Hearst Family Update
October 31, 2021
Principal's Message
Dear Hearst Families,
First, a huge thank you to the PTA for lunch on Friday in celebration of Principal Appreciation Month. I feel blessed to work at a school with such a thoughtful, kind, and amazing group of colleagues and families and especially so this week.
I also want to apologize to you, our kids, and our staff for dropping the ball on a school wide Halloween celebration. With everything we have and have had going on, Halloween simply fell off my radar until after it was too late to plan a school wide activity. That being said, we have been talking with staff about the school wide celebrations we want to include this year and will continue to do so, sharing out our ideas in the coming weeks.
I have two moments of joy to share this week, the first coming from the K-2 CES team who wrote the following: We have a student who just received a communication device and is just starting to find their voice. Earlier this week one of our more verbally communicative students asked us if they could go over and teach their peer how to say “yes” and “no” on their device. It definitely gave us all some very big smiles!
The second moment of joy came from the child of one of our LSAT members, who, hearing me on the LSAT call on Wednesday, asked if being a principal was a lifetime sentence like being on the Supreme Court. So many things to unpack in that question and definitely made me lol!
I hope you're enjoying weekend and here's to many moments of joy in the coming week,
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
- November 2 - Election Day (no school for students or teachers), Tent Raising Party 1-3pm (front lawn of Hearst, sign up to support via Bloomz sign up tab)
- November 5 - End of Term/ Half Day PD & Half Day Records Day (No School for Students); Open House, 9:00-9:45 (virtual)
- November 10 - PTA Meeting
- November 11 - Veteran's Day (no school for all)
- November 18 - Term 1 Grade Published by DCPS in Aspen
Quick Updates
Our immunization compliance rate is at 94.24% - 2nd best in DCPS (behind a school with a rate 94.26%!) Thank you, Nurse Fisher and Ms. Hinchey, for your hard work in collecting, reviewing, and entering the documents families submit to us!
If you would like to view Bloomz announcements and posts in languages other than English, please visit this site that walks through how to change your preferred language: https://bloomz.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/62000200738.
Pictures from the MS and ES championship events can be found on the DCIAA flickr website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/146235388@N07/albums/72157720087443452/with/51632704207/
Substitutes are in low supply across DC and the country. Please know that when staff is out, kids will likely have multiple adults supporting them over the course of a day rather than the 1-2 adults that they are used to in the classroom. Thanks for your understanding!
One issue compounding the substitute shortage as well as impacting clearances for staff and volunteers is that the clearance process is backlogged at CFSA (see https://wtop.com/dc/2021/10/it-is-depriving-students-after-delays-vetting-dc-schools-volunteers-new-vendor-could-speed-process/). We're hoping this back log is addressed soon so that the school and Flex can be fully staffed.
FAQs From Families
Q: Parents have heard that DC Health has offered Bancroft a school-based COVID-19 vaccination clinic in early November for kids 5-11, with 300 doses for that clinic. Have you heard from DCPS or DC Health on options for Hearst like this, and if not, is there any advocacy parents could do to get a clinic at Hearst?
A: I have not heard from any DC official about a similar clinic being offered at Hearst. My guess is that this is because vaccination rates in Ward 3 are higher than other parts of the city and from an equity perspective, it makes sense to offer vaccination clinics in other areas of the city first.
UPDATE: Vaccine clinics are being held at other Ward 3 schools. Click here for more information: https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-and-dc-health-announce-vaccination-plans-children-5-11-years-old
Q: Parents have heard from their children that there are a lot of bees flying about during lunch, which leads to some children not eating much lunch. Outdoor lunch remains the preferred option even with the bees, but is there anything the school can do to limit the number of bees?
A: We have requested that DGS come out and spray the wasp/hornet nests on the playground to alleviate the flying insect issue there. However, they will not send exterminators for the bees, for what I hope are obvious reasons. We're not sure if the number of bees at lunch is from the hive on the Hearst ES roof that was dying out pre-COVID or not and I reached out to the beekeeper who supported this hive as well as the DC Beekeepers Alliance to see if they can remove/rehome the hive. The beekeeper came on Wednesday and confirmed that there are no bees in the hive. She also proposed the following next steps for us:
- Planting native perennial plants - as many as possible - in areas that are a little away from the play or lunch areas. If there is still a local supply of seedlings available, fall can be a good time to plant in DC, as the roots may get established and be ready for growth in spring. I will look into this for you.
Move the garbage cans away from the lunch area and play area. (We'll do this on Monday)
Place mint leaves around on the lunch tables and in the lunch areas as wasps are supposed to dislike the scent. She said we could buy some extract and place it on a sponge on each table. (If anyone has mint or mint extract they'd like to donate to the school, we have lots of sponges and can make this happen on Monday.)
Teach kids the difference between honey bees (not harmful if we do not swat or sit on them) and yellow jackets (often aggressive regardless of humans remaining calm). See handout below for pictures noting the difference between bees and yellow jackets.
Have kids keep their sandwich/lunch covered between bites would be helpful and have kids move away if a wasp is near them is advisable. (We'll continue to remind kids to cover their lunches between bites, particularly when the pollinators are most active and encourage you to share this idea with your kids as well).
Q: Is there a DCPS or school wide policy for kids to return to school after being kept home for a cold?
A: DCPS and DOH recommend that students or staff with flu-like symptoms stay at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Staying at home with a fever will reduce the number of people who may get infected. Students who are sick should not participate in any school activity, in school aftercare, or in the community except to seek medical care. Any children who show symptoms of flu while at school will be sent home. (from DCPS FAQ on Communicable Diseases and Common Pests - English)
Asymptomatic Student Testing on Tuesday - Updated!
Because there is no school for students on Tuesday, November 2, there will be no asymptomatic testing for at Hearst next week. Starting the week of 11/8, our asymptomatic testing time will move to 9:45am. During a typical week, we will pull test a random sample of approximately 25% of students who have not opted out of testing. Knowing that some students in this group will not be able to produce a sample or their saliva sample will be rejected, this will allow us to ensure we are hitting the goal of testing 20% of our students each week. Know that we will attempt to test at least one student from each homeroom each week. Here are a few things to know about asymptomatic testing :
- 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 they will be able to view results. Your child may indicate that they were pulled for testing but they were not given a letter with online portal log in information. If this is the case, this means that your child did not produce enough saliva to fill the test tube. 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 the school at kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov.
The website to access results is: https://shieldt3k12.pointnclick.com/ and our Agency Code is: HearstES and the website . As a parent, you should be able to enable notifications be sent to you if a testing result is available for your child.
We believe that the email you use to register on site has to be the primary contact's email used to enroll your child. You will also have to wait at least 12 hours until after the student was tested for the agency code to work.
News and Announcements from DCPS
Impact Aid Survey (11/1) - Please complete!
The SY21-22 Impact Aid Survey will be available to schools and families in both paper and electronic format on Monday, November 1. Please send paper surveys home with students and share our webpage with parents to access the electronic surveys. All DCPS families are encouraged to complete one survey (paper or electronic) per child, not per household, to generate additional federal funds for DCPS.
Children’s Hospital COVID-19 Vaccine Townhall (11/2)
K-8 Family Curriculum Guides are Now Available
Reminder: #ReopenStrong Update
As part of our layered mitigation strategy against COVID-19, DCPS has updated the #ReopenStrong webpage with a wealth of information: https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/health/buildings/ Please read for yourself and share widely with your communities to stay abreast on our efforts in the following categories:
· HVAC Enhancements
· School Specific HVAC Enhancement Reports
· School Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Reports (will be updated monthly)
· Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Report Explainer
· School Specific Building Readiness Checklists
· Enhanced Cleaning Protocol
Reminder: SY 2022-2023 Calendar is Now Published
Reminder: DCPS Parent University
Servicio de interpretación en español disponible para todas las sesiones.
We are beyond excited to launch our Parent University fall calendar! We’ll kick off the season with a session on how to make the most of parent-teacher conferences on September 28 at 5:30pm. Register for each session below or at bit.ly/dcpsparentursvp.
Building Children's Language Skills One Conversation at A Time
November 3rd
Join us to learn more about simple strategies for supporting your young child's language development at home!
Check-in on Our Social Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health
November 16th
Join families across the District and DCPS Central Office teams to learn how we can can collaborate to enrich your child's education.
Choosing the Right Program: Your Questions about Pre-K at DCPS Answered!
December 1st
Thinking about the Pre-K Lottery? Join us to learn more about what makes the DCPS Pre-K program unique!
Elegir el mejor programa para su familia: Pre-Kinder en las DCPS
December 8th
¡Únase a nosotros para obtener más información sobre lo que hace que el programa de prekínder de DCPS sea único!
Reminder: SY21-22 Food and Nutrition Services Updates
- All meals are free to all DCPS Students in SY 21/22. We still encourage students who attend SOP (paid) schools like Hearst to complete a Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) application to ensure student eligibility for other benefits and school funding.
- Close-contact quarantine students, through their parent or guardian, are eligible to receive meal kits from one of the following locations, every Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM:
· Dunbar High School
· Ron Brown High School
· Ballou High School
- Here is the link to the SY21-22 Dietary Accommodation Forms. Any student that requires a different meal than what is being served (due to medical, food allergy, or philosophical reason) must complete this attached form and submit it to dietary.forms@k12.dc.gov or to the cafeteria lead. This allows us to create menus and prepare meals that reflect the unique needs of each student. Effective immediately, new forms are required only when the student requires a new accommodation or a change to their accommodation.
- Follow us on social media to stay tuned with our latest events on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter using @DCPSEats.
- More Helpful Links:
- SY21-22 FARM Application(SOP sites only)
- DCPS Website | Food and Nutrition Services
News and Announcements From Other Organizations
Next W3EdNet Meeting -- Monday, November 8 at 7pm -- Deputy Chancellor Melissa Kim
Happy Halloween!
The next meeting of the Ward 3 - Wilson Feeder Education Network (W3EdNet) is on Monday, November 8 at 7pm via Zoom (link below).
We are very happy to host DC Public Schools Deputy Chancellor Melissa Kim and Social Studies Director Scott Abbott.
- This will be an opportunity to ask Deputy Chancellor Kim about such topics as COVID and schools (testing, outdoor lunches and education, vaccinations, virtual learning), overcrowding in schools and the recent community working group, and the upcoming budget cycle.
- Director Abbott will be talking with us about the new DCPS curriculum and instructional approach for elementary social studies and math.
Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Upcoming meetings:
- Monday, December 13 at 7pm via Zoom: DCPS Director of School Finance Allen Francois to talk about DCPS budgeting and anything he can share on plans for a new budgeting model.
- Monday, January 10 at 7pm via Zoom: Council Member Christina Henderson will share her vision for education in the city and take questions.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Melody, Karin, and Brian
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The Ward 3 - Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Education Network (W3EdNet) is a group made up of PTO Board and LSAT members as well as other interested community members. We aim to work together to support schools in the Wilson feeder pattern, host community events of common interest, and advocate for better schools across the city.
Website: https://www.w3ednet.com/
Twitter: @W3EdNet
Email: w3ednet@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/W3EdNet
Assistance Requested - SBOE STAR Framework Survey for Families & General Public
The D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) invites District families and residents to complete a 6-minute survey. The purpose of thisfamily/general public survey is to better understand D.C. residents’ experiences with the District’s school accountability system—the School Transparency and Reporting (STAR) Framework—as we consider what, if any, changes should be made to it. We recommend that you use a computer or tablet to fill out this survey. Thank you for taking the time to fill this out, and please know your identity will remain anonymous.
We ask that you submit responses no later than Monday, November 8 at 5 p.m. If you have any questions, please reach out to the State Board at darren.fleischer@dc.gov.
Please use the following links to start STAR Framework Family/General Public Survey:
- English Version: http://bit.ly/3n2iuk8
- Spanish Version: bit.ly/3FY7oVS
Thank you,
John-Paul
John-Paul Hayworth
Executive Director
DC State Board of Education
Marion S. Barry, Jr. Building
441 4th Street, NW Suites 530S & 723N
Washington, DC 20001
202-741-0888 – office
202-741-0884 – direct