The Triton Tribune Parent Edition
Be Kind ~ Be Awesome ~ Make The Right Choices
Volume 3 ~ Issue 2 ~ July 26, 2021
Amazing Triton Parent/Guardians and Students,
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible" The 14th Dalai Lama
What an amazing first week it was. The traffic...not so much. It was wonderful to see all the students back on campus. As we slowly get back into the routine of a regular school year, let's continue to be patient and give each other grace in our transition.
A big shift coming this Monday: all cell phones must be turned off and put in backpacks as they enter the campus. Our no cell phone policy will be in effect. Phones will be confiscated and parents will have to pick them up. No exceptions. Please read our student/parent handbook with regards to this policy. The handbook is the last section on this newsletter.
On Monday, we will be on our typical weekly schedule of Mondays - Thursdays being block schedule and Friday minimum days. On Mondays-Thursdays, the school day ends at 3:15pm and on Friday, it ends at 12:51.
Additionally, please follow all traffic rules as you drop off and pick up your children. We were blessed to have traffic cops on Thursday and Friday but that will not always be the case. We want all children arrive and leave safely. When illegal turns are made or cars exceed the speed limit, we increase the risk of our children being injured. Let's continue to support each other in this area.
Another area of concern that will hopefully be mitigated soon is the meal distribution. Starting next week, breakfast and lunch will be served. Breakfast is served before school starting at 7:30am and also during nutrition break, which is a 10-minute break between Block 1 and Block 2. With nutrition break so short, I am encouraging that you take advantage of the serving at 7:30am so that they get their breakfast for the day without being rushed. For lunch, we will start grade level lunches starting Monday. Seventh grade will have lunch first followed by eighth grade.
We are also looking for ELM Parent Representatives for all the parent groups such as SSC and DPAC. If you are interested, please scroll down to the parent engagement section. If you have any questions regarding these opportunities, , please email Ms. Quinn at courtney.quinn@sweetwaterschools.org
Finally, please read the newsletter in its entirety as there are many pertinent information regarding school for the next two weeks.
Let's have an amazing first week!
Mrs. Finley
Schedule Change Request Criteria
Student class schedules are not changed except to correct placement, scheduling errors or change of elective. Final day for schedule changes will take place on the 10th day of school.
Reasons For Change
- Enrolled in the wrong grade level i.e. an 8th grade student enrolled in a 7th grade class.
- Missing a class period or two classes are in the same period.
- Placement level change i.e. a student changes from Math 7 to Compacted Math 7.
- Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that necessitates a change.
- Elective changes- these changes are based on space availability and impact on the student’s schedule.
What we cannot accommodate are requests for specific teachers or periods. All teachers are fully qualified to teach in their assigned subject area. If you have any concerns that arise during the school year, please contact your counselor.
Click on this link to request a class schedule change.
Nurse Flood has updated many immunizations in the first three days. We only have 171 students who are still non-compliant. You may already have received an email from her. The following deadline must be met otherwise we will have to drop students who are non-compliant:
- August 3, 2021 - All immunizations except Tdap
- August 6, 2021 - Tdap
- Bring your complete records to school Monday - Friday before the deadline.
- Submit a PDF copy of the entire records to elm.immunizations@sweetwaterschools.org.
If you still need to get your immunizations, below are links to documents that will help you with getting your immunizations up-to-date.
Required Immunization List [link]
San Diego Clinics Giving Vaccines [link]
South Bay Pharmacies Giving Vaccines [link]
If you want your immunizations easily accessible, click on this link for more information.
We are seeing the COVID-19 virus still actively impacting our community. We understand that vaccination, mask wearing and testing are our main protections to stop the spread and ensure schools return to normal.
We will continue to offer Rapid COVID testing, in partnership with San Diego State University (SDSU) and Communities Fighting COVID, at various campuses throughout the week.
This week's site testing schedule is:
- Tuesday: Eastlake Middle School
- Wednesday: Chula Vista High School
- Thursday: Southwest Middle School
- All sites will operate from 9:30am-12:30pm with a pause for lunch and reopen from 1:00pm-4:15pm.
On Monday, July 26, 2021, you will be provided a registration pre-link to register.
For the many staff and students that participated last year, you will also need to re-register again for this school year.
For the month of August, the testing calendar will be posted on the district’s COVID website here: http://www.sweetwaterschools.org/covid-19-information/#rapidcovidtesting
We are so excited for the new school year and ask for your continued help in keeping all students and staff safe by wearing your mask, washing your hands, getting vaccinated and getting tested.
- Schedule A typically occurs Mondays and Wednesday where students go to Periods 1, 2 & 3, which starts at 8:15am and ends at 3:15pm.
- Schedule B typically occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays where students go to Periods 4, 5 & 6, which starts at 8:15am and ends at 3:15pm.
- Schedule F typically occurs on Fridays and are minimum days, which starts at 8:15 and and ends at 12:51pm.
The other schedules, C - H, are used on occasions. We have created a rotation calendar that shows you when these bell schedules occur. Please look at the two images below so that you are aware of bell schedule changes throughout the year.
We are in need of many parents to participate. Click on the link below if you are interested in being a part of School Site Council (SSC), and District Parent Advisory Committee (DPAC). Click on the link below to indication your interest.
Thank you for your patience as we make slight adjustments so that we can feed everyone who wants to access the free meals for this school year. At ELM, we serve two meals: breakfast and lunch. ELM does not have after school program so we do not serve supper.
Breakfast will be served during two time slots:
- Before school: 7:30am - 8:05am (35 minutes)
- Nutrition break Monday - Thursday: 10:09 - 10:19 (10 mins)
Lunch will be served during two time slots:
- 7th Grade: 12:17pm - 12:47pm
- 8th Grade: 12:52pm - 12:22pm
Due to the split lunch, we anticipate that we will be able to serve everyone who want to access the meals during lunch from Mondays - Thursdays.
For Friday, we will continue to release groups of students in 5-minute increments during the last 10 minutes of class.
Eastlake Middle School
Email: easter.finley@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: elm.sweetwaterschools.org
Location: 900 Duncan Ranch Road, Chula Vista, CA, USA
Phone: 619.591.4000
Twitter: @erfinleysd