Highlander Happenings
Prado View Elementary - Week of March 8, 2021
Note from the Principal
Our first week opening in almost a year went FABULOUS! We thank all of our families for following our drop-off and pick-up processes and based on some feedback from staff and parents, we have made a few adjustments to the process. Please see the "Latest News" section below for more details. Aside from some minimal tweaks as we experienced welcoming students on campus, all went extremely smoothly last week and again - we thank you deeply for your taking the time to read the details, watch the videos and ensure you knew what to do to support your children coming on to campus. We are looking forward to another great week ahead! It was amazing to see so many smiling faces around campus, even though the actual smiles were covered with a mask! You could feel the positive energy that having kids on campus brings to our site! Be sure to check out the amazing pictures taking by our own Ms. Kokash on opening day. These are located at the end of this newsletter.
There is one major component that we would like to remind all families based on our experience last week. PLEASE ensure you are not dropping off too early. This leads to some challenges as the kids end up in a big line and it becomes more difficult for them to socially distant, and there is no supervision until gates open. Please do not drop off before 7:40 a.m. for Cohort A and 11:40 a.m. for Cohort B. Getting into class has been very smooth and quick for the kids! Our arrival line is typically "all in" within 3 minutes of our gates opening.
For our K-1 families, we will be proceeding with dismissing students from the classroom using our dismissal app. This enables the teacher to supervise the students in the classroom and keeps less congestion of kids in the front of school. All students in K-1 will be escorted and supervised by a staff member at all times.
For ALL families, K-6, we have added areas for dismissal so students will be required to wait in their classrooms until their name pops on the screen in class indicating the area to which they will proceed. The name and area is based on where an adult is waiting for them. The only ones who will be dismissed are those who have indicated to their teacher in grades 3-6 that they have permission to independently walk home, meaning they are not meeting up with an adult outside a vehicle. For siblings, if a smaller sibling is in K-2, then the older sibling checks in with the supervisor at our Park gate and gives him or her the family number. This will release the younger sibling to be escorted to the park gate. We know there may be individual situations we may not have addressed here; more detailed information is in the "updates" section below. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have more specific questions regarding dismissal / pick-up procedures.
For our virtual families and students - keep doing your hard work as you continue to work remotely. While we miss seeing you on campus, Ms. Ford and I will be popping in now and again to some Zoom / Google Meets classrooms to say, "Hello!" We care about and support ALL of our Highlanders!
Have a FANTASTIC week ahead!
Dr. Prewitt
Latest Information and Updates
Friendly Reminders:
Students are encouraged to bring water bottles to school as they are not able to share drinking fountains at this time. We have stations where students can refill water, or they may refill from the sink drinking fountain in their classrooms, which is supervised by the teacher.
There is no snacking at school during this time. Please do not send food to school with your child. The only exceptions to this are our small-group, special education cohorts that are on campus longer than Cohorts A and B, including our PALS and 1:1 small group cohorts. Thank you for supporting us by keeping snacks at home.
Driveline Dismissal - UPDATES:
Last week, dismissal went very well. There were a few situations we did learn from so we have updated our positions for staff members, reviewed the process with everyone, and have added "areas" to which we will dismiss students using the app on our end. Our supervisor staff who formerly supervised recess and lunch times, are ready to assist students in all dismissal areas. Students and family members can note these fabulous humans as they are wearing red "Harvey Hero" vests. This helps students know that these are staff members who are there to help them.
The areas to which a student will be dismissed are:
- Vehicle Pick-up area: in front of school; drivers in cars only allowed in this area. Students will receive training to head towards the front of the car line as they leave their gate. Please continue to pull all the way forward to prevent gaps from forming and to help the carline move efficiently.
- Park Meet-up area: Adults meeting up with students K-6 will provide family number to staff member (typically one of our "Harvey Heroes" in a red vest). K-2 students are required to have an older sibling at the school or an adult enter a family number in order to be released to the park. Older siblings in 3-6 grades may provide the family number and wait on the school side of the gate until their younger sibling arrives at the Park Gate. Please make sure the older sibling's teacher knows so that these siblings are appropriately dismissed. Once the sibling(s) meet up, they may then proceed home.
- Montessori: Some of our students are picked up by a Montessori representative and are then walked to their location in the shopping center off Green River and Ridgeline. Please provide Montessori with your family's number so that we can have them dismissed when the Montessori representative arrives. The students proceed to the K-1 gate, which is where the representative meets them.
- Rainy Day / MPR: MPR stands for "Multi-Purpose Room." This is a covered area where adults who meet up with students outside a vehicle may proceed. We experienced this last week, and rain is in the forecast in the coming week. This area REPLACES the Park Gate exit when it rains as that will be closed due to the park getting wet/muddy. If you are picking up in a vehicle, nothing changes - the area remains the same on a rainy day. For all others, including Montessori, proceed to the side door of the MPR (near the flag pole), share your family number with the staff member there and students will be guided through covered hallways to meet adults or older siblings there.
If you have any further specific questions, please contact your child's teacher or email Dr. Prewitt at ginger.prewitt@cnusd.k12.ca.us.
District Devices:
This section was in last week's bulletin, but contains continued, critical information.
Some families have wondered why on earth we are asking elementary students to bring their district devices back and forth to school. Because safety measures include that students are not to share items, this includes computers. We are not able to currently use our computer labs, and even these are not as necessary with students having a device. Of course - students will also be working with paper and pencil, however, we also want to be able to tech them how to navigate Google Classroom better, along with other digital literacy components so that they are more independent and capable on their own.
We do need students to take proper care of their device. They can fit easily in a backpack, and backpacks should not be thrown in order to take care of the device. Further, they should be fully turned off AND charged every night. That is part of students showing responsibility. In order for your district-issued Chromebook to work most effectively, it needs to be restarted at home once a week. This will help ensure it gets the most current updates and anything pushed out from our IT department. If you do not yet have a district-issued device, please call our office for more information on how to get this checked out. Directions are in the link at the end of this section. For further information, including how to check for updates, use the following link. Updates help with sound issues as well. Chromebook Help
As one last reminder - please do NOT have students bring his or her own personal device to school. Those are to remain at home. We do ask that all students show responsibility by taking care of their device and not eating or drinking near their device, and keeping them charged and up to date. Please also leave all Mifi (hotspot) devices at home. Thank you for your support!
The Month Ahead
Remember to check our school's Social Media pages for the latest information!
Prado View Social Media:
If you want the most current information, one way to find this is to follow our pages on Facebook and Instagram. Our Prado View PTA has pages on these social media outlets as well. We even have a YouTube channel that is just getting started. Subscribe to our channel so you receive the videos we make. This is a fun way for us to stay connected. We will be posting videos on our Social Media outlets and will often send out a reminder or a spirit day and ask for you to post pictures in the comments. We really love being a part of our school community!
- Monday, March 1: Official beginning of Trimester 3 & Opening of School for T/R
- Tuesday, March 9: "Stoves on Strike" PTA Fundraiser - Raising Cane's (1215 E. Ontario Ave.) - 1:00 to 11:00 p.m. - mention "Prado View PTA" and Cane's will donate 15% of proceeds to PV PTA.
- Monday, March 15: Non-student Day
- Monday, March 29-April 2: Spring Break
Photos from Opening Day
Prado View Staff Shout Out
About Prado View & Dr. Prewitt
Email: ginger.prewitt@cnusd.k12.ca.us
Website: https://pradoview.cnusd.k12.ca.us/home
Location: 2800 Ridgeline Drive, Corona, CA, USA
Phone: (951) 736-3474
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNUSDPradoView
Twitter: @GingerPrewitt