Blue Ash Elementary Newsletter
November 5th, 2021
Specials Schedule November 8th - November 12th
Upcoming Dates
*BAE Trivia Night Postponed, but the online silent auction is still on! See below...
November 11th - Conference Night (Virtual)
November 12th - Conference Day (Virtual) - No School
November 18th - Conference Night (Virtual)
Veteran's Day is coming up on November 11. Our students created and sent cards to our local veterans in time to honor them on this special day. We are thankful for their service!
New ODH Quarantine Guidelines
Sycamore Families,
Hamilton County Public Health (HCPH) has officially adopted new Ohio Department of Health K-12 quarantine guidelines. Effective November 2, 2021, Sycamore Community Schools will begin implementing these “Mask-To-Stay/Test-To-Play” guidelines. The guidelines do not apply to preschool.
Mask-To-Stay
The eligibility of students to participate in Mask to Stay is contingent on the exposure being in the school setting, which includes extracurricular activities, band, choir, gym, lunch, and recess. Individuals who are exposed outside of the school environment will still be required to quarantine for 10 days without a test or 7 days with a negative test.
Individuals exposed in the school setting, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom, and attend lunch and recess if they do the following:
Wear a mask for 14 days after their last date of exposure.
Self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.
Isolate and get tested if they start to experience symptoms of COVID-19.
Students and staff may discontinue these quarantine procedures after seven days if they meet two basic criteria:
They don’t develop symptoms.
They receive a negative rapid or PCR test between days 5-7 following exposure. A valid copy of the test results should be provided to Sycamore Contact Tracer, Susan Murphy (murphys@sycamoreschools.org). If an at-home test is utilized, the official result from the company will be required. Photos of the test strip will not be accepted.
Test-To-Play
Asymptomatic close contacts may continue to participate in extracurricular activities if they do the following:
Wear a mask when able. This includes: transportation; locker rooms; sitting/standing on the sidelines; and anytime the mask will not interfere with breathing, the activity, or create a safety hazard.
A rapid or PCR test should be done upon initial notification of exposure. Testing should be proctored/observed by someone and cannot be an over-the-counter, at-home test that was self-administered without a proctor.
Test again between days 5-7 following exposure. If they are negative at this time, they will test out of quarantine.
While parents and students are responsible for symptom monitoring, if school staff or school nurses see a child exhibiting symptoms, the school nurse will assess the student and your child may be required to quarantine based on symptoms displayed.
The overall health and well-being of our students and staff at Sycamore Community Schools continue to be our top priority. If you have any questions or concerns related to the quarantine guidance, please contact Hamilton County Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Assessment Outbreak Response Team at (513) 946-7919.
Get an early start on shopping and support BAE!
While the Trivia Night may be postponed, you can still shop our virtual silent auction on Facebook where you will find some great gifts while raising money for the school. Remember, all money raised will go toward enhancing your child's learning experience at Blue Ash Elementary.
Auction opens Monday, November 8th at 4pm
Final bids close Saturday, November 20th at noon
Bid on great local items. Local pickup, no shipping hassles.
More info to come on the Blue Ash Elementary PTO facebook page and in next week's school newsletter.
We share feedback on our friends' writing to help each other do our best work!
We love putting on musical performances for our friends in other grade levels!
We follow the expectations at BAE and earn points for drawings for fun rewards and prizes!
Backpack Bundles
In 2020, more than 38 million people faced hunger in the United States, including 12 million children. Blue Ash Elementary is proud, and fortunate to offer the Backpack Bundles program which strives to help children and families by providing food for over the weekends and holiday breaks. A typical bundle consists of two breakfasts (bars and oatmeal), two lunches/dinners (canned fruit, pasta and soup, microwave mac and cheese, etc) All items are kid friendly to open and prepare, and will be discreetly sent home with the student on Fridays in their backpacks. Blue Ash Elementary values our community deeply and would like to ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive. If you are interested in this program or want more information, please contact Leslie Shoals, School Counselor at shoalsl@sycamoreschools.org or 686-1799 ext. 1153.
Our Dance-A-Thon Raffle provided awesome prizes for our students at BAE! Thank you, PTO!!
Learn Sign Language with Us!
Have a great week Blue Ash and have a Happy Halloween!
https://flipgrid.com/s/xN2btk8xsPXV
We are so fortunate to have a sign language interpreter supporting one of our children at BAE again this year. Nicole Schum has been busy teaching all of us sign language! If you would like to join in the learning from home, please CLICK HERE for the Flipgrid account.
Once you log on to Flipgrid, the code for Blue Ash Sign Language is: baesign
CAFETERIA NEWS!!
Click HERE to access the menu.
PTO INFORMATION
PTO meeting next week!
You're in luck! Next Thursday, November 11th the BAE PTO has added another virtual general meeting to the calendar! Please join us to learn about the happenings at Blue Ash Elementary and upcoming volunteer opportunities!
BAE General PTO meeting
Thursday, Nov 11 • 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/wjg-jxfs-kka
Or dial: +1 732-630-8119 PIN: 591 596 663#
Student Directory
As a reminder, only PTO members receive access to DirectorySpot, our online student directory app, and you may join the PTO for as little as $10: https://tinyurl.com/59uuj8mz.
If you have any questions regarding the directory, please contact us at baptodirectory@sycamoreschools.org
DISTRICT INFORMATION/FLYERS
Sycamore Schools Mobile App
Sycamore Community Schools Mobile App will keep you up to date!
If you have not done so already, we recommend that you download the district app.
The app features:
The latest district and school news
Push notifications about breaking news, closures, weather, events, and more
Easy access to lunch menus and calendars
School and staff directory
Parent log-in to access grades, fees, attendance, and bus information
The app is FREE and available for download today! Visit www.goav.es/sycamoremobileapp for more information.
"Having trouble logging into the app? Please reset your Parent Portal password online. You will need to wait 24 hours for the system to refresh before trying to log back into the app."