Hearst Family Update
September 6, 2021
Principal's Message
Dear Hearst Families,
Thanks for a great week one of the 2021-2022 school year! I hope that you've enjoyed every moment of the long holiday weekend and we'll see you tomorrow morning at 8:30 for arrival. One quick note about arrival - as everyone has become familiar with the arrival procedure and the need to complete the Ask, Ask, Look for at home, the entering the playground starting at 8:30 has become a much faster process. Because we want to ensure that all kids' forms are checked by Hearst staff, we ask that all students use the main entrance to the playground each day. This means that walking through the back entrance by the Wings (trailers) is not allowed, nor is cutting through the hole in the net on the upper field. This also means that if your child arrives to school after the Patient Care Technicians have moved to the main entrance of the school, your child needs to have their Ask, Ask, Look form checked at the main entrance before proceeding to class. Thanks for your patience and flexibility with this arrival procedure and ensuring that this important step in our mitigation process is followed.
Please reach out with any questions and be well,
Jen
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Upcoming Key Dates
September 7 - BOY Assessment Window Opens
September 8 - Sidwell's First Day (expect additional traffic around Hearst during arrival and dismissal starting on this day & please be a good neighbor and do not park on the Sidwell side of the 37th Street)
September 14 - Back to School Night, 6:00-8:00pm (log in information will be sent in next week's update)
Grade Level Admin Contact
Asymptomatic Student Testing Begins Tuesday, September 7
Our asymptomatic testing window at Hearst will be every Tuesday from 2:15-3:00pm. During a typical week, we will test a random sample of 35 students each week and be sure to test at least one student from each homeroom each week. However, because of the holiday weekend, OSSE is asking that we test 20% of enrolled unvaccinated students this week. Here are a few things to know about testing this week:
- Teachers will be provided with names of students to be tested and those students will be escorted by staff to our testing location.
- Because the test is a saliva test, students identified for testing cannot eat or drink an hour before their testing window.
Families of kids who are tested will receive notification that their child was tested and information on how to access the online portal where testing results will be shared. Please reach out to Ms. Johnson (kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov) with any questions and/or if you would like to opt your child out of asymptomatic testing. If you wish to opt-out your student from receiving any COVID-19 test at school, you must complete the available at osse.dc.gov/page/school-based-covid-19-testing and email it to Ms. Johnson (kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov).
Beginning of Year (BOY) Assessments
Diagnostic assessment will take place in our classes over the next three weeks. Students will take the following tests according to their grade levels:
- i-Ready Math - K-5
- DIBELS - K-2
- TRC - K-1
- Reading Inventory (RI) - 2-5
- iReady Reading - 3-5
DIBELS and TRC are beginning reading assessments conducted one-on-one with an adult while the RI and iReady diagnostic assessments are computer-based and adaptive so questions will be easy, challenging, and just right.
In preparation for BOY testing, please encourage your child to:
· Take their time and not rush
· Read each question and answer choice carefully
· Try their best, even if they get to a question they haven't learned yet.
· Check answers before going to the next question
Please reach out to Tara Souza (math) or Janna Walker (reading) if you have any questions about our BOY assessments.
Quick Attendance Notes
After one unexcused absence, families will get a robocall from DCPS; after 3, they will get a letter from the school, after 4, a call from your child's teacher, and after 5, an invitation to a Student Attendance Conference. Between this and, of course, our ability to contact trace during Covid, it’s more important than ever before that Hearst’s attendance data is accurate and timely, so we thank you so much in advance for your help in notifying us of any absences.
Reminder: Arrival Procedures
A Bloomz announcement will be posted before 8:15 to let staff and families know if we are operating under inclement weather guidance. If no announcement is sent, we are using fair weather arrival procedures.
Fair Weather Arrival
Arrival begins at 8:30. Please do not drop off kids on the playground or at school before this time as there will be no staff to supervise them nor any Patient Care Technicians (PCTs) to verify their health screening has been completed.
PK
- PK team members will greet students at the main entrance to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms have been completed. PK team members will then escort students to PK classrooms
K-5
- PCTs will greet students at entrance to playground from 8:30-8:40 to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms have been completed. Once verified, students can enter the playground with or without a parent/guardian.
- Students can play with appropriate distancing and masks on the playgrounds, basketball court, and soccer field. Please note that because of the number of students on the soccer field during arrival, to avoid injuries and accidents, students cannot play catch, football, soccer, etc. during arrival.
- At 8:40 a whistle will blow and students should line up on the soccer field behind the sign with their homeroom teacher's name. This is the time for families to say goodbye and move away from the class lines as well as playground exits so that students can move with their class into the building. As a reminder, no parents are allowed into the buildings.
- Note: students who arrive after 8:40 will not be allowed onto the playground. They will form a line outside the main entrance and wait for PCTs to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms before those students can enter the building. If students arrive at the main entrance from 8:40-8:45 they will go directly to their classrooms after their health screening. If they arrive after 8:45 they will go to the office for tardy slips before going to their classrooms.
All CES Students will be escorted to and supervised on the tot lot during fair weather arrival.
Inclement Arrival
Arrival begins at 8:30. Please do not drop off kids on the playground or at school before this time.
PK, K, 1st
- A PCT will greet students at the main entrance to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms have been completed.
- PK & K team members will then escort students to PK & K classrooms.
- 1st grade students will walk to classrooms, where they will be supervised by staff.
2nd - 5th
- A PCT will greet students at entrance to gym from 8:30-8:40 to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms have been completed.
- Students will enter the gym and wait in a socially distanced line for teachers to pick them up at 8:40.
Note: students who arrive after 8:40 will form a line outside the main entrance and wait for PCTs to verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms before those students enter the building. If students arrive from 8:40-8:45 they will go directly to their classrooms after their health screening. If they arrive after 8:45 they will go to the office for tardy slips before going to their classrooms.
All CES Students should enter the building through the main entrance and will be escorted to the green couches and supervised there before transitioning to the classroom.
Regardless of weather at arrival, students in before care should enter the school through the gym entrance, where a PCT will verify their Ask, Ask, Look forms have been completed. At 8:30, Flex staff will escort before care students to the playground or to their classrooms/line in the gym. Students who wish to eat breakfast at school can do so from 8:15-8:30 daily. Students should enter the school through the gym, get breakfast from the cafeteria line, and sit at one of the designated breakfast tables with at least one seat between them and other students.
Additional reminders to make arrival as smooth as possible for all Hearst families:
- Do not double park on 37th Street as this seriously impedes the flow of traffic and makes it particularly difficult for the buses to drop off students.
- Do not make any u-turns on 37th Street as this is very dangerous and also impedes the flow of traffic.
- Do not pull into our school driveway to turn around as this is dangerous for pedestrians and other drivers
- The parking lot is reserved for Hearst staff from 7:00am-3:30pm so please do not park in our lot.
Given all of the construction traffic and parking around Hearst, please leave plenty of extra time for arrival this year.
Reminder: Meals and Water
- School breakfast and lunch is free for all students this year.
- A Bloomz announcement will be posted before 11:30 to let staff and families know if we are operating under inclement weather guidance. If no announcement is sent, we are using fair weather lunch and recess procedures.
- If the weather allows for it, PK-5th grade students will eat outside, either at picnic tables on the rear plaza or picnic style on the front plaza and lawn. Students will be assigned seats and be expected to remain 3 feet from one another while eating outdoors.
- If there is inclement weather PK and K as well as ECE and K-2 CES students will eat lunch in their classrooms.First through fifth grade students and 3-5 CES students will eat inside in the cafeteria at assigned tables and be limited to a maximum of 4 students per table to maintain 3 feet of separation from one another.
- Note that Hearst is a nut-free school and any food with nuts should not be packed for snack or lunch.
- Any students participating in after school programming will receive a snack from the cafeteria.
- Please check in with your child's teacher if you have questions about snacks for your child during the school day.
- Please see the infographic below for additional information about meals in DCPS.
Access to water:
- Hallway water fountains are turned off, however classroom water fountains and the bottle filler in the Wings will remain on this school year. Additionally, there are water coolers in the gym and staff work room for student and staff use. Students and staff should use these water fountains to fill refillable water bottles from home or from Hearst and should not drink directly from the classroom water fountains nor the water coolers.
Reminder: Recess
Fair Weather Recess
PK, K, and PK-2 CES students will use the tot lot for recess while 1st-5th grade and 3-5 CES students will use the large playground, soccer fields, and basketball court. Outdoor recess equipment (balls, jump ropes, etc.) will be provided for students so please do not send students with recess equipment.
Inclement Recess
All students will have inclement recess in classrooms if there is inclement weather. In 1st-5th grades, classes may combine for indoor recess. For contact tracing purposes, students must stay in one location as socially distanced as feasible during indoor recess and for contact tracing purposes, indoor recess staff will note where students were sitting during indoor recess.
Reminder: Dismissal
We will incorporate dismissal cards this year to support a safe and efficient dismissal whether indoors or out. On Monday, each family will receive two dismissal cards per child and these cards will be color-coded by homeroom. Families are required to show these cards to staff for students to be released to the families. Please note that no copies of dismissal cards will be accepted and that families who do not bring their cards will be asked to wait until staff can verify their identity before dismissing a student to them.
Fair Weather Dismissal
Dismissal begins at 3:15pm. At this time, PK-1 and all CES students will dismiss from the main entrance to the front plaza, 2-3 will dismiss from the playground, and 4-5 will dismiss from the rear plaza. Staff will escort students getting to their designated dismissal areas and wait with them until they are picked up by a designated adult or family member. Families waiting for pick up should wait next to the marked and designated dismissal area for their child's class.
Inclement Dismissal
Dismissal begins at 3:15pm. PK-1 and all CES students will dismiss from the main entrance, 2-3 from the trailers, and 4-5 from the rear plaza. More specifically Ms. Thompson and Ms. Boyle's classes will dismiss from the left doors of the Wings as you face the building and Ms. Solms, Ms. Burleigh, and Ms. Halpern's students will dismiss from the exit at the right side of the Wings as you are facing the building. 4th graders will dismiss from the library's back door on the rear plaza and 5th graders from the rear exit. Family members should show their dismissal cards to staff standing at these exits and these staff members will call students to meet their families at the door.
Students in Flex or DPR programming after school will be escorted to the gym by Hearst staff, where they will be checked in by Flex or DPR. After all students are checked in, Hearst staff will exit the gym.
Reminder: School Supplies - bring towel for outdoor lunch too!
News and Announcements from DCPS
Reminder: SY 21-22 Calendar Updates
The SY 21-22 calendar has been updated to incorporate the Juneteenth holiday and the updated version is available on the DCPS website. Please note, the last day of school for students is now Thursday, June 23.