Monday, August 23, 2021

The Middle Update 8/23/21

The 21-22 school year officially kicked off for our students and families with our first annual "Locker Night".  There was an air of excitement and energy in the building as students and families arrived to check out our newly renovated facilities, get their schedule and start perfecting their ability to open up their lock.  It was a very enjoyable evening, and made me realize how ready I am to get the ball rolling on this coming school year.

I have also enjoyed my time meeting with each teacher to start the year, and seeing all of you work your magic creating a special learning environment inside of your classroom doors.  We have a good start so far, and after three days of learning and preparing, I'm confident we'll be in a great place. 

The topics below will attempt to communicate more of our detailed plan for our in-service time and also share some details about our "Return to Learn Addendum" that was passed last Monday, along with some information that will assist in your planning.

Opening Inservice

There have been some updates to district-wide In-service Schedule at this LINK.  There will be a "grab-n-go" breakfast available in the cafeteria on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  On Thursday morning, I'm happy to treat you all to a breakfast consisting of a variety of pastry options.  Please plan to be here for a typical work day (7:30-3:30 for example).

On Tuesday at the Middle School, we'll get started at 8:30 am in the cafeteria.  We'll get re-acquainted and re-calibrate our purpose.  Following our meeting, we'll all head up to the Elementary School and hear from Dr. Shappell and enjoy lunch from a few different food truck options.  We'll get back together in the cafeteria at 2:00 to review student achievement and culture data to help us guide the goal setting and planning that will take place over the next couple of days

On Wednesday morning, we'll meet as a staff at 8:00 am in the cafeteria and discuss our Professional Learning Community (PLC) plans for the year.  There will be different meetings for different groups throughout the rest of the day, however, each PLC group must meet to accomplish the goals laid out in the meeting Wednesday morning.

On Thursday morning, we'll meet as a staff at 9:00 am in the cafeteria.  We'll be working on the following topics: Social-Emotional Learning at PMS, our RTI structure, and covering a vast number of "nuts & bolts" topics.  Our nurse will lead our annual Medical training at 10:00 am.  We'll also have grade level meetings focused specifically on sharing information about taking an approach that will help set up each student for success.  These meetings will start at 12:30 in the Middle School IMC.  I'll ask that any teacher that will be working with students in a specific grade level to be present for these meetings.

We will then welcome students and their families into our building for our Open House on Thursday evening from 4:00-7:00.


COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies

Starting this week, all people in our buildings will be required to wear a mask/face covering due to the "Return to Learning Addendum" that was passed last Monday night.  This could change throughout the year depending on the COVID activity level in the community.  See see details in the full addendum link.  Also, here are some other specific details.

For instance:
  • We are in the red (high risk) category and therefore masks will need to be worn in district buildings and vans at all times when there is a group of people.  If you are alone in a room, you can remove your mask.  Everyone without a medical exemption will need to wear a mask on the buses.  This is a Federal mandate just like on an airplane.
    • We may have an uptick in religious accommodations and we will work with the families to discuss what that means.   Any accommodations that are granted, will be shared with the teachers as they occur.
    • We have had families reach out and requested a medical exemption.  Those need written documentation from a healthcare provider and families are providing that to us.  Again teachers will be made aware of students who fall into either one of those situations.
  • We will need to encourage and teach our students strong hygiene and hand-washing practices like we did last year.
  • We will be cleaning and sanitizing high-touch areas throughout the day, and also all items once a day.  This is still important, but research has shown that the transmission is not likely through objects like we thought last fall.
  • Please use the air purifiers in your rooms again this year.  They should have had maintenance over the summer and can be used again this year.
  • The district will be following CDC/ DHS guidelines for quarantine and close contact tracing. The requirements are a  little bit different this year and so the likelihood of whole classes going home will be lower when we are wearing masks.
  • We will only have one grade level eating at a time in the lunch room, and we'll set guidelines up so that students are spread out while they are eating.

A couple of other reminders...
-Please don't use pen for your class rosters quite yet...we have had a few new students join our school last week, and I anticipate some other potential changes.  For the most part, the rosters are in good shape, there may be a few minor adjustments as we approach the first day.

-We'll be using the Puma Pride website again this year in Homeroom.  Please have this saved somewhere for easy access.  You can review some of our system documents here in preparation for the school year also.
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The Middle Update 8/23/21

The 21-22 school year officially kicked off for our students and families with our first annual "Locker Night".  There was an air of excitement and energy in the building as students and families arrived to check out our newly renovated facilities, get their schedule and start perfecting their ability to open up their lock.  It was a very enjoyable evening, and made me realize how ready I am to get the ball rolling on this coming school year.

I have also enjoyed my time meeting with each teacher to start the year, and seeing all of you work your magic creating a special learning environment inside of your classroom doors.  We have a good start so far, and after three days of learning and preparing, I'm confident we'll be in a great place. 

The topics below will attempt to communicate more of our detailed plan for our in-service time and also share some details about our "Return to Learn Addendum" that was passed last Monday, along with some information that will assist in your planning.

Opening Inservice

There have been some updates to district-wide In-service Schedule at this LINK.  There will be a "grab-n-go" breakfast available in the cafeteria on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  On Thursday morning, I'm happy to treat you all to a breakfast consisting of a variety of pastry options.  Please plan to be here for a typical work day (7:30-3:30 for example).

On Tuesday at the Middle School, we'll get started at 8:30 am in the cafeteria.  We'll get re-acquainted and re-calibrate our purpose.  Following our meeting, we'll all head up to the Elementary School and hear from Dr. Shappell and enjoy lunch from a few different food truck options.  We'll get back together in the cafeteria at 2:00 to review student achievement and culture data to help us guide the goal setting and planning that will take place over the next couple of days

On Wednesday morning, we'll meet as a staff at 8:00 am in the cafeteria and discuss our Professional Learning Community (PLC) plans for the year.  There will be different meetings for different groups throughout the rest of the day, however, each PLC group must meet to accomplish the goals laid out in the meeting Wednesday morning.

On Thursday morning, we'll meet as a staff at 9:00 am in the cafeteria.  We'll be working on the following topics: Social-Emotional Learning at PMS, our RTI structure, and covering a vast number of "nuts & bolts" topics.  Our nurse will lead our annual Medical training at 10:00 am.  We'll also have grade level meetings focused specifically on sharing information about taking an approach that will help set up each student for success.  These meetings will start at 12:30 in the Middle School IMC.  I'll ask that any teacher that will be working with students in a specific grade level to be present for these meetings.

We will then welcome students and their families into our building for our Open House on Thursday evening from 4:00-7:00.


COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies

Starting this week, all people in our buildings will be required to wear a mask/face covering due to the "Return to Learning Addendum" that was passed last Monday night.  This could change throughout the year depending on the COVID activity level in the community.  See see details in the full addendum link.  Also, here are some other specific details.

For instance:
  • We are in the red (high risk) category and therefore masks will need to be worn in district buildings and vans at all times when there is a group of people.  If you are alone in a room, you can remove your mask.  Everyone without a medical exemption will need to wear a mask on the buses.  This is a Federal mandate just like on an airplane.
    • We may have an uptick in religious accommodations and we will work with the families to discuss what that means.   Any accommodations that are granted, will be shared with the teachers as they occur.
    • We have had families reach out and requested a medical exemption.  Those need written documentation from a healthcare provider and families are providing that to us.  Again teachers will be made aware of students who fall into either one of those situations.
  • We will need to encourage and teach our students strong hygiene and hand-washing practices like we did last year.
  • We will be cleaning and sanitizing high-touch areas throughout the day, and also all items once a day.  This is still important, but research has shown that the transmission is not likely through objects like we thought last fall.
  • Please use the air purifiers in your rooms again this year.  They should have had maintenance over the summer and can be used again this year.
  • The district will be following CDC/ DHS guidelines for quarantine and close contact tracing. The requirements are a  little bit different this year and so the likelihood of whole classes going home will be lower when we are wearing masks.
  • We will only have one grade level eating at a time in the lunch room, and we'll set guidelines up so that students are spread out while they are eating.

A couple of other reminders...
-Please don't use pen for your class rosters quite yet...we have had a few new students join our school last week, and I anticipate some other potential changes.  For the most part, the rosters are in good shape, there may be a few minor adjustments as we approach the first day.

-We'll be using the Puma Pride website again this year in Homeroom.  Please have this saved somewhere for easy access.  You can review some of our system documents here in preparation for the school year also.