Patriot Press
July Updates
Safely Reopen Information
Things are happening at a fast and furious pace. Christina and I are working hard to wrap our head around everything so we can clearly explain it to you. This Smore is full of information. If it is too much for you, just save it until you are ready to read it. Those of you who want to have all the info now, read away!
Clear Connections Update
There will be new opportunities to be a virtual Clear Connections teacher likely on each campus (and possibly in each grade level). There will be application process to be a Clear Connections teacher. Teachers teaching through Clear Connections will work from their home campus and teach remotely from their classrooms while face to face instruction is happening in the building. Clear Connections teachers on campus will continue to be a part of grade level teams- continue to study curriculum, plan, etc with teammates. The difference will be the mode that instruction is delivered.
Stay tuned! We will continue to share updates.
Reminder- Save the Date
Technology information
If you are interested in seeing the district expectations for it's learning courses, click on the link below. We will be spending time on this when we come back.
Parr Its Learning Staff Course
Take a moment to log in and view the course. There is a lot of information!
It's Learning Cheat Seat
Classroom Set Up- Campus access beginning July 27!
*When coming on to campus please complete the COVID self-screener (attached below), wear a mask when you are in any area other than your classroom, sanitize your area before leaving, and be prepared to social distance. We all have to work hard to follow these procedures to slow the spread.
Classroom set up considerations
o Arrange student seating 6 feet apart
o 6 foot tables could have one student at each end, 4 foot tables only allow for 1 student
* You could choose to replace tables/ desks with yoga mats/ lap seats. If you do this please let us know so we can arrange for extra furniture
o Chairs and seating should be hard surfaces (bean bags, pillows, anything plush or porous) to allow for disinfecting. Please move any plus items to storage closet
o Maximizing space- Considering moving shelves/ plastic storage to be flat against wall to make more room for social distancing
o No carpet time, spreading out across tables/ desks, rugs stay in classrooms at this time
o Water bottle storage- Students will need water bottles in the classrooms, possibly at their seats to allow for minimal movement
o Students will need their own personal supply bins, no shared storage of materials/ notebooks/ folders/ personal materials
o Plan for students to be washing hands at the back sink (we are working on soap dispensers). You will not want to seat any other students within 6 feet of the sink.
On the horizon
o Student movement will need to be limited so we will be rethinking procedures (pencil sharpening, turning in papers, getting supplies)
o Backpack plans- considering leaving them lined up in the hallways outside of the classroom
o Calm down corners will be calm down stations at student desks. The PBIS crew will be thinking this through!
o Thinking about stations--- possibly individually (any materials would need to be cleaned between student use), possibly at students' desks...
2nd- 5th grade
o Students remain in homeroom classroom and the teacher moves at “switch time”
o 2nd-5th making a space for your switch teacher! The includes white board, anchor chart space on wall, consider giving them a shelf to store materials on so not as much needs to travel each day
o Teacher Carts/ bins to travel between classrooms- we are taking count of what we have on campus (the science lab carts, cube teacher carts that pull behind you)
*As we begin working we will see what "extra" furniture we have at this time and what needs to be removed/ storage. Smaller extra things bins, crates, plastic storage, stuffed animals, etc. may need to be in storage closets for the time being.
**Thank you for your flexibility and patience. Furniture and room arrangements may need to change throughout the year (more than once). Thank you for keeping this in mind as you begin working and setting things up.
Childcare
More information to come from the district with procedures and guidelines soon!
Purposeful People update
Coming back this fall will be an unprecedented challenge for educators globally. We are here to support this work in all the changing dynamics of education to meet your staff, student, and school needs.
As An Elementary Curriculum User, Here’s What You Can Expect (This email is being sent to you as you are the designated building point person for the program, please share this email with anyone who may find this information useful)
- We have added Pre-K content to all of our 10 Traits. They are live on the website and we hosted a webinar overviewing them here.
- A few example activities pre-built for you to showcase how to adapt this work to a virtual setting. Here’s an example. (July 26)
- We will be creating a PurposeFull People Equity recommendation plan that highlights different activities across multiple traits and provides deeper resources around words like activism, allyship, racism, and justice. (August 5)
- We will be providing hyperlinked Implementation Plans to make jumping to various sections easier. (August 11)
- The addition of brand new illustrations for each trait from incredible Black artists from around the world. (August 15)
- You will continue to see news and developments from us as we work to lead the charge in making sure our content is equitable. We will be continuing an audit of all our Elementary work to ensure that CharacterStrong’s SEL and character content is not being weaponized against students of color. For more information on these efforts, refer to this blog post.
We are grateful to serve you during these times. We are committed to being responsive and relevant at each turn.
Phonics kits
Badge Issues
From the person in charge of badges for the district:
We recently moved Parr over to the new access control system via the security upgrade project. We pulled badge information for the old systems, however for some users we had more than one badge number in the system for them so it may have pulled the wrong number for them. For anyone having issues with access, please have them put in a topdesk ticket with the number on the back of their badge and we will get them fixed in the system.
If your badge is not working to enter the building, this is what you will need to do!