Happy October! Sweater season is here, so please label your child's sweaters, jackets, and water bottles with their name. It helps lost items find their way home. Please also return library books on your class's Library day (check the specials schedule below).
Mid-term progress reports go home in backpacks this Friday, October 9. They are new for DCPS this year, and many first graders will get one: after a Spanish-immersion kindergarten, first grade is the first year many students are taught certain subjects in English. Our short guide explains what the report means.
There is no school on Monday, October 12, and Tuesday, October 13 is Parent-Teacher Conferences (no school for students). If you have not picked a time yet, please use the sign-up sheet your child's teachers sent. And we hope to see you this Friday evening at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration!
One more date: the PTO general membership meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6, at 6 pm, and it has moved to Zoom with live English/Spanish interpretation. Please download the free Zoom app first. Details are under Coming Up below.
First Grade
Weekly Newsletter
Week of October 5, 2026
Hello 1st Grade Families!
- Oct 6 PTO General Membership Meeting — Tuesday, October 6, 6:00 pm. NEW LINK! We are switching to Zoom, with simultaneous English/Spanish interpretation. You must download the free Zoom app on your phone or computer (zoom.us/download) before Tuesday. Interpretation works best in the app and does not work if you call in by phone. When you join, tap Interpretation (the globe icon) and choose your language: Spanish to hear the meeting in Spanish, or English to hear any Spanish portions interpreted into English. Meetings are every other month on the first Tuesday, 6–7 pm, all virtual, in Spanish and English, and open to all parents, teachers, and staff. Join the meeting
- Oct 9 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration — Friday, October 9, 6:00–7:30 pm. A schoolwide family celebration at Bancroft. We hope to see you there!
- Oct 12 Indigenous Peoples' Day No School
- Oct 13 Parent-Teacher Conferences — Tuesday, October 13. No school for students. Please use the sign-up sheet your child's teachers sent to pick a time.
- Oct 29 1st Grade Birthday Celebration — Thursday, October 29, 2:45 pm. We celebrate our October birthdays! Healthy snacks to share are welcome (no candy, please).
- Oct 30 Professional Development Day No School
- Nov 2 Records & Wellness Day No School
- Nov 3 Election Day No School
- Nov 11 Veterans Day No School
Specials Schedule
1:30–2:15| Monday Day F | Tuesday Day A | Wednesday Day B | Thursday Day C | Friday Day D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartagena | 🎨 Art | 🎵 Music | 🔬 Science | 🏀 PE | 🏀 PE |
| Colombia | 🎵 Music | 🔬 Science | 🏀 PE | 🏀 PE | 📚 Library |
| España | 🔬 Science | 🏀 PE | 🏀 PE | 📚 Library | 🎨 Art |
| DR | 🏀 PE | 📚 Library | 🎨 Art | 🎵 Music | 🔬 Science |
| Managua | 🏀 PE | 🏀 PE | 📚 Library | 🎨 Art | 🎵 Music |
| Venezuela | 📚 Library | 🎨 Art | 🎵 Music | 🔬 Science | 🏀 PE |
Math News
This week your child learns what the equal sign really means: both sides have the same total. It is not just a signal that an answer comes next. So 5 + 1 = 2 + 2 + 2 is true (both sides make 6), and 2 + 5 = 3 + 3 is false (7 is not 6). They also find every way to make 7, 8, 9, and 10 with two parts, and use doubles to solve doubles +1 facts: 2 + 2 = 4, so 2 + 3 = 5.
Key terms: equal sign, true, false, doubles, doubles +1
Try this at home:
• Number Names: rename things that have a number in their name. Route 9 becomes Route 7 + 2. How many ways can you find?
• Seeing Doubles +1: "I see 4 bananas. Double that is 8, and 1 more is 9."
For more details and at-home activities, see the Eureka Math Family Math letter: Topic D: Make the Same Total in Varied Ways
Literacy News
SLA: This week we zoom out past our planet to ask: What does Earth look like from space? We read Conoce los planetas and describe each planet in complete sentences (Is it rocky? Does it have rings?). Then we read El ombligo del mundo, which travels from you to your home, your neighborhood, your city, your country, your continent, Earth, and the whole universe. In word study, we keep practicing consonant blends and begin diphthongs: ia, ie, io, ua, ue, ui, iu (as in piano, agua, and ciudad).
Read and explore together: the first pages of Conoce los planetas · NASA's solar system pages for kids, in Spanish
ELA: This week we zoom in on a city: Istanbul, which sits on two continents, Europe and Asia. We read about a day in the life of Elif, a first grader there, and use a Venn diagram to compare Istanbul with Washington, DC: how are they the same, and how are they different? On Friday we travel to Uganda, in Africa, and read its map. Take a ferry ride across Istanbul together: watch the video.
Reading at home: Please have your child read to you for at least 20 minutes a day, in both English and Spanish, and ask questions about what they read.
Ask Your Child About...
Words of the Week
ROARS
Congratulations to this week's ROARS students for showing outstanding character!
Cartagena 
Colombia 
España 
DR 
Managua 
Venezuela