Good afternoon parents, Our first week of school is officially in the books. I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we launched this new form of schooling. I am hopeful that if you happen to see a teacher over the weekend, or next week, to thank them for the amount of time and effort they put into preparing and welcoming your students back to school!
A few reminders and/or things to adjust moving forward:
1. We will greatly appreciate the use of masks as opposed to gators or a bandanna. Executive Order 49 states "Cloth Face Covering" is a protection that covers the nose and mouth; fits snugly but comfortably against the side of the face; is secured with ties or ear loops; has multiple layers of fabric; allows for breathing without restriction; and is able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to its shape. If a student arrives with a gator or bandana we will provide a mask for them.
2. The login site for a Google Meets session is found within the Google Classroom.
3. Front doors open at 7:15 a.m. a. Middle School students should be in their advisories by 7:40. Breakfast for MS is 7:30-7:40. b. High School students, as of Sept. 14, need to be in period 1 by 7:45. Breakfast for HS students is from 7:15-7:30 and 7:40 - 7:45.
4. If you have not signed into pick up patrol, which was sent via email, please do so over the weekend.
5. ALL STUDENTS, until the end of December, are allowed to have FREE lunch and breakfast.
6. Every Wednesday is a ½ day for students. a. Middle School will begin at 8:00 on Wednesday’s with advisory. They will then have intervention time. b. High School will begin at 7:45. On 9/16 students will have period 1 Red, period 1 white, and an intervention block.
7. Mondays & Thursdays are red days while Tuesdays and Fridays are white days.
8. Attendance, whether in school or remote, is required.
9. Fully remote students must still turn in the yearly paperwork. This paperwork can be mailed to the school, dropped off, or scanned.
Overall, I’d say, we had a successful first few days of school. I, along with the staff, were so happy to have students back in the building. They bring our buildings to life. The students were genuinely happy to be back as well. They were great about understanding, and following, the new guidelines and procedures put into place. Take a breath, week one is down! The more we get into these new routines the easier “life” will become! As I stated earlier, with adversity comes opportunity. With the cooperative weather we have seen many more teachers and students outdoors taking advantage of our beautiful grounds. The weekend is supposed to be sunny and more “fallish”. I hope you get outside to enjoy a hike, another weekend at the beach, or another evening of s’mores around a campfire.
Mark Tinkham