Dear Carman Trails parents -

Please be sure your Virtual students' Second Semester supplies have been picked up from the school office. A supply pickup was held Monday, January 11th.

We ask that you choose from one of the following times to pick up your student(s) supplies:

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

9:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

We apologize for the need to modify the supply pickup to specific time frames; however, due to the carpool lanes being used it is necessary to alleviate any backups in student drop-off/pick up as well as assisting in delivering supplies to you quickly.

When you arrive at the building, please call 314-415-6100 and let the office staff know you are here to pick up your child's supplies. We will bring them out to you -- no need to even leave your car.

With CT pride,

Allison

In-person students' pictures will be taken during the school day. Virtual Student Retakes are from 2:45-4:00. Please use the link below to sign up your virtual student if you need a retake.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4CA5A92EAAFE3-carman1

In-Person Calendar can be found here

If you have selected Option 2 Virtual Campus you can view those schedules here.

School start and end times can be found here.

Weekly Meals

All meals including breakfast and lunch will be distributed for free to all students K-12 through the end of the 2020-21 school year. Free meals will be available for Virtual Campus students and those attending in-person at school.

Students enrolled in Virtual Campus and those learning at home will need to complete the weekly meals signup page. Students learning in-person will receive lunch at school. This free program is provided to all public school districts with federal USDA funding for the remainder of the year. Learn more.

Visit the Parkway School District website to enroll your student online

https://www.parkwayschools.net/domain/945

Spirit Week is coming SOON and we need your input -- we have come up with 10 different "themes" and you can choose 4 of your favorites! Or, if you have your own idea for a Spirit Day theme that you don't see listed, you can add it to the space at the end of the survey!

We're looking forward to your answers and planning some fun Spirit days ahead! Please just click the link below to submit your response. We would appreciate your response by Friday, Jan. 22nd.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10BBRAP04y2LXMTTnKRqx8pxNuU3fHImh23RXP2_vqYA/edit?usp=drive_web

We hope that you all had some well deserved rest over the winter break. We'd like to take a moment to give you all the updates and info about the food pantry you may need for this semester. To start, here are the distribution dates that we have for the Spring semester:

Tuesday, January 19th from 10a-2p and Wednesday the 20th from 4p-6p

Tuesday, February 16th from 10a-2p and Wednesday the 17th from 4p-6p
Tuesday, March 16th from 10a-2p and Wednesday the 17th from 4p-6p
Tuesday, April 13th from 10a-2p and Wednesday the 14th from 4p-6p
Tuesday, May 18th from 10a-2p and Wednesday the 19th from 4p-6p

Information for families

We have decided to not send out a new sign up sheet for the spring semester. If someone was signed up for the fall semester, they are already set up for the spring. For those who are new to the pantry, you can sign up here.

Helping in the pantry

If there are any parents who would like to be involved, we are able to offer limited volunteer opportunities for community members. Parents must start this process by completing a background check through Parkway. If anyone has questions please reach out to us by email at: foodpantryrequest@parkwayschools.net. You can also start the background check by emailing Kathy Bowen at kbowen@parkwayschools.net.

Warm Regards,

Food Pantry Staff

This month's mini challenges focus is on indoor air quality!

Most of us spend a majority of our time inside buildings. We eat, sleep, learn, play, and work indoors.

Indoor air can become polluted just like outdoor air can. For example, cleaners, dust, paints, bug sprays, and smoke can all make indoor air unhealthy to breathe.

There are steps we can take to make the air in our homes and other buildings safe and healthy. We can choose less toxic cleaners, glues, and chemicals to use inside. We can remove indoor air pollutants from smoking, add plants, and clean regularly to remove allergens.

January Mini Challenges

Green (1 point; no photo required)

Take a pledge to improve indoor air quality

Take the pledge >>

Greener (10 points; submit photo through Points Reporting form)

• Home Indoor Air Quality Audit
• Reducing Indoor Air Pollution with Plants activity

Greenest (20 points; submit photo through Points Reporting form)

• Make your own natural zero-waste cleaners
• Investigating Household Cleaners activity

As temperatures get colder this winter, emissions from idling cars will be on the rise. Concentrated areas of car idling, such as in a school pickup zone, can create a "pollution hot spot". Idling vehicles emit 20 times more pollution than a car going 30 miles per hour

The Clean Air Partnership of St. Louis provides free no-idling signs to schools as part of their "Turn Your Key, Be Idle-Free" campaign. For support in starting a campaign at your school or to learn more, contact Hannah Carter at hcarter@parkwayschools.net

EPA Idle-Free Schools Toolkit

Learn More

Indoor Air Quality Resources

EPA's guide to IAQ in home

EWG's guide to healthy cleaning

EPA IAQ Tools for Schools checklists

27 DIY non-toxic cleaner recipe

Why Study Indoor Air Pollution? lesson

For kids:

NIH Kid's - Indoor Air Pollution

PBS Kids Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

Recycling Batteries and Printer Cartridges

Did you know that Parkway's Sustainability Department helps schools recycle batteries and printer cartridges?

Schools should send all kinds of batteries, printer cartridges, and copier toner tubes to the district warehouse for recycling.

Learn More

Daily Health Screening

• All students and staff will complete a daily health screening before coming to school. If your child has any symptoms, including known exposure to COVID-19, flu or cold symptoms, you should keep them home and call your school. Medical evaluation will be required if students are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-like illnesses.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzrrAD-nDHGZf0nX-28zQhcBbGdQvA6dbWxZ3X9krgC9VE-w/viewform

• You can follow our key metrics on the new Parkway Community Health Dashboard

Parent guide to student health

As we return to in-person learning, we want to share the procedures we will use to notify parents and staff when there is a positive case of COVID-19 at school and how you can help keep our children, staff and school communities healthy.

We have also outlined some scenarios here to help you determine what to do if your child has had contact with a symptomatic person or positive case, as well as other scenarios.

https://www.parkwayschools.net/Page/10692

Dear Carman Families:

As the days continue to change our circumstances, we wanted to make sure you were aware of some of the resources that are available to you and your family. Please know that we are with you and for you! If you need help or have questions about any of these resources, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are happy to help you in any way we can as we all maneuver the days ahead.

The attached is a form you can fill out to request one or more of the resources that are available to you and specific ways we may be able to help. There is one in English and one in Spanish. Please complete the attached form and let us know how we can support you.

We are Carman and we are stronger together!

Tracy Kiso (K-3 Counselor) and Grant Steward (Grades 4-5)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2Ep6iALFg-0q4MxeG22KIJtrq19JdO3rz9w-BUVEHnHS_Vg/viewform?usp=pp_url (English version)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1StJSDMq4FhzJhO0rlGKFC8cEbxOw_MvftN99qpo-vQKllA/viewform?usp=pp_url (Spanish version)

Counselor Connection Newsletter

Mr. Steward's Virtual Office

Virtual Campus Parent Update

ACS International Schools wrote, “The anxiety of receiving online learning guidance, multiple resources (which although of the highest online quality, can never match the detailed and responsive learning offer that takes place in the school) managing their children’s responses, trying to give feedback and missing the ongoing dialogue with teachers, not to mention managing ‘working from home’.” This is how they define “distance” for parents.

Remember that Virtual Campus and learning at school won’t look the same — and that’s okay. There is an unlimited amount of organic learning that can happen in daily family life and that this is a unique opportunity to prioritize home and family. Some ideas to participate in over winter break that do not involve traditional schoolwork. Play some board games with your kids (board games promote all sorts of academic and social-emotional skills!), read books with them and to them (ask them questions throughout), and talk! Have conversations with your children about their thoughts, fears, hopes, desires. Integrate lessons into real-life activities and experiences. This makes learning more engaging and relatable. This could include having students follow a recipe to practice fractions or heat transfer. It can also be an opportunity for students to shop for groceries with a budget.

Resources for Families

• FREE E-learning for Spanish Heritage Speaking Families in Dual

• Common Sense Media

• Everfi Remote Learning Activities

• Illustrative Mathematics Support

• Take a Code Break with Code.org

• Coronavirus Updates for Children that Learn Differently

Dr. Jennifer Stanfill

Director of Choice Programs

Director of Parkway Virtual Campus

January

January 19: All In-Person Students Return

January 19: Wonderful World of Kindergarten (virtual) 6:00 pm-7:30 pm

January 27: Progress Reports Sent Out

January 28: PAMEE Meeting 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

January 29: Picture Retake Day

February

February 15: No School Presidents' Day

February 16: Virtual Supply Pick-Up

February 26: No School-Grading

March

March 15: PTO General Meeting

March 19-26: No School-Spring Break

April

April 2nd & 5th: No School