Audubon Updates - November News
November 2020
The Principals Notebook
I truly hope you are all doing well and that you are being able to navigate through the COVID pandemic that is still impacting so many of us.
The month of November is usually a month of reflection and we often share our thanks to others. With this in mind, I would like to offer thanks to all of our students for their incredible flexibility and willingness of adjust to what they have always know during this school year. I would like to offer thanks to our families and community for being so understanding with the changes that have happened and will continue to happen as the year goes. A big thanks goes to the Audubon staff for taking on a year or learning that none of them had ever prepared for and been trained to do. We are all learning one day at a time and it takes all of our students, families and staff to make this work. So again, THANK YOU to all of you! I am truly honored and privileged to get to be the principal of Audubon and work with and offer support to each of you.
As we enter the month of November I want to share with you some school wide updates that have happened or are happening soon. As of this week, every student will have a new device in their hands to use at school and at home (if we have the user agreement turned in). This is amazing since just last year we were building a five year plan to make this happen and we were able to do it in a matter of three months. It will really help with students learning going into the future.
Another school wide thing that is changing is that we are connecting more people to Class Dojo to support students and make communication easier with families. Each adult that interacts with your child will have the opportunity to recognize them for good things and give them Dojo points. Additionally, if you have a quick question you can reach out to a specials teacher or even me on Dojo. We would continue to ask that we all honor each others time and understand that Dojo messages may not be returned during the day as we are working with the students and that at night we may not respond until the morning/next day.
We continue to find ways to enhance the daily experience for our students and appreciate all of the support that you provide along the way. If you ever have ideas or ways that we can make things better please reach out. We always look for ways to get better.
I hope you have a great weekend and month of November. If there are big updates in the next few weeks I will reach out and let you all know.
Wishing you health and wellness!
Aaron
WebEx Updates
What students may find when they try logging into WebEx starting the week of 11/2 is that they have to sign-in with their district user name and password. This will be their firstname.lastname@d11.org and passwords. After doing this a few times the computer/iPad may start to remember their log-in info.
WebEx is also going to start being integrated into Schoology for an extra layer of safety as well. If you experience issues logging in with the new changes please call our office and we will provide support ASAP to get students logged into their classes.
COVID Updates for School
Each day students should be bringing home their electronic device for a few reasons - it is how they can do homework and in the event we have to close school quickly they will still have the electronic means to connect. You may be asking "wouldn't we know ahead of time that school is going to close?" This is all dependent on why school is being closed and how much time we have to prepare. In the event of a sudden quarantine we may have to alert a class, grade level or even the entire school of a closure with no advanced notice. We will always do our best to give you as much time as possible to prepare but there is a chance and we want students, staff and parents to be ready for that possibility.
Listed below are some updates to guidance or some good reminders as per El Paso County Health and District 11:
- If a student has symptoms that align with COVID-19, they will have up to 48 hours to become symptom free before they would have to stay home from school for 10 days. The previous guidance only gave students or staff 24 hours to have symptoms resolve before a 10-day quarantine was required.
- If someone in the home is being tested for COVID-19 due to illness or possible exposure then all in the home must quarantine until the results of the test are known. An exception to this rule is if a COVID-19 test is being administered as part of surgery prep, work-related/required testing (i.e., work in a field that requires daily or weekly testing). If you are ever unsure if you should quarantine please do so, give us a call and we can advise you on next steps.
- If someone tests positive for COVID-19 then all those in close contact with that person must quarantine for 14 days from initial symptoms. We work with county health officials on what the initial date is and when the 14 day period would end. During that 14 days it is recommended that you watch and monitor for symptoms and if you have any changes that you get tested/have your child tested.
- Those that live with someone that tests positive and are not able to isolate from them would be required to complete a 14 day quarantine starting the day the infected persons quarantine period ends. An example is if a person becomes symptomatic on the 1st, gets tested and is positive they would have to quarantine until the 10th if they are symptom free at that point. Those living with them would then begin their quarantine on the 11th and have to quarantine for 14 days until the 24th of the month. Again, please contact us at school or the local health department for specifics based on your case.
- Lastly, students or staff that have symptoms and they do not resolve within 48 hours should call their doctor and be tested at that point. In the case of schools, if a student or staff member has symptoms, they are not resolved within 48 hours, we have two additional days to get the results of a COVID PCR test. If we do not have a confirmed negative within four days of symptom onset we would be required to quarantine those in close contact no matter what until a result is back. We know that testing is not fun but getting a test may be what keeps an entire class, cohort or school from having to quarantine unnecessarily.
Again, guidance and information is constantly changing so please reach out if you have any questions. You can read all of the district and county health documents, flow chats and information by clicking here.
Inclement Weather
Blue Flag:
- In the event that the temperature is below 20 degrees (this does include wind chill) or we have rain/snow falling, we will hang blue flags around around the building (front, north and south ends) to identifies that students will need to be inside or stay inside. In the past this would mean opening doors at 7:45 each day so students did not wait outside in the morning, but since we are opening the doors each day at 7:45 anyways this year the blue flag alerts students that we will stay inside until the weather reaches an appropriate level to be outside.
Delayed/Late Start:
- If the district calls for a late start due to weather we would begin school exactly two-hours late - 10:00. There would be no morning preschool classes.
- Students that ride the bus would be picked up two hours after their normal pick-up time (7:30 = 9:30).
- We would not serve breakfast on a day with a two-hour delay.
Canceling of After School Events
- In the event weather deteriorates during the day we may cancel after school events/activities.
- Students would be picked up or ride the bus home at 2:30, like normal.
- Any afterschool events would be cancelled for that day.
- The YMCA Before/After Care program would NOT be in session and those students would need to go home at 2:30.
School Closure/E-Learning Day - NEW THIS YEAR
- In the event of inclement weather the district may close the schools to in-person learning for the day and move to an E-Learning day for all students.
- Students would be expected to log into their Schoology/Seesaw that day and participate in online learning for the day.
- Teachers will have office hours/class meetings during the day to support students and also take attendance so that the day can be counted as a student contact day.
- If there is E-Learning we will take attendance and regular attendance policies will be in place.
- A schedule of what this type of E-Learning/Asynchronous day will look like will be sent home in the coming week once it is finalized.
District Listening Tour
SAC and PTA Meetings in November
SAC Meeting:
- Thursday, November 12
- Start time is 4:00 p.m.
- Virtual Link for Meeting - Click Here
PTA Meeting:
- Tuesday, November 17
- Start time is 4:30 p.m.
- Virtual Link for Meeting - Click Here
Please join us if you can and hear about some of the wonderful things happening at Audubon and how you may be able to get involved.
Free Meals All Year
Thanksgiving Break: November 23 - 27
Technology Support
- Phone: 719-328-2624
- Email: robert.watson@d11.org
- Tech Support Link - Click Here
Mr. Watson is ready and willing to support in any way that he can.
Calendar Dates
November 11: Veterans Day
November 23 - 27: Thanksgiving Break
December 10: Individual Picture Retake Day
December 18: End of Quarter 2
December 21 - January 5: Winter Break
January 6: First Day of Quarter 3
January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day - School Closed
February 11: Class Picture Day
February 15: Presidents Day - School Closed
February 17: National Day of Kindness
March 1 - 5: Dr. Seuss Week
March 5: End of Quarter 3
March 8: Data Collaboration Day
March 9: Teacher Work Day
March 10: First Day of Quarter 3
March 22-26: Spring Break
April 23: John J. Audubon's Birthday Celebration
May 21: Students Last Day
May 24: Staff Last Day
May 31: Memorial Day
Thank you to everyone. We will get through this together!
Audubon Elementary
Email: aaron.ford@d11.org
Website: www.d11.org/audubon
Location: 2400 East Van Buren Street, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719-328-2600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudubonElementary
Twitter: @Audubon_D11