Class Placement Process

Briarwood Elementary Student Placement Process

Class/Student Placement

Parent input, for the purpose of providing information about your child that may be pertinent when teachers are making class assignments, will be accepted in letter form each spring. We cannot accept specific teacher requests. However, we do welcome you to share relevant information about your child to ensure successful placement. 

The classroom placement process is VERY complex and many factors enter into the decision-making process. The Briarwood staff met as a team and developed the current class assignments based on the following criteria. Each of the following are considered before final rosters are prepared:

• Input from parents 
• Input from your child’s last teacher 
• A balanced ratio of boys and girls 
• Achievement levels 
• Behavior factors when applicable 
• Compatibility of students with others, i.e. separating students who have not worked well together 
• Independent work habits 
• Leadership skills 
• Social needs 
• Recommendations from Guidance Teams, psychologist, or counselor when applicable.  

In order to give the children, the teachers, and the parents ample opportunities to adjust to the current placement, the process may be initiated no sooner than October 1st. For a class placement to be considered the following steps should be taken: 

• Parents and teachers meet to problem solve (see “Problem-Solving/Civility”). 
• If concerns continue, the Student Placement Review form may be picked up from the main office and should be returned to the associate principal. 
• The request for change in assignments will be evaluated by the building’s Guidance Team.  Grade level teams may also be involved.  Parents will be involved in the Guidance Team process.

Parent Information

As parents you may have pertinent information about your child that you would like considered in the placement process. Examples of information staff find helpful are: “Please separate my twins, Sally and Suzie,” or “Please do not place my son Joey in the same class as Fred as we are neighbors and they are together all the time,” or “My child has only been in the United States one month and needs ELL support”.

Examples of comments that we all agree upon are: “We want a warm, nurturing, caring environment for our child,” “We want our child challenged,” “We want our child in a structured classroom”. We take these comments as a given; it is each teachers responsibility to provide a nurturing, challenging, safe environment for every student. The task for the staff is to develop balanced classrooms based on the knowledge they have about the students, not the teachers at the next grade level.

If you choose to provide specific information regarding your child that the teacher does not have or may be unaware of, please complete the Class Placement Parent Input form.

Placement Forms must be completed by midnight the third Friday in May (May 19, 2023). Placement Forms received after this time will not be considered.

Tia Kleinkopf, Principal
Briarwood Elementary

Be reassured that Placement Forms will be kept confidential. Note that we do not accept requests for individual teachers by gender, experience level, or name —those forms will not be considered.