Ferson Creek eNews

Conference Update

This year, conferences will be held via Zoom. Here is document for your reference that provides specific details on using Zoom, including acquiring the zoom link for your conference. Please make sure you access this prior to your conference, as you will need to download the Zoom app (on a computer or mobile device) ahead of time.

If you are having trouble scheduling a conference, please reach out to our main office and we will be able to assist you. Directions for accessing Pick-A-Time can be found here.

If you are interested in conferencing with a specials teacher, please reach out to them directly via email. You can find their contact information below.

Art: Lauren Kruse lauren.kruse@d303.org

Music: Chris Miller christine.miller@d303.org

PE: Darcy Tegtmeier darcy.tegtmeier@d303.org

PE: Rebecca Seidling rebecca.seidling@d303.org

LRC: Renee Ignoffo sharon.ignoffo@d303.org

Orchestra: Rachel Saldana rachel.saldana@d303.org

Orchestra: Dan O'Connell daniel.oconnell@d303.org

Band: Tyler Brooks tyler.brooks@d303.org

Calendar Update

November 9th is now a Remote Planning Day, which is a non-attendance day for students. This is not a day that will need to be made up at the end of the year.

iReady Parent Reports

iReady Parent Reports will be sent home via backpacks on Monday for in-person students. Remote student reports will be mailed on Friday, so you should receive them on Monday as well. There will be both a Reading and Math report, as well as a document explaining the report, included in the envelope. If you have questions, please reach out to your child's teacher as they can answer your questions during conferences.

Directory Spot - For Remote and In Person Families!

We are preparing this year’s family and staff directory, called DirectorySpot. Even if you were in the directory in the past, families must grant permission and share their information each year, in order to be included in the directory. Whether your child(ren) is in-person or remote, we would love to have your family included!

You will be able to access it from a free app (iPhone or Android) or from the web. Once we have all of the data loaded, you will get an email with instructions on how to download DirectorySpot and set your own password. (The directory is very secure and only families and staff of Ferson Creek Elementary will be granted access. Each user will sign in with their authorized email address and will set their own password. More information on the security features is available on the DirectorySpot website.)
Please provide your family's permission and information here: https://tinyurl.com/FersonDirectory20-21

Ferson Creek 4th and 5th Graders - Today is the Last Day to Sign Up for Student Council!

Are you a leader? Do you enjoy spreading kindness to those around you? Do you like to be involved and influence others? If you answered yes, then we have a club you might like to join! Student Council is looking for responsible role-models who want to make Ferson and our community a better place. Meetings will be held once every month in a virtual format. If you are interested, please fill out the Google Form below no later than October 2nd. We are looking forward to starting meetings right away in October! Once sign-up is closed, you will get access to join our Student Council Google Classroom. We are looking forward to a great year!

Mrs. Cournaya

Google Form

Morning Arrival

I know there is a lot of traffic in the morning, which causes arrival to take longer than previous years. Please plan accordingly and help get your children get to school on time. With a shortened day, our instructional minutes are so very important. Our goal is to have students in their classrooms at 8:00 am.

Additionally, you can help our arrival by having your child ready to get themselves out of the car. While I understand that some students need help getting out of their car seats, we want to encourage as much independence with this task as possible. Keeping adults in their cars helps move our line along.

Thank you for your help in getting students to school safely and on time!

Attendance

Please make sure you notify the front office, either via the attendance line or email (audrey.hughes@d303.org), in the event of your child's absence. Many of you are working with the nurse, but we still need the information to get to our administrative assistant that handles attendance. Thank you for your support with this!

Kindergarten Lunches Available for Take Home Meals

Kindergarten students can now order take home meals.

District 303 is now offering the opportunity for kindergarten students to order a meal that can be taken home after school. Students will choose items from a menu that will be ordered by their classroom teacher. The meals will be brought to the classroom 15 minutes prior to dismissal. Meals that students select are free of charge as part of the Federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) that has been extended through December 31, 2020.

Student Mask Storage Update

As you are aware, we changed our method for storing masks during the school day. We have shifted from the plastic pencil box to a breathable mesh pouch. Many are wondering how we are keeping these mesh bags clean. The plans for storing and cleaning were made with the approval of the Kane County Health department.

Feedback from the KCHD stated that D303 is taking all the right steps in order of prioritization with regard to mitigation:

We store them in a way that the bags are not interchanged among students.
We have switched storage containers to a "breathable" version in response to parent concerns.
We have a mechanism in place for keeping the student's mask "safe" during lunch, PE and/or recess via age appropriate strategies.

According to the KCHD, these were the most important steps we could take in our mitigation.

The bags may be cleaned weekly in a washing machine (at student's home) or wiped/sprayed down with disinfectant. Teachers follow cleaning protocols that include having students wipe down the inside and outside of their bags during the day. Please talk to your child if you want them to bring the mesh pouch home on Fridays to be washed.

The bags may be hung from a lanyard, placed on a piece of paper towel or placed on top of the old pencil box when students are at lunch, recess or PE. All of these practices are acceptable.

The overall consensus of the KCHD is that we are doing a "job well done" with our mask storage and cleaning.