Welcome to the 2025-2026 academic school year! My name is Mrs. Simpkins-Holmes and I have the pleasure of educating your scholar in my English Language Arts classroom, as well as, the opportunity to serve as your partner in education. I am excited to begin my 19th year with Irvington Public Schools. I have a background in psychology, special education, and Orton Gillingham methods for reading instruction. Your scholar will focus on reading strategies, new vocabulary, spelling, phonemic awareness, grammar usage, and exploring various writing genres.
Completion of homework assignments is a mandatory requirement that will be graded and recorded. Therefore, continued non-submission of homework will be factored into your scholar’s marking period average, and will consequently lower their grade. There will also be at least 1-2 projects required for completion each marking period.
My goal is to increase your scholar’s reading level this year, and it is possible with your support. Please ensure that your child reads at least 20-30 minutes each night. Towards that effort, he/she will be allowed to check out books from our classroom library for leisurely reading, following their required homework assignment. I am asking that these books, as well as any others that are brought home, be handled with the utmost level of care, which must be returned to class on the next school day. We want to give all of our scholars an opportunity to read the selection from our library, therefore, if the books are not returned, they cannot be circulated.
Lastly, I am looking forward to a successful school year. I can be reached via email at [email protected], or by phone at 973-399-6800 ext. 2404. Please feel free to contact me at any time regarding the progress of your scholar, or with any additional questions that you may have.
***Please note that gym class for my homeroom only will be on Friday morning during first period. Please ensure that your scholar is prepared by wearing sneakers.
Feel free to click the links on my web page for resources and reading fun.
Warm regards,
Mrs. R. Simpkins-Holmes