Hope Valley School Weekly Update
September 24, 2021
Calendar of Events
September 2021
9/29 - State PD Day for Staff (No in-person learning for students. See information below.)
9/29 - Open House (Grades PreK-1) 6:00-7:30 pm (see specific details below)
9/30 - Open House (Grades 2-4) 6:00-7:30 pm (see specific details below)
October 2021
10/4 - SIT Meeting - 4:00 at Hope Valley School (face mask will be required)
10/4 - PTO meeting - 6:30 pm at Hope Valley School (face mask will be required)
10/7 - Flu Clinic at Hope Valley School 4:00-6:30pm - See details below
10/11 - No School for Students and Staff
10/20 - Early Release Day (No AM PreK)
School Picture Day - WILL BE RESCHEDULED - Date TBA
State PD Information
Open House Information
Our Open House nights are scheduled on 9/29 for grades Preschool, Kindergarten, & grade 1 and on 9/30 for grades 2, 3, & 4. Please carefully read the details in this message.
Due to the restrictions with COVID, we will have to stagger the times of when families can come into the school. Please follow the schedule using your last name and arrive during your assigned time frame. Please be prompt so you can enjoy the time you are scheduled in the classrooms.
Last names that begin with:
- A-G > 6:00-6:20
- H-O > 6:30-6:50
- P-Z > 7:00-7:20
We ask that ONLY current Hope Valley School students and 1-2 parents/guardians attend during their assigned times and stay together. Unfortunately, siblings who attend CMS or CHS cannot attend. The shortened time frames help us to keep everyone socially distanced and safe. Everyone will need to be fully masked and socially distance while inside the building. After each session, families will be asked to leave before new families arrive. This too will help to keep everyone safe.
There are families who have multiple students in different grade levels. Some of you will have to come on both nights and some will have multiple classrooms on the same night depending on grade levels which makes things a bit tricky.
- Scenario: your last name is Smith and you have a Kindergartner and 1st grader which means you are scheduled for the same night. According to the schedule above, you are to arrive at 7:00 which would only give you time to visit one classroom. Instead, come for one child at 6:30 and the other child at 7:00.
PLEASE remember though that teachers will only be at one of the open house nights. Teachers in preschool, kindergarten and grade 1 will be available ONLY on 9/29 and teachers in grades 2, 3 and 4 will be ONLY available on 9/30. Please be sure to attend the correct night(s). Again, some of you will be attending both nights due to the grade levels your children are in.
Please enter through one of the main entrance doors (library, back office door, main front door). Walk carefully through the parking lot when exiting the event.
For the families who attend PreK at the high school, Mrs. Kelly will inform you about her open house date.
Book Fair
Welcome Back to School Book Fair
Parents/Families- The Book Fair will be available at the following times:
- During regular library classes for students
- Both Open House nights in the Gym (will follow the capacity limit so there may be a wait time to enter the gym during this night)
- Online - shop anytime!
Students may shop during their regular library class time. You may send in cash/check payable to “Hope Valley PTO” with your child on his/her library day. If you prefer, use “Ewallet” to deposit money to the electronic cash register instead of having to send your child in with a cash or check! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/parent-how-it-works.html
This flyer has just a few of the many items available to purchase at the Fair. All proceeds from the Book Fair will go directly to our school’s library. Thank you so much for your support!
Please contact Alison Ward, Teacher Librarian at: akwar@chariho.k12.ri.us with questions.
Note
**This flyer is not part of a Scholastic book order from a classroom teacher. :)
**Students will not be swapping library books during Book Fair.
Action Requested – Opt-in to COVID-19 Testing for your Child
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Our school has chosen to participate in Operation Expanded Testing, a program supported and
funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide COVID-19 PCR
testing to K-12 schools at no cost to the school. Participation in this program helps schools stay safer against the risk of COVID-19.
This program will help keep students in the classroom and prevent the spread of COVID-19 via
weekly testing for students and staff. This program is designed with a team of highly skilled
trainers who will guide all staff members on how to collect samples.
To opt into the program, please visit the following site: Link to register child for testing
The registration process takes less than 5 minutes. For a short video guide on “how to” complete the registration/consent, activate your child’s online account to view results: View Video Here
If you would like a paper copy of the parental consent form, please contact your school.
FAQ
Who will do the testing?
School staff manage the testing process. If students are old enough, they can swab themselves with adult supervision (13-17). Staff will perform the swab collection for younger children (3-12)
What type of test is being used?
Collections are done with what is called a lower anterior nasal swab, which is a collection swab about the size of a Q-tip that is placed just into the lower part of the nose and swirled around 3 times to collect the sample. This approach is much more comfortable and is not the collection method where the swab is placed deep into the nose.
How to do I see my child’s results?
The methods being used include pooling, which means that several tests are combined into a single specimen and that specimen is processed as one sample. This dramatically increases the ability to tests large numbers of people in shorter time frames. If your child is part of a pool that does not detect COVID-19, then you will not get an individual result (but the school will be notified that the pool sample was negative). If there is a risk that someone in the pool might have had COVID-19 and therefore every swab in the pool needs to be processed individually, then you will get a result posted in the Assure platform. You can set up your account preferences to send you a text message or an email when a new result is available if you want, otherwise, we recommend logging into the system periodically to check results. Your school will also be monitoring results for all students so they can help make appropriate
choices based on the results of testing. For a short video guide on “how to” complete the registration/consent, activate your child’s online account to view results: View Video Here
Who has access to my child’s information?
The consent form indicates that test results can be shared with the school and appropriate federal oversight committees responsible for tracking and reporting COVID-19 cases. This includes Affinity Empowering and the lab, Eurofins, as well as any other laboratories used to process samples. The information received is the information you or your school to help identify the individual testing. Affinity and the lab do not receive medical information from medical records, so we only have access to the information that is provided to us for the purpose of testing. Further information is outlined in the consent form.
Do you have COVID Symptoms??
Flu Clinic Information
Hope Valley Elementary School
DATE: Thursday, October 7, 2021
TIME: 4 – 6:30 PM
CLINIC LOCATION: Gym
PARTICIPANTS: Community Clinic (ages 3 and up)
Celebrations Outside of School
Superintendent's Corner
From RI Healthy Schools Coalition: September Welcome Back to School E-Newsletter!
Drive Thru Ice Cream Social
PTO & School Information
PTO Information: The first PTO meeting will be Monday, October 4, 2021 at 6:30 PM. All parents are welcome to attend any of the PTO meetings. Hope to see you there!
October 4th at 6:30pm
November 8th at 6:30pm
December 6th at 6:30pm
January 10th at 6:30pm
February 7th at 6:30pm
March 7th at 6:30pm
April 4th at 6:30pm
May 9th at 6:30pm
PTO Members
Co-President: Kristin Clarke > kristinc49@aol.com
Co-President: Leah Sousa > leah.sousa@hotmail.com
Treasurer: Stephanie DaPonte > sdaponte14@gmail.com
Secretary: Chloe Morgan > cmako28@yahoo.com
Communication: Chelsea Baker > chelseabaker101@yahoo.com
School Contact Information
School Principal: Giuseppe Gencarelli – Giuseppe.Gencarelli@chariho.k12.ri.us
School Secretary: Donna Sunderland – Donna.Sunderland@chariho.k12.ri.us
School Webpage: https://hopevalley.chariho.k12.ri.us/
School Contact Info: Phone - 401-539-2321 Fax - 401-633-7099
School Calendar Information
Early Release Days will continue, but the release time will be at 1:55 pm.
Early Release Days will be held on Wednesdays and occur about once per month. (see calendar below) There are no ERD Wednesdays in April or June.
3 Professional Learning Days are scheduled in September, March, and May. These will be distance learning/asynchronous days for all students and will count towards the 180 day state requirement.
Social Media Outlets
@CharihoRegional
use #HopeValleyHawks
About Hope Valley Elementary School
The mission of the Hope Valley Elementary School is to work in partnership with our colleagues, students and families. We are committed to creating a learning environment where children are expected to achieve their full potential.
Email: ggen@chariho.k12.ri.us
Website: hopevalley.chariho.k12.ri.us
Location: 15 Thelma Drive, Hope Valley, RI, United States
Phone: 401-539-2321
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mr.Gencarelli/?ref=br_rs
Twitter: @MrG_HVES