goals. Our teachers and staff remain energized and committed to supporting students’ social, emotional, and academic needs, and I look forward to seeing the many great things that we will accomplish again this year!

Our theme again this year is “You Belong at Baker!” We hope to instill a sense of belonging within each student, staff member, and greater part of our whole school community that leaves everyone who walks through our doors feeling safe, valued, and loved! At Baker, we value each child as an individual, and also know that we are better when we work together! We will continue to focus on our Tiger Traits of Being Safe, Accountable, Kind, Engaged, and Respectful here at Baker and out in the community! We truly appreciate your partnership in reiterating these traits and school-wide expectations with your student at home.

This year, our school-wide areas of focus will be on meaningful and relevant instruction, positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), cultural responsiveness & student belonging, and continuing to build positive relationships with students and their families. Teachers and staff will spend a great deal of time at the beginning of this school year building a strong sense of classroom community, teaching our SEL curriculum, and practicing routines and procedures. This will allow students to maximize their learning potential! Additionally, we will continue to provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all of our learners, specifically through the use of a new reading curriculum that is aligned with the Virginia Literacy Act.

Your student’s attendance is important! This year, we will continue to focus on excellent attendance so that students can maximize their time learning in their classrooms. I look forward to seeing all that our students will accomplish this year.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year! YOU BELONG AT BAKER, and I’m happy to have you as part of our school family! If at any time I can be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Best,

Lauren Bischoff

Principal

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George F. Baker Elementary School