Welcome, Fabulous Fourth Grade Families!

I am very excited to have your students in my class, and I am looking forward to a year full of learning, growth, and development.

This is my seventh year teaching 4th grade at View Ridge. I became a teacher after almost 19 years as a paralegal.  I love working with students, and deep down I’ve always known that the classroom is where I belong.  I’ve lived in the local area most of my life. When I was a 4th grader I attended Picnic Point Elementary in the Mukilteo School District.  I can still vividly remember my 4th grade teacher even though it has been a few years (decades!) since then. My goal is to build lasting memories with your students so that they will look back with fondness on their 4th grade experiences too! In the years after I completed fourth grade, I went on to graduate from Mariner High School, Edmonds Community College, Central Washington University, and most recently, Western Washington University in 2018. 

I have one son, Sam, who is 31. Sam has Down Syndrome. We enjoy hiking and cooking vegan meals together (he's not vegan but I am!). Sam has two restaurant jobs that keep him quite busy. He is also a tremendous help with cutting, sorting, and preparing many of our classroom materials. Students will hear me talk about him quite often. 

I am excited about the learning we do in 4th grade. There are so many incredible things to discover in all areas of our curriculum.   We will work on developing reading and writing skills and strategies through the use of our National Geographic Reach for Reading program. There will be a wide range of math activities from our Illustrative Math curriculum. Our science units, Changes of State, Land and Water, and our engineering unit entitled: “A Stick in the Mud,” will offer valuable opportunities for students to better understand the world in which we live. For our social emotional learning (SEL) we will use the Second Step program as well as the RULER framework for emotional regulation. This is also the year when we get to learn about Washington state history in our social studies lessons.

I’ll keep you up to date with our current learning and ways that you can support your student at home through my monthly classroom newsletters. I will do most of my communication through ParentSquare.

Families, I believe that we are all a team working together so that each student has an amazing year! If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask. I am here to help! 

Warmest regards,

Laura Sulik