Dear Parents and Guardians,

As the principal at Sycamore Junior High, I would like to welcome you to the 2020-2021 school year. I hope you have had a fun, safe and healthy summer. We are excited to welcome back to school ALL of our students in either our face to face or in our virtual classrooms.

As we plan for a beginning to the school year like no other, our focus will be to ensure that every child, every day is finding a way to feel connected and challenged by new learnings and experiences.

All summer, people all over our community have tried to find a "new normal". Normal is such an ordinary word, but it is our goal at Sycamore Junior High both to find our new normal and to use this time as a learning experience to positively impact our school going forward. Our fall may not be “normal,” but our students' learning will continue and even thrive. We can't wait to begin and will welcome all students to SJH with open arms (physically distanced)!

We appreciate all your support and patience as we work together to make this school year a success.

Traci L. Rea, Ph.D

We are looking forward to the start of school and the return of our wonderful students to our building. The Sycamore Junior High Administration has been fervently working on safe reopening protocols. A critical piece of this planning is our effort to safely welcome our students at morning arrival.

We understand that you may have indicated your intentions in an earlier district survey. We hope you will help us make specific plans as we approach the start of school by filling out our transportation survey (below) to let us know your current intentions - Car, Bus or Walk/Cycle.

We are partnering with the district transportation department regarding bus arrival. We wish to also address the arrival of those students who will be dropped off in our car line in the morning. Because every student must maintain physical distance to use the temperature scanners and sanitize his or her hands upon entrance to the building, we are asking for your cooperation in spreading out the arrival of our students.

We will have monitored and physically distant space set aside in our auditorium to accept arrivals as early as 6:30 am. As you can imagine, the earlier your student arrives, the better able we are to manage a safe and smooth process. Walkers should enter the building through the main doors. There will be traffic assistance in cooperation with local law enforcement to ensure student safety. Car drop off will occur along the east side of the building as always, but will end at 7:40 in an attempt to get all car riders into the building and to the auditorium by 7:45. After 7:40, the gate will be locked and we must begin reallocating resources to prepare for the arrival of our students riding the busses. If your child is not through the gates and in the building by 7:45, we ask that he or she proceed to the front office via the sidewalk along the outside of the building in order to follow the safety protocols for arrival. Students will be asked to maintain proper physical distancing, and, although we will make every effort to speed the process, we hope you understand that if we have a large number of students waiting in the front, we may ask that the que extend outside the building. In order to maintain the structure of the educational time allocated to each class, students will be marked tardy if they are not in their classroom by 8:02 am, the start of the first bell.

If you will be driving your child, we ask that you work with your family to determine and commit to a time slot. Of course, we understand that occasions may arise when exceptions to this will be necessary, but it is our hope that by working together, we will keep everyone safe.

Please designate one family member complete our Transportation Survey

Mark your calendar:

• September 2: Picture Day and course material pickup for virtual classroom students (schedule and details to come!)

• September 3: First Day for 7th Graders (only): Virtual classroom and Face-to-Face(F2F)

• September 4: First Day for 8th Graders (only): Virtual classroom and F2F

• September 7: Labor Day - No School

• September 8: First Day ALL Students

• September 14: F2F Picture Day

On September 3rd we will welcome all of our 7th graders, and on September 4th, our 8th graders, to the Fall 2020 school year.

Virtual classroom learners will log in to their Blackboard site by the start of first bell. F2F students will be in the classroom ready to go.

We know students will need practice around our new behavioral expectations, therefore the day will include PBIS lessons around classrooms (F2F and virtual), hallways, lunch, and technology. Students will also participate in culture-building, class meetings and a fun kick-off activity. Of course, students will also get to know their teachers and start the year out on the right foot.

Disclaimer:

Federal, state, and local government response to COVID-19 continues to evolve. Our School District constantly monitors applicable health guidelines, legal requirements, and other health and education data to make decisions on our plan to safely and effectively educate our students. Accordingly, this “Day in the Life” plan may continue to change and evolve moving forward.

The Ohio Department of Health requires all students prior to entering the 7th grade to have (1) dose of MCV4 (meningococcal) and a Tdap (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis) booster.

Immunization documents can be brought to schedule pickup, dropped off, or mailed to the JH, emailed to the JH Nurse Amy Bonham at jhimmunization@sycamoreschools.org or faxed to (513) 792-6192. If immunization records were previously given to EH Greene another copy will not need to be sent.

Questions regarding immunizations may be directed to the school nurse, Amy Bonham at bonhama@sycamoreschools.org.

• General Supply List
  
• Bell Schedule
  
• Healthy Back to School Family FAQ
  
• Special Education, Gifted, ESOL FAQ