Hello Patriot Families,

I hope this letter finds your family well and happy. As we close our first quarter, our focus now turns to the next steps in the reopening of school. Our team has been hard at work to plan a return which focuses on safety and learning. Please know that the safety of our students, staff, and community remains our top priority.

Last Monday evening, the FCPS School Board approved the next phase of our plan, which brings back approximately 25% of Hugh Mercer students. We have intentionally employed a phased face-to-face approach in order to meet the needs of those students with the greatest educational needs. The first group of students will be chosen based on specific educational needs and school capacity. If your child has been selected to return to school on November 5, 2020, you will receive a phone call from your child’s teacher during the week of October 12th. Calls will be made Monday, and Tuesday, so please be sure we have your current phone number on file.

As we begin to phase students back into the building the following health and safety protocols are being implemented to help us adhere to CDC guidelines.

• All school personnel are required to wear cloth face coverings.

• All students will be required to wear cloth face coverings as deemed developmentally appropriate.

• Signage is posted promoting cleanliness, good hygiene, and healthy social practices schoolwide.

• Staff will practice and promote social distancing.

• Buses will be disinfected between each bus route.

• Students will be spaced according to CDC guidelines on the bus.

• Visits to the school office should be avoided except for emergency situations.

• Parents who do enter the school will need a temperature check and answer screening questions to secure admittance in the office.

• Events, parent volunteers, field trips will be temporarily paused this year.

• Families should plan for multiple, pre-arranged methods for getting a student home from school should they become ill or exhibit symptoms

• All staff take part in a self-screening tool before entering the building each day

• Students will be screened prior to boarding the bus or entering the school

• Families should never willingly send their child to school with a suspected illness.

• All classrooms and learning areas will be configured to maximize space, allowing for students to have individualized work areas and manipulative boxes that take into consideration social distancing and follow CDC guidelines.

• Meals will continue to be served in the classrooms

• All members of the school community are expected to take into consideration the health and well-being of all individuals.

We continue to monitor health data and remain flexible in our planning. We also will continue to keep you updated on important information. To help us do that, please make sure we have your correct contact information on file. To update your contact information, please call the office at 540-372-11115/540-310-0029

As we close our first marking period, please be sure your child is completing his/her assignments for math, reading, and special area in Canvas so their grades indicate the work they're doing at home. If you have any questions or need support, please let your child's teacher know as soon as possible. We are eager to help. All HMES students should have received their school ipad devices. If your child does not have a device, please email kfrye@cityschools.com for support.

We look forward to a continued partnership and to supporting our students and families. Please, reach out to me directly if I can be of assistance or support.

Best,

Kim Doucette, Principal HMES

Check out the book mobile schedule below!

WE NEED YOU!!! Join the Hugh Mercer PTA!!! Each new member will be entered into a drawing to win one (of two) $25 gift cards to Target. The two winners will be announced at our first PTA meeting being held on October 15 @ 6:30 PM. The meeting is virtual, and the platform is TBD.

Check out our online store to join. Like, share and tag someone who you think should join to get an extra entry in our raffle.

https://hughmercerpta.new.memberhub.store/store

Need help navigating from your homeroom Canvas site to special area sites? Watch the INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO Ms. Jonas (PE/Health) and Ms. Micks (Music) created (https://fburg.instructuremedia.com/embed/cbaf7f8c-3d7b-4e4e-ae8f-61997e6f1e12) or follow the Canvas tips link listed!

TROUBESHOOTING CANVAS USERS ON THE SPECIAL AREA CANVAS SITE

• Enter Clever, enter Canvas, from Classroom teacher’s homepage look for Library, SEL, and Specials links >LINKING from CLEVER keeps logging in at a minimum and secure<
• At SPECIAL AREA site student will see MUSIC MICKS at the top for every SPECIAL area page
• At SEL site student will see ART WRIGHT at the top of SEL page
• From any SPECIAL’S (ART, LIBRARY, MUSIC, P.E., HEALTH, FRENCH) page HOME will return to Special area Homepage
• Library link of Classroom teacher’s homepage will connect a student to the Library HOMEPAGE
• REQUIRED WORK all students will be graded based on time spent at Special Area site 15-20 minutes daily -5 SPECIALS to complete weekly- ART, FRENCH, MUSIC, P.E., HEALTH
  

Special area teachers are expecting students to view the content for each week. If a student jumps to a survey or does not show appropriate amounts of time at special area sites, the student will receive a low mark for special area grade- P or N if no evidence on Canvas exists for a student. RUBERICS ARE being created, but will change with school division standards

o Library 15-20 minutes per week -Reading is a school-wide focus

• Survey completion is applied to a weekly page (worth 1 point as a completion marker for that page). STUDENT VIEW: take the survey, FOLLOW direction to Touch or click the picture to complete work for week, SUBMIT quiz at bottom of survey page
• If blocked view from a Special area page occurs, consider starting in order. The course goes in sequential order starting with week 1- A student may have to start with older week’s work if the student never visited the page for that week
• CANVAS HELP: Questions please contact Heather Wright hcwright@cityschools.com or Kathrine Micks kmicks@cityschools.com

October is Anti-Bullying month. At HMES, this means continuing to model, promote and teach kindness and empathy to our young scholars and to each other.

Our SEL (social emotional learning) school counseling lessons this month have an emphasis on understanding what bullying is and isn't bullying, how to show kindness to others, what it means to show empathy, and the difference between a bucket filler and bucket dipper.

We will celebrate as a whole school community by wearing ORANGE on Wednesday, October 21st, or better known as UNITY DAY. Unity Day is a day to celebrate how we choose kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.

Kindergartners are looking forward to using prediction and retelling from fictional stories they read, continuing to practice their letters, sounds, and writing their first names using case sensitive letters, reviewing numbers 0-10, learning to read, write, and represent numbers 11-20, and counting orally from 0-50 in October. This month, they will also learn about the five senses, being community helpers, and explore the world using touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound.

First graders have been working with numbers to 100, reading and listening to read alouds about citizenship, learning to be good citizens, learning about letters and sounds and putting them together to make words, and putting words together to make sentences.

• Many thanks to Victorious Believers, Spotswood Baptist Church, Alilve Church, and KFC for their generous donations.
• The Fredericksburg Host Lions Club has assisted us with vision and hearing screenings for several years, and we support their annual White House tree ornament fund raiser. This year's ornament honors President John F. Kennedy. The cost is $22/per. Please contact Mrs. Cindy Hurley (Principal's Secretary) @ 372-1115 (x 2025) or churley@cityschools.com to order.
• The Salvation Army Angel Tree Registration is now open through October 16, 2020. The Angel Tree assistance is for any students 12 years old and younger. Parents must fill out the application online. Where it asks for an invitation code, select no and put in your zip code. As part of the application process, you may be asked to provide copies of documentation. Remember, the deadline to apply for this assistance is October 16th. https://saangeltree.org/

• To our families that currently have some food insecurities or need extra food assistance, please check out local resources at the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, www.Fredfood.org

  For easier convenience, you can also download the app, FREDFOODVA. The symbol is listed below.

  
  

  The FREDFOODVA app lists most of the local pantries and their addresses. It also shares the days and times that the pantries are open to the public and what is required for you to bring (most just ask to see id/proof of living in Fredericksburg)

No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the Untied States shall, solely by reason of his/her handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: The Rights of Individuals with Handicaps Under Federal Law.