At the Creek.....
August 17, 2020
Welcome Back!!!!!
"Meet and Greet" event
https://asdk12.zoom.us/j/92410267997?pwd=RUNvYWRuN2RKb1d3T01WRDBMNEFvZz09
Hello to the 20-21 school year!
One thing I know about educators (even principals!) is that we always want to get it "right" for our students and families. We put incredible pressure on ourselves to be the very best we can be every minute of every day. Moving into distance learning has us learning to use new tools and changing the way we've done our jobs in the past. Please know that our staff is working incredibly hard for you and your children. I ask you to to give us grace as we move forward together in this year. There will be challenges for all of us, some things will work better than others and we will be making adjustments to bring the highest level of achievement by all. With 20/21 being a year like no other, we need, now more than ever, to be in this together.
If you need anything, please let me know. The staff and I are here to help you in any way.
Ms Peterson
Questions and Answers:
Are there changes to staffing at Rabbit Creek this year? Yes. Mrs. Jones (Health), Mrs. Fogarty (4th), Mrs. Hunt (Music) and Ms. Rachael (KTA) have left our school during the summer months. At this time, none of these positions will be filled due to our declined enrollment. We will miss all of these teachers at Rabbit Creek.
How many students are enrolled at Rabbit Creek? We have 297 students currently enrolled for the in school program. We will be missing 170 students who have moved or are enrolled in either home or virtual school this year.
When will we find out our teachers for this year? We are working hard to create classes for this school year. Our enrollment appears to finally be close to complete and these should be ready sometime on Tuesday.How do we find out the name of our teacher? Check your parent connect in Q and you'll see this year's teacher listed. We will not be making changes to class placement once these are published.
What will the first days of school look like for students? With students not in school since March and with our learning now being online, the first days will be different than years past. Teachers will be reaching out to families to have Welcome Back meetings with students via Zoom. This meeting will include time spent on building relationships and routines, learning about the distance learning platforms and more. Our focus for the first days will be Social Emotional Learning, Digital Citizenship, using Canvas, and how we will learn together this year.
When will students start instruction in the content areas? It is important that we build up student stamina and resiilency with our new way of teaching and school as a whole. We will begin slowly, as noted above, and move into more learning and content as possible. Look for students to be working in ELA and Math within the first 7-10 days.
What about things they didn't learn last year? When our schools closed suddenly last spring, students were in the middle of learning that didn't get completed. As a school and district, we need to be able to identify the 'unfinished understandings' to learn where to begin our instruction this year. Students will be taking an online iReady assessment in both ELA and Math prior to September 14th that will allow us to know where to begin our teaching.
What if we need a chromebook for my child? Please call the office and talk to Jonathan who will help you with the process. The district is in the process of delivering these to homes-I hope you will be patient as the team is working hard to get these to students. They're on the way!
Congratulations to Adrienne S!
Staff for 20-21
Kasie Aguirre and Kate Hamre--Kindergarten team with Mrs. Guzman and Mrs. May
Kim Evans and Jenny McDonald-First grade duo
Gaby Bookman, Tara Gardeline and Lisa Maesner-Second grade stars
Heather Runge, Molly Sakar and Laura Warnock-Third grade teammates
Claudia Liebsch and Holly Rinehart-Fourth grade teachers
Denise Cotten and Raynae Hipsak-Fifth grade team
Katrina Rhodes and Marsea Tjaden-Sixth grade duo
Virtual Teachers: Penni Traxler and Alison Willis
Specialists: Ellen Barnes (Library), Kipp Dixon (PE shared with Huffman), Celeste Erikson (Art), and Dan Pemble (PE). Open positions: Music and Health
Special Education: Judy Anderson (long term sub Resource), Mr Mike (TA), Colleen Boutwell (Life Skills), Ms Allison (Speech) Ms Cara Beth (TA), Ms. Monika (TA), Ms. Kim (TA), Ms Kandy (Speech) Ms Ivy (TA) Kris Widby (long term sub Life Skills)
From your PTA President
Dear Rabbit Creek Families,
On behalf of your Rabbit Creek PTA board, welcome back to Rabbit Creek Elementary! We hope that you’re looking forward to all of the growth and change that this year is sure to bring both for our students as individuals, and together, as a whole community.
Rabbit Creek PTA is proud to offer many programs to enrich the time your child spends at school. We recognize that this year is unique and while we may not be able to host our usual programs and events, we are looking ahead and exploring ways to continue networking opportunities among our Rabbit Creek community. We hope you will consider becoming a part of our PTA family by signing up to be a member. There is absolutely no obligation to attend meetings or volunteer your time--your membership simply helps support programs and activities here at RC and helps keep you in the know! With no fundraising plans in the works this year, your membership will go a long way to sustain programs into next year as well as support ongoing grant requests.
Our monthly board meetings will look a little different this year. Due to the pandemic, we will be hosting our board meetings virtually via zoom until further notice. They are open to everyone and occur the second Tuesday of each month with a few exceptions. September’s board meeting is one of those exceptions. With Labor Day the second week of September, our meeting will be held Tuesday, September 1st at 7pm. We hope you can join us!
During these unprecedented times, we have decided to continue with the opening of our online spirit wear store at the start of the school year. Let’s show our spirit no matter where you find yourself learning this year! Order online at http://stores.blue84spirit.com/AK03! Online Spirit Wear orders are due by September 9. When placing your orders, please indicate your Rabbit Creek teacher’s name, which you should receive soon. Otherwise, if you’re doing a school option that won’t be attached to a Rabbit Creek teacher, please indicate “VIRTUAL” in the Teacher’s Name field. We will likely coordinate a curbside pick up for family orders, but will confirm this as we get closer to the delivery date.
We are always looking for volunteers to join our PTA Board. Please let us know if you are interested in helping out this year. You can always reach out to our Executive Board members with any questions.
Stay connected by visiting our website at www.rabbitcreekpta.org or by joining our closed Facebook group “Rabbit Creek PTA”. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Respectfully,
Tina Baldridge
PTA Board President
president@rabbitcreekpta.org
907-885-5518
Easy ways to support with Box Tops and e-receipts!!
Rabbit Creek Elementary
Email: peterson_kristina@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/rabbitcreek
Location: 13650 Lake Otis Parkway, Anchorage, AK, USA