Welcome to 4th Grade!

Dear parents,

It is the start of a new and exciting year! I am so happy to be teaching 4th grade again this year. Many of my students might know me already from kindergarten, where I taught them almost four years ago. I am so excited to see them all again, and I know we are going to have a great year!

For those students who are new, I will post my introduction letter below.

Dear Parents,

Hello!  My name is Brennan Stark and I am very excited to announce that I will be the new fourth-grade teacher at Lih-Jen!  I would like to introduce myself here.  I was born and raised in Orange County, California with a big family: three brothers and two sisters.

Growing up, I loved to spend my time playing sports, reading, or exploring new parts of my city.  This passion for seeing new sights led me to study in Florence, Italy, where I spent my time teaching English to young students.  I never forgot my wonderful experiences there and, after graduating with honors from the University of Southern California, I soon began to teach again in Bangkok, Thailand.  There I taught chemistry, physics, and math to an advanced English class right next to the Grand Palace.  As of today, I have taught English, math and science for nearly six years.

I moved to Taiwan four years ago after hearing great things about this country.  Much of my time here in Taiwan has been spent teaching, exploring and hiking Taiwan’s wonderful outdoors, and meeting new friends.  I am excited to see how I can bring all these experiences to Lih-Jen’s fourth-grade as well.

When I am not teaching, I enjoy going to shows, exploring new parts of Taipei, or visiting some of Taipei’s many museums and parks.  Many weekends I will go on an all-day hike with my friends, which both inspires me and helps to remind me of just how lucky I am to live and teach right here in Taiwan.

I am happy to have the opportunity to tell you about myself.  I really look forward to meeting you and encouraging my students to have fun and stay confident and focused as they become great at speaking English!

Thank you very much,

Brennan Stark

This week there will be no assigned homework, other than bringing supplies to class. I ask students to please bring in supplies as soon as possible. The sooner the better! Please see the list below for your reference.

        2 black ERASABLE pens

        2 blue erasable pens

        2 pencils (mechanical pencils allowed)

        1 eraser

        1 correction tape

        1 glue stick

        2 highlighters (different colors)

        1 pack of tissue for the classroom (to be used with everyone. If your child has allergies or needs tissue regularly, please prepare his/her personal tissue.)

        1 clear pocket folder for Leadership notebook (please bring your child’s old one if they still have it)

        1 paper folder for old tests

        9 plastic book covers for all English books (except for Journeys Hardcover)

        1 English book to share with their classmates (to be put in the class library

Thank you very much and have a great weekend!

Mr. Stark