Dear Parents and Guardians,
Good afternoon! We hope everyone is enjoying this rainy Friday! It has been a great week having students back in the building, but as expected, it has not been without some challenges!
As you know from Dr. Brown's communication yesterday, we have been working with staff, students, and parents after a staff member reported a positive Covid test result. Upon receiving the news about the positive test result, all those needing to be addressed were contacted in a very timely manner, and those needing to quarantine began the process immediately. Nurse Conger took all the proper contact tracing steps necessary, and after thoroughly and efficiently completing this rigorous process, all areas related to this specific instance have been addressed.
We are well aware that this is alarming and unnerving, but it is important to point out that this process is one that is unfortunately becoming commonplace for districts that have been open for some time now, and as much as I would like to say it will not happen again, in all likelihood, and in all honesty, it will.
That being said, as we have discussed before, there always remains the possibility of having to close the schools, and to once again, go fully remote similarly to how we did last March.
In the event we have a situation that causes a need to close the school buildings for any length of time, remote learning would continue using the current early dismissal schedule. All students would report the same as they would if they were on their remote days in the Hybrid model. A, B, and C group students would simply report remotely each day, and D group students would continue on as they have been. Wednesdays would run on the same early dismissal schedule as every other day of the week as there would be no need for a deep cleaning if the building is closed.
SImply put, should we need to close the schools, all students would fall into the D category, we would continue with the early dismissal schedule of classes, and Wednesdays would then follow the 9 period early dismissal schedule. By maintaining the schedule in this manner, should this situation arise, we are minimizing further changes, and keeping the students on their current routine.
Something else to keep in mind, should this scenario arise, is that staff would also be working from home thus creating a different virtual learning environment for the students. Please keep in mind that teachers would be running Google meets from their chromebooks and not the Smart Televisions. This could create small issues with the meets as we have found through troubleshooting, and working with the tech department, that the Smart Televisions were able to better hold the group meets than the chromebooks were. This could mean smaller group meets, more posted assignments, or more pre recorded lessons from the teachers.
We share all of this with you in the interest of transparency and preparedness!
We look forward to welcoming our 4th grade students next week as we continue our phase in plan! Please be sure to complete the daily health screening as shared in Parent Square on the days your child is coming into the school. Please find the attached map indicating the location of the entrances for the 4th grade as well as where each homeroom should line up. A gentle reminder that student temperatures will be taken prior to entering the building. We want you all here taking those first day pictures (even though it's October), so please be sure to wear your masks and maintain social distance!
Again, we are VERY excited to welcome our 4th graders to JK next week! While we were unable to have a proper visitation day last spring, we will certainly make up for it next week as for the most part, they will have the building to themselves!
Thank you all as always for your support, kind words, and patience as we continue to navigate this extraordinary school year!
Be well,
Mr. Veit
Good afternoon! We hope everyone is enjoying this rainy Friday! It has been a great week having students back in the building, but as expected, it has not been without some challenges!
As you know from Dr. Brown's communication yesterday, we have been working with staff, students, and parents after a staff member reported a positive Covid test result. Upon receiving the news about the positive test result, all those needing to be addressed were contacted in a very timely manner, and those needing to quarantine began the process immediately. Nurse Conger took all the proper contact tracing steps necessary, and after thoroughly and efficiently completing this rigorous process, all areas related to this specific instance have been addressed.
We are well aware that this is alarming and unnerving, but it is important to point out that this process is one that is unfortunately becoming commonplace for districts that have been open for some time now, and as much as I would like to say it will not happen again, in all likelihood, and in all honesty, it will.
That being said, as we have discussed before, there always remains the possibility of having to close the schools, and to once again, go fully remote similarly to how we did last March.
In the event we have a situation that causes a need to close the school buildings for any length of time, remote learning would continue using the current early dismissal schedule. All students would report the same as they would if they were on their remote days in the Hybrid model. A, B, and C group students would simply report remotely each day, and D group students would continue on as they have been. Wednesdays would run on the same early dismissal schedule as every other day of the week as there would be no need for a deep cleaning if the building is closed.
SImply put, should we need to close the schools, all students would fall into the D category, we would continue with the early dismissal schedule of classes, and Wednesdays would then follow the 9 period early dismissal schedule. By maintaining the schedule in this manner, should this situation arise, we are minimizing further changes, and keeping the students on their current routine.
Something else to keep in mind, should this scenario arise, is that staff would also be working from home thus creating a different virtual learning environment for the students. Please keep in mind that teachers would be running Google meets from their chromebooks and not the Smart Televisions. This could create small issues with the meets as we have found through troubleshooting, and working with the tech department, that the Smart Televisions were able to better hold the group meets than the chromebooks were. This could mean smaller group meets, more posted assignments, or more pre recorded lessons from the teachers.
We share all of this with you in the interest of transparency and preparedness!
We look forward to welcoming our 4th grade students next week as we continue our phase in plan! Please be sure to complete the daily health screening as shared in Parent Square on the days your child is coming into the school. Please find the attached map indicating the location of the entrances for the 4th grade as well as where each homeroom should line up. A gentle reminder that student temperatures will be taken prior to entering the building. We want you all here taking those first day pictures (even though it's October), so please be sure to wear your masks and maintain social distance!
Again, we are VERY excited to welcome our 4th graders to JK next week! While we were unable to have a proper visitation day last spring, we will certainly make up for it next week as for the most part, they will have the building to themselves!
Thank you all as always for your support, kind words, and patience as we continue to navigate this extraordinary school year!
Be well,
Mr. Veit