April 17, 2020
For Our Families From The District Administrator | #5
IMPORTANT SCHOOL CLOSURE UPDATE
On Thursday, Governor Evers issued a new Safer at Home Order for the State of Wisconsin (linked here). In the Order, it states that Wisconsin schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. Specifically, the order states that “Public and private K-12 schools shall remain closed for pupil instruction and extracurricular activities for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Schools may continue to facilitate distance learning or virtual learning. Schools may continue to be used for Essential Government Functions and food distribution.”
We are fortunate in that we have, from the very beginning, put in place a quality learning experience for our students that we will continue with for the remainder of the school year. District leadership will continue to work on plans over the next few weeks for how we will close out the school year with our students, families and staff. All in-person school events, athletics and activities are canceled through the end of the school year (Tuesday, June 9) with the exception of Franklin High School graduation and prom that have been rescheduled to July and will occur in-person if allowed. Graduation will be held virtually only if it is not allowed as an in-person event in July. (For more details on these FHS Spring Events, see this letter that is being sent to parents today)
While this news wasn’t what we hoped for, we support what is necessary for the safety of our students, staff and families and are very confident that the remainder of the 2019-20 school year will be a positive experience (certainly one we will always remember!). We will continue to be here for our families and our students as we all navigate the rest of this school year together. Please continue to follow the Safer at Home suggestions to keep your family safe and secure.
Dr. Judy Mueller
District Administrator
TONIGHT! Friday, April 17th from 8pm-9pm!
FIRST PAWS DAY IS THIS COMING WED 4/22
As was shared last week, we will be starting our Wednesday "Paws Days" next week Wednesday, April 22. No new instruction will be provided to students as we pause instruction. Wednesday will be a day for students to catch up or work at their own pace on already provided work where needed. Students can connect with staff for individual help if needed. Staff will be working on planning, pacing, collaboration and content creation or discovery.
Our Current Planning Calendar For The Next Few Weeks
FPS 4K, 5K, 1, 2 PLANNING GOING FORWARD
As we continue to move forward with virtual learning, we want to share the upcoming plans for what transitioning our youngest grade levels looks like.
Wed, April 22 & Thurs, April 23 - Non-Instructional Days for Grades 5K, 1 & 2 Students ONLY
With the shift for grades 5K, 1 and 2 to virtual learning, we are going to pause grades 5K, 1 and 2 distance learning only for both Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23. This means those two days will be non-instructional days for grades 5K, 1 and 2 students so grades 5K, 1 and 2 staff can focus on building their digital content for their classroom virtual launch. Students and parents can still reach out by email to grade 5K, 1 and 2 teachers on those two days if any help is needed with prior work.
Friday, April 24 will be an instructional day for parents and students to get acclimated to accessing Google Classroom and teacher content. More information will be directly emailed to 5K, 1 and 2 families next week about how to access content on Friday, April 24.
Starting the week of April 27, the learning activities for grade 5K-2 child(ren) may include activities that will require technology and wifi access. The classroom teacher will be the first point of contact to assist with learning activities.
- Please note: Also during this week, as we transition grades 5K, 1 and 2 to our virtual learning format for teacher content, our 4K teachers will then shift to emailing families directly with learning plan items for those students.
Thank you for your patience as we work to transition grades 5K, 1 and 2 students and staff to virtual learning.
FROM OUR DISTRICT NURSES
Thank you for everything you can do to remain Safer at Home
If you must leave your home, please wear a cloth face covering and practice social distancing.
Don’t forget to frequently wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer.
Disinfect frequently touched surfaces and items (phones, computers, tablets) daily.
Here are some resources for families that may help you strengthen your ability to manage your feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic:
Helpful tips for managing behaviors (elementary school aged children)
Click the image below to see how "Safer at Home" is working in Wisconsin!
Thank you for doing your part to stay at home!
FOOD REQUESTS & PICKUP FOR NEXT WEEK APRIL 20-24
Franklin Public Schools is continuing to offer lunches to children ages 2-18 in the Franklin community who are experiencing hardship and need a meal. The pickup process will remain the same as last week with only small changes to the days and times for meals.
WHERE: Meals will be distributed at Franklin High School in front of the Saber Center. Please see the map below for proper traffic flow.
WHEN: Meals for the week of April 20-24 will be distributed on Monday (Mon & Tues meal), Wednesday (Wed meal only) and Thursday (Thurs and Friday meals).
TIME UPDATE: Meals will be distributed between 11:30am and 12:30pm.
WHO: Children do not need to be present in the car for picking up meals.
PICKUP PROCESS: We are asking families to pull up to the pickup station, tell the Food Service staff how many meals you need, and then please come up to the table to pick up your meals. As families pick up meals from the table, Food Service staff will step back to maintain proper social distancing. This will help to protect our families and Food Service staff and cut down on close interactions.
Our Food Service staff is following USDA guidelines for meals, which may include receiving starchy vegetables and legumes. Food Service staff may mix in some heat and serve items as part of the meal; this all depends on the inventory we have available.
FOOD REQUEST FORM FOR NEXT WEEK APRIL 20-24
The new sign up form covers next week's food distribution on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for April 20-24 only. We will communicate out future weeks at a later time.
If you are requesting food for more than one child, you will be prompted at form submission to add additional children.
Please complete this sign up form for April 20-24 as soon as possible, but by Sunday night 4/19 at 10pm at the latest, so we can properly plan for food distribution. The form will remain open through the week if a family needs to file a food request at a later date.
Note: You will need your student’s powerschool number to complete the form. This number can be found by logging into your PowerSchool Parent Access account. Once logged into PowerSchool, it is the 6-digit number at the top center portion of the screen. It will begin with a 5.
This form can only be filled out once for this one week cycle. If you have already filled it out and need to make a change, please directly contact Monica Houtler (414-423-4656), our Food Service Director with any questions.
GRADES 5K-12 TECH HELP FORM & SUPPORT
Video Conference For Students Opt Out
During Franklin Public School District’s extended closure related to COVID-19, the District will continue providing its students with educational services via virtual learning, whereby large groups of students may receive educational instruction from District employees via video-based programs such as Google Video Hangouts or Google Meet etc. The virtual nature of this group-based educational instruction will continue to allow for face-to-face interaction among students and staff while located in their own homes or other personal learning spaces.
As we continue to provide more video conference connections between student-student and student-staff, we want to make parents aware that you can opt out of your child(ren) participating in video based conferences if you so choose.
If you do not wish to continue to have you and your child participate in the District’s use of video-based programs that include your child, please promptly make this request with your building principal.
Franklin Public Schools
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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