OCTOBER 23, 2020
FPS Family Newsletter | 20-21 Issue 15
PAWS DAY PLANNED FOR WED, NOVEMBER 4th
Dear FPS Families,
We are extremely proud of our staff, students, and families who have worked so hard to keep in-person school open and virtual learning moving along for the first 8 weeks of instruction. Every staff member has contributed to our success in doing what we normally do, and more. A typical in-person classroom teacher, for example, is planning for daily in-person lessons, as well as planning for students who have been quarantined due to a COVID-19 exposure. Our virtual teachers are structuring and planning for the virtual environment in new and creative ways every day.
At this point in the semester, our teaching staff and students will benefit from a PAWS DAY on Wednesday, November 4th. As you may recall, we had PAWS Days every Wednesday last spring. We do not need to have PAWS Days regularly but know that having one at this point is important in supporting high-quality teaching and learning. During our planned professional development days, our staff is 100% engaged in collaborative learning so having a day to focus and plan for daily lessons will be very productive.
We also plan to close all of our schools to deep clean. Our custodians have done an excellent job of keeping up with the daily disinfection and sanitation protocols, but at this point in the school year, we would like to do even more to clean our schools.
The PAWS Day is an opportunity for students to catch up on and finish assignments. No new learning or instruction will be provided on this day. As needed, teachers will reach out to students to connect around any classwork that needs extra support. We strongly encourage all students to use this time to take a screen break, as well as a mask break. After finishing up any outstanding assignments or work, students are encouraged to read, get some exercise, enjoy music, or do something creative. Please remember this is not a day for children to gather with one another.
I appreciate that this is a day you will need to make arrangements for your children to be home. I do believe, however, that having a PAWS Day in early November will positively influence our ability to continue to provide the very best learning experiences for our students in their safe environment.
Yours In Partnership,
Dr. Judy Mueller
District Administrator
MONITORING & TRANSITION DASHBOARD UPDATE
We continue to update our COVID-19 Monitor & Transition Dashboard weekly on Fridays as we ready our Friday newsletter for parents and families. Below is a screenshot of this week's update. You can click or tap on the screenshot to see a larger version on your device.
If you are looking for more details around this data, please view our Monitor & Transition Plan
UPCOMING DISTRICT DATES
As a reminder, the District Calendar and all building calendars can be found here.
All of our calendars are able to be subscribed to! Follow the steps at the top of the District Calendar for how to subscribe.
FOOD SERVICE INFORMATION
PAWS DAY WED, NOV 4th - NO FOOD SERVICE
Due to Wednesday, November 4th being a non-instructional PAWS Day, there will be no food service offered that day for in-person or virtual families.
VIRTUAL FAMILIES ONLY - PLEASE COMPLETE FOOD FORM
If you have a virtual student and you are planning on ordering a lunch during the week of November 2nd, we ask that you complete this meal interest survey indicating your lunch preferences by 11:59pm this coming Tuesday, October 27. Filling this out a week ahead of when needed helps our food services team to better plan for the upcoming weeks and improve the lunch experience for your child. The pick-up time for meals remains 8:30 to 9:00 Monday thru Friday at FPMS.
IMPORTANT: Now that we are in a good routine for our virtual family meal requests, we will not include this message in the district newsletter going forward. If you need to request meals for your virtual student, please use the button parked at the top of the newsletter and be sure to request your meal before the following Tuesday at 11:59pm. Thank you.
WHAT TO DO IF QUARANTINED/ISOLATED CHILD AT HOME?
If you have a child at home that has recently been quarantined as a close contact or isolated as a positive COVID-19 case, please contact your home school’s head cook (contact information here) and you can arrange for lunch pickup for the days your child(ren) is/are at home.
NATIONAL BUS SAFETY WEEK!
This week is National School Bus Safety Week. The goal of National School Bus Safety Week is to address the importance of school bus safety. More than 25 million children are transported to and from school on big yellow buses. These school buses provide 10 billion school rides a year. About 500,000 school buses travel the roads each day. Despite the number of miles school buses travel, accidents are infrequent. School buses are considered to be the safest motor vehicles on the road. During this week, please remember the importance of following the law and implementing school bus safety tips. Parents should be able to trust that when their child gets on the school bus, there is no need to worry about their safety. If everyone follows school bus safety rules, every child will stay safe.
Bus safety also takes on a whole new meaning this year in light of COVID-19. As we remember our normal safety practices for busing, let's also please remember the following:
- Students should say in their assigned seat. This helps us when we have to do contact tracing for COVID-19 exposures
- Face Coverings/Masks should stay on at all times
Thank you to all our transportation workers, families, and community members for helping to keep our students safe while traveling to and from school!
FHS HOMECOMING VIRTUAL PEP RALLY
Special thanks to the Mrs. Gail DeClark (our Saber Roar Executive Producer), the Saber Roar Video Production students, and Mr. Jordan Hein (our Athletics & Activities Director) for live streaming this week's Homecoming morning announcements and celebrations! You can check out those videos at the Saber Roar YouTube Channel here.
HALLOWEEN & TRICK-OR-TREATING RESOURCES
Click on any of the images below to be taken to a PDF where you can print these off or use as needed.
PARENTS UNITED
Parents United is a coalition of 27 school districts in collaboration with educators, community resources, and related service providers focused on empowering parents of children with disabilities to become effective advocates and informed decision-makers. This non-profit community-based organization provides regular informational workshops featuring experts presenting a wide range of topics relative to students with disabilities and their families. Parents United began with 4 districts in 2002-03 and has grown exponentially.
For more information, please click here to view their November Newsletter and offerings.
Franklin Public Schools
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Check the ARCHIVE page here.
We pride ourselves on being...
- A Better Place to Learn
- A Better Place to Work
- Part of a Better Community
Email: communications@franklin.k12.wi.us
Website: http://www.franklin.k12.wi.us
Location: 8255 West Forest Hill Avenue, Franklin, WI, USA
Phone: 414-529-8220
Facebook: facebook.com/franklinpublicschools
Twitter: @fpsdistrictwi