My name is John Durnian.  This is my 31st year of teaching, and my 19th year teaching 5th Grade in the Grosse Ile Schools.  I received my BS and MA from Eastern Michigan University. I have been happily married to Kathy for 28 years and we have three adult children aged 26, 23, and 20, and our furry child who is 6.

A belief that drives much of my teaching philosophy is that these are 10-11 year old children who are not going to Harvard tomorrow and they need time to be "kids".  I enjoy teaching children at this age and experiencing along with them the transformation that takes place academically, emotionally, and socially. Children cannot learn in chaos, but they need time to develop the social skills necessary to become functional members of society.

The children will work very hard in 5th grade this year, but we also have time to play! 

Please e-mail me your current e- mail address, so you will receive information about 5th grade activities.

5th Grade Info:

The children will have Mr. Kruslemsky for science and Mrs. Blair for reading.  All other academic subjects will be taught by Mr.Durnian. The children will have music with Mrs. Conroy, art with Mr. Goniea, and physical education with Mr. Soltesz.  Mrs. Magee will be teaching Spanish. The highlight of 5th grade is camp.  Camp will be on May 16-20, 2011.  More information will be sent home with the students after the first of the year. Tentatively, the cost of camp this year will be 250.  Another wonderful activity that is a 5th grade tradition is Colonial Days.  Due to scheduling issues it is not possible to have this event during November.  Colonial Days will be in December.