TGE WELCOME BACK!!!
TGE Families
Welcome Back!
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. We are looking forward to seeing all of you and providing excellent educational opportunities for our children.
Although this year might look differently, we are committed to providing the safest environment possible for our students. You might be wondering about some of our standard operating procedures. Please check out our videos prepared for students on our Facebook page, webpage, and infinite campus emails. Our staff has taken the time to both anticipate and think through the many procedures that occur within a school day. We also realize that these procedures might need to be altered throughout the school year. Please refer to our District’s Flexible learning plan 2.0 to keep updated on any revised information. https://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us/flexible-learning-2-0-plan-qa/
Arrival and Dismissal
We anticipate that the busses and parent/daycare drop off will take longer this year. Buses will be dismissed individually by arrival and dismissal. Students will line up to enter and leave the building by socially distancing in hallways and sidewalks. Visual tape will be used so that students can socially distance as they arrive and dismiss. Hand sanitizer stations will be available for students when they arrive and dismiss. Daycares will dismiss from separate doors and parent drop off/ pick up students will also honor social distancing while waiting for parents.
We are asking for all families to complete this form to help coordinate dismissal for this year. It is very helpful, especially in the beginning of the year, to know what the plan is for each student at the end of the day, so that we can assist all students to get to the correct place as we dismiss. Thank you for completing this form before your student arrives to school this year. We respectfully ask that your student(s) uses the same method of dismissal each day throughout the school year. Under special circumstances and emergency situations, please contact the office staff to change your child's dismissal by 3pm the day of the change. Please do not rely on sending an email to your child's teacher, as they don't always have time during the instructional day to check for these messages. To ensure your student is going home the way you desire when there is a change, please contact the office staff. In the event the office staff cannot take your call, please leave a detailed voicemail and they will ensure your student and teacher are aware of the change. If you have a situation in which your child will need to go home a different way each day or multiple days of the week, please call the office to discuss with the administration how to best accommodate your needs. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Student Supplies and Devices
Students will be bringing their supplies as well as devices back and forth each day. Supplies will stay in book bags and will be taken to related arts areas as well as used at home to prevent use of community supplies. It will be important for students to make sure they have all needed supplies/devices every day. Students are expected to bring a non-breakable water bottle daily, as the water fountains throughout the school are turned off to help reduce the spread of germs.
Recess and Lunch
All students will be seated with their homeroom class in the cafeteria, which means that seating areas will be limited. Visuals X’s will be used to practice social distancing. Hand washing will be used before and after lunch as well as recess. Recess options will be vary but will be limited so as to social distance the students.
Masks
All students are required to wear a mask unless a medical excuse is provided. The students must provide their own mask daily. Our teachers will be having daily mask breaks based on district guidelines. All students will be provided with a mask lanyard during lunch and recess. All students will be required to wear masks on buses and when moving throughout the building unless they provide a medical excuse that is approved by the superintendent/ designee.
Daily Health Checks
All students and staff are asked to conduct temperature/health checks daily. If you are experiencing any health concerns please contact our school ASAP.
Kindergarten Screening
Kindergarten families should have received a letter indicating their child’s homeroom teacher and AM/PM assignment. If you have not received this information, please feel free to contact our office at 614-834-6300. In addition, we need all kindergarteners to participate in the KRA. This assessment will take place the first three days that grades 1-12 are back to school (August 31-September 2). This is for ALL kindergarten students and is required by the state. This is different testing than what was done at the end of July, so all students need to sign up. If you are newly enrolled or were not able to make the screening that was done at the end of July, we will not be scheduling additional times for this. Students will be given this screening when they start school.
Here is the link to sign up for a time to have your child assessed:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a094fa4a82da2f58-kindergarten
Meeting the teacher and seeing the Building
Teachers will be sending videos introducing themselves to their students and families on Thursday, August 27th. As a building we are also making videos to share with families about some of our new procedures that will be in place and those will be shared throughout the week of August 24th. We know this is not ideal, but we are doing everything we can to help keep everyone safe while at the same time helping to build that connection between school and home.
Parent Portal Login Page
Please take some time to complete all of your back to school forms online for your students. We appreciate your cooperation in getting this completed before your student attends school.
Visit our infinite campus parent portal login page to complete back-to-school forms online for your student(s). https://pickeringtonoh.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/parents/pickerington.jsp
Back to school form instruction can be found on-line at this link:
https://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us/bts-info/
School Supply Lists can be found at this link:
Starting Dates
ALL STUDENTS grade 1-12 start school on Monday, August 31. Cohort A will start in the building and Cohort B will start on-line (virtually).
August 31--Cohort A in the building; Cohort B on-line (grades 1-12)
September 1--Cohort A in the building; Cohort B on-line (grades 1-12)
September 2--All students’ grades 1-12 on-line
September 3--Cohort B in the building; Cohort A on-line (grades 1-12) and Cohort A for Kindergarten in the building and Cohort B on-line
September 4---Cohort B in the building; Cohort A on-line (grades 1-12) and Cohort B for Kindergarten in the building and Cohort A on-line
The following week, all students K-12 will follow the same schedule. Cohort A students will report to the building on Monday and Tuesday and will learn remotely Wednesday-Friday. Cohort B students will learn remotely Monday-Wednesday and will report to the buildings on Thursday-Friday.
Device Protection
We will again be offering families the opportunity to purchase (through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal) the PLSD Technology Protection Plan. This annual agreement covers the Chromebook or iPad (“device”) loaned to the student against any accidental damage and/or repair costs. This agreement costs $30 per device (for grades K-5) and $40 per device (for grades 6-12) per school year for a total of $400 worth of repairs, replacement and/or labor costs. (The difference in the cost is to offset the non-use of devices at the elementary schools during the 4th quarter of the 19-20 school year.)
Any costs above and beyond $400 will be the responsibility of the parents/guardians/student. The charger is NOT covered and is the sole responsibility of the student/parent. Coverage is 24 hours per day. Damage(s) due to intentional, reckless, willful, wanton and/or malicious conduct is not covered. Lost devices will not be covered by the technology protection plan. Stolen devices will be covered by the technology protection plan as long as the parent/guardian submits to PLSD a filed police report for the stolen device. The Technology Protection Plan will cover damage and repairs for loaner devices, but will count towards the total allowed for the TPP.
Payment is due by September 25, 2020 for the plan to be in effect.
The coverage option will be removed for those students whose parents/guardians do not pay this premium by September 25, 2020. Payment may be made via the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
The Technology Protection Plan will be made available in the Parent Portal once all of the scheduling changes and cohort assignments have been completed.
The Technology Protection Plan is non-refundable. Administration, in its sole discretion, will determine if damages were due to intentional, reckless, willful, wanton and/or malicious conduct (please see PLSD Technology website for more specific information). This is an annual plan, previously purchased PLSD Technology Protection Plans will NOT cover the new school year.
The Technology Protection Plan is not subject to waiver for free and reduced students as it is totally an OPTIONAL fee; students/parents are NOT required to have this coverage.
Reminder this is an annual plan and does NOT extend from one school year to the next.
If the Technology Protection Plan is NOT Purchased
All damages and replacement parts will be charged at the current market rate with a labor cost of $15-$50 determined by the repair. Damage fine without the Technology Protection Plan will range between $15 – $300. If the cost of the damage exceeds $300, then a new device will be issued at the cost of $300. All damage, replacement parts and labor costs will be applied through the parent portal in Infinite Campus. Additionally, when a student is provided a loaner device all of the regulations apply for proper care of loaner devices, any damage to the loaner device will be the responsibility of the parent/guardian/student.
Device Protection is NOT retroactive. If your device gets damaged and you have not purchased the insurance, you can not decide at that time to pay for the protection, so please consider purchasing it now.
Full version of the 2020-2021 Technology Protection Plan for Grades K-5
Click this link to find your lunch menus:
http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1468598051693&page=menus
Free and Reduced Lunch application
Due to COVID-19, we are encouraging everyone to complete the Free and Reduced Lunch Application online. We have updated our system and you are now able to use your cell phone or computer to complete this process. The application is available in several different languages. Please include an email on the application when prompted.
Click on the link provided to apply. http://frapps.horizonsolana.com/PICL01.
Calendar Updated
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tWUNNGTgrDFPJCV-japo4ggKnb1OBMYH/view?usp=sharing
Attendance on virtual days:
K-4 parents will need to login to the IC Parent Portal and click on the blue Yes, I'm Here button once a day (virtual days only) for each of their elementary students
Students that are in the Virtual Learning Academy, will need to do this process (process depends on grade level) every day.
NOTES:
1. The button to submit attendance would only be seen on the days when they are virtual. For example, if a student logs in today, they will see nothing.
2. Teachers will need to verify attendance that students are actually participating in classwork/assignments. More information about this will be released soon.
Below is an instructional handout for K-4.
We have also created instructional videos below showing the process.
Video showing the K-4 attendance process through the IC Parent Portal