Cheetah Chatter, April 12, 2020

April 12, 2020

Dear Theuerkauf Families,

The new normal feels weird but we are all doing our best to adjust to it. I hope you and your families are safe and healthy. This past week, I took some time to try out a couple new recipes for dinner and it was so therapeutic to do so!  Yes, I had to make a trip to the store for ingredients but I combined it with my other essential item list and was VERY safe with my mask and gloves on along with social distancing. In the midst of the shelter-in-place uncertainty, our household has decided to think of positive things that we are grateful for. As I count my blessings, I’m grateful to lead our school community and have you all to get through this unprecedented time. Each morning, our family shares two things we are grateful for before we get going with our day. This daily breakfast conversation has helped us think of our day in a positive light in this new virtual world we are navigating. You should try it! 

The information mentioned below is very  important so please take some time to read it carefully. 

As you may be aware from our previous District/ Site communication, our school building is closed for the remainder of this school year. But, that doesn’t mean learning is not happening for the rest of the year. So far, we have been providing optional flexible learning opportunities. This past week, our entire district leadership team has been working hard to formalize the distance learning plan for students. In order to provide students continued learning and lessons, students need access to their academic materials. We are inviting you to come collect your students’ academic materials including Math workbooks, English Language Arts consumables, Science notebooks, Social Studies workbooks, etc. At this time, we are only distributing academic materials and personal items in the students’ desk such as glasses, headphones, etc. We are not collecting items like library books and instruments during this distribution. (If you are unable or uncomfortable with picking up materials, your child will still be able to access all their assignments and materials online via their teacher’s Google Classroom)  

Please plan to pick up your child’s belongings by grade level based on the following schedule: (Please adhere to the time slot to avoid overcrowding and help keep everyone safe) 


Date

Grade Level/ Pick-up Time Slot 

Location for Pick Up 

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 

Kindergarten - 9:30 -11:30 am 






1st Grade - 11:00 - 1:00 pm 


2nd Grade - 11:00 - 1:00 pm 

Kindergarten families pick up from back parking lot drive- thru / walk-up station 


1st and 2nd Grade families pick up from the front of the school drive-thru. 


(Drive-thru preferable for social distancing safety and avoiding crowding) 

Thursday, April 16, 2020 

Transitional Kindergarten - 9:30 -11:30 am 





3rd Grade - 11:00 - 1:00 pm 


4th Grade - 11:00 - 1:00 pm 


5th Grade - 11:00 - 1:00 pm 

TK families pick up materials from the back parking lot drive-thru or back parking lot walk-up station


3rd - 4th - 5th Grade families pick up from the front of the school drive-thru or the walk-up station 


(Drive-thru preferred for social distancing safety and avoiding   crowding) 

Please adhere to all guidelines below:


  • Only visit campus during your designated time, if you are fever- and symptom-free.

  • Please prepare a student name card - A paper with your child’s full name, grade level and room number on it in dark ink/ thick writing so staff can see through the window. 

  • Please bring your child with you only if you do not have any childcare. Please supervise them very closely.  No one (except staff members) are allowed inside campus gates. 

  • Student material pick up time is not a time to greet the teacher or staff member.  We would like all of our staff and families to maintain social distancing and stay safe, healthy. 

  • Your child’s academic materials will be in a plastic bag labeled with your child’s name, lined up with your child’s classroom.  All unclaimed bags will be brought inside at the end of the day.

  • After you get your child’s materials, please leave campus immediately. Your safety and everyone’s safety around you is important to us. 

  • If you have not already picked up your child’s medication, it will be in your child’s bag at the time of pick-up. 


Protocol for families driving to pick up student materials: 


Parents will drive to the designated parking drive-thru (front of school for 1st-5th Grade/ back parking lot for TK/K) during their designated time block and stay in the car until approached by a school staff member

Car windows will remain up at all times. Student name cards (with students’ full name + grade level + Room number) will be displayed through car windows

Staff will approach the car with the student bag

The parent will release the trunk or back hatch of the vehicle. Staff member will put the bag in the trunk.

If a family has kids in multiple grades, they can collect their student materials at the same time (either day)


Protocol for families walking to pick up student materials: 


One Parent/  one guardian will walk up to the walk- up station (back parking lot - for TK/K and by the MUR for 1st-5th Grade), maintaining a social distance of at least 6-7 feet. (Stand on markings only). They will let staff know the student's name, room number, grade.  

Staff will bring the bag to the station and leave it for the parent/ guardian  to pick up from the station table. 

If a family has kids in multiple grades, they can collect their student materials at the same time (either day)

More Information on our Distance Learning Plan:

Next week, April 13-17, teachers will continue providing resources and lessons as they were before Spring Break. Our school staff/ teachers will also be working to distribute students’ materials and participating in professional development in order to sharpen their technology skills in anticipation of the implementation of our formal Distance Learning Plan the week of April 20. 

So, the question that is probably emanating in your mind right now is  - What will the Distance Learning Plan look like for my child? Distance Learning at our district will look something like  this : Each Monday beginning April 20th, you will find your child’s weekly assignments on their Google Classroom.  All of our Theuerkauf classrooms are already using Google Classroom through Clever for assignments/ weekly work.  Here is information about how to download the Google Classroom App that will make mobile access easier, both for parents and for students, to view lesson videos on mobile devices, if preferred.  In addition, beginning April 20th, we will post each classroom’s weekly agenda/learning plan on a Schoolwide Dashboard. The Theuerkauf School Dashboard can be accessed  through our school website.  

Beginning April 20th, classroom teachers will provide two lessons per subject per week: Math, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and English Language Development (for students who are English Language Learners.)  These may include live lessons (synchronous), video-recorded lessons (asynchronous), and links to lessons prepared by others. Teachers will also continue to include additional resources as well as assignments in student workbooks. Students will receive feedback from their teachers to maximize learning; however, students will not be graded on their assignments. 

Teachers will have their two weekly check-ins via Zoom: one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. They will communicate their schedules with you  as class parents. Teachers will contact by phone any students who do not have Internet access. 

Teachers will also continue to have their office hours (two hours daily) so that you and your child can be in contact to ask questions and obtain extra help. These office hours will be from Monday through Thursday. Teachers will also continue checking in with students and send out personal messages to students twice per week. Fridays are staff professional development days and teachers will not have office hours but students will have work assigned for all five days of the week. 

In order to give teachers time with their own families as well as preserve the opportunity for families to pick up lunch on Mistral’s campus, teachers will not be available from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm daily. Students will have lessons to complete on Fridays, but that day will be reserved for professional development and collaboration for teachers.

STEAM teachers will continue providing lessons each week and our PE teachers will be conducting live PE lessons twice per week. Your child’s teacher will include the Zoom link for PE in the Monday posting on Google Classroom.  

Our school librarian, Mrs. Gamibini, will also be providing read-alouds for grades K-2 as well as book clubs for grades 3-5.

Here is the link to our District Distance Learning Plan. This plan is a result of hours and hours of hard work, innovation,and collaboration of numerous MVWSD personnel and feedback from our families on the Thought Exchange. 

All of us are in an uncharted territory during these unprecedented times so on behalf of our entire staff and myself, I appreciate the numerous positive feedback messages. Our staff has been working really hard, learning new skills almost everyday to make sure our kiddos have as much learning consistency as we can possibly provide. We are appreciative of the emails that you have been sending our way encouraging and supporting our staff and me personally. Sending you love and hugs right back. This strong partnership with our wonderful families, such as yourself, keeps our entire staff going during this difficult time. We are a family, away from our own families, acting as one, and yes, we will overcome this challenge. Together we can! 

 

Love to you all. 

 

Your Principal Dagar 

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