Parent Newsletter 7/21/20 Updated Info

Submitted by sarah.blackhurst on
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Dear Grizzly Families,

I sure hope you are continuing to enjoy the lazy Summer days! As we look at the new year coming at us at a rapid pace I am hoping this letter will provide you with more information about some of the plans we have in place for the beginning of the year.  We know this is not the ideal situation that we want for our students, but we will move forward cautiously and do our very best to provide a great experience for our students.

Online Registration is now open and will continue until July 30th.  As part of the registration process you will need to choose whether you would like your child to come to school, which is titled At School Learning, or opt for online schooling, which is titled Remote Learning. Definitions and plans of each (thus far) are outlined as follows:

At School Learning will be for students that come back to school.  Nebo School District and individual schools continue to develop plans following the State and the Health Department Guidelines to make sure our school is safe.  We plan to do as much “business as usual” in our classrooms, teaching students and moving them forward from where they are, as we have always done in the past. 

Remote Learning is an online experience taught by a certified teacher from Nebo School District. The students take the course by way of CANVAS and complete a number of modules, which include lessons and assignments each day, focusing on reading, writing, math and science. The work load is planned for 3-4 hours a day. There may be some ZOOM Meetings, depending on the teacher. 

Parents and students communicate with their teacher via email, CANVAS, and possible ZOOM Meetings. Appointments, of course can also be set up for parent-teacher meetings.

IEPs and 504 plans will be accommodated with Remote Learning. Students will receive grades for their work as outlined by their teacher. Parents and Guardians will play a big part in supporting and helping their children in Remote Learning.

General guidelines for at school learning are as follows:

Students will need to wear face coverings (masks or shields) provided by parents or guardians when social distancing is not possible. 

Students and staff will need to follow protocol for washing hands and using hand sanitizer, which of course is available in each classroom.

We will sanitize our school, classrooms, and playgrounds daily, following State guidelines.    

Parents/Guardians/Visitors will need to wear a face covering when coming into the school.  All visitors will need to check in at the office and will only be allowed access to classrooms for specific and defined purposes. All contact by individuals and our school must be signed and time stamped for potential contact tracing as per the county health department. Please note that there will be no exception to the requirement that all parent volunteers will need to wear face coverings inside the classrooms. 


School Protocol:

We will be keeping our classrooms running as close to normal as possible!

We are providing shields in certain areas of the classrooms so that students can take a break from face masks. These shields will help with small group teaching and individual help for students.  It will also provide some work time with no face masks for students.

Students will also participate in recess and PE schedules, along with breaks throughout the day where students do not have to wear face coverings. 

We will have specialty rotations as usual, including library, art, music, computers and PE. We will however need to modify the access at home to our library books and art supplies.  These specific  protocols and more details will emerge as we navigate our first few weeks of school. 

We will have social distance protocols for lunch/breakfast and may have other designated areas, such as the classroom on cold weather days, along with outside picnics when the weather permits. In your planning for school opening it would be wonderful to see many of our students pack a home lunch in which they can throw away all items when finished. No face coverings need to be worn at lunch or at lunch recess. 

Our school open house will be in a Zoom format where individual teachers will hold a meet and greet meeting. They can show you around the classroom, tell you how to gett there the first day of class and even give some insider tips and tricks as we attempt to navigate the new normal. 

On the first day of school parents will need to drop students off (at a previously determined location for the littles) at the school where students will make their way to classes. Please help us out in preparing your child for this new format. 

As of now ALL  assemblies and field trips will be cancelled. We will have ZOOM/LOOM assemblies and gatherings. 

We will also provide lessons from our counselor to help with anxiety, and coping skills for students to navigate all these changes.

We will hold SEP Conferences in October with parents using ZOOM.

IEP Goals and 504 Plans will be followed.

We are strongly encouraging the following from parents and students:

As mentioned previously we would like to see students bring sack lunches that can be thrown away.  However, if students bring a lunch box, they will put it in a designated area instead of a tub with other lunch containers.

Students to bring their own water bottle.  We have our water fountains covered but classroom teachers will implement protocols where they assist students in refilling water bottles throughout the day. .

No backpacks-we will provide a homework folder for each child.

Walking students to please come as close to 8:55 as possible. We cannot accommodate mass student gatherings before the beginning of the school day. If you need special accommodations for this you may coordinate with your individual teacher. Also note that teachers are on contract beginning at 8:30am. 

Calendaring a few dates to remember:

Now-July 30th-Online Registration- please spread the word to new neighbors! We need students to register so we know our enrollment numbers and can assign students a class. 

August 10th-Students will be assigned to a class. Parents can access this information via infinite campus

August 17th-VIRTUAL Open House-more info to come on that!

August 19th-First day of school for 1st-5th Grade

August 26th-First day of school for Kindergarten students.


Please remember that we are still planning and thinking of special situations that we need to be thoughtful of. I hope that if there are concerns about the things we have in place, that you will notify me so we can discuss them. 

We are truly looking forward to having our students back with us and hope you know that we are here to support and help you!  We want the very best for our students and our teachers are caring and sensitive to their needs.  Please call us if you have any questions or concerns!

Thanks for your support. TOGETHER WE ARE UNITED IN OUR CLIMB!

Mrs. Brunson