As an offshoot, are teachers who are moved to a different Grade level given a chance to choose some students? My ds loved his teacher this year. She is being moved up a grade nexT year and he received her again (we get our assignments on the last day of school). I can't help but wonder if she chose him or if it was random.

MCPS teacher here. At our school, grade level teams meet shortly before the end of the school year to form classes for the following school year. Classes are structured around reading groups. Typically, there are three to four distinct groups in each class. Once reading groups are identified, we then go back and balance by gender and race. At our school, teachers can request that certain students be kept together or separated, so we check for these requests as well. Teachers' names are never assigned to a class at this time. At my school, teachers receive class lists during preservice week. Finally, parents are asked to complete a survey of sorts, identifying their child's strengths, areas of need, as well as types of environments that work for their child (highly structured, etc). I imagine administration may make adjustments on lists from June to August.

15:47 - 12:44 here. I assumed that was happening, and that was why HH sends out the note. We don't have an older sibling, just the one kid. My daughter's teacher told me that she was choosing a 1st grade teacher that would keep my daughter pretty structured, because without the structure, she has a tendency to get silly. (silly is fine, just not in class.) I haven't bothered to look at the yearbook to see who that teacher might be.