News for the Week of October 12, 2020

 

We do amazing things with our students every day.

This is a busy time, but you've got this! 

This Week at Brown School

10/12   Foundation grants are due!

10/14   Late Start Day

10/15   1/2 day for conferences (dismissal 12:34 p.m.)

10/16   1/2 day for conferences (dismissal 12:34 p.m.)

Coming Up...

10/19   No school for students (y5-5th) Curriculum release day 8:15-2:45

10/21   Late Start Day

      Snacking with Someone Special - Virtual PTO Event (see below)

10/31   Growth Goals posted in iObservation by today

As you know, anchor charts are powerful tools to display common expectations. Have you considered creating a lunch and enrichment time expectation anchor chart that can be referred to and displayed during the noon hour? It may be a great tool to ensure communication of your expectations while out of the classroom. 

Fall Conferences

Our Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up! October 15th and 16th will be half days, as will November 12th and 13th (the end of the conference window.) Everyone should plan on virtual conferences, but here are some options for how you might proceed:

Virtual - Google Meet with regular conference format (20-minute rule of thumb with the understanding that some need more and some may need less)

Student-led opportunities - prepare students for a performance review that they can help lead. The parent can be an active participant in a progress conference between student and teacher.

Two 10-minute check-ins. One for October and 1 for November. This would be much like your progress conversations from the spring.

Other considerations:

• Please consider prioritizing your most at-promise kids for an October conference or option #3 above- a 10 minute October meet to share goals and a 10 minute November to share an update.

• Share your conference schedule with the office once confirmed. 

• Let me know if there are conferences you'd like me to partner with you in!

Super important -- all staff members must complete the misymptoms health screener everyday before entering the building. Setting a phone reminder and/or an alarm might be helpful. Please take a moment to view Dr. Bruce's video related to this. 

If you get a "red" indication, you will need to contact Kristen right away (269-377-8504). Together you will make a determination about whether or not you should report. 

Remember, you are indicating that symptom(s) you are reporting are abnormal, worsening, and/or have developed within the past two weeks.  

Student Quarantining Guidelines

Who stays home and when can get confusing. When you are in doubt, always refer to our Student Health Screener linked here and posted on the main page of our district website sjschools.org. 

⚕️Quarantining is a preventive measure.

⚕️If a student was a close contact with someone who tested positive they will be asked to quarantine. For example, a student would be in quarantine if a parent tested positive for COVID.

⚕️If a student was in close contact with someone who was a close contact with someone who tested positive, s/he can come to school. For example, if a parent was a close contact with a positive case and had to quarantine but is not positive themselves then their child can still come to school.


⚕️A family can self-quarantine in any case if they so choose, we will honor their absence.

Drills

You've all done such a terrific job preparing your students for our recent drills. Here are a few noticing that I'd like to share:

• Classroom doors DO NOT have to be closed when exiting the building during a fire drill.

• Students should know where to line up outdoors so that any student can safely lead the class.  The classroom should be the last person to exit the room - ensuring that all students are out safely (Y5 and K are exceptions to this). 

Computer Carts and Lab Use 

Thank you for your feedback and discussion related to Chromebook carts and lab use. Your patience and flexibility is so appreciated. 

Here is the plan, beginning Monday (10/12), until we receive our 1:1 devices:

*Y5-3rd grade classes will sign up for lab use on the Brown Computer Lab Schedule in the Google Calendar. We will have two spray bottles and cloths in the lab. Please plan to spray the cloth and wipe down the computers that were used before leaving. After you spray the cloths, students can assist with the wiping. Thank you for your help with this! In addition, please ensure students are sanitizing their hands when they leave the classroom and when they enter the classroom to cut down on potential germ exposure. Thank you!

*The two Chromebook carts will remain in the 4th & 5th grade hallway. Fourth and Fifth grade teachers will sign up for use on the Brown Chromebook Check Out calendar in Google. We are prioritizing use in these grade levels due to the 1:1 environment that they worked hard to develop and grew accustomed to last year. 

Snacking with Someone Special

Our PTO is sponsoring a virtual celebration of special people in our students' lives. Instead of "Donuts with Dads" or "Muffins with Moms", they've decided to encourage families to post a picture of our student enjoying breakfast, an after school snack or dinner with a special person in their lives on our closed Facebook page. 

In addition to celebrating with photos, they are sharing conversation starters with the hope that families will find fun and engaging options that will be used during a car ride home, at the dinner table, or as they tuck their children into bed. 

TimerTools & SelectorTools-ish

As you have likely realized, we are not able to load Kagan TimerTools or SelectorTools on your Chromebooks as theses are apps. Great news thought! There are free Kagan-like timers are available on classroomscreen.com! Thank you for the tip, Elizabeth & Connie!

New Swings

Hooray! We have two new swings that are handicap accessible on our playground. These are reserved for our Y5 & ECDD classes, as well as students requiring this type of accessibility for safe use only. Thank you for sharing this information with your class.