Proctor Elementary
DISTANCE LEARNING ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES: WEEK 3
A Message from Principal Ghereben
4/3/2020
Dear Proctor Community,
With the governor’s recent decisions and the resulting extension of our suspension of in-class instruction for the rest of the school year, we all have a number of questions that are weighing on us (including myself). How am I going to balance work, family, and school? Is my child going to fall behind? How am I going to keep my child motivated and happy? We’re in the midst of a global event that will change the world in a major way, and it’s important to remember that the health (both physical and mental) and safety of you and your family is the top priority through all of this.
Recently, a colleague shared an article linked here, that gives some great coping strategies as we navigate Distance Learning together while living through a pandemic. It describes some simple actions/tips I feel are very helpful. Here’re my top 6 that I’ve committed to, and will be working on daily:
Find some time to move each day, again daily for at least thirty minutes. Here’s an activity
Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and practice GRACE!
Expect behavioral issues in children, and respond gently.
Find lightness and humor in each day (this has really helped me!)
Reach out for help—your [Proctor] team and community is here for you!
“Chunk” your quarantine, take it moment by moment. Remind yourself that this is temporary.
As a school, we’re discussing ideas and making plans to help with the questions listed above:
How am I going to balance work, family, and school? It is impossible to give 100% to all of these areas, and so choices are going to need to be made. Be kind to yourself and don’t try to be superhuman. As a school, we are flexible and able to work with you to find something that works for your family. Communication between you and your child’s teacher will be imperative for this to happen. Remember, the work we’re providing is to try to help create a sense of normalcy, prevent academic regression, and focus on essentials.
Is my child going to fall behind? Remember that this isn’t just a Castro Valley and/or California experience; it’s a global event, and students all around the world are experiencing very similar situations in their schooling. In CVUSD, we have the advantage of having spent the past 3-4 years developing our strong tiered intervention systems (MTSS), and so when we return back to campus, we’ve already got the systems and tools in place to ensure any gaps are filled quickly.
How am I going to keep my child motivated and happy? Here’re some things we’re working on:
“Virtual Social Groups”: Our School Counselor, Trudy Hy, will be working on developing this!
Virtual Events: We are trying to turn our traditional events as virtual as possible and plan some extra fun activities. Details for these will come in later communications.
Virtual Spirit Weeks/Challenges: Hosted by our Positive Patriot Leadership Team. We will continue to provide ways to keep students engaged, and excited to "be in school" week after week. We want them to have something fun to look forward to each week.
Our greatest strength during this time is our community. Please continue to reach out with ideas, and please don’t be afraid to ask for help. Answers to our more systematic questions that revolve around grading, events, etc… will be coming shortly as those decisions are made.
Remember to stay healthy, positive, and kind!
Sincerely,
Heather Ghereben
Proctor Principal
Spring Break: April 13 - April 17
Virtual School Assembly, Friday, April 10th!
A link will be emailed out, posted on Facebook, and attached to next week's Smore! So stay tuned!
Let's Keep Up Our School Spirit!
Continue to share your photos! With your permission, we would love to continue posting pictures, and videos for all our students, and school community to see. We miss each other, and what a better way to show our school pride!
Use this link to upload your student photos for
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-tEj2wmsEj50Z_mrrsTmi6eGuFkZG-i0
Here is next week's Virtual Spirit Themes:
Manic Monday - 4/6: Future Profession Day - What do you want to be when you grow up?
Tourist Tuesday - 4/7: Dress like a tourist! Think about where you want to go or dream to be on Spring Break!
Wacky Wednesday - 4/8: Mix and Clash Day - Dress is anything that doesn't match; polka dots, plaids, stripes, wacky colors, etc.
Throwback Thursday - 4/9 - Choose a decade known for its particular style (50's, 70's, 80's, etc).
Fan Friday - 4/10 - Dress in your favorite sports team gear! What a great way to celebrate our sports teams who can't currently play!
So excited to see your creativity each day! My family and I will definitely be joining in on the fun, and will post daily on our Proctor FB page.
To uplift your spirits, enjoy this sweet video of all the students who submitted pictures during our first Virtual Spirit Week! This is a private video, so only our school community can view it.
We hope to continue our school spirit each week with other virtual challenges, and virtual spirit themes.
Proctor Elementary
Hilda Kwan
School Secretary
Vicki Dugan
Attendance Secretary
Heather Ghereben
School Principal
Email: hghereben@cv.k12.ca.us
Website: https://proctor.cv.k12.ca.us/
Location: 17520 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, CA, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProctorElementarySchool/
Twitter: @ProctorPatriots