I want to thank you for your efforts in preparing for this school year. In a time that has most everyone experiencing a wide range of emotions, we, as a team, are about as prepared as we can be to execute our return to learn plan. I am experiencing a little "pre-game jitters", but I am scared to think of what I would feel if we didn't have such an amazing team. I appreciate each one of you so much, and am so thankful for the "all hands on deck" mentality we had preparing this building to educate our kids. I feel very fortunate to be your Principal...thank you.
The post this week has some important information for further preparation as tomorrow morning is less than 24 hours away as of this writing. There will no doubt be things that come up that challenge us...but having a solid understanding of our guiding principles for a safe re-opening of schools will help guide each of us in the moment as we have to make decisions....for those situations that are "in-betweeners or gray", please err on the side of safety and it's ok to say, "I will check for sure, but for now we'll ___________".
Resource of the Week
Many of us were discussing how to best utilize groups of students for collaboration and rotate through them to give them enough feedback during our Wednesday morning session. The article this week provides some thoughts and strategies for doing this effectively in a socially distanced world.
"Station Rotation in an Era of Social Distancing" - Catlin Tucker
1st Day Logistics
Students will be arriving in the morning on campus. Buses will line up and won't let students off until we ask them to do so. (I'll be out by the buses) Teachers should be in their classrooms. Everyone else should be at their assigned morning location. Students that walk to school or were dropped off will be let inside at 7:19 am by the door supervisors. Once all of those students enter the building through their assigned door, we'll release the first bus, when those students enter the building, we'll release the next, etc.
Students should report to their classrooms when they enter the building.
-Students may have brought something they needed to return from last spring (textbook/chromebook/hot spot, etc.). Those materials will need to be returned to the office, but please don't send them down with these materials right away in the morning. Please email Robin if you have a student or two that brought back materials that need to be returned, and she will help coordinate that return sometime throughout the day.
-Some students may not be set up with an account yet. These students still need to turn in an AUP form. If a new student has an AUP or any other form that needs to come to the office, you may send them down right away in the morning.
-The only other student that should be sent down to the office is a student that is not on anyone's list...if a students shows up that we are not expecting, we'll need to work that out in the office.
Announcements will begin at or close to 7:30
-As students come in, go ahead and get them situated and in their locations, as you begin to learn more about them. I'll get on the announcements for the Pledge and then I'll direct people to go ahead and join the live stream link - - Once the live stream is complete, go ahead and continue with your plans.
Breakfast/Lunch Count Procedures (This is slightly different than what we discussed during our meeting)
-Each teacher will have a laminated sheet of paper with a bar code for each student in their mailbox. You should ask students who would like a school breakfast or a milk. If a student wants a breakfast (white milk comes with), please circle their name. If a student would like a milk only (white is only option), please write an M by their name. Mrs. Jackson will come around and collect those sheets so the kitchen can prepare. After you do this, you can go ahead and ask how many students plan to eat school lunch. You can enter that information on the attendance page in Infinite Campus. Breakfasts will be brought to the Homerooms each morning prior to the scheduled time for your grade.
Specials Drop Off and Pick-Up
-Each Homeroom teacher should walk their group from their class to their first elective. After the first elective is over, the elective teacher will walk with their group down the hall to their next area. Either Mr. Schultz or Mrs. Graeve will be out in the downstairs hallway in between, and either Mrs. Serstad or Mr. Kartos - or Mrs. Cross or Mr. Digman will be out in the hallway near the lower ramp area. The Homeroom teacher should then pick up their class from the at the end of the last Elective time. We may have to iron out the "in-between" times so that we can sanitize high touch surfaces in between groups...
Recess Locations and Door Use
-The Logistics document has been updated with Door #'s to use for outside break time and social time over lunch break. The map with locations and exit door #'s is below.
Homeroom Modification for Virtual Students
Last Thursday, we made a modification to our Homeroom grouping plan. For our Homeroom lessons and meetings, our virtual students will meet via Google Meet together instead of joining a Homeroom group lesson that is taking place as an in-person group. Mr. Schultz will lead the 8th grade virtual students, Mrs. Graeve the 7th grade, Mrs. Morton the 6th, and Mrs. Snyder the 5th. The students will remain in the original assigned Homeroom groups for classes. Homeroom teachers are "go-to" persons for our virtual students.
Student Restroom Use
Students should use the assigned restroom for their Homeroom class. Restroom breaks are built into the schedule, however, a student may be released to use the restroom in the event a student really has to go.
IMC Tour and Book Check-Out
Each Homeroom group will have the opportunity to tour the new IMC and check out a book starting on Thursday, Sept. 3. A group will not have their PE class on one of these days and instead will report to the IMC based on the rotation found in this document in the "IMC Rotations" tab. Ebony will be leading the tours and check-out. Students will remain in the IMC for the whole class period. Rotations are also below:
Couple of Manager Items that we Didn't Cover in our Meeting
Air Filtration Circulation Units - Please turn these off before you leave at the end of the day and on in the morning. The units are efficient at the "Normal" setting.
Staff Lounge - Teachers may use the refrigerators and visit to purchase a soda during the school day, however, this area is not open for staff congregation during lunch times or after school to help prevent any staff to staff spread.
Hot Spots - Hot spots can be available for any student that does not have internet connection at home. If a student has a question, they should contact the office.
Staff Meetings - We will meet virtually as a staff on Wednesday (9/2) afternoon starting at 2:30. I'll send directions and an invitation soon.
Employee Handbook - Typically I do an Employee Handbook reminder slide in at least one of our Back to School presentations. Please take a review of the Employee Handbook and see me with any questions. I have the same interpretations of our policies as always.
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